Enjoyment Editorial was excellent..

[Klyde Chroma]

I simply want to say that editorial that was recently posted on the art of enjoying games was superb and insightful.

I myself have known for quite some time that I can suck the fun out of a circus if I let myself.

Particularly when it comes to my gaming I have a myriad of traps and pitfalls I must avoid to enjoy them properly. The biggest hurdles for me personally include but are not limited to:

-New release hype the "I must play everything mentalitiy": This is the biggest one for me. Even if I have already established I don't in fact like a game I feel I NEED to experience and play them based on the fact that I see news on siliconera pop up every other day. In fact I will, and have, purposely delayed playing things I know I love for a day 1 purchase of something I know I will in fact dislike based on hype alone. I hate this about myself.

-I wonder what else is out there: Even if I am thoroughly enjoying the game I am playing, I can easily become lost in thought/obsessed with the next thing I am gonna play and rush the hell out of something I could savor. Another tendency I am trying to work on.

I wish I had more time now to elaborate more. But I simply had to express my appreciation for the editorial. Really hit home.

[Taelus]

Thanks for your feedback. I'll make sure Kyle catches this. Let me copy what I wrote on the editor's forum, since it's relevant here, too.

I read this in full last night, and it's really wonderful. I've learned in graduate school that cynicism is rampant, and the more education (and I mean that broadly, education meaning experience in any field) people tend to have, the more critical and unable to enjoy they become. It's nice have this editorial to give voice to my thoughts-- that being critical is okay, but not at the expense of being able to sit down and enjoy someone. It's like when I have conversations with a friend who is constantly nitpicking every little game he plays, explaining "well it's fun for a little while but then you realize how limited the mechanics are/this one tiny workaround that totally makes the game easy/etc etc," and I'm like "so?"

We've discussed Final Fantasy IX, and he'll say "it's dumb because the bad guy comes out of nowhere and Amarant is pointless." He's literally unable to enjoy the experience because of a few flaws.

That's not how I play, it's not how I enjoy, and I think you hit the nail on the head: we enjoy things in spite of flaws-- it doesn't mean we forget the flaws, but they don't dominate our thoughts of the experience.

That said, I get that new release "must play everything" feeling, too. For years as a teenager I was able to play basically everything I wanted, and now as an adult that's just not possible, with less time and more games available than ever. Learning to just sit and enjoy what you've got is difficulty, but well worth it.

[Klutz64]

This article has put me in a bit of a philosophical quandary. I always assume I have the opposite problem, that I find it tough to admit to myself when I'm not having fun. I like to root for the underdogs all the time, sometimes to a fault where I simply will myself to enjoy something that I would actively dislike if it wasn't so unpopular.

But this article has got me thinking that maybe I've just grown weary of silver linings. Maybe our community's growing culture of cynicism and hatred is starting to rub off on me. Is it really so wrong to look for the good in games or other media that others can find nothing but faults with? After all, that's why I switched up my career goals from one in video game journalism to one in video game PR.

[Holykael1]

Funny thing, I am very cynical of the world and I can critic things to the point of being disappointingly obnoxious but as far as video games go I am very relaxed and can just sit back and enjoy a game for what it is, even if I am aware of it's flaws. A lot of the "criticism" often times feels so nitpicky and blown out of proportion, even inconsequential to me that I simply don't get the negativity. It seems the popularity of a game also influences opinions and that's a shame because it clouds people's judgements.

Sometimes my cynicism can feel quite daunting and depressing, often times leading to very nihilistic points of view, but I find my freedom when playing video games, playing games blocks that "awful" part of me. (I dont think it's actually awful but sometimes it can get a little out of hand, I believe critical thinking is a key part of living but you shouldnt let it run amock unfiltered, I need to accept that we live in a flawed world with very flawed people, including myself of course.)

[Yggdrasil]

Maybe our community's growing culture of cynicism and hatred is starting to rub off on me.

That usually happens when you start taking the more toxic point of view that the gaming "community" has on a day-to-day seriously. Being critical about what you like is great and all that jazz, but is easy for most people to use that as an excuse to be a dick and ruin the enjoyment of others just for the sake of it.

With time you have to learn to separate the noise from the constructive criticism or analysis some people dare to do by having an open-mind about an issue instead in taking the easy route and exaggerating said issue with a "everything is terrible all the time" kind of attitude.

@Taelus:

"it's dumb because the bad guy comes out of nowhere and Amarant is pointless."

More than nitpicky, to me it sounds like he missed the point of why those things are in the game in the first place;

・Necron is mainly a tribute of Exdeath and Cloud of Darkness, and since Final Fantasy IX is an FF about FF up until that point as a series I don't see how it doesn't make sense having a final boss that highlight two bosses from the classic era of FF.

・Amarant fulfills his role as a character by portraying his theme of 'arrogance' in the narrative just like any of the other main characters does throughout the game.

[Klutz64]

I do hate when people criticize Necron like it was completely new to the FF series for the final boss to have no other role in the game other than being the final baddy. FF1 did it, FF2 did it to an extent, FF3 did it, FF4 did it, and you could argue the other FF's did it in the sense that the final bosses' final forms were never given any context. Hell, at least Necron gives a better excuse than "It was me pulling the strings all along!"

Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Carry on.

[Holykael1]

RELEASE THE RAGE INSIDE YOU KLUTZ64! Join the dark side!!
On a more serious note, I fucking hate bandwagon jumping and completely uninformed opinions.
Another thing I hate is how people who criticize Squall's character in FF8 for being a douchebag many times act like douchebags themselves not to mention that the character has the right psychological background to be the way he is and that he grows into a great character by the end of the game. It's like they didnt even play the game themselves, fuckers FUCK fuckity fuck! Sorry for all the swearing, it feels liberating in this particular situation.

[Dice]

・Amarant fulfills his role as a character by portraying his theme of 'arrogance' in the narrative just like any of the other main characters does throughout the game.

God I love when that one line can change how you see things.

Happened to me for a few movies I didn't get either.

[Annubis]

Another thing I hate is how people who criticize Squall's character in FF8 for being a douchebag many times act like douchebags themselves not to mention that the character has the right psychological background to be the way he is and that he grows into a great character by the end of the game.

I prefer Squall when he's being a douchebag, mostly because when he isn't, he's just a boring zombie that walks around saying "Whatever" to everything.

[Holykael1]

Another thing I hate is how people who criticize Squall's character in FF8 for being a douchebag many times act like douchebags themselves not to mention that the character has the right psychological background to be the way he is and that he grows into a great character by the end of the game.

I prefer Squall when he's being a douchebag, mostly because when he isn't, he's just a boring zombie that walks around saying "Whatever" to everything.

Aahah, I was like that a few years ago. It was my full on nihilistic phase. My most common sayings were "I don't care" and "Whatever", the equivalents of those in my native language that is. Im glad to have grown out of it.

[Annubis]

Aahah, I was like that a few years ago. It was my full on nihilistic phase. My most common sayings were "I don't care" and "Whatever", the equivalents of those in my native language that is. Im glad to have grown out of it.

(I'll never regret translating that thing. It's a goldmine of situational images)

[Dice]

Another thing I hate is how people who criticize Squall's character in FF8 for being a douchebag many times act like douchebags themselves not to mention that the character has the right psychological background to be the way he is and that he grows into a great character by the end of the game.

I prefer Squall when he's being a douchebag, mostly because when he isn't, he's just a boring zombie that walks around saying "Whatever" to everything.

I also like long-haired Luke from Tales of the Abyss for that reason too..well, sorta.  When he becomes the good guy with the short-hair, he's nice and a changed man and quite like other heroes. But with long hair he was just funny to me, telling women and authority figures alike to shut up.

[Darilon]

RELEASE THE RAGE INSIDE YOU KLUTZ64! Join the dark side!!
On a more serious note, I fucking hate bandwagon jumping and completely uninformed opinions.
Another thing I hate is how people who criticize Squall's character in FF8 for being a douchebag many times act like douchebags themselves not to mention that the character has the right psychological background to be the way he is and that he grows into a great character by the end of the game. It's like they didnt even play the game themselves, fuckers FUCK fuckity fuck! Sorry for all the swearing, it feels liberating in this particular situation.

Different characters click with different people. Some people dislike characters like Squall and love characters like Laguna. The reverse is also true. Everybody loves Vivi though <3. I tend to prefer Seifer over Squall myself. To me, he was the more interesting character by far. To others he was probably a bit too one dimensional but that is the great thing about life, everyone has different tastes except about Vivi <3.

[Klyde Chroma]

the final bosses' final forms were never given any context.

Forget limiting examples to a few Final Fantasies... I think this tends to be a JRPG thing in general.. In fact, I think you would have a far shorter list of end game bosses that did not turn out to be or morph into some creature/demon things that was otherwise up til that point unknown.

Another thing I hate is how people who criticize Squall's character in FF8 for being a douchebag many times act like douchebags themselves not to mention that the character has the right psychological background to be the way he is and that he grows into a great character by the end of the game

Different characters click with different people. Some people dislike characters like Squall and love characters like Laguna.

One of the primary appeals of ff8 to me was Squall. He REALLY clicked with me. I felt like his douchebag behavior made  him vulnerable and far more human than most do-gooder MC's and as such (for me) much easier to relate to. Then again maybe I just saw a bit of myself in Squall because I know at heart I can be a overtly whiny and depressive guy myself if I'm not mindful.

Back on topic though...

Upon thinking on it after posting last night, I realized a character flaw of mine I touched on that invades EVERY facet of my life (not just gaming). Quite simply I can follow through with easily, but never trust in, my decisions.

In other words, with gaming it goes a little something like this. I want to play X and Y. Both seem good, both I will enjoy. I play X... but constantly believe I would be enjoying my time with Y more. This I sort of touched upon in my initial post. What I did NOT realize until last night is that I do this WITH EVERYTHING!!!!

Every time I eat I think another viable option would taste better. When working on art, I always think other color and tonal choices would have been a better move. If I wear a f**king black t-shirt for the day I SWEAR the quality of said day could have been exponentially greater if only I had chosen the long sleeve!!!!! If I'm smoking Marlboro Menthols I'm damn-near certain with every puff I would enjoy my longstanding favorite Camel Turkish Silvers!!!!!!!

Sadly those ^^ examples are not exagerations. Reinforcing the articles point that the magical ability to enjoy lies within ones own self and not so much the media or stimuli under criticism.

For the record BTW... I always have both menthols and non on hand... I have like a closet full of exactly the same jeans and shirts so I don't have to put much thought or decisive energy into my attire and I select my foods based solely on what is objectively the healthiest options.

[Holykael1]

RELEASE THE RAGE INSIDE YOU KLUTZ64! Join the dark side!!
On a more serious note, I fucking hate bandwagon jumping and completely uninformed opinions.
Another thing I hate is how people who criticize Squall's character in FF8 for being a douchebag many times act like douchebags themselves not to mention that the character has the right psychological background to be the way he is and that he grows into a great character by the end of the game. It's like they didnt even play the game themselves, fuckers FUCK fuckity fuck! Sorry for all the swearing, it feels liberating in this particular situation.

Different characters click with different people. Some people dislike characters like Squall and love characters like Laguna. The reverse is also true. Everybody loves Vivi though <3. I tend to prefer Seifer over Squall myself. To me, he was the more interesting character by far. To others he was probably a bit too one dimensional but that is the great thing about life, everyone has different tastes except about Vivi <3.

You are absolutely correct but that was not what I was trying to get across. I was talking about the hypocrisy of some of these people who completely bash the character by behaving like the very thing they hate and also for saying dumb shit completely devoid of any analytical substance. It's okay to dislike the character but atleast be consistent with your opinions and be well opinionated.
I love Laguna, he is easily one of my favourite characters in the series. His backstory really breaks my heart and he is undoubtedly one of the strongest, kindest and bravest characters in the series.