In a surprising twist to the long-debated topic of video game violence, a recent study suggests that playing violent video games might actually decrease stress hormones in some players. Contrary to popular belief, the study found no increase in aggressive tendencies, indicating a more complex relationship between video game content and player responses than previously thought. The findings have been published in the scientific journal Physiology & Behavior.
For years, the impact of violent video games on behavior has been a contentious subject. Past research has often pointed towards a potential increase in aggression and stress among players of these games. This belief has fueled ongoing debates among parents, educators, and policymakers regarding the suitability of such games for young audiences. Motivated by these discussions and inconsistencies in previous findings, researchers embarked on a new study to explore the physiological and psychological effects of violent video games more comprehensively.
Not if you’re really bad at them.
The key is adjusting difficulty so that it’s not too boring but not too frustrating. I am really bad at Elden Ring but I just made myself over leveled and it’s quite fun. Occasionally I just get help for a boss if it’s too frustrating.
I am too old to care about the pride of being good at it though.
This.
I used to be great at shooters; I’d pull off some ridiculous lucky shot and get accused of botting.
Now I play other games when I have a gap between projects. It’s fun, it’s mindless, and the cacophony of images swirling past my attention settles down in a respite that meditation can’t give me.
I can’t tell you whether or not the violent imagery has or will break my brain faster or slower than karate or the army did. Why don’t we work on the big picture now and work the fine edges later.
Yeah people seem to forget you can just play games for fun.
It doesn’t have to be a challenge or a competition.
There’s a reason different genres exist. For some, not having a challenge or competition is inherently unfun, others might not have fun in single player games. Generally speaking a game that doesn’t challenge you at all though, isn’t fun for many. Not that they cannot be fun at all, Animal Crossing is one of the larger games around, but it certainly cannot fill the “game” void for everyone.
“In the non-violent condition, however, participants with higher scores in Machiavellianism had a higher increase in cortisol” - linked study
So people trying to be manipulative bastards in ‘nice’ games increase thier stress? Interesting.
Unfortunately the source study appears to be paywall and not yet on sci-hub, so don’t know what specific games they used. As to how they define Machiavellianism, I assume something toke this:
“In the field of personality psychology, Machiavellianism is a personality trait characterized by interpersonal manipulation, indifference to morality, lack of empathy, and a strategic focus on self-interest.” - Wikipedia
“In the field of personality psychology, Machiavellianism is a personality trait characterized by interpersonal manipulation, indifference to morality, lack of empathy, and a strategic focus on self-interest.” - Wikipedia
That’s basically how I play every RPG… I don’t care about the NPCs because they’re not real, so everything I do is for the benefit of my character because that makes a tangible difference in the world (namely by giving me more money or power to better manipulate said world).
Awesome, let me Install Postal 2 quickly.
Not surprising at all. Animal’s stress hormones don’t go up after a battle you walk away from unharmed.
I recommend Left 4 Dead 2 for a minimum of two hours after work
Would add Darktide here from a gameplay perspective. The melee in that one is… chef’s kiss.
From pretty much all other perspectives… it’s a TenCent game, so I’m really conflicted.
Obese Megalodon are a nice team tho. Dorks at communicating with their fans, but they don’t stop delivering and creating unique (if similar) products. Even DRG doesn’t hit the same strings as stomping rats or now cultists with a big hammer while slowly dying inside from personal tragedies. A game about a long-gone franchise? A WH40k FPS game where you aren’t a marine? Let them be funded by the devil itself - there’s not many studios like them who manage to stay afloat while staying extremely niche.
I feel like Tencent just buys a piece of everything at that point. There haven’t been a proof it means something yet and they didn’t buy a key amount of stonks anywhere iirc. Probably, having a chinese firm formally on the board is now a requirement to enter the promised land of billion+ people if you don’t have as much leverage as Blizz or Apple. I hope these money went to the team, since it’s Sweden and they are good about it. My first mtx since TF2 was a meme piggy hat in their game, because I felt I can support them this way, if just a little.
Fanboy rant’s over.
Agreed, the team’s talent and passion shine through, it’s a really satisfying FPS, engaging team-based comp stomper, and damned solid 40k ‘mood’ game (not a slight toward the design, quite the opposite!) Soundtrack’s kickass, too!
I’d say TenCent made itself felt in the monetisation, especially in prioritising it over basically every other secondary mechanic from the start. Feels like all of that effort would have helped build more of this good game, y’know?
