I often time wonder when playing Dark Souls 2 why I keep going. I am often times aggravated by the difficulty of the game and what can feel like a mundane process of getting from one area to another. Despite these barriers, I still play the game and even feel like I enjoy it overall. I did some thinking and reading and might have found one reason why.
Reinforcement is not only about timing but about the reward we get. We all know the basics of positive or negative reinforcement at a base level. Even more recently, in science, it is well known that positive reinforcement is much more motivational in getting people to comply than negative reinforcement. This pulls up the conundrum of why some games deemed really difficult are so popular.
Dark Souls is punishing and has recently been joined by several games that have upped their difficulty. Again and again, you are punished through a repetitive cycle of demanding encounters. Even the simple mobs offer a challenge that can eclipse boss fights and turns controllers into projectiles. Another example is the popular game Super Meat Boy. In many ways, this game is just one frustrating fail after another. Some may simply like the punishment or, maybe, they could be overjustifying their feeling towards the game.
Overjustification hypothesis is defined as "the proposition that a person's intrinsic interest in an activity may be undermined by inducing him to engage in that activity as an explicit means to some extrinsic goal." (Lepper, Green, Nisbett 1973) This idea of offering some reward right away or some meaning to an activity might lessen the justification of enjoyment of the said activity. This is usually shown in the example of receiving monetary compensation for some remedial task but in the case of video games, the currency is positive reinforcement. Without the immediate justification for playing the game, a player must find external contingencies (justification outside of the game) to continue their behavior.
You won't have to look far in the reviews or forums to find people bragging about their ability to take down bosses or get through Dark Souls. What we could be seeing is the results of players justifying their time in this game by a manufactured outside reason for their enjoyment. It's not that the game is fun and hard but it is hard and beating hard games is an achievement, therefore beating a hard game is fun. This makes the external justification of the game fit with the actions necessary to actually beat it. While it may sound like just an excuse for someone to say they are having fun, this mindset can cause the player to simply percieve that they are in fact having more fun. Much like in the Lepper study linked above, they find a reason to enjoy the task.
This is far from being anything besides speculation but in a game with so much negative reinforcement, there has to be some reason for the fan fair. If the time of relief vs frustration playing Dark Souls is averaged I doubt it would slant towards relief. For some reason, many have justified playing through not only one game in the series but a second and third. I will admit the game feels rewarding when you finally beat the boss but that small tinge of joy can be eclipsed in the very next room, yet I continue to that room anyways.
Reinforcement is not only about timing but about the reward we get. We all know the basics of positive or negative reinforcement at a base level. Even more recently, in science, it is well known that positive reinforcement is much more motivational in getting people to comply than negative reinforcement. This pulls up the conundrum of why some games deemed really difficult are so popular.
Dark Souls is punishing and has recently been joined by several games that have upped their difficulty. Again and again, you are punished through a repetitive cycle of demanding encounters. Even the simple mobs offer a challenge that can eclipse boss fights and turns controllers into projectiles. Another example is the popular game Super Meat Boy. In many ways, this game is just one frustrating fail after another. Some may simply like the punishment or, maybe, they could be overjustifying their feeling towards the game.
Overjustification hypothesis is defined as "the proposition that a person's intrinsic interest in an activity may be undermined by inducing him to engage in that activity as an explicit means to some extrinsic goal." (Lepper, Green, Nisbett 1973) This idea of offering some reward right away or some meaning to an activity might lessen the justification of enjoyment of the said activity. This is usually shown in the example of receiving monetary compensation for some remedial task but in the case of video games, the currency is positive reinforcement. Without the immediate justification for playing the game, a player must find external contingencies (justification outside of the game) to continue their behavior.
You won't have to look far in the reviews or forums to find people bragging about their ability to take down bosses or get through Dark Souls. What we could be seeing is the results of players justifying their time in this game by a manufactured outside reason for their enjoyment. It's not that the game is fun and hard but it is hard and beating hard games is an achievement, therefore beating a hard game is fun. This makes the external justification of the game fit with the actions necessary to actually beat it. While it may sound like just an excuse for someone to say they are having fun, this mindset can cause the player to simply percieve that they are in fact having more fun. Much like in the Lepper study linked above, they find a reason to enjoy the task.
This is far from being anything besides speculation but in a game with so much negative reinforcement, there has to be some reason for the fan fair. If the time of relief vs frustration playing Dark Souls is averaged I doubt it would slant towards relief. For some reason, many have justified playing through not only one game in the series but a second and third. I will admit the game feels rewarding when you finally beat the boss but that small tinge of joy can be eclipsed in the very next room, yet I continue to that room anyways.
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