Randomly Mine: About a Polygon

Hugo Martin's a treasure.

DOOM's Creative Director is one of the best podcasts guests you can have, as to me, confirmed by his most recent appearance on NoClip's Podcast. Obviously, much of his time was spent talking about ID's anticipated sequel. How this new game resolves balancing issues, instructs players, and makes them earn the power fantasy gameplay DOOM's known for.

And through that, a topic came up which I hadn't heard since it stopped earning easy views on Youtube. That being Polygon's infamous gameplay video of someone who was clearly... inexperienced with First Person Shooters. Now, the website was relentlessly dragged through the mud. Seemingly justifying people's hatred for it. However, Hugo raised a potent question.

Why was his game letting this player succeed?

They weren't dodging projectiles, lining up shots, or reacting to the enemies actions, and yet, reached the otherside. Granted, perhaps not in the most efficient manner, but still earned the right to see the rest of the game.

I should also mention that I have some bias and pride attached to these comments, because I've been arguing for years that it's not the players job to direct or find the fun of a game. The game is supposed to reach out to them on some level. If someone is playing a game "the wrong way" why is the game letting them do that in the first place? 

Recently, Rainbow Six Siege generated conversation over its test server lowering the ADS times across most weapons, in a clear attempt to slow the game down and prevent people from rushing into gunfights similar to Call of Duty. This was done because while people often blame All Aim No Brain players for ruining the game's pacing and intentions, they're merely a symptom of a greater problem.

Similar in principle, had that Polygon Player taken a stab at even Clustertruck, that lack of game sense would've been immediately punished, encouraging someone behind the controller to pay the experience they paid for more attention. And from what it sounds like, Hugo has ensured that Polygon player won't be able to recreate their video in Eternal.

Though lord knows, if I were the boss of Polygon, I'd be trying to.