One of the big frustrations of games like WoW for me is I’m severely restricted in where I’m allowed to go: stray too far early in the game and you’ll get your ass soundly trounced by high-level monsters. You’re given this vast world to play in, but you’re not allowed to see all of it without doin’ the level grindin’ time. Part of why I like Oblivion’s scaled difficulty - vs fixed placements of monsters a la WoW - is that (in theory) it allows you to go anywhere in the world at any time without fear of getting your ass kicked.

“It's like reading to finish a book, instead of for the enjoyment of reading. Any game I really like, I dread finishing. A clear ending forces you out of the game world, out of the environment "” which, for me, is far more powerful than any linear progression.”

And yet, to continue that analogy, your approach is akin to never finishing a book in the first place: instead, you linger on favorite passages, reread certain sections, and so forth, without completing your narrative journey; you prefer to draw out your stay, even if you never see how the story ends. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you enjoy it, but it does kinda defeat the creators’ purpose in providing a narrative in the first place. :-)

Me, I want to see how the story ends. I want to know how I save the day, how I find true love, how I live happily ever after. My time in, say, an RPG or adventure game feels “wasted” if I don’t see how it ends. But to each their own.

I've been noticing the constraints and linearity even in most MMORPG's of late since the emphasis is on Leveling.
Another interesting topic along the same vein is the idea of social “leveling.” In a game like Second Life for example, there’s only a very loose built-in system of hierarchy (arguably, if any). Yet different social expectations and pressures set a clear precedent for what you need to “succeed,” to be an upper-level player.

I’ve been noticing the constraints and linearity even in most MMORPG’s of late since the emphasis is on Leveling. You may be able to go anywhere, but you’ll only advance yourself if you go the right places for your Level. And doing anything other than Leveling will leave you behind.

Ultima 7 and Ultima Online have been the only games I’ve played where freedom seemed possible to me.

I think that this is related to the amount of time I have available. Now that I have less time than I used to as a student to explore games, my experience is more focused, and goal driven (and that goal usually aligns with the game makers’ intentions). After I have finished a game’s story arc, that is when I am most likely to wander off the beaten path and explore and generally try and subvert the ruleset. Except in driving games, where the first thing I do is to see if you can drive backwards around the track and see what happens…

I would play. I think the idea of creating a new logic for game progression is super nifty, but the real question is can a game divorce itself from the pre-existing metaphors and tools of linear play?

…I'm wondering if anyone else plays the way I do (with only minimal care for linearity, getting caught up in "useless" details). My sense is that, for one reason or another, it might be one of those things that's influenced by gender.

It’s possible that it’s a gender thing (considering the popularity of non-linear, “do-nothing” titles like The Sims among female gamers). What’s interesting about your approach is that rather than not caring about linearity in non-linear games, you seem to not care about linearity in linear games. I usuallly react to that with impatience, which is interesting in of itself. Maybe it’s a male thing, constantly looking towards the final destination instead of enjoying the trip, if you know what I mean. -sj

Also, back to the larger issue of non-participation, I’m wondering if anyone else plays the way I do (with only minimal care for linearity, getting caught up in “useless” details). My sense is that, for one reason or another, it might be one of those things that’s influenced by gender.

On a more relevant note, game logic seems to exist largely on easy-to-understand metaphors, which can exist cross-generationally to create a sort of “language” for linear progression. It’s astonishing when you think of the sheer number of game titles that depend on that ultimate barrier against linearity: “the locked door.”

The obvious answer would be to combat the classic tools of linearity — doors, keys, switches, buttons, levers — but where does that leave us? “Open-ended,” I suppose, as John H. has said. Without these metaphors we lose linearity. So how can we retain a sense of direction — and of the challenge in moving in that direction — without such tools? -sj