Boring Parts in a game are important

[BirdMan]

Hey ya! ( my first thread :))

I just realised something. I was replaying Final Fantasy 7 and i had to get through a boring and long part of the game. While playing I didn't have as much fun as in other parts of the game but when i got it over with, i felt, satisfaction (lol). I concluded, that for me, it takes boring parts in a game to make it a good game. I mean, like in Half Life, I didn't really like XEN, but when i completed it, I was feeling good.

Maybe i'm a weirdo, but I think having a game with only fun and easy parts you get no satisfaction at the end.

What do you guys think?

[Mr-Fusion]

Yes exactly. It's all about creating the right balance.

[slicktick]

Yeah, I think some boring parts as in action wise are good, to throw in balance the really exciting parts of the game. But I thiknk they still need to be sort of interesting boring parts because if it is just really stupid I hate it.

[el Chi]

I think I'm the only person who liked Xen...
Very atmospheric.

[Neutrino]

I do think that slow parts in a game are good to build up to the action. But boring parts? I don't think these are necessary in a well designed game. I agree I'm happy when I complete them because after all they are boring.

[manny_c44]

I agree with the above post. Slow-paced and boring are different, if its boring, its failing, if its slow-paced it can still be fun. But a good balance is certainly needed and I think HL2 is going to have that kind of atmospheric balance judging on the movies.

[Bio]

you have to have some boring parts in a game.

[Warbie]

eh? boring parts are never good.

There's a difference between boring and slow paced. There are many ways a game can hold your attention - exploration, dialogue between characters, cut-scenes etc - to stop it becoming dull. A boring section in a game is just a poor one, there would have been away to achieve the same goal and make it engaging.

[DarkStar]

This is essentially called "pacing."

[Pendragon]

The object of a game designer is to make a game in which no element is boring. This may include elements that aren't as action-packed as others or perhaps, out of context, would be boring, but in context and in continuum, no part of any game should ever be boring.

[Sui]

i belive the lead guy from BUNGIE said that a good game is 30 seconds of fun repeated over and over. to make a good game, you must perfect 30 seconds of gameplay... and the character will enjoy doing this over and ove r in different situations (like halo). so if you dont have this section of the game perfected, none of the combat will feel fun.

so yes, i agree... i just posted that little quoite because i thought it was slightly relavant.

[Pendragon]

If you ask me, that comment was either incredibly badly said, or incredibly insightful, depending on the man.

[Doppelgofer]

thats why halo is so boring if thats the way the core designers are thinking

[Xenome]

I think I'm the only person who liked Xen...
Very atmospheric.

I also liked xen :)

[Angry Lawyer]

*waves a Xenian flag*

I also liked Xen, because of the environment (and the fact that the Gonarch scared the crap out of me), but I thought the jumping puzzles should have been less overdone.

-Angry Lawyer

[Sui]

If you ask me, that comment was either incredibly badly said, or incredibly insightful, depending on the man.
sorry im just shit at remembering things :)