“There’s a type of accomplishment, to grow and build and overcome...”
July 27, 2018 5:08 AM Subscribe
Meet the real-life farmers who play Farming Simulator [The Guardian] “Imagine that you spend most of your day ploughing fields, sowing seeds, spraying fertilisers or pesticides, harvesting crops, feeding livestock (if you have any), repairing fences, and maintaining a half-dozen different kinds of farm machinery. You do this every day, all year, in all weather. And then, in the evening, you sit down at a computer to do it all again – virtually. Farming Simulator is a long-running video game series played by about a million people. The game’s creator, Giants Software, estimates that as many as a quarter of its players are connected to farming in some way, and around 8-10% are full-time, professional farmers.” [YouTube][Trailer]
• Farming Simulator 19 Interview: Once More Out Into The Fields! [Gaming Bolt]
• Farming Simulator 19 Interview: Once More Out Into The Fields! [Gaming Bolt]
Would you say more and more players are being drawn to such diverse genres as this one? If so, what would you say is the appeal of such simulators? I’d say yes, but it’s not just typical gamers which get drawn into it. Well done simulators also appeal to an audience which wouldn’t consider themselves gamers. What we hear a lot about our game is that people love that they can decide what happens next. Alone or together with friends they shape the world and build their empire in a relaxing atmosphere. You’re not getting stressed out and can relax but still use your brain trying to be most efficient. That said, you can also learn a lot by playing simulation games. You might not just get drawn into the game itself but the whole game-world. We’ve seen emails from players who are now interested in real life farming, have started helping out on farms on the weekend or even became farmers after playing our game.• Farming Simulator 19 will allow players to build their own farms [PC Invasion]
“The devs have been trickling out new bits of information throughout the year. Speaking of which, some new details have recently surfaced via the annual FarmCon event, which just wrapped up over in Germany. One of the new features that Farming Simulator 19 will be bringing to the table is buildable farms. This is the first for the series. Players will be able to purchase their own plots of land, and place buildings. These buildings can even be upgraded to house more stuff (such as upgrading animal stables). This new feature also carries over to the multiplayer mode, where there will be up to four farms with four players (or teams), and each one will have their own collection of vehicles and individual bank accounts. In past entries, players could buy pre-made fields from other farmers in the surrounding area. Fields could also be created by hand using a tractor and roller tool. Now, Farming Simulator 19 will give even more freedom of creativity to players.”• Fans' Reactions to John Deere Tractors in Farming Simulator 2019 is the Cutest Thing [US|Gamer] [YouTube][Compilation Reaction Video]
“While the E3 2018 spotlight was mostly focused on fans and streamers getting hyped up over reveals for Fallout 76 and Super Smash Bros Ultimate, the Farming Simulator community celebrated its own big reveal: The much-awaited arrival of John Deere tractors in Farming Simulator 2019. The official Farming Simulator YouTube account uploaded a compilation of fan reactions to the John Deere reveal. The reactions are in a multitude of languages, but they're all very excited and cute. Hey, if this industry has no room for digital farmers getting hyped over brand-name tractors, then I want no part of it. Heck, I'd be hyped, too. Nothing runs like a Deere. Or so my rural friends and relatives have told me.”• Farming Simulator Is Way Bigger, More Fun Than You Think [Motherboard]
“It's a complex game on a long-term, strategic level, with an incredible amount of farming equipment that serves specific functions, and multi-stage workflows that you could obsesses over and optimize. It was obvious I didn't know the first thing about farming when I planted a field of sugar beets without realizing that I couldn't afford the specialized cultivator I needed to harvest them. Even a $200,000 loan from the bank couldn't save me from that mistake. In terms of what you do in the game from moment to moment, it mostly involves driving realistic tractors and other vehicles carefully over fields, back and forth, for hours on end. It doesn't give you the same rush you get when you blow up hundreds of Russians from the comfort of an AC-130 gunship in Call of Duty, say, but somehow it's still incredibly entertaining. And calming. "If you compare it to Microsoft Flight Simulator for example, it's far less complex," he said. "You can easily push one button, drive around, and the controls are intuitive." It might not seem like it in North America, but in Frey's mind, this has already helped make Farming Simulator go mainstream.”
So here's the thing. I can grok on Stardew Valley (I love me a good farming/growing/building sim) but I've never attempted any of these simulator style games. How easy is it to get into them? Seeing how excited people are about the fact that John Deere tractors are now in the game is making me smile and I'm semi-interested. Is it worth the price of admission?
posted by Fizz at 5:41 AM on July 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Fizz at 5:41 AM on July 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
This is less weird than software developers who program in their free time because the side projects aren't valued above the day work by future employers.
posted by Space Coyote at 5:50 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by Space Coyote at 5:50 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Is there a "Your nation's leader starts trade war and 3/5 of your market dries-up overnight" mode?
You're thinking of Crusader Kings II, that's the medieval regicidal soap-opera murder dating sim you're wanting.
posted by Fizz at 5:56 AM on July 27, 2018 [16 favorites]
You're thinking of Crusader Kings II, that's the medieval regicidal soap-opera murder dating sim you're wanting.
posted by Fizz at 5:56 AM on July 27, 2018 [16 favorites]
Yeah, my surface level reaction was, "That seems like a weird thing to do with your time," but the folks in the article talking about not having a large operation or being able to afford fancy equipment really resonated with me. Wanting to be able to play with nice things you can't afford is a universal experience, I think, and I can see the appeal if that happens to be the equipment that takes up a lot of your mind space. Also being able to grow and expand in a way you might not be able to in real life probably has a lot of appeal, too. If anything, it's less weird than me finishing that paperclip manufacturing idle game that got posted a while back.
posted by Caduceus at 5:57 AM on July 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by Caduceus at 5:57 AM on July 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
I enjoy Stardew Valley, and I thought some new farming challenges would be interesting. Even so, I had the idea that a realistic farming simulator would be enormously depressing, either with the crushing machinery of modern times, or without it (constant sacrifices to implacable gods, your children running off to cities to find menial work and discovering themselves among thousands of homeless, etc.) I was sad enough when I planted two whole rows of zucchini and got one. But maybe I should give it a try. I'm hitting a plateau on Stardew.
The social aspects of farming sim games are also part of their big appeal to me, but a more realistic simulation would be way dark, to judge by the haunted gazes and lifelong quarrels of my great-grandparents' generation.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:58 AM on July 27, 2018
The social aspects of farming sim games are also part of their big appeal to me, but a more realistic simulation would be way dark, to judge by the haunted gazes and lifelong quarrels of my great-grandparents' generation.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:58 AM on July 27, 2018
but a more realistic simulation would be way dark, to judge by the haunted gazes and lifelong quarrels of my great-grandparents' generation.
Banished has you covered. [YouTube][Game Trailer].
posted by Fizz at 6:02 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Banished has you covered. [YouTube][Game Trailer].
posted by Fizz at 6:02 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Well, I suppose that's an endorsement of a sort.
I suppose if you really like something, you want to do it in your off time. And playing farming in a game would let a farmer do stuff they'd never do in real life which could be fun too I imagine.
posted by sotonohito at 6:15 AM on July 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
I suppose if you really like something, you want to do it in your off time. And playing farming in a game would let a farmer do stuff they'd never do in real life which could be fun too I imagine.
posted by sotonohito at 6:15 AM on July 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
Given the very long lead times and the time & resource investment to experiment with different plantings, fields, budgets, and harvest time lines a farmer would have to make in the real world, here's a way they can simulate different scenarios for the next planting season while having fun.
posted by infini at 6:28 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by infini at 6:28 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Well, I suppose that's an endorsement of a sort.I think Caduceus gets to the heart of this:
Wanting to be able to play with nice things you can't afford is a universal experience,I'm not a farmer, but my inner-child is always interested in big machines like tractors/trains/airplanes. A lot of these simulator style games allow you to "play" with these things and I know for certain I don't have the access/wealth/privilege to do this in real life. I don't know that I'll be paying full price for this newest version but I might see if one of the older iterations is available on sale. The reaction video really sold me, cuz those are some happy gamers and I love that.
posted by Fizz at 6:36 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
This is less weird than software developers who program in their free time because the side projects aren't valued above the day work by future employers.
I used to do this. (I'd like to get back to it, honestly. But being alive in 2018 is just so exhausting, y'all.)
I've never heard of a developer doing this to impress future employers. I mean, I programmed long before I had any notion of making a career out of it, and I'd continue to program if I became a florist or a lawyer or something. The fact that someone's willing to pay me for it is just a convenient bonus.
But programming in a for-profit context always comes with compromises: someone else decides what you're going to build, what tools and techniques you're going to use, how long you get to spend on it, etc. You're not following your vision; you're following someone else's. This is true even if you're a freelancer.
Programming at home frees me from those constraints. I get to build whatever I want, however I want to build it, and I can take as long as I like. If I get bored with a project – or if I've taken an experimental approach which turns out to be a dead end – then I can just abandon it, with no penalty.
And, I can learn new technologies and techniques – this is 100% necessary to remain employable as a developer, and the day job doesn't always provide those opportunities. I rarely build something for the first time for pay (would you want to live in the first skyscraper an architect ever sketched in Autodesk? or rely on the first banking software a developer ever wrote?). Instead, I play around with new ideas in a situation that has no real-world risks – so when that situation does arise in a real project, I already have some understanding of the problem and the solution.
In other words: what sotonohito said. I'm sure that my experience doesn't map perfectly to these agricultural enthusiasts, but I'd be surprised if there isn't some overlap. Much as programming requires a lot of strategic thinking, and programming-for-fun allows you to experiment with various strategies and scenarios, without risk – farming-for-fun probably allows farmers to try different planting strategies, equipment investments, etc., without (literally) betting the farm.
Some people just need to create art – so they do design or illustration to pay the bills, and then go home and paint. Other people just need to pull crops from the earth, or write code, or cook, or whatever. No one thinks it's weird if a musician plays for fun outside of paying gigs. If only we could all embrace our passions so fully.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:41 AM on July 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
I used to do this. (I'd like to get back to it, honestly. But being alive in 2018 is just so exhausting, y'all.)
I've never heard of a developer doing this to impress future employers. I mean, I programmed long before I had any notion of making a career out of it, and I'd continue to program if I became a florist or a lawyer or something. The fact that someone's willing to pay me for it is just a convenient bonus.
But programming in a for-profit context always comes with compromises: someone else decides what you're going to build, what tools and techniques you're going to use, how long you get to spend on it, etc. You're not following your vision; you're following someone else's. This is true even if you're a freelancer.
Programming at home frees me from those constraints. I get to build whatever I want, however I want to build it, and I can take as long as I like. If I get bored with a project – or if I've taken an experimental approach which turns out to be a dead end – then I can just abandon it, with no penalty.
And, I can learn new technologies and techniques – this is 100% necessary to remain employable as a developer, and the day job doesn't always provide those opportunities. I rarely build something for the first time for pay (would you want to live in the first skyscraper an architect ever sketched in Autodesk? or rely on the first banking software a developer ever wrote?). Instead, I play around with new ideas in a situation that has no real-world risks – so when that situation does arise in a real project, I already have some understanding of the problem and the solution.
In other words: what sotonohito said. I'm sure that my experience doesn't map perfectly to these agricultural enthusiasts, but I'd be surprised if there isn't some overlap. Much as programming requires a lot of strategic thinking, and programming-for-fun allows you to experiment with various strategies and scenarios, without risk – farming-for-fun probably allows farmers to try different planting strategies, equipment investments, etc., without (literally) betting the farm.
Some people just need to create art – so they do design or illustration to pay the bills, and then go home and paint. Other people just need to pull crops from the earth, or write code, or cook, or whatever. No one thinks it's weird if a musician plays for fun outside of paying gigs. If only we could all embrace our passions so fully.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 6:41 AM on July 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
Farming Simulator has apparently come a long way since the Yogscast 2013 livestream, back when they were young and innocent enough to enjoy such a game. All they wanted was to feed the cows.
posted by sfenders at 7:16 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by sfenders at 7:16 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
My dad is a farmer, as was his father before him, and his father's father. What they did before they left Belgium I don't know, but probably they were farmers too.
There was very little question whether I would be a farmer; other farm kids were out working with their parents at four, I was in the house watching Three's Company and building doll houses out of milk cartons. There was very little pressure, but now, as my parents age and their peers retire or die, it's something I feel more sad about, and suspect my dad feels the same. The occasional pang of guilt and sometimes regret, though we never talk about it.
Basically, that's a longwinded way of saying every time I think about playing a farm sim, I imagine my dad finding out and punching me in the face, and I don't think I could blame him.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:51 AM on July 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
There was very little question whether I would be a farmer; other farm kids were out working with their parents at four, I was in the house watching Three's Company and building doll houses out of milk cartons. There was very little pressure, but now, as my parents age and their peers retire or die, it's something I feel more sad about, and suspect my dad feels the same. The occasional pang of guilt and sometimes regret, though we never talk about it.
Basically, that's a longwinded way of saying every time I think about playing a farm sim, I imagine my dad finding out and punching me in the face, and I don't think I could blame him.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:51 AM on July 27, 2018 [10 favorites]
I once took an Amtrak from Chicago to Kansas City and was sitting across the aisle from a couple of guys who it turned out worked for the railroad. They mostly discussed their jobs, making fun of their co-workers or people they'd overheard saying stuff they thought was silly (I remember them talking about straightening out rivers and goofing on people who thought they should be perfectly straight. That sort of thing).
Then there was a lull in the conversation and they started talking about their model train setups.
posted by dismas at 8:23 AM on July 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
Then there was a lull in the conversation and they started talking about their model train setups.
posted by dismas at 8:23 AM on July 27, 2018 [8 favorites]
I used to work in rural western China, and at the time I was absolutely mystified by the number of my coworkers who would play FarmVille on their work computers. Wasn't the whole point of leaving a very rural place, with subsistence farming, and moving into a town to get away from the farming life?
After reading the comments on this post, I'm inclined to view it as some kind of nostalgia for what they left behind. (And yes, yes I did ask then-coworkers why they were playing it. The catch-all answer of, "it's fun.")
posted by yunhua at 8:34 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
After reading the comments on this post, I'm inclined to view it as some kind of nostalgia for what they left behind. (And yes, yes I did ask then-coworkers why they were playing it. The catch-all answer of, "it's fun.")
posted by yunhua at 8:34 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I think there's also an element of “how can I fuck with this thing for fun?” too. It's one reason I enjoy video-games, it lets me do weird crazy things.
posted by Fizz at 8:43 AM on July 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
• “Let's see what happens when I go into this fight super under-prepared and only use a single weapon, can I make this work?”I mean, it says something about my crazy brain I'm sure but surely I'm not the only one looking for ways to break games or do weird shit because it's safe to play this way, without consequences.
• “Hmm, can I get this car on the roof of this building, let's find out.”
• “What happens if I steal from this store?” (I mean I usually know the answer to this, but still...)
• “Let's see if Mario/Cappy can transform into a tree? (The answer is yes.)
• “I wonder if I can drive this tractor into my barn and have it catch on fire?”
posted by Fizz at 8:43 AM on July 27, 2018 [3 favorites]
Then there was a lull in the conversation and they started talking about their model train setups.
posted by dismas at 8:23 AM on July 27
My experience working on the railroad and knowing railroaders is that people who work that job are often way into trains. Like a lot. That’s usually why they have those jobs to being with.
In fact, I know a railroader who contributes to this.
posted by gc at 8:58 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by dismas at 8:23 AM on July 27
My experience working on the railroad and knowing railroaders is that people who work that job are often way into trains. Like a lot. That’s usually why they have those jobs to being with.
In fact, I know a railroader who contributes to this.
posted by gc at 8:58 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
My half-baked theory: We like to mentally practise things that make us anxious. This applies to movie-watching, too.
Is your brain convinced that you need to prepare for a critical moment with you, somebody else, and guns? Then you'll play shooters and/or watch action films.
Is your brain convinced that you need to prepare for a critical moment when you have to woo the person of your dreams? Then you'll play dating sim games and/or watch romantic films.
Is your brain convinced that someday you'll be handed power over the world and you mustn't screw it up? Then you'll play Civ.
Is your brain convinced that you need to prepare for the millions of things that can go wrong while farming? Then you'll play farming sim games.
This theory is only half-baked.
posted by clawsoon at 9:02 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Is your brain convinced that you need to prepare for a critical moment with you, somebody else, and guns? Then you'll play shooters and/or watch action films.
Is your brain convinced that you need to prepare for a critical moment when you have to woo the person of your dreams? Then you'll play dating sim games and/or watch romantic films.
Is your brain convinced that someday you'll be handed power over the world and you mustn't screw it up? Then you'll play Civ.
Is your brain convinced that you need to prepare for the millions of things that can go wrong while farming? Then you'll play farming sim games.
This theory is only half-baked.
posted by clawsoon at 9:02 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
My brain seems convinced that it must learn to type very carefully to ensure that in that critical moment when I try to put on my elven boots and go north-west, I don't make a typo and break my wand of cancellation instead. That's probably why I'm not a farmer.
posted by sfenders at 9:15 AM on July 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by sfenders at 9:15 AM on July 27, 2018 [6 favorites]
I can completely understand this. When I read the part about it not really being for gamers it makes complete sense to me. The only "games" that I play are a couple of WW2 flight simulators and I have dabbled in flight sim with atc kind of thing. The game that I have played most often just went on Steam in a bid to replace player numbers and basically people download and leave in 10 minutes, I assume because people on steam want to play a game not pretend to fly. So farming, I can completely see it if you want to farm.
posted by Pembquist at 10:00 AM on July 27, 2018
posted by Pembquist at 10:00 AM on July 27, 2018
The only commercial pilot I know, who flies passenger aircraft for one of the more famous UK airlines, spends a decent chunk of his free time flying light aircraft and gliders and at least occasionally plays flight sims.
I would love to be an independently wealthy Gentleman Scientist, doing much the same research as I'm doing now but with robots for the dreary repetitive work and a bullhorn to take into meetings for when they irk me.
I think a lot of people are lucky enough to love aspects of their jobs, whichever way around the cause and effect for that is, and a game can let you play at the fun bits without all the bullshit that actually having a job entails.
posted by metaBugs at 10:02 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
I would love to be an independently wealthy Gentleman Scientist, doing much the same research as I'm doing now but with robots for the dreary repetitive work and a bullhorn to take into meetings for when they irk me.
I think a lot of people are lucky enough to love aspects of their jobs, whichever way around the cause and effect for that is, and a game can let you play at the fun bits without all the bullshit that actually having a job entails.
posted by metaBugs at 10:02 AM on July 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm a transportation engineer, developing simulations of transportation systems. I grew up playing Sim City; I play a lot of Cities Skylines, and even more of it's more specialized transit-focused predecessors, Cities In Motion 1 and 2. For me, I love cities and trying to understand them and I love computers.
One part of it is that what you can do in the game is much more pragmatic than the abstract stuff I do. It's also more direct and wide-ranging; I can build parks and increase zoning and do all sorts of other stuff that's outside of my purview but I'm still interested in. And you know, my city is planning a new light rail line that will open in 2026; I can open one in half an hour in the game. And instead of hours of meetings and paperwork and angry people yelling and all the other stupidity to upzone a single family parcel to support higher density housing, I can point and click.
As far as I'm concerned, my paycheck is to get me to show up for the early meeting, to talk nicely to clients when I'm frustrated with them, to write documentation, to do my timesheets and all the other bullshit. It's to get me to finish something and get it working and out the door rather than tinkering with spreadsheets and maps all day long. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm like the luckiest dude in the world.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:31 AM on July 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
One part of it is that what you can do in the game is much more pragmatic than the abstract stuff I do. It's also more direct and wide-ranging; I can build parks and increase zoning and do all sorts of other stuff that's outside of my purview but I'm still interested in. And you know, my city is planning a new light rail line that will open in 2026; I can open one in half an hour in the game. And instead of hours of meetings and paperwork and angry people yelling and all the other stupidity to upzone a single family parcel to support higher density housing, I can point and click.
As far as I'm concerned, my paycheck is to get me to show up for the early meeting, to talk nicely to clients when I'm frustrated with them, to write documentation, to do my timesheets and all the other bullshit. It's to get me to finish something and get it working and out the door rather than tinkering with spreadsheets and maps all day long. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm like the luckiest dude in the world.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:31 AM on July 27, 2018 [7 favorites]
“how can I fuck with this thing for fun?”
So in Farming Simulator you start off with a little land, basic equipment, and no money and start to grind from there (Where grinding means plowing, planting, fertilizing, harvesting, collecting, hauling, and selling crops. You can do it with animals but the payoff in the early game is low). The fun equipment is expensive and it can take a long time to make enough money to buy it. "Fun" for me was the big tractors, and specialized crop and forestry equipment. I'm told that if you're running on a PC you can just edit a config file somewhere and create equipment or money, but on a console you have to be a bit more creative.
My hack was to sell almost everything except a truck (there is no "fast travel") at the beginning of the game and buy as many beehives as possible. Beehives have little maintenance cost and automatically generate cash every day (all other "crops" in the game you have to haul somewhere and sell). Then you crank the time dilation up to max (like 120x) and leave the game running overnight. After a bit you have enough money to start buying solar collectors which also just sit and generate cash. Rinse and repeat until you have enough to start buying windmills, that's where the real money generation is. And you can place them almost anywhere on the map, not just on your own land. After a while so much money will be flowing in that you can't spend it fast enough.
I was playing the first Xbone version and even without that hack it was engaging. There was some AI that helped in basic plowing, planting, and harvesting but you still had to directly do a lot of the work. Side missions to run while crops were growing, and raising animals could get pretty complex. In that version there were no other players, just you controlling (if you had enough money to buy the land) your own little corner of pastoral splendor.
#notarealfarmer
posted by achrise at 10:53 AM on July 27, 2018 [11 favorites]
So in Farming Simulator you start off with a little land, basic equipment, and no money and start to grind from there (Where grinding means plowing, planting, fertilizing, harvesting, collecting, hauling, and selling crops. You can do it with animals but the payoff in the early game is low). The fun equipment is expensive and it can take a long time to make enough money to buy it. "Fun" for me was the big tractors, and specialized crop and forestry equipment. I'm told that if you're running on a PC you can just edit a config file somewhere and create equipment or money, but on a console you have to be a bit more creative.
My hack was to sell almost everything except a truck (there is no "fast travel") at the beginning of the game and buy as many beehives as possible. Beehives have little maintenance cost and automatically generate cash every day (all other "crops" in the game you have to haul somewhere and sell). Then you crank the time dilation up to max (like 120x) and leave the game running overnight. After a bit you have enough money to start buying solar collectors which also just sit and generate cash. Rinse and repeat until you have enough to start buying windmills, that's where the real money generation is. And you can place them almost anywhere on the map, not just on your own land. After a while so much money will be flowing in that you can't spend it fast enough.
I was playing the first Xbone version and even without that hack it was engaging. There was some AI that helped in basic plowing, planting, and harvesting but you still had to directly do a lot of the work. Side missions to run while crops were growing, and raising animals could get pretty complex. In that version there were no other players, just you controlling (if you had enough money to buy the land) your own little corner of pastoral splendor.
#notarealfarmer
posted by achrise at 10:53 AM on July 27, 2018 [11 favorites]
My favorite video game company is Zachtronics, which basically makes games about programming in weird architectures--TIS-100 is literally about programming a bunch of weirdly networked, weirdly architected microprocessors with assembly language; Shenzhen I/O is an electrical engineering simulator. You'd imagine that being a software developer in real life, I wouldn't want to spend my freetime learning new, useless programming languages, and yet I find it incredibly exciting.
posted by TypographicalError at 11:23 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by TypographicalError at 11:23 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
I have a deep need to go play Stardew Valley now and yet I'm stuck at work.
posted by hapaxes.legomenon at 11:24 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by hapaxes.legomenon at 11:24 AM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
achrise: renting out your land for solar panels and wind farms is about the best way to make money on marginal cattle grazing land in Eastern Oregon. My in-laws have been trying to do this for years. The rent for a single wind turbine is around $10k a year!
There’s not enough water for grain growing and cattle ranching is labor intensive and risky. Life imitates simulation!
posted by monotreme at 11:56 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
There’s not enough water for grain growing and cattle ranching is labor intensive and risky. Life imitates simulation!
posted by monotreme at 11:56 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
I wonder if any real farms are being neglected in favour of virtual farms, as happens with every other deeply immersive game. "I need to plow... but I need to plow!"
posted by clawsoon at 11:57 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 11:57 AM on July 27, 2018 [4 favorites]
Is your brain convinced that someday you'll be handed power over the world and you mustn't screw it up? Then you'll play Civ.
If this theory holds any water, my Civ play indicates I should never ever be given power.
In general terms of our game play being an indicator of our interests/passions, I’m not sure what it says about me is that my favourite moments in playing Rimworld have come after a colony has completely collapsed and I’ve made the decision to continue playing anyways. I watch the physical remains decay until somebody wanders in and “joins” the colony and I get to try to restart and rebuild. It’s a massive struggle, but it’s generated some great stories and memories.
posted by nubs at 1:13 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
If this theory holds any water, my Civ play indicates I should never ever be given power.
In general terms of our game play being an indicator of our interests/passions, I’m not sure what it says about me is that my favourite moments in playing Rimworld have come after a colony has completely collapsed and I’ve made the decision to continue playing anyways. I watch the physical remains decay until somebody wanders in and “joins” the colony and I get to try to restart and rebuild. It’s a massive struggle, but it’s generated some great stories and memories.
posted by nubs at 1:13 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
In general terms of our game play being an indicator of our interests/passions,
Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ . . . Played for 142 hours or more.
*hmm* guess I'll see you all in hell, at least my tears will be weaponized.
posted by Fizz at 1:15 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ . . . Played for 142 hours or more.
*hmm* guess I'll see you all in hell, at least my tears will be weaponized.
posted by Fizz at 1:15 PM on July 27, 2018 [1 favorite]
I really don't know why this is a surprise. My wife played restaurant time management games the whole time she was trying to run a failing bar.
Games are often a fantasy about things you wish you could achieve. You play games that relate to things you understand. Just because your power fantasy involves dragons and fireballs, doesn't mean that's the one that appeals to someone else.
Sometimes it's a fantasy about power over your actual life.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:35 PM on July 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
Games are often a fantasy about things you wish you could achieve. You play games that relate to things you understand. Just because your power fantasy involves dragons and fireballs, doesn't mean that's the one that appeals to someone else.
Sometimes it's a fantasy about power over your actual life.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:35 PM on July 27, 2018 [5 favorites]
Banished has you covered.
Welp thanks for ruining my life for the foreseeable future.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:25 AM on July 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Welp thanks for ruining my life for the foreseeable future.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:25 AM on July 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
So, is this the new EuroTruck Simulator in the "this sound like a terrible game, but it's actually pretty fun" sense? There were dozens of these kind of games released over the past 15 years or so, but a lot of them were budget titles with shoddy engines, low attention to detail and poor production vales, but people still played them. No surprise when the developers started putting some work into them, they become these little niche classics.
Also thinking if I should give SimFarm another go.
posted by lmfsilva at 9:25 AM on July 28, 2018
Also thinking if I should give SimFarm another go.
posted by lmfsilva at 9:25 AM on July 28, 2018
To each their own, but if there were a video game named Public Librarian Simulator I would not be playing it unless it reeeeaaaally emphasized the "fantasy about power over your actual life" (as lumpenprole put it) aspect of these types of games.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:17 AM on July 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:17 AM on July 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Sooooo... what would be the ultimate fantasy power elements of Public Librarian Simulator?
posted by clawsoon at 4:23 AM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by clawsoon at 4:23 AM on July 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Adequate funding?
posted by lmfsilva at 8:44 AM on July 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by lmfsilva at 8:44 AM on July 29, 2018 [6 favorites]
Sooooo... what would be the ultimate fantasy power elements of Public Librarian Simulator?
If not adequate funding, perhaps a magic wand that would revive a sense of curiosity and wonder in every patron who enters the building.
Doesn't exist? Bummer. Back to work with just my wits, then.
posted by Elly Vortex at 6:15 AM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
> Sooooo... what would be the ultimate fantasy power elements of Public Librarian Simulator?
Adequate funding and a magic wand that would revive and sense of curiosity and wonder in every patron who enters the building would be nice, but since we're talking video games and fantasy elements I'm thinking something more along the lines of "the ability to teleport other people out of the building if need be."
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:26 AM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
Adequate funding and a magic wand that would revive and sense of curiosity and wonder in every patron who enters the building would be nice, but since we're talking video games and fantasy elements I'm thinking something more along the lines of "the ability to teleport other people out of the building if need be."
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:26 AM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
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posted by Thorzdad at 5:37 AM on July 27, 2018 [13 favorites]