LAGWAR | GAMING'S BEST IN TOP NOTCH MEDIOCRITY

For those of us who are avid gamers, beating a game is perhaps one of the most satisfying things we do. Whether it’s in an epic final encounter with a game-long nemesis, a globally-affected last battle, or a simple, basic duel between good and evil, the last part of any game is always supposed to be the best. When the credits roll and you put down your controller, you should feel like you did something meaningful and that you had fun doing it, too. The best endings for games are those that do this and are worthy have being shared or talked about by gamers who’ve done the deed. Even in MMOs, which don’t quite have an end, the top level, or end-game content, is somewhat the same thing, as players reach maximum level and plant their flag at the top of a mountain marked with grinding and questing.

But what happens when the ending isn’t satisfying? What if you reach the end of a game and you don’t get that epic feeling, or even worse, feel like it doesn’t meet your expectations? What if a game is so good throughout its storyline that you can’t put it down, only to be let down by a sudden end that feels like a rock was dropped on your foot? I’m sure that if you’re reading this, you’ve thought of one or two games that have done this to you, that have been so dissatisfying at the end that you’ve become annoyed or irritated enough to launch your controller at the TV screen.

For MMOs, a bad end in terms of end-game content is equally as anger-inducing. Whether there are people who rush to end-game content, or climb ever so slowly until they get to the top, if the endgame isn’t satisfying it’s the same kind of letdown. The annoyance is exacerbated by the fact that many MMOs require a bit of repetition to get to their limit, and the work that was accomplished in doing so may feel empty for players at that level. Combine that with the persistence of a monthly subscription fee and you have an angry mob of pitchfork-bearing players ready to bust down the doors of the development company.

When it comes to the end, whether it is in a game or in an MMO, I’ve always been able to keep my head on my shoulders and not feel too keen of a disappointment when things don’t work out. Part of this is really understanding that, even though people may feel like a game with a bad end is a waste of time, technically playing the game itself is a also a waste of time. We play games to escape or not be productive, to find some satisfaction and enjoyment in its brand of entertainment. In that respect, a game with a bad ending is as much of a loss of productivity as one with a good ending. Having this kind of general, simplistic perspective on game-playing has helped me deal with bad endings of more than a few titles.

There’s also the sense that no matter what I’m doing, getting to the end of a game, or to its maximum level, is an accomplishment no matter how you slice it. If I’ve slaughtered, battled, and otherwise slogged my way through a game’s challenges and beaten all it has to offer, even if the end isn’t as good as it could be I take solace in the fact that ending a game means you’ve achieved victory over it. With MMOs, which have no definitive ending, getting to the maximum level means I’ve done what many players may not be able to do for various reasons – reach the top of the leveling curve to enjoy its benefits. Even the worst MMOs have something to offer players who get to this level, and it’s still something that I take some pride in, even with the ones I’ve inevitably left.

People get angry over the end of a game because they feel that it is supposed to be the culmination of all that they’ve accomplished? Me? I think that as someone said, it’s not the ending, but the journey to get there, and that goes for games, too.