Assignment 3: Flow in Counter-Strike Source
To start, I'd like to say that I thought the readings for today were excellent. I could immediately understand the concept of flow after glancing at the graph of difficulty/skill. And knowing these readings are so that we can refer to flow in first person shooters, I could recall many situations in which I experienced flow in such games. Before I discuss my flow-conscious gameplay, I would like to mention a few of the situations the readings made me think of. As far as first person shooters go, Doom and Wolfenstein were great, but the difficulty levels were relatively linear, not allowing for long term flow for me. Not until Goldeneye for Nintendo 64 do I remember experiencing flow in a first person shooter. This is true partially for the single player experience, because of the depth of game play, but especially for the multiplayer game. During my junior high days Goldeneye ruled the video game world, and the best part of all was having a couple of friends over for some four player Goldeneye. Since it was such a popular game, all players were experienced in it, even if they didnt own the game or system, and the challenge was always there and strong. In my recent ventures into the world of counter-strike, I have experienced many moments that reminded me of those happy days of my youth.
When I play counter-strike today, I don't have a problem achieving flow. First off, there are always many people to play with, and there are always skillfull players on the field in any larger game. For me, a highly experienced player, the challenge is always there, no matter how skillful you may be. And that challenge is, to kill as many enemies as possible, and ideally you 'control' the gameplay because you personally kill enough enemies that your play alone is the basis of who wins. That may not be the same experience for all players, but those are my personal goals when I play the game. Even for an experienced player, the third, fourth, fifth and higher kills per round are a thrill to complete. The gratification in the game comes in spurts of moments of triumph, when you are able to outsmart or outgun the opposing team and make a real difference in which side comes out on top. Flow comes in those rounds when you are able to eliminate your desired number of enemies and you can truly feel the impact of your gameplay on the outcome. When I played counter-strike : source today I was able to slide into the flow within a few rounds. Besides simple kill count victories, a fun challenge counter-strike players often try is to use a single type of weapon to kill your enemies, whether it be the knife alone, various pistols, or weapons considered "silly" such as the mac-10 and tmp because of their impracticality in typical combat. There are many differant strategies players impose upon themselves to fall into flow. They all have one thing in common: they are difficult, and accomplishing them would bring happiness.