COLLECTING AND COMPLETING IN VIDEO GAMES

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Dear community!

some of you might know but most don't: I'm writing my diploma thesis about the topics RPG-Maker, Video Games and Video Game Music in conjunticon with a practical work (my project Assembling the Void).

Right now I try to find a more in-depth approach and hit the topic complex "Growth/Collecting/Completing", mostly referring to Video Games but also to the cultural phenomenon of collecting (stamps, Star Wars action figures, whatever).

I'd like to share my thoughts with you and I am looking forward to your reaction, assumptions and input, because this topic might address everyone reading this as all of us are artists in some way or the other and I guess everyone of us knows a bit about Video Games.

Please excuse my non-native English as I am German and try to translate my thoughts as good as possible. :)

A short introduction:

Half a year ago, right before the launch of Diablo 3, the developer Blizzard announced, that all (randomly selected) participants of the Diablo 3 Beta would gain a special Feat of Strength (some kind of special Achievement that does not award Achievement Points) and exclusive Banner that could not be obtained any other way - non-beta-testers would never ever get the chance to add these special items to their collection of ingame-rewards. Even though both banner and Feat of Strength wouldn't influence the gameplay (like giving any kind of advantage of owners over not-owners), Blizzard's discussion raised an immense uproar spread across the fan community (well across the people that had been turned down by the random generated beta accesses in the prior months). They felt betrayed and separated in first and second class users.

What happened to these people? They got pissed off, just because of some bits and bytes?
Well, the developer they admired, took away the possibility to "completely complete" the game right before launch. No matter what they did, how far they progressed, how many levels they gained- they would never get this little special bonus.

Cut.

Most RPGs (and other RPG-insert-any-other-genre-here-hybrids like Borderlands or even Casual Games) are together with implementations of story telling and fictional worlds based on the ability of character development, increase of levels and items in possession or to say it short: growth, growth, growth! This is so essential for RPGs that it has to be mentioned in any RPG-Genre-definition.

You can compare the phenomenon of collection to collecting issues in the real world. I distinguish between Indefinite Collecting (in cases of no precise target but let the collecting grow and grow. Examples would be collecting of dices, wooden animals, little fairy dolls) and Definite Collecting (collecting for a precise aim, like completing the Pokédex or a certain series of post stamps).



I will introduce you to some video (and computer) games that deal immensely with collecting issues or break the rule of usual genre habits.

1) First encounter of collecting might be old Arcade Machines that kept track of high scores. During a game session the players had been able to keep track of their progress and would be able to compare their achievements with other players. Interestingly enough, one of these games, Pac Man set the goal to collect all pills in order to advance to the next level.

2) Pokémon deals perfectly with every aspect of collecting. Collecting badges and HM to progress in the story, complete the Pokédex (Defined Collecting) and collect as many Pokémon of species that you like, you prefer to train or you want to use in battles due to their power. The latest installment, Pokémon Black 2 and White2 , introduces a complex achievement system.

3) Zelda: Mayorah's Mask breaks the rule, because it lets the player collect items and some story progressions but let's the player lose much of their progress in certain intervals.

4) All the Zelda games address the issue of collecting. Even though Link does not gain levels like in usual RPGs, his bar of Health Containers will grow (some of them are optional) and in every Zelda Game there is something to collect in order to advance in the story line. Mostly the tools and weapons that help you deal with the puzzles and the environment, but also key Items that will lead you the way to the games final (like the Music Instruments in Link's Awakening). The Zelda series is one of the few that allows the player to backtrack even right before the end of the game to most of the prior explored areas to discover missed extras. As much as I know there are no missable items (like you find them a lot in FF VII)

5) GTA games share a game progression bar in percent. In order to gain the 100% there have to be solved not only the main story line, but also different side mission and collection of different things (secret packages in GTA III) that will unlock eventually special extras like better vehicles or weapons.

6) The Xbox introduced the first game comprehensive achievement system. Players would not only observe their progress in a single game product they afford but also the overall achievement progress of all their games combined.

7) Battle.net and other MMORPGs save their progress permanently in the Cloud. Digital possessions and collections are no longer based on a certain player possessed hardware machine, but can be accessed from any continent of the world.


And now let's get back to the RPG Maker: can the development of a game be compared to the aforementioned "collecting"? We collect sprites, graphics, sounds, etc. to complete our game and see how it grows? We create worlds, give them inhabitants, characters, dungeons with monsters, towns with buildings. Just to hope to see it "completed" and share it with other people to make us feel satisfied?
Maybe this applies to every kind of the fine arts: composition comes from Latin "componere" which means: to put together. Artists assemble their pieces of art to create something that might last for eternity (or hopefully a long time).

No it gets philosophical:
Why do we try to keep things? We all know that we die some day. From an atheist's point of view we know that we can't lose all our possessions at the latest from the moment that we die. And even modern world religions don't preach that possessions can be transferred to the afterlife.

This leads me to my questions (and I hope this leads to a passionate and diverse discussion):

- Which games do you know, that break with the typical game rules of collecting and completing? Do you know games with some irony regarding collecting?
- Why do you think, do people collect items in general? You can give concrete or more philosophical/psychological answers.
- Do you see connections between collecting in games and hoarding? (Check this funny video: http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6747386/skyrim-hoarders)
- Is collecting an integral part of contemporary video game design? Remember that the first video games (prior to high scores and save slots) did not possess any form of keeping track of progress.
- Do you like achievement systems or do you think that achievements have become way to popular nowadays?
- Do you think that the acquisition of soft skills in real life (like learning instruments languages or traveling to different countries) can be compared to collecting of physical items or level progression in RPGs?

I hope that this topic interests you as much as it interests myself.

So please share your thoughts!
First let me say that what you have here is exceptionally interesting to say the least. I find it funny because I talk about this particular aspect with a friend of mine (though not as great in depth).

He will spend hours on a game trying to collect all of the hidden items while I signify a game as complete when the storyline is completed. The only MMO I've played with any Skyrim relevance to collecting would be Runescape.
Runescape has seasonal events that allows players the ability to get special items or clothing. Everyone is able to participate, but that particular event only happens once every year. So if you miss it, you miss your opportunity. There are people who "save their money" just so they can buy these artifacts that are priced at nearly 1 - 2 million gold.

In response to your questions:

Which games do you know, that break with the typical game rules of collecting and completing? Do you know games with some irony regarding collecting?

- I would have to say the PS3/Xbox 360 award/achievement system breaks the rules. The fact that there are achievements for levels that you complete for games like Assassin's Creed or Skate. I was shocked to even find out that you COULD achieve rewards. To be honest, I can't answer this particular question well because I'm one of those few gamers who doesn't care that much about collecting. As far as games with irony, I can't really think of any that come to mind.

Why do you think, do people collect items in general? You can give concrete or more philosophical/psychological answers.
- I feel as if collecting is all about the chase. It stems from a person's ability to say that "I have that", and it be something valuable that a lot of people (of a particular community) wants. <- In response to gaming. When it comes to collecting in general, it could possibly be a strong attraction, or fixation with a particular item, that keeps you wanting more. It could be because you like it, it could be a psychological problem (hoarders), but I really do think it stems from a desire to have something.

Do you see connections between collecting in games and hoarding? (Check this funny video: http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6747386/skyrim-hoarders)

- I don't see a resemblance. Though I am more than sure that there are instances of hoarding in games (case and point your video), there are plenty of people who collect things in droves. Stamps, bottle caps, pez dispensers, but I wouldn't call it unhealthy. Now, when you start finding dead cats piled under your Marilyn Monroe collection, then you've got a problem on your hands.

Is collecting an integral part of contemporary video game design? Remember that the first video games (prior to high scores and save slots) did not possess any form of keeping track of progress.

- I find this one a little shaky. I see collecting as occurring an abundance of materials that are very similar in some way. In video games, the players collect things, but they usually have some sort of benefit. It isn't like an insignificant object. There are items that don't progress the story, but these items usually lead toward future rewards upon finishing the collection (like finding all of the Al'Bhed books in FFX). I see the aspect of collecting items in a sense of how people collect pokemon cards are more akin to the MMORPGs or sandbox worlds like Skyrim. Even in the early years, when games were in their primal states, the players collected items in the game, and these items contributed to their highscores. The further you got in the game, the more enemies you killed, your reward was a higher score, which was then displayed for the world to see (and attempt to overcome). But, that is my take on that.

Do you like achievement systems or do you think that achievements have become way to popular nowadays?
- I'm not going to say that I am NOT a fan of achievements. But I WOULD say that I out of all of the games I have played, there has only been a minute few that I have attempted to try and beat so as to collect special items (for example, winning the Sphere Breaker contest in FFX-2 because I absolutely LOVED the minigame). Overall, I'm fairly indifferent.

Do you think that the acquisition of soft skills in real life (like learning instruments languages or traveling to different countries) can be compared to collecting of physical items or level progression in RPGs?

- I would have to say that I don't think so. I find it hard to compare skills as strenuous as playing an instrument (which takes years and years of practice) to a game where you learn the basics of fighting (which can be mastered over the course of a few months). Even if you were to take drive within the person playing the game and put them on an instrument, the results wouldn't be close at all. I wouldn't compare the idea of collecting or level progression to the soft skills of life, but I do think that other aspects of games do teach you important life skills that you would use externally. For example, preparing yourself to travel to a distant land. For example, fishing in Karamja in Runescape. I had to make sure I had money for the boat, adequate space for lobster, my hatchet (because if I forgot I would have to backtrack and god KNOWS how annoying that is), a tinderbox. It fostered a since of responsibility (lame I know, but still! It did! that is the point).

I feel as if I kind of swayed away from the main point on that last one, haha, but I hope I helped!
That's an interesting point. It's good to see that there are people where the collecting thing has close to no effect at all.

author=m4uesviecr
- I don't see a resemblance. Though I am more than sure that there are instances of hoarding in games (case and point your video), there are plenty of people who collect things in droves. Stamps, bottle caps, pez dispensers, but I wouldn't call it unhealthy. Now, when you start finding dead cats piled under your Marilyn Monroe collection, then you've got a problem on your hands.


Hm, I remember playing the first Tomb Raider games and kill all the enemies with the usual pistols as they do have unlimited ammo. I barely killed anything with the other weapons (Uzis, Magnums and Shotgun) as I always kept the ammo in case I need it later. (And I started to use the ammunition at the final boss of that game.
It took me very long to get used that game design makes monsters drop ammo (especially in 1st person shooters) to use it right away.

To the people who are reading this: don't be shy, just write your thoughts, you don't need to comment on every question as detailed as m4uesviecr. I'm glad about any little bit of input. :)
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
When games have any sort of interface prompting or daring me to do so, I tend to COLLECT ALL THE THINGS. I don't collect much of anything in real life, so I'm not entirely sure what about games compels me to do so. Part of it is that completion equals satisfaction: I definitely like to feel like I've played the entire game. Getting 80% of the achievements is in some ways the same as beating 80% of the story. I feel like I stopped before I beat the game. I wouldn't stop 80% of the way through a movie, so I'm not gonna stop 80% of the way through a game. There's more to it but that's part of it.

It really pisses me off in games like Pokemon where they have a list of all the things and pretend you're supposed to be collecting them and even use "Gotta catch 'em all!" as the game's catchphrase, but then you can't actually collect them all in the game. The same thing happens in games where the last few things to collect are borderline impossible. A lot of games have achievements or other meta-goals like this. Kill 1000 enemies in a row without taking damage. Collect a hundred billion gold. Dodge 200 lightning bolts. Go to the convention in New York five years from now to get your copy of Mew. They wouldn't make the last 5% of the story require that; why make the last 5% of the achievements require it? Obnoxious. I want to beat my games. That's everyone's goal when playing games: to beat them. Why make it impossible to do so?

When there are a billion trillion things to collect, my desire to do so drops dramatically. Similarly, if the game doesn't track my progress on something, my desire to do it drops to basically zero. It's very clearly not something I'm supposed to do any more, so I don't attempt it. Collecting every item in Kingdom of Loathing is both basically impossible to do and basically impossible to know you've done, so no one does it except for like three mentally deranged people who deserve medals and need showers. It only frustrates me when I feel like I've been strung along all game thinking that what I was doing was an optional "real gamer checklist" or whatever, and then a hundred hours later it's like, haha, sucker, just kidding. You can't really do that.
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