Do you play games that take advantage of a natural talent or ability (used rather loosely)?

[ZedClampet]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/the-elder-scrolls-onlines-ingenious-housebuilders-are-creating-impossible-frankenstein-wonders-out-of-game-assets-and-duct-tape-and-they-took-me-on-a-tour/

As someone born an idiot savant, with the savant part being stumbling while walking, I think people with talents suck.

Career Advisor: Zed, what are you good at?

Zed: *blank stare*

Career Advisor: Well, what do you like?

Zed: Sex, eating and naps.

Career Advisor: Have you ever thought about becoming a politician?


Um, sorry. I got sidetracked. I'm actually quite talented at that, and, no joke, that's why I like sandbox games. Lots of different activities I can jump around in. It's not a glamorous talent or ability, like singing, but it's mine.

Other people, like the ones in the article above, have more useful talents like artistic ability, and they may play building games. Math people may like Factorio or Satisfactory-like automation games. People with an eye for business may like retail/restaurant management/tycoon games. And, of course, the most lucky gamers of all, people like Guido with otherworldly reflexes may gravitate toward PvP games where they can pick on those of us who are looking for things to do while not occupied with sex, eating and naps.

So what games do you play that are a natural fit for your talents and abilities?

 

[Hveðrungr]

Don't all games take advantage of a natural talent or ability?

 

[McStabStab]

I manage a lot of people and am in charge of operations for my business. I tend to think I do well with management games like Tropico, Planet Coaster, or Darkest Dungeon. I've never gotten into the full on management sims like F1 Manager or games that replicate office management. Seems too close to work.

Same with trucking sims. I used to drive trucks over the road for my company when I was younger and the idea of playing a simulation of it could not be more unappealing. I encourage those who play those games to schedule a real-life road trip and experience it all in-person.

 

[ZedClampet]

I manage a lot of people and am in charge of operations for my business. I tend to think I do well with management games like Tropico, Planet Coaster, or Darkest Dungeon. I've never gotten into the full on management sims like F1 Manager or games that replicate office management. Seems too close to work.

Same with trucking sims. I used to drive trucks over the road for my company when I was younger and the idea of playing a simulation of it could not be more unappealing. I encourage those who play those games to schedule a real-life road trip and experience it all in-person.

Sort of on topic, the person who won the latest Daytona 500 learned how to race in PC games, and trucking companies are now advertising for drivers in American Truck Simulator, so at least driving skill seems to be translating into real life.

 

[Frindis]

Throwing in https://forums.pcgamer.com/threads/positive-aspects-of-gaming.127622/#post-305817 as it shares some similarities with the subject at hand.

I enjoy reading books, so different types of games that rely on a lot of text to forward the story are naturally something I play or at least take an extra look at. Planescape: Torment is one of my favorite games for that reason. Not only does it have a lot of text, but most of it is also well-written. The Fallout series is another example because they often have interesting recordings from the terminals that give an impression of what happened at a vault or some fabric/local shop.

 

[Pifanjr]

I'm a pretty smart guy, I learn quickly and I'm good at analysing my mistakes to figure out how I can improve. Which is very helpful in every game with a strategic/tactical component.

However, I'm also lazy, impatient and I prefer figuring everything out myself, meaning I'll never truly excel at anything. Especially since I also get bored/distracted very quickly, so I don't stick with any one game for long enough to get really good at it in the first place.

 

[Hveðrungr]

I'm a pretty smart guy, I learn quickly and I'm good at analysing my mistakes to figure out how I can improve. Which is very helpful in every game with a strategic/tactical component.

However, I'm also lazy, impatient and I prefer figuring everything out myself, meaning I'll never truly excel at anything. Especially since I also get bored/distracted very quickly, so I don't stick with any one game for long enough to get really good at it in the first place.

Have you considered taking meth?

 

[Pifanjr]

Have you considered taking meth?

I've tried adderall once, does that count?

 

[Hveðrungr]

I've tried adderall once, does that count?

Yes! Did it not work?

 

[BeardyHat]

I'm a pretty smart guy, I learn quickly and I'm good at analysing my mistakes to figure out how I can improve. Which is very helpful in every game with a strategic/tactical component.

However, I'm also lazy, impatient and I prefer figuring everything out myself, meaning I'll never truly excel at anything. Especially since I also get bored/distracted very quickly, so I don't stick with any one game for long enough to get really good at it in the first place.

Are you me?

I consider myself a dilettante, so my special talent is being pretty ok at lots of different styles of games, I guess.

 

[Pifanjr]

Yes! Did it not work?

The only time I tried it I was at a renaissance fair. Allegedly I mostly just became more energetic and talkative, but I think I also drank some mead, so I'm not sure how much that influenced me.

Are you me?

We are legion.

dilettante

I learned a new word today.

 

[BeardyHat]

I learned a new word today.

It's a favorite of mine. Feel like it really describes my personality.

 

[Brian Boru]

Seems too close to work

Don't Take Advantage

Yeah it's more of an opposite thing for me too—avoid what I've experienced in real life. I used to play a lot of sports, but the only Video Game sport I've played a bit is golf—which I never played IRL, apart from social par 3

I'm ok at building simple stuff like desks and PCs, but bounced off PC Building Sim after an hour or two—unlike sports games, too close to the real thing.

I read voraciously for a couple of decades, took English in my degree, but avoid story in games as much as possible—mainly because the quality is mostly dire compared to novels, TV and short stories.

I flunked out of Hitman school, yet enjoy mixing it up tactically in Video Games—can't beat the crunch of a neat headshot!

I've run my own biz with a partner for 25 years, and feel no attraction to biz sims.

Take Advantage

On the other hand, corollary to previous, I've loved words, wordplay and word games since a nipper, and still seek those out in Video Games—sadly very few around, and almost all also poor quality But yeah I take advantage there—I topped the worldwide leaderboard on a small word game for ~2 years, currently still #2.

I'm a natural planner and systems guy, always prefer setting sth up and moving on to actually using the setup. Fav board and card games growing up were chess and bridge, which are a natural fit. So is playing 4X, mostly Civ, and almost never finishing a game—'Yeah that system setup'll win, move on'

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm completely shocked that everyone considers themselves smart when I often refer to you collectively as the "gaggle of idiots".

 

[red_5ive]

As someone born an idiot savant, with the savant part being stumbling while walking, I think people with talents suck.

Fallout 4 is the game for you!

Spoiler

 

[red_5ive]

This is an interesting topic, and something that I've never thought of before. I mostly play games for escapist entertainment and pure fiction. Basically improbable genres that are interesting to me or that I daydream about, but I'll never be able to actually do. Like I'll never be a knight or a mage wandering the lands looking for adventure, or pilot an X-Wing or wield a light saber and use the Force.

That said, I've always had a natural talent for sports and musical instruments. But I don't generally like/play sports games (Madden is an exception, although I haven't played any in years), nor do I play any games that are geared toward music. I also had a natural ability in surfing (I am from California, dude ), bikes (BMX/MTB, dirt/street bikes), and off-roading/4-wheeling, but I don't play any games of that type. Mostly because none of them feel anywhere remotely real to me.

I prefer mostly open world/RPG and action RPG games, RTS, combat sims, and a shooter on occasion. I have no idea where the correlation is there to any talents, although my line of work is application development. Maybe in my case my line of work yields to a mindset for those types of games because everyone I know in this field has similar gaming preferences/tendencies.

 

[Zloth]

I'm completely shocked that everyone considers themselves smart when I often refer to you collectively as the "gaggle of idiots".

Oh come on, there aren't THAT many of us!

All in all, I think the most important talent would be the ability to extract fun from a video game. Even if a game isn't all that good, I can find a way to have some fun with it. Got a weak control system? I'll get the hang of it. Blah GUI? I'll deal with it. Bugs? I'll dodge them. Though these days, with an avalanche of games that's been going for several years now, that skill isn't as important as the old days where you had to have SOMETHING to carry you through from May to August.

 

[Colif]

So what games do you play that are a natural fit for your talents and abilities?

Moderator? its like whack a mole but you do it to humans... at least, some of them are humans. Most of you are.