It’s possible to limit the level of time sink involved in playing video games; you just have to pick the right game and the right play schedule.
My best example: Civilization IV multiplayer. Since there’s a limited number of things you can do on any given turn, and since the multiplayer can be done asynchronously, everyone can simply agree to a rule like “we play one turn each morning and one each night”, and then (after a single synchronous night getting past all the ultra-short initial turns) there’s no way to spend more than 30 minutes or so a day on the game. Granted, each game takes a few months...
And Civ IV is at least as interesting and instructive as the Prisoners’ Dilemma simulations investigated here recently. It’s been years since I played, and I still have fond memories of teaching a friend that “Let’s all gang up on the guy in first place” is not a safe strategy to share with someone who’s in second place but who’s thinking more than one step ahead.
I’d also say that multiplayer games are a good way to socialize, which is important, but there is the caveat that you have to learn to separate your impressions of someone as a person from your impressions of them as a player. I’m far more trustworthy in real life than as a player in games where “betrayal” is a possible strategy, for example, and I’ve known people for whom the opposite was tragically true.
It’s been years since I played, and I still have fond memories of teaching a friend that “Let’s all gang up on the guy in first place” is not a safe strategy to share with someone who’s in second place but who’s thinking more than one step ahead.
Well, when I heard “Let’s all gang up on the guy in first place”, my thought process continued in his voice with “and then you’ll be in first place, and we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!” So agreeing to the strategy would have meant dozens of turns of ganging up 4-against-1, which would be too easy, followed by being ganged up on 1-against-3, which would be too hard. Being ganged up on 2-against-3, on the other hand, sounded fun, given that we were already ahead and would have the element of surprise.
So instead of agreeing to the strategy, I feigned agreement, then warned the 1st place player what to prepare for and teamed up with him instead. After everybody built up their militaries, Mr. 3rd Place launched the attack on Mr. 1st Place, then I immediately launched the attack on Mr. 3P, whose army was now mostly bogged down behind enemy lines. The war basically broke in two, with a near-stalemate between 1P vs. 4P+5P in the south, while I made major gains against 3P in the north. By the time 3P was defeated I was far in the lead, decently defended against any possible betrayal by 2P, and had just successfully made a large amphibious assault on the wealthy-but-underdefended rear of 4P and 5P, so they all conceded.
Hmm… that first paragraph makes me sound brilliantly Machiavellian in hindsight, but that’s not true. I did have those strategic thoughts at the time, but my “true rejection” was more along the lines of “1P showed mercy when he could have smashed me (perhaps profitably) much earlier in the game” and (despite my pro-gaming-betrayal stance above) I couldn’t bring myself to violate our peace agreement after that.
Since there’s a limited number of things you can do on any given turn, and since the multiplayer can be done asynchronously, everyone can simply agree to a rule like “we play one turn each morning and one each night”, and then (after a single synchronous night getting past all the ultra-short initial turns) there’s no way to spend more than 30 minutes or so a day on the game. Granted, each game takes a few months...
This is the purpose of Freeciv’s variant Longturn.
(Freeciv being the open-source game inspired—mostly—by civilization 2.)
I don’t know Civ, but for practising the kind of strategizing you’re describing I’d recommend Neptune’s Pride.
and I’ve known people for whom the opposite was tragically true.
Heh. I’m one of those people. I practically fell in love with my first ally. I’m lucky they were really nice when they broke my lines, essentially throwing me a sword and telling me to defend myself before starting the invasion. I’d have been heartbroken otherwise. I guess to an extent I thought they were damning us both to death by zombie bot rush by breaking our alliance, but their judgement was apt, after crippling me they proceeded to conquer the galaxy, barely worse for wear.
It was from this game that I learned the reason I have an intermittent habit of falling head over heels in love with friends probably has more to do with diplomacy than anything else. I can rapidly build unreasonably strong alliances from nothing this way, at the cost of forming a few confusing, inconvenient bonds when I hit the wrong target. It’s always nice to learn that the quirks of your mechanism serve a purpose.
I am a college student, so avoiding time sinks when playing games (which I do not have time to play often anymore) is a major issue. I did find that Vindictus fills that requirement for me. Each dungeon is about 10-15 minutes long, and a person can solo-play pretty easily. The bosses involve a real challenge, and the whole game basically relies on your reflexes (it’s a slash-and-hack type game).
It’s possible to limit the level of time sink involved in playing video games; you just have to pick the right game and the right play schedule.
My best example: Civilization IV multiplayer. Since there’s a limited number of things you can do on any given turn, and since the multiplayer can be done asynchronously, everyone can simply agree to a rule like “we play one turn each morning and one each night”, and then (after a single synchronous night getting past all the ultra-short initial turns) there’s no way to spend more than 30 minutes or so a day on the game. Granted, each game takes a few months...
And Civ IV is at least as interesting and instructive as the Prisoners’ Dilemma simulations investigated here recently. It’s been years since I played, and I still have fond memories of teaching a friend that “Let’s all gang up on the guy in first place” is not a safe strategy to share with someone who’s in second place but who’s thinking more than one step ahead.
I’d also say that multiplayer games are a good way to socialize, which is important, but there is the caveat that you have to learn to separate your impressions of someone as a person from your impressions of them as a player. I’m far more trustworthy in real life than as a player in games where “betrayal” is a possible strategy, for example, and I’ve known people for whom the opposite was tragically true.
What’d you do?
Well, when I heard “Let’s all gang up on the guy in first place”, my thought process continued in his voice with “and then you’ll be in first place, and we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!” So agreeing to the strategy would have meant dozens of turns of ganging up 4-against-1, which would be too easy, followed by being ganged up on 1-against-3, which would be too hard. Being ganged up on 2-against-3, on the other hand, sounded fun, given that we were already ahead and would have the element of surprise.
So instead of agreeing to the strategy, I feigned agreement, then warned the 1st place player what to prepare for and teamed up with him instead. After everybody built up their militaries, Mr. 3rd Place launched the attack on Mr. 1st Place, then I immediately launched the attack on Mr. 3P, whose army was now mostly bogged down behind enemy lines. The war basically broke in two, with a near-stalemate between 1P vs. 4P+5P in the south, while I made major gains against 3P in the north. By the time 3P was defeated I was far in the lead, decently defended against any possible betrayal by 2P, and had just successfully made a large amphibious assault on the wealthy-but-underdefended rear of 4P and 5P, so they all conceded.
Hmm… that first paragraph makes me sound brilliantly Machiavellian in hindsight, but that’s not true. I did have those strategic thoughts at the time, but my “true rejection” was more along the lines of “1P showed mercy when he could have smashed me (perhaps profitably) much earlier in the game” and (despite my pro-gaming-betrayal stance above) I couldn’t bring myself to violate our peace agreement after that.
Awesome.
This is the purpose of Freeciv’s variant Longturn. (Freeciv being the open-source game inspired—mostly—by civilization 2.)
I don’t know Civ, but for practising the kind of strategizing you’re describing I’d recommend Neptune’s Pride.
Heh. I’m one of those people. I practically fell in love with my first ally. I’m lucky they were really nice when they broke my lines, essentially throwing me a sword and telling me to defend myself before starting the invasion. I’d have been heartbroken otherwise. I guess to an extent I thought they were damning us both to death by zombie bot rush by breaking our alliance, but their judgement was apt, after crippling me they proceeded to conquer the galaxy, barely worse for wear.
It was from this game that I learned the reason I have an intermittent habit of falling head over heels in love with friends probably has more to do with diplomacy than anything else. I can rapidly build unreasonably strong alliances from nothing this way, at the cost of forming a few confusing, inconvenient bonds when I hit the wrong target. It’s always nice to learn that the quirks of your mechanism serve a purpose.
I am a college student, so avoiding time sinks when playing games (which I do not have time to play often anymore) is a major issue. I did find that Vindictus fills that requirement for me. Each dungeon is about 10-15 minutes long, and a person can solo-play pretty easily. The bosses involve a real challenge, and the whole game basically relies on your reflexes (it’s a slash-and-hack type game).