Nor do I often bother to finish games: I enjoy experiencing what they offer, but I view games as something to enjoy, not something to conquer, so once I stop having fun with one -- whether that's fifteen minutes in or fifteen hours -- I'll simply stop playing it, completion or even seeing the ending be damned. I treat movies, music, even books the same way: if I can't enjoy the experience, then there has to be something else, something far more tangible than a 'thank you' screen, to drive me to finish it.

I calculated it once, and of the circa 3k games I've played in my life -- roughly -- I've beaten less than 300, and as far as 100% completing them I've only done maybe 4 or 5. Even some of my favorite games of all time I've only ever seen the ending of by watching friends play or watching playthroughs online, but despite all this I still consider myself a hardcore gamer at heart due to the sheer amount of time I dedicate to the hobby as a whole.

The GTA games are some of the only games I've ever devoted time to where the experience was so incredibly off-putting right off the bat I didn't really even want to start most of them. Even Postal doesn't bother me as bad, and that game's literally a murder simulator. Rock Star are many things, but I can't think of a single game they've worked on that I really enjoyed -- not even Red Dead Redemption, which in an unbiased world I'd have to admit is probably one of the greatest games ever developed from a narrative and design perspective. I respect their decision to take such an uncommon angle on game design and narrative... but I still feel that it's a direction that games could have afforded not to have taken, and yes I do feel like a hypocrite and a prude for saying that.

Melanie E.

and that DOES potentially hurt my ability to enjoy the games too....

I grew up with the idea that, when I play a game, I should treat it as though the avatar I play is an extension of me. This always guides my choices when it comes to the way I'll play games: the characters I'll choose, the paths I'll take, and so on. I've never played an evil campaign in a game, or chosen to see what the dark side options really are, simply because I have this... block, against doing as a digital character something I wouldn't be willing to do if I were in the same situation.

There are games that do well in drawing you/me out of that type of mindset, but they tend to be few and far between. The Destroy All Humans games, by placing you in the role of an invading alien and, more importantly, building the world into such a parody of '50's paranoia, did this, as do simple arcade titles like Rampage, wherein the idea is that your character is decidedly inhuman. Heck, Saints Row exists in a world where murder makes for the most popular game show on air, people idolize gangbangers to the point of giving them their own breakfast cereals, and actors research film roles by literally joining in bank heists; it's ridiculousness personified. But, if a game is supposed to be even mildly realistic or based around the idea of people and how they treat each other, it all goes out the window. I can find a way to embrace a military role by empathizing with the ideals of the side I'm supposed to be fighting for, or an explorative role by imagining the thrill of discovery, but to put myself in the mind of an indiscriminate killer with no reason other than greed or malice? It's the same reason I love monster movies but can't stand psycho killer films: to embrace the idea of the inhuman is one thing, but to juxtaposition that mindset onto a normal person is loathsome to me.

I love open world games myself. I'll play massive amounts of Skyrim, Fallout, and procedurally generated games galore. But I can't ignore the characters I'm forced to play as for that exploration, and every time they open their mouth/s to spew something more vile and uncomfortable than the last line I'm forced to face those very portions of humanity I'd just as soon avoid.

Melanie E.

though it's true, I absolutely loathe everything about them. My issue is that, as someone who's usually empathetic and open-minded enough to be able to see what other people find attractive about something even if I don't care for it myself, I fail to see what, if any, attraction these games have.

The only thing that I can possibly imagine is that people just enjoy being evil bastards to one another without cause, and while that does fit with my general view of humanity, I know plenty of people I'd call good, decent sorts who throw that idea out the window. If you want exploration/open worlds there are plenty of games that offer that without relying on playing an outright murderer, or if you want to play through crimes even there are games that contextualize that so that you're more of an antihero, trying to make your character identifiable or likeable in some way. The GTA games, every one I've played, you're just a jerk who's out to screw others, and that's... sad.

Melanie E.

I can sink hours upon hours into Minecraft, though I mostly play on a heavily modded server with my cousins: you just don't know what the game really IS until you've got ziplines, wingsuits, water wheels, and are having to figure out the engineering puzzles involved in fitting five different power systems and a computer network into a house designed to look like a mushroom with no visual networking.

I'm a slow player in most games. I meander, chew up the scenery, admire simple things and linger in the alcoves and corners while everyone else is dashing around madly just trying to reach the end. I'm the kind of gamer Minecraft was built for, though admittedly I'd rather play around with aesthetics in the game than really get into the super-hardcore engineering and power gen systems.

Melanie E.

though I do have a lot of respect for a lot of rappers from the eighties up into the mid-'90s, since not only did they have more respect for the music they sampled for beats and the like but they typically had some kind of message to their music, messages that have been misconstrued by later generations turning the expressions of pain and distaste for the lifestyle found in a lot of early "gangster" rap into a glorification of those same elements by modern "artists." Even with an appreciation for the music of that period, though, it's not a culture I've ever felt interested in diving into, and movies with similar themes to the GTA series I'll avoid like the plague, from Dead Presidents all the way to Don't Be a Menace.

I never got into MMOs, mostly due to growing up in a place where 28.8k was the fastest internet we could get until about '08, and by then the WOW school of MMOs was the norm. I also tend to be extremely weary of the false impression of freedom MMOs try and foster with their stat/level up systems, since I'm of the mind that, if you're only going to let 2 or 3 of potentially hundreds of combinations/values be viable, don't offer the hundreds of other values to begin with. Call it the DnD geek in me, but if I want to walk into battle with a warrior statted up to not wear armor and only use sticks, then gosh darn it there should be SOME way to make that work; don't let me put tons of points into Unarmored and Stick Bashin' only to tell me 120 hours into the game that my character is now worthless unless I give up all originality and make them a carbon copy of everyone else.

The Elder Scrolls games are wonderful, and I've got a good 100+ hours in every game since Morrowind. I didn't have a PC, at all, back when Daggerfall/Arena were relevant, but even they are neat, what I've played of them nowadays. Pity they couldn't bring that same breadth of character customization and open-ended exploration to the MMO.

Melanie E.

I quite enjoy racing games, especially the more sim-ish ones (Forza/Gran Turismo with all assists off, the new Dirt Rally,) but I hate driving in real life: it scares the bejeezus out of me, and strikes me as far too dangerous an activity to be so casually abused by the majority of people on the road.

Melanie E.