Should I stay away from Spore (the game)?

[Natasha]

The Gaming Addiction thread got me thinking, and here is my question:

Background: I am not a big game player, but I will occasionally play a good game like Final Fantasy or play through a DDR. I only do this maybe once a year, but when I do, I spend a couple hours a day playing, for a month or less. Because I tend to obsess over my hobbies (which is not too bad, since it is what I do for a living), I made a conscious decision to not go anywhere near any MMORPGs. I am the type of person it could easily suck up! lol

Anyway, there is a very very very awesome game coming out probably this year, called Spore. It is not a MMORPG, but it shares some of those qualities that could make it neverending.

I am wondering if I should not buy this game when it comes out, because I do not want to spend an extremely large amount of hours on a video game. (I think I logged about 70 hours on FFXII before I got bored with it due to poor character development.) On the other hand, I think this will be the best game out for a very long time, and am really excited about it.


Anyone else planning on buying Spore? Anyone else staying away from it?

[homeboy]

Personally I will pick up this game. To me things like this get boring after a week or so of play. I relate Spore to the Sims which is never ending but gets boring very very quickly for me. Since other games don't last longer than 50 hours unless its an RPG i quickly run through them in a week. Spore will ultimately bore me so I don't have to worry about it, but if you get really addicted to things like the Sims which are open ended, then maybe just play the demo. The good thing about demos is they DO end forcing you to quit or play it over and over which gets boring. I can understand why some people get addicted to the Sims but having to watch someone go to the bathroom every 10 minutes or so aggravates me. Hopefully you'll have a chance to check out the game without getting sucked in.

[earlybird]

It depends what direction you want to choose. Personally, I think playing any games ultimately wastes time and to say you don't want to get addicted means you do not like the effect playing games has. When you play them in moderation, the effect is less obvious, but still there. Logically, one who does not like getting addicted to them ought to stay away from them completely.

Having said this, though, I am no better. I do occasionally play games, and buy one every couple of years because I am excited about it. Personally I find it ends up in me having to literally throw it away. Everybody's different; would you not being able to play it AT ALL drain your life? When it is released I would suggest not purchasing it and seeing if you're ok with that. Most people would agree that this is the better move in the long run. If you find you want it in the end after trying not to, go with those impulses. At least then it'll be cheaper

[Scott]

It really depends on you. The guidelines I like to use are, "Will it benefit in some way (e.g. learning or inspiration)?" and "Do I have the willpower to prevent myself from going overboard with it?"

In my case, Spore sounds like a dream game and I will definitely be picking it up, but I may have to employ some harsh methods on the willpower side. Just be careful, and remember that there's absolutely nothing wrong with taking a "break from life" and enjoying yourself once in awhile.

[Keith]

Yes, you should stay away from it. But buy a copy anyway. Then send it to me.

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by Keith

Yes, you should stay away from it. But buy a copy anyway. Then send it to me.

Bah. Such a good idea. Why didn't I think of it?

I don't have a response to the original poster, but I'm personally getting the game in part because I anticipate it being one of the best teaching tools for elementary school content ever.

[Dimitry]

Most people have already pointed it out: that you should look within yourself how much self control you have. What I want to expand on is, if you need other people to tell you that it's ok and you'll be fine if you play the game, you most likely feel you won't be able to handle it and want to pass off the final verdict to someone else (be it one or many people).

My recommendation in this case would be to stay away. Or have someone monitor you and start splashing you with cold water if you play too much.

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by earlybird

It depends what direction you want to choose. Personally, I think playing any games ultimately wastes time and to say you don't want to get addicted means you do not like the effect playing games has. When you play them in moderation, the effect is less obvious, but still there. Logically, one who does not like getting addicted to them ought to stay away from them completely.

Having said this, though, I am no better. I do occasionally play games, and buy one every couple of years because I am excited about it. Personally I find it ends up in me having to literally throw it away. Everybody's different; would you not being able to play it AT ALL drain your life? When it is released I would suggest not purchasing it and seeing if you're ok with that. Most people would agree that this is the better move in the long run. If you find you want it in the end after trying not to, go with those impulses. At least then it'll be cheaper

I disagree that playing games "wastes time", or at least not ALL games... My interest in historical flight sims and wargames as a kid are what got me into the deep interest in learning about history as it is now! I give most of the credit to the games I got so into (and still do) and also quite a bit to my Dad who is also a history nerd and was a history teacher.

I think some of the more cerebral games out there can exercise your brain as well as reading can, even some of the better RPGs out there (Fallout series, or Planescape: Torment really come to mind) that require you to really think through and plan for consequences before taking action!

If you're talking about stuff such as Halo, then I agree, waste of time. That game is almost solely responsible for the destruction of mainstream computer games IMO

[Restrikted]

I've been really looking forward to Spore for a while now. The only bad part is that I'm going to be starting college in 2 1/2 months. So if I buy it, then I'll most likely spend most of my time playing it, then start failing classes. But I really don't care about going to college, so...GAME ON!

Seriously though, I'm definitely getting it. I'll just try not to get sucked into the evolutionary goodness.