Has anyone done a study of "masochism" within gaming?

Repeated trips to Hutton Orbital

Did that a dozen plus times during a CG, although the thing is that once you're in supercruise you can do other stuff for a while. So it ain't that bad.

The GIMPP run was really stupid, though, as involved dropping off cargo at a whole bunch of places (incl Sag A*) so you couldn't just point & wait for an hour.

Um.

Yeah, if I'm a member of any user faction it's the Hutton Truckers because of te stupid/pointless stuff that they get up to. :eek:
 
Did that a dozen plus times during a CG, although the thing is that once you're in supercruise you can do other stuff for a while. So it ain't that bad.

The GIMPP run was really stupid, though, as involved dropping off cargo at a whole bunch of places (incl Sag A*) so you couldn't just point & wait for an hour.

Um.

Yeah, if I'm a member of any user faction it's the Hutton Truckers because of te stupid/pointless stuff that they get up to. :eek:

What other stuff?

In supercruice you still getting drifting if the controls are not held steady.. I'm pretty sure some cmdrs hire there own copilot...
 
I had fun buy beating part of the game most gamers consider unbeatable. Its all about fun at the end. Its very simple - its a challenging game and the rewarding feeling at the end is great.

So isn't that a form of masochism though, you put yourself through a hard and challenging (and sometimes not an actual fun experience) to get the end reward of satisfaction?

masochists gonna masoch ... in a game and anywhere else in their lives.

no, i don't know about any particular study of that on gaming, but i'm curious about what you deem symptoms of it. say if someone is trying to git gud in combat, or a stubborn merchant insist on delivering in open, even if they are 'abused' once and again that isn't masochism for me, it's sacrifice or enduring hardship for a greater good (learning, achieving a goal, getting away with it ...). it's only masochism if you *enjoy* being abused, not if you tolerate it for specific reasons.

i think you could find plenty more examples of (apparently) masochistic behavior on the forum rather than in game.

Like I say above I'm certain that purposely enduring hardship for a reward is masochism?

Because I prefer my life to be easy, and my games to be hard, not the other way around. ;)

In all seriousness, I play games for the stories they generate, to experience alternate realities, and to solve problems that will never come up in real life. Games where success is guaranteed don't generate interesting stories. I get far more pleasure out of overcoming a challenge, especially if it requires outside the box thinking, than I do from getting the gaming equivalent of an "I Participated" trophy.

Everyone is different. Some people enjoy Dwarf Fortress. Some would rather play the Sims. Some fall between those two extremes.

Ah my life has been and is hard so I prefer my games challenge to be not too easy but not ridiculously hard.




Just had a word with me missus on the subject and she says she can't understand when I'm on a racing sim and trying get that last fraction of a second , I won't give up and the feeling of getting that time is damn good. But the crappy laps were I make mistakes are not fun.....So my missus doesn't understand why I keep at it (especially when the air turns a tad blue ;) ). I suppose by my own interpretation of "masochism" in this thread I qualify myself there don't I.

Bottom line is humans are a weird bunch! I pity the Aliens who attempt to make sense of us. :)
 
"entertainment" is an interesting term, and shares etymological roots with intention, tension, intense etc.

i mainly play games (tabletop games, card games, computer games as well as read books, and watch movies, and do soome of the sports i do) for intensive experiences. for relaxation i cook, eat, drink, walk, sit around with my family, and so on. beside going mining in ED because it is relaxing once in a while ;-)

entertaining means for me mainly something creating any intense feeling, which includes anger, grief, rush, focus, challenge etc.

i would say, the difference for me between those feeling connected to a game (book, movie and so on) and RL is that you can always turn off a game, close a book, switch of the screen or leave the cinema. i wouldn't play a game which doesn't has a chance for failure, or anger, or panic, but i also wouldn't play a game which you can't turn off (or punishing you hard to turn off). while i like to be entangled and immersed, i don't like to be strangeld.
 
Games doesn't only have to be a thrilling rollercoaster to people to hop on a few minutes to have fun... Games can also be a form of emotional entertainment. And why shouldn't they?
The Last of Us, Shadow of the Colossus, What Remains of Edith Finch are examples that feeds on the mind and soul. You keep on playing regardless of how depressing and rough they are because they are good games. They are destroying your mind, and you are ok with it.
Dark Souls, Ninja Gaiden (Xbox 2004), are a little different games. While they are hard on they player, they also provide a massive sense of emotional satisfaction as a gamer when you success. And it's that hunt for satisfaction that keeps the player playing despite getting your butt kicked for hours and hours.
 
Last edited:
bit off topic but I'm the op so I give myself permission!

Reading those earlier reports I must admit I hate the reports that say games make people violent, that's such a flawed premise that I can't believe these people get any funding for these studies. To me it's obvious that many who are more likely to have a tendency towards violence and abuse of people will gravitate towards the more violent games...NOT the other way round. I'm reminded of a study I read somewhere that said sleep was bad for people because we slept far more in the past and didn't live as long.....incredibly stupid assumption to make eh?

Although I do think that if a violent person played games they would play MP now because they would get "off" on causing a real person mental harm. Not everyone of course, most people do have good moral compasses to varying levels.
 
"entertainment" is an interesting term, and shares etymological roots with intention, tension, intense etc.

i mainly play games (tabletop games, card games, computer games as well as read books, and watch movies, and do soome of the sports i do) for intensive experiences. for relaxation i cook, eat, drink, walk, sit around with my family, and so on. beside going mining in ED because it is relaxing once in a while ;-)

entertaining means for me mainly something creating any intense feeling, which includes anger, grief, rush, focus, challenge etc.

i would say, the difference for me between those feeling connected to a game (book, movie and so on) and RL is that you can always turn off a game, close a book, switch of the screen or leave the cinema. i wouldn't play a game which doesn't has a chance for failure, or anger, or panic, but i also wouldn't play a game which you can't turn off (or punishing you hard to turn off). while i like to be entangled and immersed, i don't like to be strangeld.

hmmmm, interesting, thanks for that extra bit of info about the term "entertainment".

I think the other issue is people have different levels of tension/stress that they can cope with, hence difficulty settings in most games. But I find most games don't seem to get my personal "level" right at all.

So basically almost all people have a "level" of masochism?
 
bit off topic but I'm the op so I give myself permission!

Reading those earlier reports I must admit I hate the reports that say games make people violent, that's such a flawed premise that I can't believe these people get any funding for these studies. To me it's obvious that many who are more likely to have a tendency towards violence and abuse of people will gravitate towards the more violent games...NOT the other way round. I'm reminded of a study I read somewhere that said sleep was bad for people because we slept far more in the past and didn't live as long.....incredibly stupid assumption to make eh?

Although I do think that if a violent person played games they would play MP now because they would get "off" on causing a real person mental harm. Not everyone of course, most people do have good moral compasses to varying levels.

Repped.
Violent people does violent things. The society in the 80's said that Karate Kid would spark violence. :D
 
Games doesn't only have to be a thrilling rollercoaster to people to hop on a few minutes to have fun... Games can also be a form of emotional entertainment. And why shouldn't they?
The Last of Us, Shadow of the Colossus, What Remains of Edith Finch are examples that feeds on the mind and soul. You keep on playing regardless of how depressing and rough they are because they are good games. They are destroying your mind, and you are ok with it.
Dark Souls, Ninja Gaiden (Xbox 2004), are a little different games. While they are hard on they player, they also provide a massive sense of emotional achievement as a gamer when you success. And it's that hunt for achievement that keeps the player playing despite getting your butt kicked for hours and hours.

Yup I sometime prefer a game to tell me an interactive story, I'm also a huge fan of TES games, with massive open worlds and a pretty damn good difficulty slider (not a fan of the arbitrary 3-5 settings : Very easy EASY MEDIUM HARD Very hard. 0%-100% slider is the best IMO.
 
Repped.
Violent people does violent things. The society in the 80's said that Karate Kid would spark violence. :D

Really?! Karate Kid? LOL.

Also I do believe mankind was incredibly nasty and violent from the get go, what games caused Homo Erectus to smash someones face in? Oh wait I think it was GTA Pleistocene wasn't it?
 
Like I say above I'm certain that purposely enduring hardship for a reward is masochism?

that's an oversimplification, by that same reasoning we can say we are all masochists because we endure working for dumb people for a reward. true, the limits are open to interpretation, and it isn't a precise term to begin with (not even in clinical psychology). when it is used colloquially as you do it's usually for the hyperbole. op asked for a specific study of masochism related to games.
 
hmmmm, interesting, thanks for that extra bit of info about the term "entertainment".

I think the other issue is people have different levels of tension/stress that they can cope with, hence difficulty settings in most games. But I find most games don't seem to get my personal "level" right at all.

So basically almost all people have a "level" of masochism?

- as for the level: sure, everybody has a different level, but there is also getting used to it. i bring an exampel from one of my sports, mountaineering.

i have been through the process of getting someone into mountaineering twice. what is an adventure for one going the first time(s) into the mountains, isn't an adventure for me anymore, and what is an adventure for me is warm-up run for a professional... two years ago i was glacier-climbing in italy, all the tools at hand, sticks, boots... while i saw an local guide going the same "tour" in flip-flops. meeting on a hut later (he was of course faster), where he packed his tools for his adventure... the adventure is the same, nevertheless!

- as for everybodies masochism ... i'm not to happy with taking the term out of its context of psychological disorders or consensual BDSM. it's a very specific term, which requires sexual arousal connected to the activity ... now, while rule 34 is for sure in place, i doubt that most gamers are playing most games for some kind of sexual arousal.
 
lol! just realized that's you! dude, get your stuff straight! what are you, a masochist??? :D

LOL ;) yeah I know, I'm now trying to understand myself and been doing that for 46 years and still no closer. I confuse myself a lot (got a few mental health issues that complicate matters a tad!). Originally made the thread because I was thinking "Why DO people do that", then I realised I also do it to a lesser degree, and that someone with less tolerance than me would look at what I endure and call me a "masochist". :)

Humans...eh...so hard to understand.
 
- as for the level: sure, everybody has a different level, but there is also getting used to it. i bring an exampel from one of my sports, mountaineering.

i have been through the process of getting someone into mountaineering twice. what is an adventure for one going the first time(s) into the mountains, isn't an adventure for me anymore, and what is an adventure for me is warm-up run for a professional... two years ago i was glacier-climbing in italy, all the tools at hand, sticks, boots... while i saw an local guide going the same "tour" in flip-flops. meeting on a hut later (he was of course faster), where he packed his tools for his adventure... the adventure is the same, nevertheless!

- as for everybodies masochism ... i'm not to happy with taking the term out of its context of psychological disorders or consensual BDSM. it's a very specific term, which requires sexual arousal connected to the activity ... now, while rule 34 is for sure in place, i doubt that most gamers are playing most games for some kind of sexual arousal.

Makes me think more that difficulty levels in games are vital.


Not sure I agree that the term is exclusively psychological disorders or consensual BDSM, I clarified the meaning in my original post....that's an equally valid use of the word IMO.
 
Makes me think more that difficulty levels in games are vital.

well, yes, and no.

a game of dice has no difficulty level, and people play it to win and (!) loose since several thousand years.

Not sure I agree that the term is exclusively psychological disorders or consensual BDSM, I clarified the meaning in my original post....that's an equally valid use of the word IMO.

any use of a word is valid. it's just that the context of masochism makes it hard for me to fit concepts like challenge, gaming, success, failure etc. into it - but that's just me.
 
well, yes, and no.

a game of dice has no difficulty level, and people play it to win and (!) loose since several thousand years.



any use of a word is valid. it's just that the context of masochism makes it hard for me to fit concepts like challenge, gaming, success, failure etc. into it - but that's just me.

Ah but that's a game of "chance", there's no difficulty because "chance" is equal, so no need to have any sort of artificial "balance". As soon as "skill" comes into it the difficulty settings have to be introduced to be fair.

Well what's the end chemical response in Masochism? Pleasure endorphins?...are sexual and non sexual endorphins the same or different?
 
Back
Top Bottom