Sliders: I Don't Get It

[RaychelSnr]

Some things in life are never meant to make sense. For our own Joey Arone, the obsession with sliders has never made sense to him. Be sure to read Joey's take in his article, Sliders: I Don't Get It, and then leave him some feedback!

"I guess I just do not get it. Where does this incessant obsessive-compulsive need to fiddle with a bunch of sliders come from? Why are sliders mostly only in sports games and not other games? Why are sliders taken as seriously as politics and religion when it comes to some people?"

[adembroski]

Re: Sliders: I Don't Get It

Sliders appeared when developers realized they had another option to put in the users hands. I don't see why people who don't like them want to whine about them... don't use 'em! I will, and we'll both be happy.

As far as being a crutch... are you saying that in 1997, games were more realistic out of the box than they are now? Madden may have it's issues, but there are dozens of other examples of games that are peaking right now. Outside of American football and baseball, I don't remember a time when sports games were better.

[allstar3970]

i think you misunderstand how sliders are used.....sliders are used because out of the box the game is tuned to often be fun for the "average gamer" or 95% of the people who buy the game. This is often NOT realistic, but meant to be fast and arcade-like (especially in the case of say, NHL 09). So the developers give the other 5% (most here) the option to tune the game to their more realistic tastes. The reason why a game like say...Halo doesnt have a huge amount of sliders is because its not like any of us have experience fighting interstellar war so we can tune it right. We know how the sport is supposed to be; the developers dont set the defaults this way (i would assume on purpose...again for the masses, which is fine, they have to do what they have to do)

Horrible, completely uninformed article.

[mgoblue]

Re: Sliders: I Don't Get It

I don't get how "slider gurus" can play 4 games and automatically know enough to tweak a billion sliders, play one more game and then tweak again. Every individual game has so many unique moments due to chance that you really can't get a good baseline without a crazy amount of games.

Feel free to use sliders, I just feel it's a never-ending game and you just keep being frustrated that it's "not perfect" and "only 1 slider change away". I sometimes wonder if the hardcore slider guys even have fun with games or if they're too busy counting all the little things and bitching.

[Trevytrev11]

I don't get how "slider gurus" can play 4 games and automatically know enough to tweak a billion sliders, play one more game and then tweak again. Every individual game has so many unique moments due to chance that you really can't get a good baseline without a crazy amount of games.

Feel free to use sliders, I just feel it's a never-ending game and you just keep being frustrated that it's "not perfect" and "only 1 slider change away". I sometimes wonder if the hardcore slider guys even have fun with games or if they're too busy counting all the little things and bitching.

It's because if you see their name enough times with sliders, you will just assume they are a guru. I love the fact that people have slider versions 2.1.0.1A....obviously if it took you this many versions to get them right, you didn't quite know what you were doing the first 50 times.

It's kind of like developers these days. They put out a set to get it out and then tweak it for a month until it's right instead of just waiting a month to put it out.

[bsb13]

"Too lazy to put in the effort to excel in the game as it was designed"

Its just the total opposite for me a lot of times. I find most games to be too easy in certain aspects and I need sliders to the make the game more of a challenge. Like MLB The Show for example....hitting is too freaking easy in that game even on the HOF level, and even with sliders adjustments, the game is still a little too easy.

No challenge = No fun

[Laettner32]

Pish Posh! Flimshaw! I'm 37 and in my day we didn't have no stinking sliders Mr! I would spot the CPU in Ken Griffey Baseball 3 runs and play the game to make it competitive! In Double Dribble...I spotted the CPU 30 points! And you know what? It worked and we liked it! Kids today and their "wahhh!! the rebounding isn't accurate for the CPU!" Fiddlesticks! In the golden years of Madden.. I would only attempt 1 bomb in the 1st half, and no more than 2 in the 2nd! Jiminy Crickets!

[Padgoi]

Re: Sliders: I Don't Get It

Pish Posh! Flimshaw! I'm 37 and in my day we didn't have no stinking sliders Mr! I would spot the CPU in Ken Griffey Baseball 3 runs and play the game to make it competitive! In Double Dribble...I spotted the CPU 30 points! And you know what? It worked and we liked it! Kids today and their "wahhh!! the rebounding isn't accurate for the CPU!" Fiddlesticks! In the golden years of Madden.. I would only attempt 1 bomb in the 1st half, and no more than 2 in the 2nd! Jiminy Crickets!

Fortunately, most gamers nowadays don't want to have to "dumb-down" in order for the game to be competitive. And I say fortunately because this has pretty much forced game developers to make more realistic games in an effort to turn a profit.

[rom3]

Sliders have been a great addition to sports games because it allows you to customize the game to your style and difficulty. Most people enjoy playing a game that is challenging and fits that skill level. If I have to set "house rules" to play a game against the CPU to make it competitive I am not going to be playing it very long without losing interest. In my opinion most games that use the sliders settings have done a very good job at creating games that allow the user to customize the game to a skill level that makes it enjoyable and fun.

[militia23]

Ok I have playing sport games for quite awhile. I found the sliders out of box were to easy. So I started playing with sliders and going online to find sets. The problem though is I can never get the game to my liking. So i spend all my time adjusting and readjusting. Which has slowly taken the fun out of playing. This years madden 09 has a great idea of having ai adjust to you. Needs work but it should bring the fun back to sports games. So hopefully this is the decline of sliders in sport games.

[bsb13]

Re: Sliders: I Don't Get It

Sliders should always be in sports games though. If someone doesnt want to use them they dont have to, but they should still be there for those that do.

[asu666]

Is the point of this article that developers should strip even more options away from the people who purchase their games? Waste of space imo.

[dave374]

Re: Sliders: I Don't Get It

Sliders are absolutely critical for every sports game.

[KG]

"Sliders are a shameful downward spiral of inadequacy. Developers use them to make programming easier, and sports gamers use them because they are there. Too lazy to put in the practice to excel in the game as it was designed, gamers slide the almighty sliders to adjust to their individual whims. They do not realize that if they were proud and held themselves accountable for their gaming that developers would no longer be able to use sliders as a development crutch. "

Yes and no. Sliders are the users ability to tailor the game to their unique playing style. The reason why they are so popular on OS is because most of us consider ourselves to be "sim" players so we're looking for the most realistic gaming experience. We use them to help make the game mirror it's real life counterparts.

As a guy who uses sliders I am 100% for companies putting them in. Without adaptive AI, games become stale and predictable. If a game has good sliders (NBA 2K/College Hoops/FIFA), you can tweak the way certain teams play to ensure that the gaming experience is unique to that team. If you play the Warriors in an NBA game and they play the same was at the Spurs then you have a major problem in my eyes.

I don't view them as the developers being lazy or as a crutch in any way. I applaud them for giving us the choice to customize our game. Hell, a lot of us want the ability to edit/customize everything.

[DubTrey1]

I love having the option myself. If you like the game out the box - then good for you, but I like having the option to set the game up to my liking. And if Madden 09 is any indication of this with the "My Skill" mess, then we all know one thing, it ain't goin away.....