I prefer my games to be...

I don't believe you get the point of this poll.

No, if you read it neither are linear. You didn't vote right because you're supposed to vote for the genre rather than the example.

Nothing wrong with that! And no reason for flaming, aren't we all friends here on indieDB after all?

I think you're completly wrong, playing a game is no different than watching a movie or reading a book, don't get me wrong, i love playing games with my friends, but it's much less productive since i learn much more playing story driven single player games, that's how i learnt english by the way.

Of course learning another language is productive, but it is the exception. What else of use can you learn playing a single player game? Also, I agree with you about the movie part, but not about reading books. Reading a book is more productive than most things, especially playing games. It doesn't really matter what book it is, reading exercises your mind.

"What else of use can you learn playing a single player game?"

Have you ever played any real simulation game?
You will be amazed how much detailed some simulation games are. I learnt a ton about planes, GT racing cars, history and experienced lots of things I wouldn't be able to experience in real life. And that's all single player. I am not sure but from the things you have typed here you sound like a casual gamer to me. If that's the case, then yes you can't learn anything from a shallow, arcade, casual game.

I suppose I should have specified non-simulation and non-educational games. I really just meant to include your typical mainstream games, like stuff you can get from Steam or Desura.

Yes, games from that category are mostly oriented towards just fun.

Along this thread of conversation, playing games, even casual games, develops quite a bit about a person, even if it isn't "educational." The simplest arcade games develop hand-eye coordination, memory, problem solving, etc. I don't believe that any game is "unproductive." It might be that you're unaware of what has been trained in you because you are so accustomed to having the skill. But compared to someone who hasn't logged time playing these casual games, you would probably notice some major differences in what gamers consider "foundational" skills.

I completely agree with you. I think you have made a very good point. Even the most simple casual game makes you better at something even it's too little to notice at first. And as you have said I always notice people that are not very familiar with computers are having trouble with the most basic actions like having a good control over mouse or basic windows functions etc which are like second nature to people who use computers frequently. Although the same thing is valid for almost every activity. Like sports, driving a car, cooking etc.

@Arethrid - Learning these things isn't exclusive to computer games, you can learn the same 'skills' doing almost anything on the computer. All you are doing is coming up with excuses to justify your time playing games.

Nah, I know playing games is mostly wasting time. I am not trying to justify it. I play games simply because I enjoy playing games. I don't need any other reason to play. And I do sports (tennis), I have plenty of friends and I read everyday. Playing games doesn't stop me from doing those things either.

Well thats good. I'm not saying theres something wrong with playing games, I'm just calling it what it is. "Everything in moderation"

@Lithare - Thats bull, you don't play games to learn these 'skills', you play games for entertainment. If you were really interested in developing those skills, you would know that there are many better ways to do so. Games are unproductive because there is always a better way to spend your time. You can make something, exercise, read a book to learn something or to develop a new skill, socialize with friends or meet new people, the list goes on.

I have a suggestion for you, don't go loosely giving life tips for everyone, especially on the internet, people usually have different opinions in what is less or more valuable for them. ;)

You're assuming there's no reading needed in video-games? the list of games that actually requires reading is imense, if you've spent less times playing online shooters with your friends (i guess :P) you would probably know this, also learning new languages were just an example i gave you of what one can learn by simple playing a videogame, i thought you would have guess it yourself..
Anyway, videogames are the main reason i've got interested in also traditional/digital art, coding and actually reading books, I gave The hobbit a chance after playing the old pc game lol :P, i have to confess that books didn't seems interesting to me before..
And that is just my experience, i'm sure there are others to share their experiences on how games were useful in their lives.

I suppose it depends what game you are playing. Playing COD is probably less productive than playing minecraft, but then again, doing real stuff out of legos or the like is more productive than playing minecraft.

Yea but when your young like me you have nothing but time to kill and videogames are usually the only way unless you have a friend that lives 5 minutes away, but when you don't have much time i agree with you

Yeah I get you, I was young once too lol. However, if I had the experience then that I do now, I would not have wasted the peak of my learning and creative ability xd

This. This is how you get far in life.

'By competitive I assume they mean multiplayer?'

no. by competitive they probably mean competitive....otherwise they would have said.....ya know... multiplayer.

natural selection is a competitive game, counter strike is a competitive game.
killing floor is a co op game just like dungeon defenders is co op game. all 4 of those games are still multiplayer, but only 2 are competitive.

I fully agree.

I voted non-linear, but I can also enjoy linear gameplay.

Those examples were just so people can get the jist of what they mean. I think... lol

FTL is a linear game. There is some variation along the way but there is one goal and one general path. Progression is generally the same with some randomisation.

It's fun but you always go through a certain number of sectors and beat the boss ship (which is always the same).

Is FTL linear or not, and how linear it is can be debatable. They should have definetively found a better example for linear game type. Actually i think they should have found better examples for almost all types, except maybe emergent.

I feel that the gameplay isn't linear even if the path is.

I don't think so. I personally think M&B is crap, and i can't say i know anyone who actually likes that game (even though i do know the game has it's fans). They could have found a better example for non-linear game.

I'd also like to add Mario to this list. Not only does it still have the first three, but he stays the exact same through out the game. YOU grow. How emergent is that?