It's in Our Nature

Have you ever read The Dark Tower series of novels by Stephen King? If you haven't, the story revolves around a man on an epic quest to reach a lone standing tower. The story spans seven novels (and now an eighth, which acts as a prequel), and keeps the readers on the edge of their seats. (You'd better hold on to your butts, to quote screen legend Samuel Jackson). Without giving away too much, the final novel essentially ends where the first one begins. It is a circle. The reader goes through this journey with the characters, only to end up back at the beginning events. Normally, you would think this wouldn't go over well with readers. Seven novels, and it's a circle?! Believe it or not, this series has sold roughly 30 to 40 million books. How is this possible? Don't we like progression in storytelling? After all, to get scientific and lifey here, humans do evolve. It's in our nature. However, it's also in our nature to repeat and conquer. Perfect example? Call of Duty. Call of Duty's multiplayer is known for its addictivness and awesomeness. It boasts a fun and engaging online experience, complete with customizable gear and interconnectivity like none other. But, one of the features of the newest installment, Black Ops II, gives the player the power to completely reset their stats. That's right. All of that progression you've achieved, all of those countless hours you spent running around with a pistol to get headshots and earn a special medal, all of that can mean nothing. You have the power to zap all of those achievements away. You can wipe the slate clean. Why would someone do that? Isn't the point to earn the medals and emblems and jack up your K/D? The answer lies in the idea that gamers love to PLAY. We love to play, no matter the stats. We love to play the game. I have some friends who have reached the 10th prestiege (the highest you can go) on Modern Warfare 2. While playing with them, they have said numerous times that they would love to reset their stats. Why? To put it simply, they get bored. They want to regain that feeling of accomplishment when you unlock a challenge. They want to feel that rush when you make the long trip back from level 70 to Level 1 when they prestiege. They want constant challenge, reward, and progression. That is why Black Ops II has added this feature. Gamers love to accomplish challenges. That's why we play games. Why do we play multiplayer more instead of single player? Why is multiplayer more popular? The answer? Multiplayer offers you a completely differnet challenge in every match you play. In single player mode, you can memorize the levels.You can get to the point of speedrunning through the levels and game. Multiplayer does't afford you this opportunity. Everything is constantly changing. The opponents you face are different. Maybe one match you play, you face a team of noob tubers. The next match might pit you against a healthy mixture of snipers, campers, and fraggers. Constant adaptation and constant challenges are what fuel gamers. This is why we do what we do.