I did not think so many people would be responding uh I agree that you can still be a fan of something without having to play it btw, I find everyone’s responses super interesting!
Also I make cool fanart of games and my own games sometimes as well you should follow me thank you
Personally, I'd say no, not really. How are you going to claim to be a fan of a piece of interactive media if you haven't interacted with it? Granted, some games are less interactive than others e.i. Walking Sims, The Last of Us, JRPGs, etc.
If you want to discuss them, that's fine, but you need to acknowledge you haven't experienced the work itself. It would be like claiming to be a fan of a TV show because you read the Wikipedia page.
The gameplay is additive to a lot of games, like TLoU.
What it is heralded for is the narrative, character development, voice acting, cut scenes,set pieces and world building, all which can be obtained without a hands on experience.
I view it like this: if the story wouldn't change if you removed the gameplay bits, then it isn't a good video game. Sure, JRPGs are incredibly linear, but they still let you do the work of killing God at the end.
I don't particularly agree. I think there's some great linear games out there where the story and gameplay are quite disconnected but I still stand by our original point that engaging with the gameplay is crucial to be able to consider yourself a fan of a game.
i mean what sets apart games as an artform from other media is specifically the interactivity. personally i feel that if you're ignoring that, for instance by watching somebody else play, then you aren't engaging with the art in its intended way. i'm not saying games can't have all those things
Yeah, I'm much the same way, by and large, not a fan of horror games. BUT, seeing SH2 and 3 all the way through, there aren't any major jump-scares or anything.
This same friend of mine got me into Resident Evil as well, I played through REmake 4 when that came out, and it was such a blast!!
Absolutely. Especially if there is a difficulty barrier or an exclusivity issue preventing you from being able to properly play it. I think this is a big reason why so many games are becoming movies and shows right now to begin with.
Sure. I can’t really play horror games but I love watching them. Alien Isolation is one.
I’m crap at dead by daylight but watch H20Delirious all the time.
Im a fan of cult of the lamb, and ive never played it and ive seen very limited gameplay, as a result i dont fully appreciate it or grasp the full story they want to tell. But im still a fan
I think so
I think you'd probably get a greater level of enjoyment from playing it, but if its fun to watch, I think you still get to enjoy the story, audio and visuals.
Like a lot of people enjoy Football and have never played themselves.
If not then I really should be worried about my obsession with Ace Attorney... I can't stand playing it but I used to wiki dive the shit out of the game. I know too much about Miles Edgeworth and became obsessed with his character to the point where I named myself after him after I came out as trans
but yes you can definitely be a HUGE DIE HARD FAN of a game, or anything for the matter, without playing or watching it. Sometimes people just find the fanart neat and say "idk who these little guys are but I think they're neat"
I love the lore of some games. Some of them have really rich backstories. One example for me is the Fallout series. Although I should really give that one a play through.
I used to say no. But then I realized there are people out there that know more about halo than me because they read the 20+ books and I've only played the main 6, wars and reach. So absolutely ❤️
Fan’s a broad term. I think it’s fine to call yourself one as long as you don’t pretend to be a total expert on the gameplay or mechanics or stuff like that.
Maybe one generally shouldn't be a fan (=fanatic) of a game.
Just enjoy it. Don't take it so serious. It's a game. And worry less about stupid labels to put on yourself.
Of course! I love FNAF, but also one of the most impactful stories to me ever that I will never forget is To The Moon. I watched a Let's Play of it as a kid all the way back in 2012, and still remember it to this day. Heavy impact for something I've never played, and I highly recommend it!
But are they an actual fan of the game, or just a fan of watching & talking about it?
Is there a (meaningful) difference?
Like, if there's a game that sucks and is unfun to play, but has a cool story and is funny to watch other people play, are they a fan of the game, or just the things around it?
If we go down this route of "you can only be a fan of something if you enjoy every aspect of it" then no one will be a fan of anything because even things that someone wholeheartedly adores often has flaws they acknowledge.
I legitimately think that this is question has more depth than it first appears, and part of it is defining what it really means to be a fan of a game.
People are referencing sports, but I'd argue that there's a difference between enjoying playing basketball vs enjoying watching the NBA.
Because if I ask you, hey, do you like basketball? You could easily mention that you enjoy *watching* it, so that really means you're not wholly unfamiliar; Whereas yeah, sure, I enjoy playing basketball, infers a different level of that knowledge.
Yes. I hate playing horror games. But I love watching other people play horror games and as a result I’m familiar with and a fan of titles I’d other wise never play.
The fact sports are a valid argument says enough. Let people enjoy what they want to! Sometimes money and skill isn’t in their favor, so consuming the media in a different method works best for them
I mean, isn’t that just the majority of how most sports fans are? I feel like that’s perfectly natural to apply to anything. Vicarious enjoyment is still enjoyment.
We used to "play" SP games at a friends house by watching. 5-8 boys screaming what or where to go next. All of us agreed that we are fans of these games even when we mostly watched. So yes, you can be a fan by only watching a game.
I'm friends with someone who is very into Fear and Hunger but hasn't touched the games and while I have I would say they're the bigger fan out of the two of us. @grimlynie.bsky.social
I don't like playing Yakuza games but I love the games and their stories when I watch them played. Not my style to play but the characters and story and writing are entertaining as hell and I've watched every game of the franchise up to 6 on YouTube.
Of course. It's like telling a sports fan that they aren't a real fan because they don't play that specific sport that they love to watch so much. Video games and sports may be different, but there are still comparisons and similarities that can be made between them.
Yes, absolutely! Does the entertainment product give you entertainment? If so, I think you are a fan. Fans who gatekeep because you don't have a certain level of experience or knowledge are the worst and only make the experience worse
My daughter is a huge NFL fan and extremely knowledgeable about the game itself, the league, and her Packers. Her job sees her car as her main office, and in between visiting clients, her Sirius is tuned to NFL Radio or ESPN her entire day.
Heck there's some games I love to watch friends play but I don't like playing myself, I still would say I'm a fan of the game coz i enjoyed it without aomething like less accessable controls ruining my experience lol
I think it's fair to say you'd be a fan of the universe or the characters but not the actual game as you haven't experienced the gameplay for yourself, I think exceptions to this would be walking simulators like Mouthwashing or Stanley parable where watching it isn't that much different
This HAS to be satire. There are no prerequisites to being a fan of something besides 1, You know what it is, and 2, You enjoy it. You are not the Fan Police, you don't get to determine that someone's experience of the medium is genuine or not. Source: I make video games.
You are not the judge and jury of who gets to call themselves a fan and who doesn't. There are many games I've played hundreds of hours of & consider myself a very big fan of, that I can't stand to play. Gameplay is one aspect of the multi-media experience that video games are.
I'm gonna say yes bc who cares? I don't really game and love watching gameplays sometimes. Especially if the story is interesting/captivating. Love the newer God of War games btw.
The cut-off point is if they start trying to critique the game, gameplay or feel wise. Then you have no idea what you're talking about and are just saying shit.
I would never want to play through the scarier sections of Outer Wilds. I've watched it the whole way through multiple times and gotten multiple people to buy it, and bought merch for myself. If I'm not a fan, I'd love to know what that's called 😅
I think so. I'm a fan of different things for different reasons. I get a lot of joy watching others play games, and might not have as much fun if I were playing it myself. I enjoy some games personally, and others more secondarily
Well, yes. But, gameplay is a huge part of what makes a lot of games so unique and if you want to engage with them as art, you're doing yourself a disservice by just watching someone else play it for you.
Don't fool yourself.
Someone can perfectly recite a play to you and you would probably get a pretty solid grasp on the story, but you're not getting the intended experience.
Same goes for cheating through games. You're free to do it and it may offer an interesting perspective, but again, don't fool yourself.
you aren't interacting with the media, you're getting it second hand. it's like reading a synopsis or pulling a reference from a wiki's reference list: there's information, interpretation that gets lost and you end up basing your appreciation on an idea of what the media is and not the media itself.
That’s interesting… I wonder then: when we remember a game through rose tinted glasses and say we’re fans of them, but forget about all the difficult bits of it like janky controls and awkward sequences, have we moved to being fans of the idea of the game rather than the game itself? 🧐
I do agree it's fair to say you're a fan of watching something similar to a sport,
I do post another question though, if the stream or video you're watching was poorly presented, could be the player or not, would you still have liked the game?
For sure! I do try to play when I can
I had the Spyro games as a kid, but for some reason I’d get motion sickness same with other similar games no clue why. I still tried to make it through them regardless, but sometimes I really can’t so watching feels like my only option whenever that happens
Absolutely. I can't play many games like I did when I was a kid, but my mind is still sharp and loves the challenge of figuring out the obstacles and strategies. I've been watching speedrunners and streamers for years and enjoying the games that way. Like watching the NFL but not playing football.
Yeah I absolutely think so - many people are fans of sports without playing them. Though playing them can deepen your understanding and love of interactive activities.
I watched the Game Grumps play "Breath of the Wild", and I like the game I saw. I would love to play it, but I have a PC and a N64, so not really up with the modern games.
My daughter said I could use her Switch, but I don't want to buy a game I can only play when someone else isn't using it.
I like to think that people are free to experience art in their own way. If they would rather listen to all the cutscenes of mgs4 as an audio book and be really into it, cool, let them identify as fans. Someone might be disabled and unable to play a game but still enjoy the game 2nd hand.
Some people aren’t able to play games because of disabilities for instance, or not being able to afford them. Watching streams and stuff still allows them to see and hear the game, think about the story, etc
While I had an Xbox I watched a YouTube playthrough of TLoU and immediately understood the praise and became a fan even though I'd never been 'hands on'. Later when I got a PS4 I played through and it cemented my view on it.
Since then I've done it with a few other games.🤷🏻♂️
Isn't that what a fan truly is?
Athletes aren't fans of the team they play for
Musicians aren't fans of their bands
You gotta be a creep to be a fan, and watch from a distance
Definitely. You don’t need to be in the driver’s seat to devour media, it’s about the experience. If I don’t have to worry about move mechanics etc sometimes it’s easier to get immersed.
Yes? Maybe? There are some games that I could never play that I enjoy watching others play - namely anything resembling horror
And honestly, watching Gopher do a Let's Play is more like watching a TV show given how into character he gets. I need to catch back up - there's a new Leonard chapter out!
Tried recently
To buy a game for Christmas even the hard case version of the game was download code only. Makes no sense. Going to be great when the internet finally dies and no one can play the games they bought as requires internet to verify purchase. it’s all about $ and cost not user experience
For me yes! I've only ever watched RE7 and RE8 cus i'm too much of a baby to play it myself but love both the games. They have really interesting stories. I just have to be able to look away when the super scary stuff happens so I don't think I could play them 😂
One of my best friends streamed all of Kingdom Hearts years ago. Usually it was just me and one other person in the chat and I got to ask all my dumb questions. I still haven’t played them myself but I would consider myself a KH fan
Me with splatoon (watched lets plays of all the games, know lore, speedrun stuff, strats, etc. played maybe 5 hours in all the games total. I'm awful at them
Yeah, absolutely! Fandom takes a lot of shapes, if it's in your heart who can say otherwise?
I've never curled or played hockey, but it's fun to watch and spend time thinking about it.
You're a fan of the story and the gameplay separately then. It's playing the game that brings it all together. Nothing wrong with it, but you're enjoying it on a different level so being a fan kinda comes with an asterisk.
I say absolutely. Especially if it's a story rich game. Someone may not play it and understand the actual game mechanics, but they can still get intrigued by the story and characters that a game portrays.
Or at least learn and appreciate a game's development process or its purpose/meaning...
Yee! Although I did play the first game. Hard-core Alan Wake fan here though! My husband is also one so we "played" the second game and DLC "together" (aka me yelling excitedly at stuff.)
Also a big enough fan to be like: SAM LAKE I have a question about AW lore and a hypothesis PLS RESPOND
Yes, especially if it's a very linear game. Less so if it's a big choice based RPG type of game with lots of little interactions and options, you can still be a fan ofc but will inevitably not have as good an understanding of the game as ppl who've played.
Yes (By way of an analogy, I'm a fan of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, The Pastoral, but I've only ever listened to it; one day I would love to play the violin part)
Yes. You can still watch someone else play, read up on the lore and still gain an understanding of what makes a game good. Not everyone has the ability to get and play every game, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to like the stories.
Yea why not? I am enough of a fan of Granblue Fantasy to buy it's official artbooks, eventhough I never actually touched the games. Considering to play the fighting game.
No and people who think otherwise are a plague in the Yakuza and Persona fandoms. Consuming games without the gameplay is like consuming movies by reading plot synopses, you're missing an integral part of the experience by not engaging with it properly. You can like the story but you aren't a fan.
because gameplay to games is akin to visual elements of painting or sculpture. they're the fundamental basis around which the artist creates their work.
Walking simulators exist.
The gameplay of Dear Esther or What Remains of Edith Finch isn't the fundamental basis. The story is... watching that takes away nothing from the game.
if you are making a game over any other medium then you likely felt that the interactivity of the experience was important enough to justify making it a video game. So all gameplay is important, even if the story is more compelling.
True, because it puts you in the shoes of that character. Or gives you that curated perspective.
What Remains wouldn't of come across as well in the medium of TV/Film/Short/Audio Book.
It works because it's a game. But the gameplay is second to the overall story.
You get the experience either way
Yes 100% life's too short to be gatekeeping people's interests and some games might have the perfect story for you but the gameplay isn't your thing. ^^
To add an example to this: I'm terrible with horror. I cannot handle jumpscares and I'm pretty bad with suspense, but the biggest hurdle with horror games for me is the level of 'control' I have over the characters. Something like telltale's The Walking Dead I can actually manage because there's no
Ammunition management, combat, parkour etc. It's a story and I'm along for the ride with not too much involvement. But ive always liked Resident evil's vibes and story. I just cannot finish those games (I've tried playing 4 myself and at some point i just hit a wall) so watching others playing those
Games is the only way I'll experience the full story. And I get to look away or pause any time if it gets too much. Im a pussy sure, but i would still dare describe myself as a fan of resident evil.
I would add that I do think not playing a game does lock you out of the full experience, and thus
There's aspects of a game you wouldn't be able to fairly critique. Gameplay feel is one of those, because it's something you have to experience yourself in order to form your own opinion on it
There's so many interesting horror games out there and I wish I had the fortitude to play them myself but I'm grateful for the existence of braver people than me so I can experience them through others xD
On a less snarky tone: by all means, yes, especially with how hard some old games can be to play in context. The experience isn't the same as playing it yourself, but it's valid. Hell, Drakengard fans will readily tell you not to play Drakengard.
The majority of people who watch sports never played them at anything close to a serious level, high school even. Most American football fans have never played beyond throwing a ball around or some touch football once in a park. Many more people here in Canada watch than have ever played hockey.
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Also I make cool fanart of games and my own games sometimes as well you should follow me thank you
Go Gundy, Go Gundy, Go Gundy GOOOOO!
She had the most confused look on her face for about 3 seconds.
The gameplay is additive to a lot of games, like TLoU.
What it is heralded for is the narrative, character development, voice acting, cut scenes,set pieces and world building, all which can be obtained without a hands on experience.
He showed me something I'd otherwise never have interacted with, and the story for both games is compelling.
So much so, that they are now in my backlog to play, and I'm excited to try the remake.
This same friend of mine got me into Resident Evil as well, I played through REmake 4 when that came out, and it was such a blast!!
So yes.
I’m crap at dead by daylight but watch H20Delirious all the time.
If you consume it and you like it, even if you don't play it, heck yeah.
I think you'd probably get a greater level of enjoyment from playing it, but if its fun to watch, I think you still get to enjoy the story, audio and visuals.
Like a lot of people enjoy Football and have never played themselves.
Just enjoy it. Don't take it so serious. It's a game. And worry less about stupid labels to put on yourself.
i just LOVE seeing others play it some including persona series, danganronpa, undertale/deltarune and so on, esp horror games too
You can literally like anything you want. That's just how the world works. Anybody can like anything
Is there a (meaningful) difference?
Like, if there's a game that sucks and is unfun to play, but has a cool story and is funny to watch other people play, are they a fan of the game, or just the things around it?
People are referencing sports, but I'd argue that there's a difference between enjoying playing basketball vs enjoying watching the NBA.
Because if I ask you, hey, do you like basketball? You could easily mention that you enjoy *watching* it, so that really means you're not wholly unfamiliar; Whereas yeah, sure, I enjoy playing basketball, infers a different level of that knowledge.
So interesting. I like your view.
Women football commentators get criticized because they likely never played. It doesn’t bother me, but I bet the xitter trolls could get fired up.
yup. pretty sure the answer is yup.
Heck there's some games I love to watch friends play but I don't like playing myself, I still would say I'm a fan of the game coz i enjoyed it without aomething like less accessable controls ruining my experience lol
So what, we like things for aesthetic reasons now?
Watching someone play a game is like reading sheet music, or reading a screenplay,
I mean by your framing, we get ridiculous scenarios where someone can simultaneously hate a game and be a fan of it.
You are not the judge and jury of who gets to call themselves a fan and who doesn't. There are many games I've played hundreds of hours of & consider myself a very big fan of, that I can't stand to play. Gameplay is one aspect of the multi-media experience that video games are.
2022 was the beginning of a slow burning shed in the backyard for overwatch
Don't fool yourself.
Same goes for cheating through games. You're free to do it and it may offer an interesting perspective, but again, don't fool yourself.
But does that necessarily mean you cannot be a fan of it?
hehehehe fantom hehehehe
I do post another question though, if the stream or video you're watching was poorly presented, could be the player or not, would you still have liked the game?
I had the Spyro games as a kid, but for some reason I’d get motion sickness same with other similar games no clue why. I still tried to make it through them regardless, but sometimes I really can’t so watching feels like my only option whenever that happens
My daughter said I could use her Switch, but I don't want to buy a game I can only play when someone else isn't using it.
Some people aren’t able to play games because of disabilities for instance, or not being able to afford them. Watching streams and stuff still allows them to see and hear the game, think about the story, etc
No need to gatekeep being a fan
Since then I've done it with a few other games.🤷🏻♂️
Athletes aren't fans of the team they play for
Musicians aren't fans of their bands
You gotta be a creep to be a fan, and watch from a distance
And honestly, watching Gopher do a Let's Play is more like watching a TV show given how into character he gets. I need to catch back up - there's a new Leonard chapter out!
To buy a game for Christmas even the hard case version of the game was download code only. Makes no sense. Going to be great when the internet finally dies and no one can play the games they bought as requires internet to verify purchase. it’s all about $ and cost not user experience
I've never curled or played hockey, but it's fun to watch and spend time thinking about it.
Or at least learn and appreciate a game's development process or its purpose/meaning...
Also a big enough fan to be like: SAM LAKE I have a question about AW lore and a hypothesis PLS RESPOND
Some games can just be enjoyed in different ways like that I guess.
Isn't it the same as other pastimes: like the way people love music but can't carry a tune in a bucket?
I don't care if I haven't played it. That story is 👌
It's like watching a movie with no music, or maybe sound and just subtitles.
The gameplay of Neva is so simple, but if you watched someone play, it wouldn't reduce the emotional impact of that experience imo.
Some games definitely.
Walking simulators exist.
The gameplay of Dear Esther or What Remains of Edith Finch isn't the fundamental basis. The story is... watching that takes away nothing from the game.
What Remains wouldn't of come across as well in the medium of TV/Film/Short/Audio Book.
It works because it's a game. But the gameplay is second to the overall story.
You get the experience either way
I would add that I do think not playing a game does lock you out of the full experience, and thus
On a less snarky tone: by all means, yes, especially with how hard some old games can be to play in context. The experience isn't the same as playing it yourself, but it's valid. Hell, Drakengard fans will readily tell you not to play Drakengard.