Why Do We Play As Heroes?
When you go through any game that you have on your shelf, chances are you play the story as a hero. Not a villain, or even just a normal bystander. In fact it's almost rare to play as something besides a hero of a story. There is an obvious gap in the gaming industry when it comes to playing the other side. I'm here to address why this is.
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4. We Were Raised To Like Heroes
Most people don't teach their kids to break the law. This and society pressures you to be someone who likes people that do good naturally. Ever since you were a child you were taught to prefer good over bad, even in small cases. So of course we like heroes better in general.
3. We Like The Story Better
Who likes to be the loser? When you play a game you expect that all the time you put into it will reward you right? Chances are that if you are playing as a villain you will lose in the end. We as humans enjoy winning, and being the hero is just the best way to do it. Think about how many stories you know involve a hero losing. Can't bring up that much right?
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2. We Enjoy The Game More
Think about it, when you play as a hero you are always being praised and loved by those around you. Even if you accidentally kill a guy they still clap and ignore it usually. Everyone wants to be liked and appreciated, what is a better way to acheive that than being a hero? Plus we usually get free items and everything else you could want. It just makes a game more fun to be on the side of the people.
1. We Have A Sense Of Good and Bad
Whether anyone admits it or not, we all have a sense of right and wrong. We know what we should be doing and it's usually the right thing. People like to be helpful naturally, if you see someone stealing you'd point it out. It's not for the reward most of the time, but because it feels right. Of course this isn't true for everyone, but most people like to help. So are preferences are just usually aligned with the hero. To put it simply, we play as the hero because we want to be a hero.
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Personal thoughts
As for my personal thoughts, I believe everyone wants to be a hero. From when you were born to when you die you dream of people appreciating you. You want to stand out of the crowd, but most of all you just want to help people. There is no greater feeling to me than knowing you made someone else smile. You brightened their day by even a small amount. That feeling always makes my chest warm and I can't help but smile. Why do we play as heroes? Because helping feels good.
I know this one is kind of short tonight, but I was busy again and I apologize for it. Thank you for reading this post of mine! If you liked my post please up-vote, resteem, and follow me for future content! I really appreciate the support.
Good posts @primelink but there are a lot of people out there that are not this way. Including me. I never liked being a hero or in the center of attention. Not even in videogames. I enjoy the games where you can choose to play as a villain.
Neverthless, i can understand why the general public wants to play as a hero.
On an interesting side note, did anyone else notice that whenever the game allows you to play as the bad guy (and it's not a online PvP game) it is usually quite good?
Great post! Would you mind if I included it in today's "best of gaming"?
Although I liked more villain characters than heroes, I agree with you, especially that number 1. We can distinguish good from evil and tend to choose to do the good/right thing, which is what a hero would do. But I personally prefer to be an anti-hero instead of a pure good hero. So it's like between good and evil ahaha.
Great post! Even if this one is kind of short, it's still enjoyable to read.
Tbh i'd rather prefer an anti-hero, Like Kratos in God of War.
I enjoy this post and while playing as a villain is all right. Keep up the good work.