Enslaved Players
Enslaved players ... I don’t like the sound of it. The name is not even correct. 'Disconnected digital player representation' would be, not as catchy though.
I wonder who came up with that name. My guess is that it was someone named Bill or Ted from some marketing department. They don't have to name things correctly, it just needs to be catchy & sellable.
A name like 'Hoverboard'. Man, I hate that name: It. Does. Not. Hover. Period. Marty McFly had a hoverboard. Steve, the annoying kid from butcher has not. He has a balance board or a self-balancing scooter, but he definitely doesn't have a hoverboard.
Marketing, bleh. Sadly it seems to work though. People get excited over names, some can get really, really excited. But that doesn't matter, back to our topic. We were talking about pizza, not hoverboards.
Ow, not pizza ... I would like a pizza though ...
You know how some people like playing games at some point in their life, but as they get older they 'don't have the time' anymore? For some reason we all accept that as a reason, although we all have 24 hours in a single day. There are husbands who find the time to play, fathers, CEO's, mothers, rockstars, ... If we can fit it into our day or week, why is it impossible for them? Especially when they don't seem to have any issues watching television for hours on end.
Let me tell you why they don't or better can't play anymore: they are disconnected from their digital self.
Because of this disconnect they can't seem to get into games anymore. They can't relate to the characters, don't understand the need to get a better score, don't feel the relaxing vibe coming from the games. They don't 'get it' anymore. They are disconnected from the digital worlds, the digital stories. They lost their digital self, their digital representation that is across all games.
It does happen that ex-players become players again. It does not happen often and we usually welcome them back with open arms. We never question it, it just seems normal. How normal is it though, that someone who hasn't played for a long time, all of sudden is back into games again? This has a simple reason: their digital self is free again. Free to run, fight & jump. Free to conquer worlds, love dogs, save the princess & kick chickens.
Now you might be wondering why players get disconnected from their digital self. That is a very good question because - let's be honest - I lead you to that question :) The answer to that question is pretty simple, but might surprise you.
Have you noticed that after 'The Cloud' emerged more and more people had 'no time' for games anymore? Have you ever wondered how The Cloud operates? What keeps it going? What makes it work? Or better 'Who' makes it work?
Take a guess ...