December 4, 2011

• Menu, Options.

  Do you like options?

  Because I do, I like menus too. In fact i’d go so far as to say I feel unnerved or annoyed when my access to them is limited.

  But the future seem to be moving away from giving the end user the power…okay I should clarify this is mainly to do with computers :/ but it still counts for other stuff.

  I’m a real PC (as in Windows OS) guy so whenever I use an Apple Mac I feel really lost, partly thats because of unfamiliarity but even after I know what i’m doing it still makes things difficult because you can’t tell what you are interacting with.

  It’s easier and those used to it rave about the ease of use and user friendlyness, but if you actually have to try to fix it or change something beyond the defaults or the ‘normal’ way you run into a complete lack of feedback, you have to jump through hoops to find the menus or just send it back to get it fix.

  But i’m not getting into a whole Mac vs Windows thing, i’m just using it as an example to highlight the issue, which is even more obvious in computer games.

  Older games offered LOADS of options, you could change and tweak the graphics to make the game run better or look better, you could change the controls and the way the game behaved in certain ways.

  These options are still there thankfully…but they are getting limited more and more, the systems are moving towards ‘user friendly’ options where you don’t actully need to know anything or in the end do anything.

  It’s the same in the games, rather than begin put into a situation where you can play with the concept of the game, try to push the boundries of the world or even try to figure a puzzle out. More and more Games are just films that you play the lead in, you feel like you are on Tram lines with littel or no deviation allowed or available.

  Look at anything and it’s the same, we tend towards ease, more computers in cars that do things for us, more computers in our homes that make life easier…and worst of all pre sliced vegatables in super markets, i’ve even seen pre grated cheese!!! -_-

  I like ease, of course I do…hell i’m seriously lazy, but that dosen’t mean I want to be given everything I used to have to work for, even minor work is useful to keep you engaged and why must lack of feedback go hand in hand with making things easier?

  Why not make life easier but also tell us what it is we are having done for us, rather than the tooltip for Level of Anti Aliasing saying ‘Changes level of Anti-Aliasing’ we should be given the option to learn what it does and why we want to change it. (here’s some info about AA if you wondered)

  The future if anything but industrial Sci-Fi is to be believed will be easier, more ease means less work, less work means more free time, more free time means more time to develope both the mind and spirit.

  But free time with no need and no feedback is isolation and emptiness, we need to be engaged, we need to be presented with problems and challenges, otherwise we just become lazy, bored and aimless.

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  Also it’s still voting time for the Writing Contest so go check it out here

  http://bmojsilo.xanga.com/757208517/xwwc—mfwa/

  • 1:02 pm
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