I'm on both sides of this one. Addiction is a thing that comes from without and from within. Like a key unlocking a lock. Your brain needs the right lock, and it's your choice to knowingly grab the key and use it, but it's also the key's 'fault' for fitting so well. Blaming an inanimate object would normally be nonsensical, but when someone else has specifically crafted the key to fit so well, it makes more sense - you're blaming them for crafting it that way on purpose. I blame both the people who make the addictive thing and the addict. Blame and shame for everyone! That's the British way right? Anyway, NFSU2 is showing its cracks now I'm up to the higher classes of car. As in NFSU1, the physics get a bit floaty and unpredictable at higher speeds, the civvy traffic gets tediously fruit-machine (do a perfect lap, slam into a civvy car you couldn't possibly avoid, reset, try again), the tracks all feel like they're designed for the smaller, lower-speed vehicles and don't really work with the faster ones (rarely get out of 3rd gear, constantly hammering brakes and not making the most of the power curve). The AI is still a bit wonky, as in NSFU1. Better, but still wonky. They're very aggressive and more than willing to punt your rear end to send you spinning out, and their behaviour in drag modes, where there's often literally no room for two cars side by side, flat-out makes no sense - they'll barge alongside you despite oncoming single-lane obstacles, totalling you both. The more you push the game design with higher speeds, the more the AI falls apart, and it just feels like they designed the game at low speeds, tacked on the higher classes of car, and didn't rebalance and fine tune the AI, physics and track designs. Higher classes of AI cars will often pile into civvy traffic en masse, basically handing you a free win, which I feel underscores how unfinished the game design is. They included rubber banding on the AI cars to patch this issue, which is like the final concession of defeat in racing game design. Oh and the awesome soundtrack is only about 20 tracks and it sounds significantly less awesome once you've listened to it for about 30 hours. Muted, replaced with my own background audio. If you're gonna blare music at your player for the duration of the campaign, try to make sure they won't end up hearing each song 40 times over in a single session.
Kinda with you, but then with addictive personalities, it often transpires that it's an especially shoddy lock and can be opened by any old key you find out and about. Collecting garden gnomes can be an addiction... but gambling is probably a more reliable source of that sweet sweet dopamine. Speaking of... gambling is even more fun when you can do it with imaginary money. Since it no longer appears to be as trivial as it once was to monetise crypto currencies, gave healthy top-ups to my Apple, Nintendo and PS accounts via a graciously not-scammy gift card exchange whilst I mull over what to do with the BTC that I had largely written off a ways back. So I have £300 worth of gems to blitz through in this game this evening and see what cool stuff I get. Seems appropriate exchanging one pretend currency for another, to gamble on pretend toys
That's a fair extension of the analogy, but to stretch it even further - many gambling mechanics in modern games and, well, gambling platforms, are more like this: Gambling mechanics are designed to entice people with no particular soft spot for gambling, and they succeed. If a majority of people find them addictive, it's arguably no longer a problem with addictive personalities and individual weakness and more a case that the addictive thing exploits the standard architecture of the standard human, and should therefore be considered harmful by design. Nobody would argue that heroin addicts simply need to 'pull themselves together' (though the decision to take it the first time is a bit iffy).
I don't entirely disagree, but I think you're blurring a bunch of lines between "got a bit carried away but no harm done" and addiction there (and then again between dependancy). The qualifier for "addiction" is usually doing a thing in spite of knowing you're doing harm to yourself and those close to you. So in this case, sure a majority of people find gambling fun, many that have tried it have found themselves carried away in the risk/reward rush, have overspent, and probably even have regrets. IMO "addiction" is the difference between that majority thinking "hey that was a dumb thing I'll not repeat that mistake" after the fact vs continuing to do it in spite of knowing full well it's a dumb thing and is doing harm, which IMO "a majority" do not. Even spending £1000s/month on in-game gambling IMO doesn't qualify as "addiction" if it's something you enjoy, can afford, have budgeted for etc. On the other if you're playing... minecraft or whatever so much that you're neglecting your work, loved ones, health... without spending a penny, that's totally addiciton. But then we're already way further down this rabbit hole than a "wot game you playing" thread has any right to be anyway... so... what game are you playing? EDIT: just to be clear if it sounds like I’m saying the gambling industry is totally innocent or harmless I’m not. I just don’t think it’s any more harmful or exploitative than a vast array of activities that are less traditionally thought of as vices, yet totally unregulated. I dream of a world where compulsive social media usage is just 10% as taboo.
Mea culpa. But it's not a bit-tech thread unless it goes wildly off-topic at least once per page, so... I still haven't tried Waifu Simulator Genshin Impact yet. In fact I haven't played anything lately, I've been doing too much filming & editing...
Does chess count? Been trying to play some most days, it's something I've always liked the idea of being good at and every now and again (about once a year) I have a sudden urge to play and I'll play for a week or two then fall off. Trying to keep it up this time, finding some friends who are happy to play as well since think that might help.
I'm nigh on certain Waifu Simulator is a real game that is quite different, and I'm absolutely certain I'm not going to google it to find out. All this talk about gambling and I didn't even post the results of mine! So I spanked £300 worth on the in-game currency for poops and giggles, and got all sorts of cool stuff... 3x 5* characters, 2x 5* Weapons, and mainly useful 4* drops getting some refinements for weapons and characters I use a lot, and some that I don't but will in future. Better than it could have been, though I was nearing the rate ramp on two of the banners the two of the 5* came quite soon on them by default. I also sent £100 to my BFF that's got into playing it as well, he was quite far from the rate-ramp having recently got a 5* from the character banner, but had enough to get the one 5* he wanted, some useful char upgrades along the way, and is holding ~£40 back for the next character event. All in all, was it worth it? Are you kidding me? Frick no! £300 on a computer game is not and never will be "worth it". But it was fun, it's made the game more fun (and now me and my buddy can do co-op with matching dollies ), and I'll almost certainly do it again so long as I have pretend money sitting in a crypto exchange.
See, I feel less concerned about searching for 'Waifu Simulator' using DuckDuckGo in Firefox with a ton of privacy addons... I am not however clicking on any of the results!
Was it a page saying "Websense has restricted access to this website. Your manager has been notified. You perv."
I didnt click no links put it that way ... it didnt take long to register that i should not of done that.. I never read things properly
I'm on the chess wagon too! I have played it very infrequently since infancy. Have never won a game - ever. It's very interesting, though. Currently taking a break from getting absolutely spanked on discord to do a practise game against myself. A surprisingly fun way to develop the thought processes. I've managed to get myself into a rather sticky situation and white is now stuck. Can't get out of losing a valuable piece I don't think.
All right, I'm installing Waifu Simulator (wait, we already established that was something different) Genshin Impact now.
Just finished Mafia ; The Definitive Edition. Amazing!! Loved every minute abiet very very short!! 12 hours to complete. Some sound issues with stuttering all the way through but with the subs on .. not so annoying.
What people who don't gamble don't understand about addicted gamblers is that the compulsion to gamble is way more powerful than common sense
Only just noticed this comment. Thats something i fully understand .. and am battling. I hope you are not where i was ..
5asideCHESS – Be the Change You Want to See in the World I've been using this set to teach my daughter chess - my elder son I just can't get to sit down long enough but daughter is enjoying it. Teaches you the strategies and, more importantly, teaches you to lose/ resign. Plus the games are quick - the longest game I've played is around 25 minutes!
Nice, the name rang a bell but I hadn't actually checked it out. Never known anyone in real life who's had any interest so never actually committed to playing for any length of time as I only play online with random people, potentially found a couple of people at work who are wanting to play so hopefully can get into a good routine. I'm bad but if anybody does fancy a game feel free to give me a ping, would love to get into the habit of playing more, GeorgeStorm on both lichess and chess.com
