Do You Enjoy MAKING Games More Than PLAYING Games?

That's pretty much exactly what a friend of mine experienced, but he's not a game dev. It might be just one of those "getting old and bitter" things.

Maybe "ignorant" consumption has become too well known and thus boring to you, and in the art of analytical dissection you are now finding new nuances that you can appreciate and enjoy games in some way again? What would you do if that started to bore you as well?

 

I don't consider myself a game dev either. Haven't gone past prototypes/simple mods and professionally I'm in a different field (albeit somewhat related - software automation using bot techniques).
Hopefully I'm not yet old and bitter, being still <30 .

Haven't thought about it much yet, although I have high hopes for new technologies (like VR) to enable me to be emerged in games again. If it becomes too boring, maybe I'll finally set aside enough time make the next step in game dev path and actually get something to a point I'd consider release ready. That could be interesting.

As for finding nuances that enable enjoying games again, there are some. Due to overanalyzing games, most single player stuff is barely playable anymore, it's just usually too obvious to exploit progression curves/AI. This made entire genres like strategies and rpg's move from enjoyable to frustrating categories (for the most part, there are exceptions).
But on the other hand, if I encounter a title that has mechanics reinforcing/blending with the world in a really well designed way... playing that, even if it's linear and thus without much replayability, is I'd say a different level of satisfaction, as I can enjoy it both as an analyst and a player.
Not easy to find those, though.

But I guess you're right. It might just be that I'm not in the target audience for a lot of today's games, as they tend to be mechanically shallow. Or I really am getting bitter, after too many "been there, done that" moments.

 

I enjoy more making games. The fun making games is endless. I'm probably too addicted with the game industry, specially the technical side of the gaming industry such as programming and rendering. I love to spend countless hours debugging. I love spending all my time in code (yeah I'm such a masochist).
I got more pleasure implementing hard-tricky features or techniques in a project than playing any kind of game, the level of satisfaction is unmeasurable.
I'm also a good observer, I love to watch people and see their reactions and behaviors when they play certain types of games. And that's probably the best I can do as a gamer, observe.
I'm a terrible (in a funny way) gamer, not even average.

 

Here you guys are talking about those classics you had and all I can say is "My family bought its first computer in 2001, a Dell something or other" xD

It wasn't until 2008 that I got my first actual "personal" computer. It was a $600 Walmart Compaq which ran Windows Vista and had some of Intels first integrated graphics which were pretty crummy for gaming XD

 

I would enjoy making games more perhaps if the process wasn't so technical, so painful and so long-winded. I also don't really consider myself much of a gamer, just playing the occasional thing here or there from time to time. So I'm not sure what I'm doing here really, lol. The ideas I have I think are good but they tend to be quite high-level artistic visions which takes a LOT of effort to implement into a computer, which is what puts me off big time.

 

I got into games development the second time around because as a player I always wanted more. No game existed with everything I wanted in a single package, so I set about making it happen with the help of the team.

My personal experience is that the longer you spend working in game dev, the harder it becomes to find other games that can hold your interest for more than 30 minutes. I often find myself thinking, "I'd rather play my own game than play this." So now there's probably only 3-4 games each year that I play for more than 30 minutes total. That might also be because we become accustomed to analyzing rather than enjoying, and also because we get older.

 

Making games IS a game. It's a puzzle game with a lot of grinding and nearly infinite customization ability.

 

for me it's a little bit of everything....I started by just aiming for being an artist, but all the things artists can do to make a living out of it, didn't really catch my interest and I also wanted to do something that fullfills my desire for research, sciences and variety. In the end, after overcoming my selfdoubts about programming (since I learned mostly art stuff) I realized that games is what I really want to do, since it seems to scratch all my itches for...yeah creativity outlet.

When i think back at it, there are alot of reasons why I chose that I want to be game developer(or are, still not sure where I am officially, since I don't make money yet with it, but intend to)
One reason is that I enjoyed games myself, another that I always wanted to create consistent interactive worlds, which is difficult with only 3d modelling or drawing, yet another reason, that I never felt like I'm a pure artist type, but rather generalist....all in all together it seems Indie is perfect for me

I could also mention that I used games myself for a long time to flee from reality...rather dark past, but thing is, that it actually helped me survive some parts of my life, so I feel like giving that back to others

 

I find more joy in the challenge of trying to make a system than actually making or playing games. Like I wonder how well I can replicate this, or what if I tried these physics. I take unity and it itself is like a game to me because I get to play with all these variables and essentially be a God of creation. That's where most of my fun comes from.

 

I became bad at games after I started making games more often, dont know if i should feel bad...

 

I really love playing (in this case simulators).
I think that spirit helps a lot at the end in long run; Curiosity helps.
So I really love playing and fixing simulators.

 

Good necro.

 

With a day job and a nightjob, girlfriend and two kids, nope I don't play much games

 

I absolutely enjoy making them more, but getting lost in good game is a great break from just about anything, including development.

 

yes.

 

Spoiler

i enjoy partaking in discussion on general forums more than the question at hand.