tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post2214230825014660056..comments2023-10-10T05:18:50.863-04:00Comments on The Jones Report: The Offline LifestyleScott C. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14584082553675139762noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-89413617338500047412011-08-08T12:12:03.254-04:002011-08-08T12:12:03.254-04:00Phenomenal post, as always.Phenomenal post, as always.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-10390283204908061672011-07-29T00:02:05.277-04:002011-07-29T00:02:05.277-04:00Who knew that the RRoD could actually serve a grea...Who knew that the RRoD could actually serve a greater purpose?<br />I feel you, man.. I've stopped my PSN from logging in automatically on startup (although I don't think that the PS3 is as intense as the 360 in their 'social' aspects).<br /><br />My gamer-OCD is usually the only reason why I'll play multiplayer (damn you, trophies!), but I never end up sticking around for long on most of them. That and the fact that I don't have many close friends who play the same types of games as I do--aside from Worms Armageddon... for PC... from 1999.<br /><br />My movie-watching time is getting cut into as developers are coming up with better stories and are able to tell them better.<br /><br />There's a time and a place for multiplayer, and for me it's with people I know because it makes the victories sweeter and the revenge well, just delectable.The Shivnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-76140501810684137392011-07-19T00:18:21.448-04:002011-07-19T00:18:21.448-04:00Upon my first read, I found this subject to be qui...Upon my first read, I found this subject to be quite profound. Upon a second read, I simply find it to be one of most obvious choices one could ever make, not just in the gaming world, but in many areas beyond. It's just unfortunate that despite its simple concept, it still carries a difficulty in its execution due to the wealth of convictions it takes if one is really serious about its follow-through. Are you authentic in your choosing of this? For those who are, we face the wind with no guarantee of a big pay-off except for having our integrity intact, & sometimes that's all you need.Amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03507647046257552351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-59958422051123458702011-07-17T03:39:28.445-04:002011-07-17T03:39:28.445-04:00Thanks for the reply, Scott. I think you're c...Thanks for the reply, Scott. I think you're completely right-- a video game exists for me in part as a conversation with the developer. Your word "connection" feels just right. To take it to my own extreme, in my more abstract and reflective moments I think of it as a window into someone's brain. A chance to live in a world that was once entirely confined to another's headspace. <br /><br />I will never be fortunate enough to meet most of the terrific folks who design the games that leave their indelible mark upon me. Yet with each game there is that sense that each challenge was created for me alone. And to conquer such a challenge is to share a moment between me, the developer, and my sense of accomplishment-- a sense that no doubt outweighs the size of the challenge itself, but yet is mine to blow out of proportion however I see fit. <br /><br />"Social gaming" takes that away from me.Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10521973210197204413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-83325793011894921592011-07-16T20:41:13.759-04:002011-07-16T20:41:13.759-04:00I know exactly how you feel Scott, I try to separa...I know exactly how you feel Scott, I try to separate my personal gaming with my public gaming. I play World of Warcraft a lot (More then I'll admit to here) And I'm second in command of a guild of over 300 people. That's a lot of gaming with others and very often i have times where i just want to game myself, That's when i switch and play on something else where i can just focus on the more personal experience of gaming (360,wii,ds,psp anything else)<br /><br />Maybe that feeling in me comes from the fact that I've always enjoyed RPG's a lot and all of the older rpg's were single player enjoy the story experiences.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong i do enjoy some online play on lots of games as well but I'm more the play the game for the story type of girl and so i always feel that some games don't really need online modes (Bioshock 2) and when they do add them it just feels like you should play them just for the point of it being there even though they really don't add anything to the game, but that's a whole other topic.<br /><br />I have a few people I've met on xbox on my friends list and i do exactly what you said every time i log on i look and see who's on and what there doing and wondering why there playing certain games, Now that i really think about it I'm sure there doing the same thing to me when they log on.<br /><br />To me the great moments in gaming will never be pulling off great head shots on other people, It will be those amazing story twists and boss battles that only come from a good single player game. Those are the times that make a game stick in your mind for years to come. Gaming for me will always be a personal journey one i hope to keep taking for years to come.Ashleyhttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002161358313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-49998833215216153122011-07-14T11:12:51.605-04:002011-07-14T11:12:51.605-04:00Thanks, Kim. Great response, as always. I've a...Thanks, Kim. Great response, as always. I've also created dummy accounts to protect my identity during online play--I think a lot of us probably have. <br /><br />Loved the line, "But the only way I can improve is by playing through that sense of inadequacy, publicly sucking for the faceless masses." Great.<br /><br />Also this line is interesting: "I'm not sure that I like it-- online I'm driven by the desire to be better than everyone else; offline I'm driven by the desire to be better than me. " <br /><br />I like the "better than me" sentiment, but I also believe that's it's "better than the challenges the developers have constructed for you." As I said in the post, it's in those moments that we're tapping into the logic of the developers. Overcoming the fictional adversity that they've created--that feels like a kind of under appreciated connection to me.<br /><br />Thanks for making me think, as always.Scott C. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14584082553675139762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-87619442926266061552011-07-14T02:03:44.552-04:002011-07-14T02:03:44.552-04:00Another great post, Scott-- you got me really thin...Another great post, Scott-- you got me really thinking.<br /><br />I find the online gaming world and my own relationship with it deeply complicated. I've played my share of multiplayer games from Pong through the most recent Portal. And yet the current generation of online gaming experiences is largely absent from my repertoire.<br /><br />For me, video games have always been an intensely personal experience, a sense of "me versus X" where the quest to conquer X is a journey for me and me alone, often leaving me with lasting sense of satisfaction (sometimes decades later). Like you, gaming is not the deeply immersive experience that I crave when I'm wondering what my friends are up to or engaging in that sort of social play-- in fact I'd go so far as to say that I consider online gaming a different form of entertainment than solo gaming.<br /><br />But it's more than that, of course. There's the other side that I'm somewhat loathe to admit, namely that I'm probably a touch too insecure in my own abilities as a gamer. I don't like the catch-22 that I feel thrust into-- I feel inadequate and so I feel self-conscious playing. But the only way I can improve is by playing through that sense of inadequacy, publicly sucking for the faceless masses. I've even been known to create "dummy" accounts to protect the integrity of my regular pseudonym. All this is of course exacerbated by the reality of multiplayer gaming today and the "bots" (human or otherwise) that mar what was once a much more visceral, real experience (I do have fond memories of my hours spent playing Goldeneye 64 with my buddies, for example).<br /><br />Offline I'm not only free to hone my skills however I see fit (allowing my illusion of digital dignity to persist), but more broadly to have the experience that I (usually) want to have-- immersion without the distraction of the real world. <br /><br />All that being said, I'm trying out the Uncharted 3 Beta right now. I suck. And it's hard sucking. But I'm giving online gaming another go. I'm not sure that I like it-- online I'm driven by the desire to be better than everyone else; offline I'm driven by the desire to be better than me. Somewhere between the two lays my poorly articulated explanation for why I've never embraced online gaming. <br /><br />Ha, that ended up a bit longer than intended!Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10521973210197204413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-84562396946201247482011-07-13T15:26:42.695-04:002011-07-13T15:26:42.695-04:00the next thing to go is crackbook and google+ acoc...the next thing to go is crackbook and google+ acocunts.<br /><br />then you'll feel much much better.<br /><br />My wife bought me a 13month sub to live gold and I activated it to play 20minutes of G.R.A.W.2 .. then let it expire without ever using a gold feature again.<br /><br />Is this what "growing up" is? Is this what our parents and teachers always told us to do? Are we just not "hip enough" or "with it" anymore??? The grouchy narc who tells those punk kids to get back to school on a friday afternoon?<br /><br />who knows? I see someone with a gamerscore of over 100,000 with every game maxed out with every dumb little achievement done and I think they need a life.. badly.<br /><br />of course it seemed to coincide with having kids and getting married....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-25010766086617430862011-07-13T14:20:38.296-04:002011-07-13T14:20:38.296-04:00I've never plugged into Xbox Live, despite all...I've never plugged into Xbox Live, despite all the peer pressure I've gotten over the years. Simply because the act of playing video games was always an introspective experience for me, and I'm just not a multiplayer type of gal. I'll save my neuroticism towards people through all these social media outlets, but for the love of god please don't interfere with my gaming. Thank you for writing this and giving me a more eloquent justification for why it's acceptable to remain unplugged.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-28158612618216094362011-07-13T14:18:59.832-04:002011-07-13T14:18:59.832-04:00I considered making a comment about how this is th...I considered making a comment about how this is the first step in you becoming a hermit. That it's only a matter of time before you'll show up for a taping of Reviews on the Run in ripped jeans, grunting profanities while combing your scraggly beard with your disgustingly long fingernails. <br /><br />But I agree, gaming's best moments are when you're sucked in by the atmosphere of an incredible world and you're able to let your mind drift into a place so far from the annoying trivial matters provided by our everyday reality.CorruptCamel.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16949255546770436973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092463760286231519.post-55488662573013158902011-07-13T13:54:10.603-04:002011-07-13T13:54:10.603-04:00You know, considering that I infrequently play mul...You know, considering that I infrequently play multi-player games with people I know (few exceptions), and gamerscores are starting to lose meaning for me (after you reach X0,000, the marginal benefit is nil), the friends feature really isn't useful, is it?<br />Huh. Fancy that.QuizMasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002225907915835084noreply@blogger.com