Do you play to win or do you play for fun?

[Zero]

Its probably the most Common thread in Any MP intensive game forums.

Do you play for fun or do you play to win?

- Everyone plays to "win" to a degree. And no one plays the game even though they dont want to. So everyone plays for fun and to win.

- Some games you cant really "win". Like The Sims or MMORPG. But you can always play better and faster than anyone else. So I guess a better question to ask is whether you play competitively or not.

- Even in single play games and Co-op games, you could ask that question (for those who are extremly competitive) You can always get more scores, play better game agst AI in non VS game too.

So think about it. What kind of player are you?

A good site on this topic

http://www.sirlin.net

[Skanky Burns]

To win or to be the best, I guess. Which is probably why I am a SP gamer mainly.

[Zero]

ha! so you play to win, but you avoid playing when you cant win.

so then you ARE the best!!!!111!!!

[pg]

the point of games is to win. fun is just something that happens during winning.

but seriously, it really depends on a lot of stuff like who i'm playing with, what game it is, if i am any good or not, if i am still learning how to play, etc... if the game is primarily skill based then in the long run i play to win and have the most fun being very competitive, but if a game is mostly luck(or a good amount) i might just play for fun and usually the social aspects of it.

[Zero]

Almost every game has an uncontrollable factor. Its what you make out of what you can control that is skill/strategy based.

I cant really name any game that requires just luck to win the game other than R.P.S. Unless you're one of those ppl that think card games are all luck and won't play competitively...

[Skanky Burns]

I can play competitively, the stress factor turns me off though.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by pg
the point of games is to win. fun is just something that happens during winning.

The point of games is to have fun. Winning is just something that happens during playing.

[DrSpike]

I play some games as 'friendlies' with mates, but other than that I always play to win. It's near impossible to be competitive at MP without pulling out all the stops. The same is true to a lesser extent for SP comparison games, which are my favourite way of playing Civ.

[Jamski]

I play to win AND for fun. Therefore almost no MP, because I lose and its no fun I'd rather lose and have fun though, than win and be bored.

-Jam

[Adagio]

I defently play for fun...

e.g. I play SimCity, which is a game where you can't "win" (Unless you set your own goals)

[Traianvs]

I hate games like simcity

there's no goal, nothing to look forward to. How the hell can a game be interesting then... I just got bored with it after 5 minutes. After all it's the same thing every new map you play!

in my fav FPS I play for fun; winning or losing is just something that happens, however it's more fun if you win a close clanbattle than losing it.

But in the end I just want to have a good game, and that's possible too if you are losing!

[Alex]

i play for fun. if i win and have fun too, good. if i lose but still have fun, that's good too.

but i'm not the competitive type at all. it simply doesn't make sense to me anymore. back when i used to play those arcade games, i liked to have some competition. but not now. maybe i'm getting older and wiser.

[Zero]

ADG: Like I said. You can "Win" even in Simcity. Setting your own goals, yeah. Or you can outplay other players. While my friends stare at people walking around and make stupid decisions, I would probably figure out mechanics of how police and firedepartment works and efficiently place them to sav money thus allowing me to build a better city etc...

Skanky: That depends on how seriously you take your game I guess. You can take it to a pretty competitive level and yet not be so stressed about it. Those who stress about video game is probably taking it a bit too far. It is after all, only a game. I admit though I do get stress out not when I lose, but when I cannot perform to a level I know I can achieve due to choking and etc...

Trajanus: these kind of games are meant for people who enjoy accumulating (to fill the need to collect etc). I do agree games like simcity is like RTS without an opponent (ever continued game after winning the game? ) but it can be fun in its own way....

Jamski: Something you said is so true. You can play for fun, but you largely get pleasure from accomplishing something. All kinds of game human beings play, whetherit be a puzzle or MMORPG, has some kind of goal given or set by us. And accomplishing that gives us pleasure or fun. Even someone who isnt competitive can see that. Losing all the time isnt fun, unless you're really driven to learn how to play that game. I've never got my friends into a game I like by constantly kicking their asses.

[Zero]

For those who say they dont care at all about winning:

how can you enjoy a game(especially VS:duel:deathmatch) without trying to win at all. Idea is to win/achieve some goal. There will be players out there that are so good that they wont even let you do ANYTHING. You wont get to shoot them even once in FPS, you wont be building anything in RTS, you'll be comboed forever in fighting game, you'll lose to 100-0 in sports games... If you wanna actually end up playing the game you actually NEED to get better to even begin playing. In order to do that, you have to play to win IMO. Seize all opportunity, learn from your opponent what he's doing, play competitively.

Sure, you can hide away from the world and play a dumbed down game. But is that really playing that game? Is playing chess with a 4 year old playing chess at all?

Name one game you enjoy alot. Say we played 1v1 and I own you so hard. you dont even have time to move your mouse/controller. Will you keep playing? Then ask if you would enjoy the game if you dont win.

I know the answer in my situation. Even if I play to win, I can enjoy a losing game. Perhaps I enjoy a losing game even more than a winning game. Cause eventually I want to get better, read my opponent, achieve my objective. So I lose, but losing gets me to winning.

[rah]

I play to win in everything I do.
But if winning is no fun, I don't bother playing unless i have no choice.
But I can have fun without winning.

Quite simple.