Gamers Get Their Kicks From Dying
I can't even count the number of ways I've died. Like most gamers, I've been slaughtered by AK-47-wielding terrorists, poisoned by eldritch spiders and blown up with alien frag grenades. I've also been impaled on medieval swords, ripped limb from limb by dinosaurs and impassively stomped by 20-story-tall, walking war machines that barely noticed my existence.
Yet here's the thing: It's possible that these deaths have been among my most enjoyable game experiences.
This is the fascinating argument of a new paper by Niklas Ravaja, a scientist who has done pioneering research into the emotions of gamers as they play. In "The Psychophysiology of James Bond: Phasic Emotional Responses to Violent Video Game Events" -- published in this month's edition of the journal Emotion -- Ravaja reaches an amazingly counterintuitive conclusion: Gamers don't like shooting their opponents, but they're suffused with pleasure when they themselves are shot dead.
"It was," he tells me when I call him up, "quite a surprise."
Does this mean the reason we suck at CS is because we like it? Not really, but it does indicate is that the "annoyance" of dying may be less than the relief of the stress you may be feeling at the time. At least, that's what this seems to indicate.
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That's the thing.. When ur trying not get killed ur pretty stressed out.. but once u get ur a$$ nailed.. Ur reliefed... no more stress :p.. at least for the next couple of seconds.. then.. Back to the "Not To Let Someone Else Kill You" stress... |
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Yeah, exactly, and that's what will give such results in any sort of psychological tests of this sort. I'd say this Ravaja guy has reached the wrong conclusion, though, because I KNOW that I don't go into these games to get a kick out of dying. I do it the kill the other guys that play. He's probably reaching such a conclusion either because he is not a gamer at all, or is just trying to score some points for being different. |
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Indeed...This guy is getting the opposite conclusion. I use to play CS in a dedicated manner, playing leagues all the time...It aint fun dying...lol. Especially when your record is on the line to advance to the next tier. But when it comes to other titles, you do get a bit of relief after you do die though..I could see that pretty clearly...But he's come to the wrong conclusion. |
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I dunno about any of you, but I enjoy hearing 'Killing Spree', I think that relieves more of my stress than dying. Then again, you gotta die sometime. |
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Exactly :) |
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Dying is part of gaming, but not the most enjoyable part. The most enjoyable part is climbing up out of the dust and dirt victorious, then wondering if you can do better and rerunning it to see if you can make improvements in game play. |
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The fact that I'd enjoy dying in a MMO after getting fully buffed is just laughable =P. It's just a inconvenience =P. |
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the best part to me is when you have won the game |
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Yes, it seems like he has misinterpreted relief from the stress of trying not to die which is brought about by death as pleasure. I for one certainly find it far more pleasurable in gaming to kill my opponents than to get killed at an inopportune moment. |
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What nonsense. Winning isn't everything... it's the only thing! |
lol..well said =P. But for me it's an addiction..>_<..I get wayyyyy too competitive...=P |
recoveringknowitall:|
usally when its me i get more stressed out over the spawn timer taking to long because i want to get back in the game and at least try to win |
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I am going to agree with all of you here on the misinterpretation point....however I can say: I don't go into a game looking to die but often I am entertained in the WAYS that I get fragged -- like an awesome headshot and my body just does a backflip or getting "pwned" (sorry futuremark) by a vehicle that I didn't notice and my body flies across the map. Like I said its not dying itself that I like -- the WAYS I die sometimes make me giggle |
That's the only exception =P. For some reason reading your post reminded me of the good old days of Battlefield 1942...I use to take a jeep when I was a engineer, load it up with tnt, hop in and drive at a tank, plane while taking off, or enemy players...I'd just out as I charged at them, and then detonate...lol. It was just so much =P. |
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i used to take the plane in that game and wait for my teamates or the enemy got on the runway and iwould start going and if i was lucky they would hit there head on the wing and die still play Battlefield 1942 too |
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I dont get my kicks from dieing I get my kicks from killing as many per life as I can. But I can understand what they mean in this article. Because dieing Isnt fun you try harder not to die and thus when you die it is like ARG ! |
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