Everything always has to be perfect. Or not? A streamer explains why guides annoy him and why viewers should just let him play.
The YouTuber and streamer Josh Strife continually analyzes MMORPGs, as well as other games, and he breaks down in detail what good game design, an engaging story, or fair monetization looks like. Mostly, he plays MMORPGs, but recently he has also streamed Mass Effect.
In doing so, he often receives instructions from the audience about what he should or shouldn’t do in the game. He took the time to explain to the chat why this ruins every RPG experience.
Who is talking? The streamer is Josh Strife Hayes, who occasionally provides interesting analyses and views on video games. He streams or publishes his videos on Twitch and YouTube. We have reported on him before, for instance when he highlighted the problems of parasitic systems in MMORPGs or explained why he rejected money from Blizzard to promote WoW.
Now he is dedicated to the Mass Effect trilogy and plays the game in the stream.
What did he say? While he is currently playing the classic “Mass Effect 1,” Hayes has to deal repeatedly with comments from the chat. The chat constantly warns him when an important decision in the game is about to come up, such as when there is a point of no return. Even when he still needs to talk to characters, because otherwise he would “miss something,” the chat makes him aware of it.
However, Josh Strife Hayes seems to be more annoyed by this and refuses to give in to the demands. For him, this would ruin a true RPG experience:
I can’t play the game the way you want me to play it. And I can’t play the game to have the “optimal story.” I can only play the game the way I play it, and I can accept the consequences.
There will be decisions that I make, and those will exclude me from certain things. That’s the nature of an RPG game.
He further explains that there will be things that he will find or not find. And some characters will die in his playthrough while others will survive. He is fully aware of that.
If I just follow a guide and have the perfect experience ever, then that’s not my experience of Mass Effect. My experience consists of the best decisions I can make as Commander Shepard and with the knowledge that I have. (…)
And if I mess that up, then that’s my fault. But that’s the adventure I’m going to have.
Especially the things that don’t go perfectly in the game create a personalized experience and make for an interesting roleplay where everyone experiences a slightly different story:
Everyone tells me: You have to do this and you have to do that. If I did all that, I wouldn’t be playing as Commander Shepard. I would only be doing what the guide tells me. This is why I resist your suggestions:
Decisions are only relevant when there are consequences. If you tell me beforehand which decisions lead to which consequences, you are simply ensuring that I actively choose which story I’m going to play. I want the story to unfold by itself, and for bad things to happen as well.
Imperfections create interesting stories. We don’t like perfect characters. We don’t like perfect stories. We like it when there is a flaw. We like it when we have to solve a problem. And if I play the game in a flawless way, then there would be no reason for me to play it at all.
Especially complex role-playing games like the “Mass Effect” series offer a variety of possibilities and decisions. While there is almost always a “perfect” way or at least an optimal path where there are the least losses – that can ruin the gaming experience. Because the losses and little mistakes really capture the essence of choices and consequences. This will surely also be the case in Mass Effect 5 if it happens.
Because if one wants a role-playing game with freedom of choice, but completely ignores that due to forced perfection – why should one even play it?
