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[Synless]

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/2024071...laying-twitch-youtube-lets-play-no-commentary

Sometimes, I find it difficult to distinguish my memories of playing a game from seeing someone else play it.

I made it through only five bosses in Dark Souls with my pigtailed powerlifter protagonist before I decided that the game’s pimple-eyed basilisks were too annoying, and it was time to focus on what was for dinner instead.
But in the years before and after I decided I was quitting Dark Souls, I also watched one boyfriend, one roommate, and several YouTubers play the 40-hour game from start to finish. I had the pleasure of meeting Ceaseless Discharge only once in my abandoned playthrough, but, over my hundreds of hours observing other people’s games, the oozing boss became a familiar flame to me. I got so used to seeing Blighttown’s rickety, rotten wooden pathways that they might as well have formed the driveway leading up to my parents’ house.

So I’d discuss it as if I had played it, because my knowledge of the game matched that of its most dedicated players.

Sounds like the kind of thing I would expect a generation of cucks and cuckqueans to believe.

if it’s good in the bedroom it must be good in everything else.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Metal Gear Solid 4?

 

[laynelane]

If she had said her familiarity from watching a game was equivalent to playing it - that would have been debatable, but not too outrageous. But actually playing a game requires a different skill set and approach - which naturally leads to a different experience. The write-up kruis posted indicates she liked to take a science-based approach to entertainment topics. You'd think such an approach would at least understand the difference between engaging passively and interactively with an entertainment medium like games.

 

[rabbity-thing]

Depends on the game.
Many modern games take absolutely no skill and the gameplay offers no way to flex.
Sony walk a thons come to mind.
Probably better off watching it - and itll save you some money.

On the flipside - you cant simply watch someone play Sin and Punishment, DoDonpachi, or Sega Rally.
Stuff like that needs to be played.

depending on the game, this statement is not untrue

I dunno, guys, but even walking simulators are all the better for the control that the games give you.

Where you choose to look. How long you linger. The act of overcoming hesitation. Plowing forward. Treading carefully.

These are all aspects unique to gaming and even with the most story-focused games, our agency matters because gaming is, in essence, an interactive medium. Games only progress because we actively allow them to. They do not exist passively.

Look, I recently finished Scorn and Still Wakes the Deep. Both very narrowly focused and both absolutely crazy bananas awesome. While I'm sure I could have gotten the gist of these titles by watching a let's plays, they would have been severely reduced experiences.

 

[Krathoon]

You gots to play the game to fully enjoy it. You master the skills to beat the game. That takes work.

Still, you can have fun watching someone play a game or tag teaming a game.

 

[Aenima]

No wonder when they actually play games it looks like this.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

If she had said her familiarity from watching a game was equivalent to playing it - that would have been debatable, but not too outrageous. But actually playing a game requires a different skill set and approach - which naturally leads to a different experience. The write-up kruis posted indicates she liked to take a science-based approach to entertainment topics. You'd think such an approach would at least understand the difference between engaging passively and interactively with an entertainment medium like games.

I'm sure this chick can't even explain a wormhole with a pen and a folded piece of paper.

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

Just like porn

 

[Neolombax]

This is an incredibly idiotic take

 

[Black_Stride]

Ashley Bardhan as in ex-Kotaku writer?

Sounds about right.

Her articles arent even thought through, its just about driving engagement and meeting quota, look up her articles on most of the sites she now freelances for.....its all bullshit.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I’m much better at Elden ring than I thought!

 

[rkofan87]

well i am watching a lets play of ff7 rebirth and i think its the goy.

 

[trikster40]

He only say this because he also thinks watching porn is the same as having sex.

 

[Sakura]

Kinda depends on the game.
I watched a playthrough of Danganronpa, and I feel like I basically played it.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

As if it makes you an expert in anything

 

[Imtjnotu]

Watching pron is basically having sex

 

[Mobilemofo]

I've a similar attitude to dogging tbh.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Her claim is idiotic. Games are a fundamentally interactive medium. You can be a fan of a game like Dark Souls without actually playing through it thanks to its art, lore, music, design, etc. And plenty are fans of watching games they could never complete or gameplay at a level they themselves can't achieve (personally, I'd rather get a toothpick in the eye, but that's just me).

But being a fan doesn't make you a player though any more than enjoying the Xgames makes you a skater. Why not just say you're a fan of X, Y, or Z instead of acting like you've actually played through the level? It's just weird.


I'll fight you on that last one. Audiobooks are great. Now, saying watching me movie is the same as reading the book, that would be heresy. =P

Fair, hahaha.

How about replacing it with uh...

Your best friend's grandfather died. You attend grief meetings to cope with the loss, because it's practically/polygonally the same thing.

I actually like that one better.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Some games journalists are now reduced to watching games and not even playing them. SMH. Hey, at least a thanks for letting me know NOT to read any of your reviews ever again.

Watching someone play couch coop style is cool and fun too but it's a whole different thing. Same goes for YT watching, it's a different beast/medium almost. Most certainly a different form of interacting with games entertainment and nowhere near the same as experiencing it for yourself.

 

[poppabk]

Time to hit youtube then find a 'git gud' no summons solo erdtree thread and hang out with my fellow chads.

 

[GermanZepp]

Watching a video game is basically playing it

I hear you boss.. we prepare the way to Kojima San new game...

 

[badblue]

Using that logic we all know what it's like to fuck Mia Khalifa

 

[Cyberpunkd]

 

[Danjin44]

In my opinion these people don’t enjoy act of playing video games, they just want to be part of the conversation.

 

[GHound]

having too many morons like this write for your site should get you blacklisted from Meta/Opencritic.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

I'm sure this chick can't even explain a wormhole with a pen and a folded piece of paper.

Perhaps her vagina would be self-explanatory.

In my opinion these people don’t enjoy act of playing video games, they just want to be part of the conversation.

I think you get it 100%, but they don't want to frame things in Positive light, they always frame things that the majority are interested in, no less... in a Negative light.

 

[BlakeofT]

You should also get achievements for watching someone else play.

Unrelated, I'm glad I finally beat Elden Ring.

 

[Rentahamster]

Watching isn't the same as playing it in most contexts. They are both ways to experience a game, but unless this game is a cutscene monster, then these are two different experiences.

 

[WX3]

Watching someone beat the entire Dark Souls series without being hit is my greatest gaming achievement.

 

[MayauMiao]

Not spicy take : Polygon is not game journalism.

 

[MayauMiao]

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20240715203025/https://www.polygon.com/24170801/watching-is-playing-twitch

Extra thanks to you for giving archive link.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Not spicy take : Polygon is not game journalism.

My three buddies used to run a game site and matching YT channel after dinner doing reviews, video uploads and opinion pieces werent journalists either. Just three guys doing hobby shit.

I dont think anyone would consider the avg YT is a journalist or pro reporter either. And they'd be right.

Reminder for people: Just because someone does media stuff under a corporate umbrella does not make them a journalist like they are doing in depth articles for your local newspaper or 60 Minutes. But if you think any media qualifies, then my 3 buddies could had claimed to be journalists too. Ridiculous.

 

[Doczu]

Well, here's my spicy take: if you watch current year AAA gaming slop then he's right. Im

 

[CGNoire]

There just trying to Prime people into paying $70 in the future just to watch people play.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

My god, all those stepmoms and stepsisters....

 

[Plague Doctor]

A random fan site creator exclusively for 'cozy games' or whatever the fuck that means. A 20 subscriber count YouTuber with an annoying speech impediment. A barely coherent AI trained only on American Dad quotes and facts about Idaho.

All of these things listed above are more qualified of being a journalistic source in a hypothetical decent gaming media compared to the current ass clowns who clearly want to be writing about anything other than gaming, which they either don't like, don't understand, or both. At this point, I am not picky so long as it is not these assholes.

Please install ad block to tank their fucking numbers, and continue to spread the idea current gaming journal is a rodeo clown show. Hurt them in the pocket and add to the consensus the whole lot of them are worthless.

 

[Jesb]

I can’t relate since I’ve never watched a videogame played outside of a walkthrough when I’m stuck.

 

[Three]

Most of my gaming is watching people that watch other people play videogames.

 

[DenchDeckard]

There's some things you don't say and this is one of them.

 

[Lambogenie]

Guess I'm doctor. Seen enough doctor shows and videos to qualify.

 

[Boss Mog]

Any real gamer would never say that. The most nonsensical of takes really. The equivalent to: "watching people ride a roller coaster is the same as riding it yourself" or "watching porn is the same as having sex". Most of today's gaming "journalists" have zero passion for videogames. Most of them are degenerates, societal rejects who are hired not for their gaming passion/knowledge/prowess nor for their writing skills but rather for their "identity" and their political activism.

 

[Fess]

I hate watching other people play games.
Guess I hate games then?
Oh well maybe I should sell all my gaming stuff, could buy another guitar instead, and then watch Petrucci play on Youtube so I can keep it as new. Basically the same thing as playing anyway right? Wait! Does this mean I’m as good as Petrucci on the guitar?! Awesome!

 

[GymWolf]

I thought ue5 infinite geometry made polygons obsolete but they still say stupid shit uh?!

 

[Cyberpunkd]

the dude:

edit: beaten!...

 

[Spukc]

Holy shit i fucked like 5K women on hub

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Her articles arent even thought through, its just about driving engagement and meeting quota, look up her articles on most of the sites she now freelances for.....its all bullshit.

Welcome to engagement economy, where the only measure of success is how many clicks and reposts a given piece of content gets. It has infected LinkedIn (I work in Sales, so it's triple dose of what others get), it has infected the news websites where all articles now have clickbaity headlines just to get you to click, so Marketing can say how many "impressions" a given piece of content gets.

 

[StueyDuck]

Source: https://web.archive.org/web/2024071...laying-twitch-youtube-lets-play-no-commentary

Sometimes, I find it difficult to distinguish my memories of playing a game from seeing someone else play it.

I made it through only five bosses in Dark Souls with my pigtailed powerlifter protagonist before I decided that the game’s pimple-eyed basilisks were too annoying, and it was time to focus on what was for dinner instead.
But in the years before and after I decided I was quitting Dark Souls, I also watched one boyfriend, one roommate, and several YouTubers play the 40-hour game from start to finish. I had the pleasure of meeting Ceaseless Discharge only once in my abandoned playthrough, but, over my hundreds of hours observing other people’s games, the oozing boss became a familiar flame to me. I got so used to seeing Blighttown’s rickety, rotten wooden pathways that they might as well have formed the driveway leading up to my parents’ house.

So I’d discuss it as if I had played it, because my knowledge of the game matched that of its most dedicated players.

While it's nonsense. Like everything in life it has it's exceptions.

You can easily watch HB2 and it's essentially like playing it.

But an exception to a rule is exactly that. You still should play 99% games to experience them rather than watch them.

Watching animal well vs playing it is robbing yourself.

 

[GymWolf]

Gen Z in a nutshell

They should have stayed in their father's nutsack.

 

[emivita]

Watching a video game is a passive experience. Playing a game is an active experience. Simple as that. So no, they're not the same duh. Just like physically travelling vs watching some travel blog videos.

Same for porn versus sex. But I've made quite a lot of lucid sex dreams in my life and I consider them an active form of interaction.

 

[Lux77]

US media is really retarded