An interesting take I saw on a video giving the reasons why someone
wasn't an avid gamer any more included the idea having resources that
are a five sec. googlefoo away has taken some of the fun out of games.
I'm kinda in two minds about it as yes that was the thing, if you wanted
to learn a game you had to invest time in reading the manual (remember
those) and trying things to see what did and didn't work. The good part
was when you cracked something and that feeling of satisfaction it gave.
The downside, getting stuck and just not understanding what to do.
Personally though I try and go into a game as blind as possible with
only reading a here our the basics just to get you started. I also try
and steer clear of looking up a solution unless I really have to as I
know how easy it is to then use it as the first resort once I've done it once.
The other one I'd add is the rise of games going purely digitally. I
used to enjoy browsing a bricks & mortar store, starting to read the
manual on the bus on the way home and then finally insert that CD into
the PC. Digitally gaming has just killed that for me now a new game is
just a few clicks away.
Personally though I try and go into a game as blind as possible with only >reading a here our the basics just to get you started. I also try and steer >clear of looking up a solution
The other one I'd add is the rise of games going purely digitally.
An interesting take I saw on a video giving the reasons why someone
wasn't an avid gamer any more included the idea having resources that
are a five sec. googlefoo away has taken some of the fun out of games.
On Mon, 23 Jan 2023 12:45:03 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
An interesting take I saw on a video giving the reasons why someone
wasn't an avid gamer any more included the idea having resources that
are a five sec. googlefoo away has taken some of the fun out of games.
I don't agree with this at all. Exact opposite for me. I hate getting
stuck in games. It is so extremely frustrating to me. The faster I can
find a solution, the better. Five second googlefoos makes games
better, not worse.
Personally though I try and go into a game as blind as possible with
only reading a here our the basics just to get you started. I also try
and steer clear of looking up a solution
 Depends on the genre for me. If the point of the game is to explore
and solve puzzles (a p&c adventure game) then I follow this advice. I generally avoid Puzzle Games per se (e.g., The Witness) as they are
indeed frustrating for me.
The other one I'd add is the rise of games going purely digitally.
 This indeed was a tough one for me to let go of; some years ago I
went on an ebay buying spree to locate rare FMV games, for instance. I still do have a banker's box full of big box games that I just can't
bear to get rid of, but mostly I've weaned myself off physical items,
and will continue to reduce my attachment to them. And yes, printed
books are a major component, letting go of those I refuse to do.
I got back into reading non-fiction last year and for whatever reason I
just find it so much more enjoyable than using the Kindle app on the
iPad. I think part of it is the way I engage with the iPad. It's very
much look at something then look at something else and so on. I find
myself also doing the same when reading a book on it whereas with an
actual book I can easily spend an hour reading before I think, I need a
cup of tea!
On Tue, 24 Jan 2023 13:40:07 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
I got back into reading non-fiction last year and for whatever reason I
just find it so much more enjoyable than using the Kindle app on the
iPad. I think part of it is the way I engage with the iPad. It's very
much look at something then look at something else and so on. I find
myself also doing the same when reading a book on it whereas with an
actual book I can easily spend an hour reading before I think, I need a
cup of tea!
Reading fiction is a very one-dimensional thing. You start in the
beginning, and keep going until you reach the end; a straight line
from the front of the book to the back.
Reading non-fiction tends to require more back and forth movement. You
go back a few pages to re-read a difficult section, or flip ahead two
or three chapters because the intervening stuff isn't relevant.
Perhaps there's a chart on page 53 you need to constantly go back and reference, or a series of illustrations and pictures in the middle of
the book that the main text keeps talking about. Whatever the reason,
you need to flip ahead (or back) to different pages, and then jump
back to wherever you were reading.
Digital readers are great at the former, but they suck at the latter.
Linear reading is fine with a Kindle or iPad, but - even with
bookmarks and 'go back to last page' features - old-school books are
almost always the favorable method for non-fiction. Nothing is quicker
and more intuitive than dog-earing a page (or just leaving your finger
on it) before jumping ahead, and then quickly flopping back the twenty
pages to go back.
That's not to say it's impossible to use digital devices for
non-fiction, or even that they don't have advantages (if anything,
their portability makes being able to lug dozens - if not hundreds -
of reference texts with you wherever you go almost single-handedly
counters their disadvantages when it comes to actually reading those
tomes) but if you really want to /learn/ from those books, nothing
beats dead trees.
(Which is why it's so disheartening to see so many schools jump into
the 'digital textbook' frenzy, where all the kids' books are on their school-required laptops/tablets. It's like they don't WANT the kids to
learn)
(more muttering and ranting)
That's not to say it's impossible to use digital devices for
non-fiction, or even that they don't have advantages (if anything,
their portability makes being able to lug dozens - if not hundreds -
of reference texts with you wherever you go almost single-handedly
counters their disadvantages when it comes to actually reading those
tomes) but if you really want to/learn/ from those books, nothing
beats dead trees.
(Which is why it's so disheartening to see so many schools jump into
the 'digital textbook' frenzy, where all the kids' books are on their school-required laptops/tablets. It's like they don't WANT the kids to
learn)
An interesting take I saw on a video giving the reasons why someone
wasn't an avid gamer any more included the idea having resources that
are a five sec. googlefoo away has taken some of the fun out of games.
I'm kinda in two minds about it as yes that was the thing, if you wanted
to learn a game you had to invest time in reading the manual (remember
those) and trying things to see what did and didn't work. The good part
was when you cracked something and that feeling of satisfaction it gave.
The downside, getting stuck and just not understanding what to do.
Personally though I try and go into a game as blind as possible with
only reading a here our the basics just to get you started. I also try
and steer clear of looking up a solution unless I really have to as I
know how easy it is to then use it as the first resort once I've done it >once.
The other one I'd add is the rise of games going purely digitally. I
used to enjoy browsing a bricks & mortar store, starting to read the
manual on the bus on the way home and then finally insert that CD into
the PC. Digitally gaming has just killed that for me now a new game is
just a few clicks away.
On 23/01/2023 19:42, rms wrote:
Personally though I try and go into a game as blind as possible with
only reading a here our the basics just to get you started. I also try
and steer clear of looking up a solution
Depends on the genre for me. If the point of the game is to explore
and solve puzzles (a p&c adventure game) then I follow this advice. I
generally avoid Puzzle Games per se (e.g., The Witness) as they are
indeed frustrating for me.
I did like The Witness up until the point I found the puzzles had gone
from being challenging to just frustratingly hard. I ended up being
unsure whether I was playing a game or just getting google to tell me
what to do.
The Talos Principle I think I used a guide twice* as it does a really
good job of introducing you to new ideas and you can jump between lots
of different levels if you become really stuck.
*The ending, yep I used one there as it seemed to throw out all the rest
of the game in favour of timed solving and if you failed it was back to
the beginning to try again.
The other one I'd add is the rise of games going purely digitally.
This indeed was a tough one for me to let go of; some years ago I
went on an ebay buying spree to locate rare FMV games, for instance. I
still do have a banker's box full of big box games that I just can't
bear to get rid of, but mostly I've weaned myself off physical items,
and will continue to reduce my attachment to them. And yes, printed
books are a major component, letting go of those I refuse to do.
I got back into reading non-fiction last year and for whatever reason I
just find it so much more enjoyable than using the Kindle app on the
iPad. I think part of it is the way I engage with the iPad. It's very
much look at something then look at something else and so on. I find
myself also doing the same when reading a book on it whereas with an
actual book I can easily spend an hour reading before I think, I need a
cup of tea!
I got back into reading non-fiction last year and for whatever reason I*--
just find it so much more enjoyable than using the Kindle app on the
iPad. I think part of it is the way I engage with the iPad. It's very
much look at something then look at something else and so on. I find
myself also doing the same when reading a book on it whereas with an
actual book I can easily spend an hour reading before I think, I need a
cup of tea!
I have lots of books on my Kindle Fire, nothing on my iPad yet. But,
call me old fashioned, there is nothing like having a book, magazine,
or newspaper in my hands. And I read 95% non-fiction.
On 05/02/2023 04:42, PW wrote:
I got back into reading non-fiction last year and for whatever reason I*--
just find it so much more enjoyable than using the Kindle app on the
iPad. I think part of it is the way I engage with the iPad. It's very
much look at something then look at something else and so on. I find
myself also doing the same when reading a book on it whereas with an
actual book I can easily spend an hour reading before I think, I need a
cup of tea!
I have lots of books on my Kindle Fire, nothing on my iPad yet. But,
call me old fashioned, there is nothing like having a book, magazine,
or newspaper in my hands. And I read 95% non-fiction.
I used to be a buy a newspaper a day person, sometimes two, but in the
end the Kindle edition was just so much cheaper at about a quarter of
the price. It didn't have all the content but that was really limited to
the weekend editions where most of the non-news stuff I never read
anyway. I ended up cancelling it as a some point the mucked up the
Kindle edition and it was almost unreadable due to broken navigation. A >e-mail to support got no response so that was that. They did finally
respond about four months later but it was all a bit late by then.
The only physical magazine I still read is the long running Private Eye.
The subscription is fairly good value and the owners have stubbornly
refused to have a digital edition. Indeed if you take a copy from thirty >years ago the format is basically unchanged with the real difference
being the paper used and it now has some colour.
On Sun, 5 Feb 2023 11:28:45 +0000, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
On 05/02/2023 04:42, PW wrote:
I got back into reading non-fiction last year and for whatever reason I >>>> just find it so much more enjoyable than using the Kindle app on the*--
iPad. I think part of it is the way I engage with the iPad. It's very
much look at something then look at something else and so on. I find
myself also doing the same when reading a book on it whereas with an
actual book I can easily spend an hour reading before I think, I need a >>>> cup of tea!
I have lots of books on my Kindle Fire, nothing on my iPad yet. But,
call me old fashioned, there is nothing like having a book, magazine,
or newspaper in my hands. And I read 95% non-fiction.
I used to be a buy a newspaper a day person, sometimes two, but in the
end the Kindle edition was just so much cheaper at about a quarter of
the price. It didn't have all the content but that was really limited to
the weekend editions where most of the non-news stuff I never read
anyway. I ended up cancelling it as a some point the mucked up the
Kindle edition and it was almost unreadable due to broken navigation. A
e-mail to support got no response so that was that. They did finally
respond about four months later but it was all a bit late by then.
The only physical magazine I still read is the long running Private Eye.
The subscription is fairly good value and the owners have stubbornly
refused to have a digital edition. Indeed if you take a copy from thirty
years ago the format is basically unchanged with the real difference
being the paper used and it now has some colour.
*--
What is that magazine all about? I know probably can't get in the US
but sounds interesting.
I subscribe to tons of magazines but need to stop subscribing to the
cooking ones as I no longer have anyone to cook for :-(
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