Enjoy vs Appreciate

 This is kind of related to my discussion of fun the other day. Particularly the idea of being spontaneous or intentional.

I think a lot of people pursue video games by zeroing in on a genre or genres that they really like. Games are evaluated in terms of how close they are to some kind of ideal version of that kind of game. That ideal version can be a real game that they played and loved or it can be some kind of Platonic ideal. To me this is what I mean by enjoying in the title. You focus on pursuing what you enjoy.

The other model is appreciating. To me this means you make the effort to take a game on its own terms and you are open to new experiences. The point is that you are trying to engage with games for what they are trying to do moreso than on your own personal tastes.

I find I kind of struggle with both these models. As I said in the post on fun, a lot of times what is fun on day x is not fun on day y. I think that is a me problem. I am just very changeable and kind of moody. So I may enjoy an rpg one day and the next be in the mood for a factory sim. I also feel that sometimes it can kind of settle into a rut. I spent a lot of time playing the Elder Scrolls Online. I played it because I liked it. But at the same time, it got to be kind of a rut where I where I was just doing it because I didn't know what else to do. I kind of wanted to branch out but somehow other games felt kind of intimidating somehow. There were new things to learn and adapt to instead of the old familiar comfort.

In some ways I have made some effort to try to be a bit more intentional and to try to appreciate games on their own terms. I also feel that the mode of appreciating is more the place of the critic. The critic tries to speak more generally so they need to take games on their own merits.

But at the same time, sometimes I feel like this emphasis on trying to appreciate something risks turning a fun hobby into work. I start to feel that I have projects that I am "supposed" to be doing. It can feel a bit cut off from the spirit of fun.

Sometimes I feel like the key is excitement. When I feel excited about something then it is fun. But I just feel it is very difficult to maintain that sense of excitement.

 Anyways, as it always is, the balance is probably in the middle. There is always going to be an area you feel more comfortable with and areas you feel less comfortable with. I have determined that competitive multiplayer first person shooters are probably not my comfort zone. So much so that it is probably just a fact of my life that I will never be able to compare and contrast them in any intelligent way. So that is just one example of a limit on my willingness to appreciate. So it is just a balance. In some ways it is necessary to find your comfort zone but equally necessary to be willing to branch out and try some new things.