Is it possible to play a video game wrong?

This might be a very broad question but it is possible to play a video game wrong? From what I had reading from users in most chat forums, it seems that playing a game the wrong way usually mean that you are either going against the flow of the game or that other users don't like how you playing the game. It seems that for some users unless you are playing a game at the hardest difficulty setting you are playing a game 'wrong'. I also noticed that if you are trying to play the game in away that it wasn't meant to be played you are playing it wrong. I'll admit that this question is broad but is it possible to play a video game wrong?

edited 7th Mar '16 1:39:33 PM by GAP

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

No. It's a case of Direct Playstyle Conflict. Everyone plays what games they like differently.

For example:

In Smash Bros, I prefer doing no items. My friends, while they don't mind not using items, like using items. (Unless they're a person that uses the "Items make the game fun" argument)

You know, I have to wonder why Pit is obsessed with this site. It’s gonna ruin his life!

Didn't we do this one already? Well, whatever. The answer can generally be summed up as "No, as long as you're not messing up someone else's game who tries to play legitimately, though one might not get the full experience if one removes all challenge from the game."

At least, that sums up more or less my opinion.

If you're playing the game in a way that the developers never intended and simultaneously making it less fun for yourself, then yes. Like, if you feel the need to grind in an RPG where levels don't matter all that much and then go on to complain about having to grind, then that's your own fault for playing it wrong.

There's no wrong way to have fun, but there is a wrong way to not have fun.

if you're playing a game in a place or way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's NO GOOD

it's your system! no game has the right to play if you don't want it to!

so what do you do?

first, you say NO

then you GET OUTTA THERE

most important, you gotta tell someone you trust! like your parents, your teacher, or a police officer!

And then there was silence

This might be the most convincing argument about playing a game wrong... except it still doesn't really fly because with the magic of cheats you can turn certain games into toys of sorts, and that does not consist playing a game wrong.

Overall, I think there's only one way to play a game wrong: if you do so in a way that completely defeats its purpose.

For example, let's take something that we might consider a language in common. There exist ways of cheating at these games for a cheap, quick win, but they're also usable as practice tools by locking spellcard timers, for example. Even with the "inherent wrongness" of cheating at a skill-based game, this still does not qualify as playing it wrong. A line is only crossed when an invincibility cheat is used to coast through the entire scenarios. What was the point of that playthrough? You learned nothing, you didn't get yourself challenged, and the most basic aspect of the game - dodging bullets - is no longer even there. What you're left with is a hollow shell of the original experience.

To hell with those other users. If the way you're playing is fun to you, why do you care about the others? Then these users are elitists and should be ignored.

edited 7th Mar '16 1:51:13 PM by AngelG55th

Yes.

There is no right way to play a Video Game from the perspective of another.

OP, my cancerous You Tube channel exists for an reason.

I'll give you 3 guesses why my own team is pissed off at me.

edited 7th Mar '16 2:29:39 PM by RabidTanker

Answer no master, never the slave Carry your dreams down into the grave Every heart, like every soul, equal to break

You link videos of you playing that don't actually exist?

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

So there is no wrong way to play a game but there is a wrong way to approach a game?

@Kayeka

So there was a similar thread to this but I will still stand by my question.

@Angel G55th

Hmmmm Good points.

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

In a single player game or mode, as long as you're having fun, you're doing it right. Heck, I had fun messing around in Halo, seeing what incredibly stupid things the game would let me do. I sure wasn't playing the way it was meant to be played, but I did have a lot of fun.

please call me "XionKuriyama" or some variation, thanks! | What is the good deed that you can do right now?

yes, you're doing it wrong, now give me the controller

advancing the front into TV Tropes

Yes, there is a wrong way to play, and the game gives you feedback about it via failure states.

If you lose/die/game over and it's not part of the plot, then you are playing the game wrong.

(edit) Otherwise you may just be dinking around and playing sub-optimally, but if you are still completing the game's missions/goals/levels then you are still playing it right.

Feedback in team multiplayer (PVE or PVP) is more complicated and I'm probably not gonna get into that, but basically you could still lose while doing the right things or win while doing the wrong things—and you might get the wrong ideas.

edited 7th Mar '16 6:29:39 PM by Malco

My DA account... I draw stuff sometimes!

You certainly can. Are you:

• Driving backwards on a Mario Kart course?
• Doing a pacifist run in a Call of Duty title?
• Driving in Grand Turismo like you're in a destruction derby?
• Doing pretty much ANYTHING that's not in the metagame concept of a MOBA?
• Playing as Oddjob in Golden Eye with your friends (a guaranteed way to lose them, might I add)?

Are you having fun? If not then either you're playing it wrong or its a bad game.

Sex-negative outrage culture and the Illuminati are real

By certain measure of "wrong". For example, Gameplay Derailment-when you derail the gameplay, from the designer's standpoint, you're "playing it wrong". Though, this is arguably more a developer's fault for letting you derail the gameplay than for you actually derailing it.

edited 7th Mar '16 6:53:04 PM by Protagonist506

"Any campaign world where an orc samurai can leap off a landcruiser to fight a herd of Bulbasaurs will always have my vote of confidence"

Yes, but it's limited to stuff like the Mario Kart example or trying to do something like playing a Glass Cannon like a Mighty Glacier.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?

That assumes all games are about having fun.

PSN ID: FateSeraph | Switch friendcode: SW-0145-8835-0610 Congratulations! She/They

I'm not sure about playing games wrong but if you don't want your players to have fun you are making games wrong.

This is the ultimate state of human emotion. More passionate than hope. Far deeper than despair. It is Love.

That just depends on your definition of "fun". That's why I would say that games have to be engaging on some level because some people define fun differently and "engaging" is more inclusive in the kinds of experiences that can motivate players to keep playing the game.

I just wanna add that there are multiple ways someone can play games wrong or be accused of playing the games wrong.

• They are not playing the game as the developers intended (example: bugs and glitches, sequence breaks, rules loopholes, only using an OP character in a game that is intended to be balanced).
• They are playing the game contrary the game's victory conditions, and thus, dying, losing lives or and experiencing game over.
• They are playing the game as intended, but sub-optimally.
• They are playing the game as intended, but sub-optimally... and causing losses to other players on their own team.
• They are playing the game as intended, but with a different playstyle than what is being advocated by another player (example: speedrunning an RPG then being disparaged by another player for not taking it slow and enjoying the story)

edited 7th Mar '16 7:52:12 PM by Malco

My DA account... I draw stuff sometimes!

Abusing glitches isn't wrong unless you're playing a multiplayer game where the glitches fuck with other people in a negative way. Some games are famous for their glitches, such as Pokémon Red and Blue or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (the latter of which had many of its harmless/fun bugs recreated in the 3DS remake).

There's also nothing wrong with an occasional Sequence Break. Whatever helps make speedruns entertaining.

edited 7th Mar '16 7:54:54 PM by Karxrida

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody remembers it, who else will you have ice cream with?

Ok, I suppose I should add a disclaimer that This Troper doesn't necessarily agree that any of the points that were stated by me are "wrong" ways to play the game, but are merely common accusations levied by players (or some devs) against other players. <3

EDIT: moved follow-up statement to reply

edited 7th Mar '16 8:01:51 PM by Malco

My DA account... I draw stuff sometimes!

The way I see it the only way to play a game wrong is if you're playing multiplayer and ruining the fun for the other player(s). Outside of that I'd say that there is no wrong way to play the game.

edited 7th Mar '16 8:00:01 PM by Chariot