The inspiration for this thought exercise was triggered when Michael Abbot of The Brainy Gamer polled his Twitter followers with the following question: “Curious to know: Do you tend to say “I finished” a game, or “I beat” a game? Usually one or the other? Or does it vary by game? ” Taking these into account, he posted about some of the possible distinctions we can draw about how players view based on the language they describe it using. “I’m one of those people who think words matter – a lot, actually,” writes Abbot. I’m inclined to agree—at least to the degree that they can reveal information about the way perceive and organize the world.
Abbot doesn’t attempt to create clear categories for words like beat, finish, and complete. Doing so would impose standard modes of thinking on something that should vary person to person. Though shared vocabulary might allow game players to converse without confusion (“wait, did you do everything in GTA IV or just finish the story ?”) it diminishes the actual conversation. That dialogue is culturally significant within the gaming community and allows people to delve into each others’ personalities and attitudes toward games.
“What do we say when we’re done?” had received over 50 comments at the time I wrote this entry. I, of course, was one of those comments:
I was one of the Twitter folk you consulted on the question. I too think words matter a lot because they say a lot about us culturally. “Beat” and “finish” do say a lot about how games are perceived.
On the one hand, my initial impulse is to say that “beat” is used when you feel like you’ve overcome a series of obstacles that were intended impede your process to the “end” of the game–whether that be story mode or some sort of final stage or boss in a game without narrative. As an example, I beat Halo 3 because I went through all the levels and got the credits and there’s nothing more for me to do in-game.
However, I’ve only “beaten” GTA IV because I went through the story mode and stopped afterward even though there was more for me to do. If I did every possible mission and could do no more, I’d say I completed it. I could also complete Geometry Wars 2 by, as you said, getting all the achievements and beating Sequence mode. Achievements (and now Trophies) add an interesting new tangible way of showing accomplishment, mastery, and completion.
Finished takes on a very different connotation for me. Finished is used when I feel like I was along for some sort of journey whose soul purpose was not to impede my progress but to get me to the end. I “finished” Shadow of the Colossus. I “finished” Braid (even though it was very challenging). It’s weird, though: I beat Half-Life 2 but I finished Portal. I can’t quite articulate this distinction, but I can draw a parallel. Nobody who is reading a book and gets to the end says they “beat” it because there’s not the sense that it doesn’t want you to be done with it. (Most) books don’t get harder as they go along. The accomplishment associated with finishing a book is putting in the time to let the whole thing unravel.
These categories are clearly only the impressions that I have when reflecting upon my game playing experiences. Half-way through Mass Effect it turned from a game that I needed to beat into a game I needed to finish. It’s not a game I ever plan on “completing,” though, as I wasn’t engaged enough to give it a second go.
The best part of this thought exercise is that I’m now more confused about the whole mess than when I started. I’ll continue to mull over it and look forward to reading what other people have to say.
Much like Abbot, I was more interested in what the commenters had to say than my own take on the situation. There were some trends in the comments but nothing conclusive (good!). While some people agreed with some of the usage others had completely opposite opinions.
So what were the important things to take away from these comments? It’s the how instead of the what. How did people group words using what kinds of criteria.
Reader Steve was the only person to attribute the language to differences in regional lexicons, like “soda” versus “pop”.
Many felt it was a part of some ingrained cultural learned through the years. “My understanding of my use of video gaming jargon is that it is derived from the magazines I read when I was younger,” writes catfishmaw. Atty Finch assumed that it was “something I picked up from my friends early as a kid.”
One of the most interesting responses attached emotional impact to the chosen language:
If you assign video games a position of foremost importance in your life, as a lot of younger gamers unsaddled with ‘grown-up responsibility’ are wont to do, it’s only rational that you’d want to use terms to describe your activity that are infused with the emotional content you feel when you’re engaged. Words like “finished” and “completed” lack the visceral punch that “beat” and “defeated” carry.
Additionally, Lil Zanzig wrote that beat is used by “a lot more from the type of people who wear their XBox Live accomplishments as badges of honor,” who invest emotionally in gaming as an activity.
Thompson Plyler‘s distinction between hardcore and casual gamer language recieved some opposition in the comments. [authors note: I dislike the terms hardcore, casual and even gamer.] Librarian Jess (who agreed with me and is therefore awesome) felt that ascribing certain terms to light-use game players demeans their experience and favorites more regular game players.
Plenty of commenters also threw words like ‘completed’ and ‘mastered’ into the mix, even further complicated the situation.
In a conflicted manner, Julian explains that he feels analyzing the language that players use is a fruitless activity, but goes on to make some interesting observations about how language might change depend upon the individual’s relation to the community:
I’m sure some people, especially people who didn’t spend the bulk of their leisure time playing video games during the crucial formative years for language, do use the terms based on their root meanings and the connotations. They’re drawing from a general vocabulary to describe their interactions with games. For me, the “beat” I use when talking about games is different than other senses of “beat.” It’s part of a specialized gaming-related vocabulary doesn’t necessarily correlate to general-use terms.
Specialized gaming-related vocabulary is picked up through interaction with the game-playing community whereas general use terms might be used by people with no need of a specialized lexicon. This is an interesting question that’s not really explored in the comments of Abbot’s blog post because his is a specialized blog. A more involved survey rather than a explorative musing is necessary to understand these differences.
Is a real survey worth while? Perhaps. It could certainly provide some interesting insights, but I doubt it would get to the root of the issue. What is at stake in this conversation? Though I would prefer not, I can imagine a time in which ‘beat vs. finished’ will errupt into the art argument [an argument I don't find useful]. Already in the comments (and even in my perceptions) language is used to describe kinds of game and ‘finished’ was often used with a high-brow activity associated with other media forms. Regardless of the outcome it’s discourse worth monitoring.
Hi Bobby. I enjoyed your analysis of this discussion, and I appreciate you taking the time to consider the issues related to this question. Words do matter, as you say, because they reflect how we see and makes sense of things. I never expected to receive so many comments from readers on this post. Clearly, many of us agree it’s a question worth exploring, even though we will obviously never answer it. Thanks, too, for posting your own views, which were most helpful. Walking away more confused than when you entered is often a sign of a thoughtful conversation.
My take is a bit more linguistic and etymological. This is the sort of stuff that nobody consciously thinks about when they tell their friends that they recently achieved things in a game, but as with a lot of what is written, said, and shown, there are meanings beneath the meanings.
If you have “beat” a game, it is implied that you were in some sort of violent struggle with it. The game might have done a bit of lashing out at you, but you flogged it right back and pummeled it out of contention. That AI, level design, and trap placement was no match for you! This is the most violent, gladiatorial way to tell somebody that you have seen the ending of a game. I have also heard extensions of this phrase (“I layed the smack-down on that game; I gave that game a beatdown,” etc…)
To say “completed” belies a structured take on a game text. I have looked at what is possible in a game and, given how it is designed and what can be understood as the possible ends of action and narrative, I have done all that was asked and have finally made it to the end credits. Ordered, structured players see things as “complete.” The game was a mysterious assemblage of user-input commands, sprites, and dialog boxes, but I put it all together and wrapped it up. I think that to say that you “completed” something also speaks to how readily we want to understand our game narratives as finite, Aristotelian, and tidy.
But to have “finished” a game means that it is “done.” Sure, you can say that you have “finished with” GTA 4 after 30 hours and no real narrative progress. But even to say that you have finished GTA 4 in the sense that the narrative is over and the story complete is to imply that your entry into that virtual world is over. I recently finished DIABLO 2 in both senses. I am sick of that game and its interface, I destroyed the final boss, and I will likely avoid the game for the rest of my life. “Finished,” again, implies “finite.” But can we finish MMORPGS? By reaching the level cap? Getting the best armor? Simply canceling our subscriptions?