Big numbers in games

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kuchitsu
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Big numbers in games

Post by kuchitsu »

Do you guys also feel like in games where you can increase your HP\ammo\whatever at some point numbers kind of lose that exciting feeling? Like if you have 2 hearts at the start and you discover an extra heart it's such a big deal, but when you have around 30 you don't quite "sense" the magnitude of your vitality anymore. Or it can be neat to power up your weapon from doing 16 damage to doing 27 damage, but once you hit the 100 or maybe 150 mark you don't care that much anymore. It's just some big number that doesn't feel any different from other big numbers, and so the feeling of progress is kind of lost. This might be why the beginning stages of many games tend to be my favorite.

Is this a known problem or am I just a number nerd? Have there been any interesting attempts to solve it?
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Lousku
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Re: Big numbers in games

Post by Lousku »

Seems like this effekt doesn't happen to some people and they play Cookie Clicker for years.
then again i don't know anything
maybe easier not to think abouut alöl things thought than not things thought ... or something..=?
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Hosp
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Re: Big numbers in games

Post by Hosp »

Yes this is a big problem in games, especially MMORPGs. For example Maplestory and WoW in the early days there weren't big numbers until late game, and those weren't ridiculous, just some thousands, nowadays your damage is millions osv instead, impossible to care/keep track of (specificallly in maplestory, WoW hasn't yet gone as bad in this regard)
my theory is kids feel more powerful the bigger/more numbers that pop up on your screen when you attack osv, same with gear and all that. I've always disliked this big numbers fetish but wat cane one do ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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pawq
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Re: Big numbers in games

Post by pawq »

Yep, totally agree kuchi. Got this feeling very much in The Witcher 3 atm (near the end of the game, but it's been growing for some time now).

Somehow Skyrim avoided this imo, maybe because there are a lot of different skills that you can invest in and there's a limit to how much you can invest, and all perks etc. give pretty significant boosts in performance, so always feel like you gain a lot from those.

Also,
Hosp wrote:my theory is kids feel more powerful the bigger/more numbers that pop up on your screen when you attack osv, same with gear and all that.
+1
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Ruben
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Re: Big numbers in games

Post by Ruben »

This is why I like roguelikes. Each run is always so short every upgrade counts, and they count a whole lot too.
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Sunshine
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Re: Big numbers in games

Post by Sunshine »

dark souls has good design with weapons where you dont really pick weapons for damage but for their moveset and playstyle, sure some are "better" with slightly better dmg but mostly it doesnt matter what you use if you know how to play, same with health, you can get more of it but it will help you survive just a few hits more at the most vs bosses. most people do enjoy the process though and like it when their beginner shitter feels powerful but im pretty much same as you and it tends to get boring and i dont play those games much. i feel like its "im getting better at this game" vs "my character just got better" and its not as satisfying
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