DISCLAIMER!!

This is the first article I've written, as such, it's not very good!!!

I've used "you" all this article, and in retrospect I don't like it since it feels like what I've wrote is applicable to anyone and everyone. That's not true so...

But regardless, I still stand by what I've written... I've enjoyed video games a lot more since I stopped watching let's plays and stuff like that.

Why You Should Stop Watching People Play Video Games

Stop wasting your time doing something that could be better if you actually did it

1. You're missing out on great experiences of video games that you could have yourself

2. You're wasting your time not doing anything

3. Ultimately, you're going to waste your time, so why not waste doing something that feels great instead of being passive ?

Video games have become an integral part of the entertainment industry. They are a way to relax, have fun, be competitive or meet up with friends... They can even lead to multiple careers.

But today, a vast majority consumes video games through video, which completely destroys the vision they have on these games they watch

I'm not gonna talk about specific cases, like game reviews and speedruns. Those are pretty understandable, although I'd still be hesitant to watch a one hour speedrun, let alone an 8 hour one. This is gonna be about let's plays, people basically playing the game for you.

To be frank, I used to watch a lot of video games videos, and never experienced stuff for myself. I thought video games were not that fun anymore, until a friend told me to play dark souls. I was kinda sad seeing him play alone, thinking I couldn't join the fun. He told me to buy it and play it immediately, and not to watch stuff on youtube beforehand.

That was an eye opener for me. Experiencing the game, the storytelling, the artstyle, the music, the ambiance, the gameplay, the world and level design. A fantastic entertainment piece, which can never be compared to an album or a movie. Since then I don't watch any let's play, or even trailers that much. Not spoiling the experience for yourself is such a critical point to actually having fun and enjoying it (who knew!)

You're missing out on video games

First of all : these games you're watching are great. They look good, the music's great, and they feel good to play. That's the triforce of videogames, and the best thing is that you are active in the delivery you'll get of it.

Playing a game makes you appreciate and master the gameplay, while admiring great looking or original scenes and listening to music and atmosphere, which is probably dynamic.

Now when you watch someone else do that, well you lose two thirds of that triforce. Even the video, the only thing that remains, is tainted by youtube compression algorithms and editing done by the person creating it. So now you've taken this entertainment masterpiece, and you're actually making the experience worse by watching someone play instead of playing it yourself.

The entire gameplay is lost, except for the visuals. You have fun only through the person you're watching, when some of these games rely on that to be fun. You're losing that ambiance and all the dynamics of a well crafted atmosphere and replacing it with someone reacting to stuff that's happening.

I'd say you're whole experience is now tainted.

Now compare this to actually playing the game yourself. Put yourself in the mood, have the sounds directly and experience the game, like it has been designed to be. Get immersed in it and actually enjoy it.

You're wasting your time

How are you going to justify spending so much time NOT doing the thing you like, and wasting the experience for yourself? I thought you liked video games?

They are made to be enjoyed, not consumed. You're supposed to be active in the game, not passive. It's completely shifting the experience, and I'd argue, in a bad way. Especially when you think that, when playing video games, you're mostly wasting your time. And now, instead of being a fun time, it's a vegetable time, watching people have fun for you.

You could even argue that it adds something that single player games don't have: a parasocial environment. That happens a lot with people putting a stream on the side while playing, it's for "a presence". But in a way, you're actively not enjoying to the fullest two things at once: the video game you're playing, and the thing you're watching. Ultimately these things tend to end up in feelings of loneliness or felling unaccomplished.

Ultimately, you're going to waste your time, so why not waste doing something that feels great instead of being passive ?

Entertainment can always feel, in some way, a waste of time. So try to enjoy it.

I think there's two situations here:

• You like video games but lack the drive to play them, as they make you feel wasteful.

• You don't really like playing video games but more the people you're watching play, or just watching the game instead of playing it.

For the former, get this: you have to play and watch less video games. What actually made you play those in the first place? Was it pure boredom, or was it the entertainment potential of the medium?

It's probably a bit of both of course, but there was probably a time where you genuinely enjoyed video games. At a certain point, it shifted towards consumption of video game related content and you grew distant to video games while actually consuming everything related to the media at the same time. And this is probably because you ended up ruining the experience for yourself, as I argued in the first part.

You need to take a break from the entire thing. After some time, some boredom, and I hope for you, new ways of not being bored (books, sports, new creative hobbies like 3D modelling), make a list video games you really want to play, and that you haven't "sabotaged". Play only one at once, take your time, take breaks, and relearn to enjoy them.

If you don't actually like video games (you may realize this after taking a break, if you're in group 1), I'd suggest just not watching video game related content. Really, focus on the other entertainment that you actually like, be it books or movies or woodworking, whatever. Ultimately the video game industry is pretty bad, you're not missing out on anything special. Maybe one day you'll get interested in them again, well if you do don't spoil the experience for youself and you'll enjoy it.

Conclusion

Of course there's another end to this spectrum. People playing video games non stop. Or watching speedrun events, or well thought out review etc... But for now, here's my advice for what I've talked about, and for generally enjoying video games more.

• Don't play multiplayer competitive games, unless you do so with thinking beforehand. What I mean is don't solo queue and don't invest too much thinking in your ranking or skill. These games are glorified time sinks, the gameplay loop is large as the ocean but shallow as a puddle. Play games that are finished, avoid time sinks and unfinished games (early access).

• Don't spoil the experience for yourself. Watching a trailer or two is okay, but don't watch people play, even if they were on some private beta or even reviews. That would be like watching the review of a movie before watching it yourself. Of course if you know the ending to a movie you're not going to enjoy it as much. Well you can spoil the mechanics and the gameplay of a game. Don't do that. You don't have to watch a 30 minute review to be exactly sure you'll like it. Just pirate it and but it afterwards if you want to support the devs (or don't).

• Take your time dude, relax, do just that. Don't watch an anime on your second screen while playing, this makes zero sense. Be in the moment. Don't put your own music too, unless you get really bored of it. Take time to really experience that game. Focus on why you like it, what makes them great. If it doesn't for you, see second group paragraph in the third part.

• Don't spoil long games with the wiki. Of course after tens of hours playing, you can, especially when some of them have secrets so obscure. But at the beginning, just enjoy the thing and appreciate the sense of discovery and exploration.

At the end of the day, you choose what you do. If you chose to just remain passive and get fed content, that raises a lot of problems and questions. I think it's easier to distance yourself from all this consumerism, and think about why we enjoy doing things. It's probably not because it numbs us of the boredom or makes us feel less lonely by having a presence.