This week on The Kurt Locker, Kurt divulges into the state of online gaming and how he’s often felt alienated by its routine oriented challenges. Or maybe he’s just been playing them wrong all along?
Whether it’s Destiny, Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, or Sea of Thieves, playing games online can sometimes feel like a second job. There’s a routine-centric-design to these games: the daily challenges, the progress trackers, the season passes, the timed events — there’s a sense of commitment that comes from simply wanting to play a game online. It can, at times, feel like an extra responsibility in life.
Kurt isn’t a stranger to playing games like this: Counter Strike, World of Warcraft, Sea of Thieves — these are grinds he’s dedicated hundreds, if not thousands, of hours to. Despite this, however, he’s also never felt as though he fit into this style of gaming.
In this episode of The Kurt Locker, Kurt takes a close look at online gaming, where it’s evolved from the days of local multiplayer, and his relationship with it along the way. For so long, Kurt felt that he didn’t fit into the competitive nature that came with online gaming, but in actuality, maybe he had been looking at it all wrong.
For him, it was never about competing or the objective, but instead having a space to hang out with his friends. Games like Phasmophobia cemented that for him, paving way to changing how he views most games he plays online. It’s had a ripple effect on other games he plays including Left 4 Dead 2 and Tower Unite.
00:00 – Intro
01:06 – The two pillars of multiplayer games
02:11 – Online gaming has changed the way we play
04:20 – Phasmophobia. The game that changed me.
05:29 – Left For Dead 2
05:57 – The Art of Play
06:32 – Tower Unite
08:05 – Conclusion
