Why is there a stigma attached to turn based games?

[theantmeister]

Occasionally I'll get into a discussion of video games with people at work. They're all going on about "being" Rooney in some football game or graduating to major vice corporal in some WWII shooter. When asked what I'm playing, I almost always say Civilization V. Most of the time they'll not know what I'm talking about, so I'll explain that it's a turn based strategy game. At this point their expressions change from confused to more a look of pity.

Why do people look at you funny when you tell them you like to play turn based strategy games? You don't get this kind of thing with real time strategy.

[RetroMartin]

Maybe your work mates are just the calibre of people that only play the one or two big games a year and don't care about anything else?

That or they just don't like Civ!

[Mootown]

Well it is a bit weird - I mean, in real life armies don't take turns! pshhhh! what a load of rubbish!
*turns on Mario Kart..*

[Smurph]

Well, it's just another hangover from the old days when if you even said you played games at all you got a look of pity, like you'd never had sex.

I dunno, maybe it's like film snobbery - only in reverse. It's as if you were all talking about movies and they all said they were watching 'Jim Carrey Pulls Faces 8' and 'Adam Sandler Shouts Again' then they look at you funny when you say you enjoyed the latest Auteuil piece. Although I'd look at you funny if you said that, it's sh!te.

[joefish]

Occasionally I'll get into a discussion of video games with people at work. They're all going on about "being" Rooney in some football game or graduating to major vice corporal in some WWII shooter. When asked what I'm playing, I almost always say Civilization V. Most of the time they'll not know what I'm talking about, so I'll explain that it's a turn based strategy game. At this point their expressions change from confused to more a look of pity.

Why do people look at you funny when you tell them you like to play turn based strategy games? You don't get this kind of thing with real time strategy.

Because they're a bit thick.

[MikeFishcake]

Occasionally I'll get into a discussion of video games with people at work. They're all going on about "being" Rooney in some football game or graduating to major vice corporal in some WWII shooter. When asked what I'm playing, I almost always say Civilization V. Most of the time they'll not know what I'm talking about, so I'll explain that it's a turn based strategy game. At this point their expressions change from confused to more a look of pity.

Why do people look at you funny when you tell them you like to play turn based strategy games? You don't get this kind of thing with real time strategy.

Because they're a bit thick.

This.

Some people can't see past the mainstream and are unable to fathom anything other than the big name genres of anything. Like Smurph said, the same thing would apply to films. And also the same goes for music, sports and other forms of entertainment. If it's a little bit leftfield, it confuses some people.

[Timothy Lumsden]

people like chess and draughts etc - they're turn based

I quite like them - especially good to play when you're watching kids etc - you can play at your leisure to some extent

[delbert_trout]

Occasionally I'll get into a discussion of video games with people at work. They're all going on about "being" Rooney in some football game or graduating to major vice corporal in some WWII shooter. When asked what I'm playing, I almost always say Civilization V. Most of the time they'll not know what I'm talking about, so I'll explain that it's a turn based strategy game. At this point their expressions change from confused to more a look of pity.

Why do people look at you funny when you tell them you like to play turn based strategy games? You don't get this kind of thing with real time strategy.

Because they're a bit thick.

This.

Some people can't see past the mainstream and are unable to fathom anything other than the big name genres of anything. Like Smurph said, the same thing would apply to films. And also the same goes for music, sports and other forms of entertainment. If it's a little bit leftfield, it confuses some people.

Agree completely - sometimes if it isn't just 'mash the buttons, blow that up, beat up this, shoot the cr*p out of the other' and requires stopping and thinking for a bit, people don't want to know.
Certainly true of other entertainment forms as well as you say ... I got all sorts of funny looks and comments at school for not particularly being bothered about Blur, Oasis, any of the manufactured girl/boy-band stuff that was big at the time (certainly not after having discovered 70s stuff instead e.g. Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Eagles, Free, Bad Company, Zeppelin et al) ... similar thing.

[thevulture]

Yep, had 'that' look from people when i explained just what:Xcom, Laser Squad, Lords Of Chaos, Civ, Rebelstar etc are, when people ask what i'm currently playing.

Usually followed by:'where's the fun in that? the buzz? sounds boring....', but then these people never tried them, so how would they know?..

There's stacks of tension in something like Xcom or Rebelstar (GBA current ver.i'm taken with) watching enemy fire pass within inches of your squad memeber or a game of cat and mouse with some Alien Scum, hunter becoming the hunted etc and planning 3 or 4 moves ahead and seeing a well planned tactical move pay off is bloody superb.

Man cannot live on FPS and high octane arcade exp.alone.

[do_sucol]

Me,i always thought that they looked too slow and boring.But i've recently changed my view ,what did it was getting a psp 3000 and having a quick go of pixel junk monsters deluxe.That quick go lasted several hours and i'm well on board with the style of play.

[Misery]

Yep, had 'that' look from people when i explained just what:Xcom, Laser Squad, Lords Of Chaos, Civ, Rebelstar etc are, when people ask what i'm currently playing.

Usually followed by:'where's the fun in that? the buzz? sounds boring....', but then these people never tried them, so how would they know?..

There's stacks of tension in something like Xcom or Rebelstar (GBA current ver.i'm taken with) watching enemy fire pass within inches of your squad memeber or a game of cat and mouse with some Alien Scum, hunter becoming the hunted etc and planning 3 or 4 moves ahead and seeing a well planned tactical move pay off is bloody superb.

Man cannot live on FPS and high octane arcade exp.alone.

Agh, yes, this. Always this.

Iv'e gotten the damn "But how is that fun?" question more times than I can count. Normally if I mention shmups in any way. Even moreso if I actually SHOW people the games. This generally being due to the very high difficulty level of that genre.

People say that, and then they go right back to their Call of Halos and pretend it never happened. I let out my traditional exasperated sigh, and so on.

...and it's true also, they dont seem to like turn-based anything half the time. Hm, their loss, really. Nobody around here likes older arcade titles either.

[nokgod]

It's my favourite genre...so what does that make me?

[thevulture]

For myself, the 'irk' from the 'But how could that be fun?' comments i get, is that these people seem unwilling to even try 1 or 2 of these games.

Reading reviews of Demon's souls i thought...that sounds like a frickin nightmare, that's not for me, but people kept praising it, thought, hmmn, must be worth a shot, bought and loved it.Ok, not turn based, but i had to try and see if it was my kinda thing before passing it over.

With turn based games, think earliest i played must have been Eastern Front on the Atari 800 XL, never tried a turn based game before, but the subject matter was something i was into, gave it a shot and...woah, not bad, rest as they say was history.

[Shinobi]

Yep, had 'that' look from people when i explained just what:Xcom, Laser Squad, Lords Of Chaos, Civ, Rebelstar etc are, when people ask what i'm currently playing.

Usually followed by:'where's the fun in that? the buzz? sounds boring....', but then these people never tried them, so how would they know?..

There's stacks of tension in something like Xcom or Rebelstar (GBA current ver.i'm taken with) watching enemy fire pass within inches of your squad memeber or a game of cat and mouse with some Alien Scum, hunter becoming the hunted etc and planning 3 or 4 moves ahead and seeing a well planned tactical move pay off is bloody superb.

Man cannot live on FPS and high octane arcade exp.alone.

Agh, yes, this. Always this.

Iv'e gotten the damn "But how is that fun?" question more times than I can count. Normally if I mention shmups in any way. Even moreso if I actually SHOW people the games. This generally being due to the very high difficulty level of that genre.

People say that, and then they go right back to their Call of Halos and pretend it never happened. I let out my traditional exasperated sigh, and so on.

...and it's true also, they dont seem to like turn-based anything half the time. Hm, their loss, really. Nobody around here likes older arcade titles either.

Normally with Shmups "it's too easy I finished it on my first go credit feeding it - only took me 100 continue's".. Or if they limit your credits "It's impossible it can't be finished".. I remember showing somebody who said Esgaluda was impossible a video off a guy finishing it in 2 players by himself on 1 life.. You get "he must be like Rain Man or something" Mind the same person wouldn't play Death Smiles as he said there's Transvestite's on there(I think he means Bridget, who's a boy dressed a girl) and gets all angelic about Fifa being the Future of Video games..

I guess that's why the shelves are groaning under the weight of 99p sports titles and Guiater Heroes and the other Mainstream shovel ware..

As Smurph says it would be the same as anything they like what the Market Men tell them to like.. They'ed have a go at you for liking different music or TV or whatever really

[The Dome]

It's my favourite genre...so what does that make me?

A sexless drone? Only joking!

Most of my mates are the same - they dismiss turn based games as being unactionable borefests with not enough fine tits and ass.