Some of us were chatting today about the addictive nature of Pente and so I thought I'd start a thread on this to find out if other addicts (we assume most of you are!) have any thoughts as to what makes the game so addictive.
Note that although I am talking about Pente here, the same goes for all the other variants including C6 which has a devoted following also.
I will speak only for Pente as my knowledge and skills in the other variants is basically zero. So here are my thoughts to kick things off. (Hey, I know this is trivial but a bit of fun is always good right?)
Now we know that Pente is fun to play, its challenging, and that it is quick to learn the basics but takes a long time and considerable effort to master. But this is true of almost any decent game. So what is it specifically about Pente (and variants) that gets us hooked like dope fiends? Why is it that players who have apparently mastered the game still turn up every day, looking for that hit? Why is it that players who never seem to climb into green territory after many many games keep returning for more? What is the high we get when we play?
I am sure that the facilities here at pente.org are a factor for many people, but we know that other non-realtime sites are popular and the game was being played by many people long before this site existed. A lot can be said for the social dimension here, but again, there are many other interactive games sites for other games if its just socialization you want, so why Pente?
I don't know the answer but I am interested in hearing the views of the player community, as I am sure also that many of the reasons are personal. I offer only a few thoughts below from my perspective to kick things off.
I think Pente's addictiveness may come from a few characteristics of the game itself. The first I think is that it is a fairly fast game to play with most games in the blue / green level at least taking less than 10 mins per player and usually no more than 20 moves each. The shortness of the game means several games can be played in a session against different players (also an advantage afforded by pente.org), and this enhances the social experience and the variety of play style and standard. Secondly, I think that the advantage for Player 1 itself creates a challenge that draws people in. You not only need to master your Player 1 openings but also Player 2 responses, and taking a player 2 win off a much higher ranked player can be a bit of a thrill. If white and black were evenly matched this dimension of the game would be lost and the game would be the poorer for it. Thirdly, I think the game has subtleties to it that go beyond just simple fun to something more substantial and at times a well played game can be satisfying on an aesthetic and personal level (again true of some other games but very true of pente et al). Lastly, there are clearly deep mysteries of the game that perhaps remain to be discovered even for masters. I think there is a mystique there still, a feeling that the game is still young, and so unlike chess with its vast body of knowledge and centuries of analysis, pente remains fresh and youthful and gives us all a sense that perhaps occasionally we are discovering something that no-one else has ever played.
This game calls to me whenever I am not playing, it appears to me in my sleep, it has found a place deep inside me and has made a yearning in my heart stronger than the strong nuclear force (sorry, we physics majors have no imagination).I have tried to stay away, really I have, but alas I am weak.
Any other penteholics out there? C6holics, Keryoholics etc? Any of you have insights into the nature of your addiction? Please join the circle of trust and tell us your deepest, darkest and most sordid little secrets. I want details, details!
-Alison
Message was edited by: alisontate at Sep 7, 2009 10:45 AM
Posts:
124
Registered:
Jun 8, 2008
From:
Stillwater, Oklahoma Banned: For abuse of mm_ai8
Re: Penteholics Unanimous
Posted:
Jul 27, 2009, 6:34 AM
For me, personally (as opposed to me, impersonally; and/or anyone else, personally); I like meeting new and interesting people from all over the planet, and kicking their @$$.
Thankyou Jack for your honest and humanitarian response. (Although it appears in your case that Pente is merely serving to provide you with a means to feed a pre-existing addiction to @$$ kicking. As a sister humanitarian though, I will accept your contribution. Besides we make no judgements here in the circle of trust.)
i started to play pente with my step father at 15 years old. pente was our time and way to connect. and when i played good he expressed with a hand shake and said good game.
when coming to pente.org, karlw (a player at this site) told me i would never rise above blue rank status, and would never beat his white, and i would never make red,.. and for sure ide never out rank him,. this became an additional force to drive me towards perfection of play to prove him wrong on ALL accounts , to prove my limitations were not set low, that i can do anything if i want it bad enough! when u have enough will, desire, belief, and time, anything is obtainable damn near, im living proof of this in my opinion.
also i enjoy teaching things ive learned to other players.
and i like trying to solve the game. its like i keep seeing the horizon and every time i almost grab it it keeps moving away from me. like chasing a rainbow or something. it teases and taunts me to continue chasing it.
also there are amazing people i have met at this site, and as a result great friendships have been created. some are only text based, and some have developed over the phone here and there.
so , well,...theres a few of the reasons i keep coming back, i hope it helped your question.
oh but in closing, 90% of pente player are O.C.D. to begin with, the other 10% will become O.C.D. if they hang out with us long enough! kinda like a sane person locked in a crazy house, they will convert to being crazy eventually lol. resistance is futile!
~zoey
Scire hostis animum - Intelligere ludum - Nosce te ipsum - Prima moventur conciliat - Nolite errare
Re: Penteholics Unanimous
Posted:
Jul 28, 2009, 1:46 AM
Katysmom hmmm, a support group for pente widows? I think you are only eligable to attend it if you are not yourself and addict.....
zoey Thanks for your response also. Your story is fascinating and compelling, and has an interesting blend of motivational motifs such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the fulfillment of a life-long dream, sticking it up the doubters, a preference for associating with a lot of other crazy people, revenge, and a desire to teach and share This is all good stuff.
Do you have any thoughts though on what it is about the game of Pente specifically that is addictive? Would your story have been the same if instead it was Go, Othello or chess that you discovered? Or is there something about Pente that uniquely contributes to your obsession, and that without this you may well have not pursued it to this degree? Could you shed some light on this zoey?
Re: Penteholics Unanimous
Posted:
Jul 29, 2009, 1:20 AM
Its those dam colored crystals. Ever since I first saw them under the lights of a Disco bar in the late 70s they have an addictive nature to them. They seem to have a life of there own, I'm sure of it. For that matter after I bought my first and only Pente Tube, I started to collect different colors just to satisfy my addiction.
I haven't been able to stop playing in over 20 years, and ya know its those colored beads from hell.
Thanks to those who have responded, but all the rest of you who have viewed the thread, please add your thoughts too!
I still haven't heard someone put their finger on the beating heart of Pente and show us the active ingredient at the root of our addiction. No-one has identified that unique element of Pente that tickles the collective fancy, what keeps people coming back again and again, and what drives people to become Pente obsessed.
Surely someone in here has that key insight that allows us to understand our predelection? I mean surely it cant just be our collective love of zoeyk? (or is that just me)
Somebody...anybody....pleeeeze heeeeeelp!??
Message was edited by: alisontate at Aug 3, 2009 12:13 AM
I don't know I've played the game for a long time and I've noticed many people either love it right out of the gate or they just can't get into it. I think it depends on how your mind is wired.
Personally I find the simplicity of the game one of it's cooler qualities (unlike chess with many pieces and differing move capabilities) Pente is a very simple game to learn since you only need to line 5 stones in a row in any direction or capture 5 pairs to win. Also, figuring out where to place stones initially is fairly easy for most people to grasp since anywhere goes basically.
The addicting part for me comes in the skill levels of the players playing the game. the strategic subtleties, traps, ability to maintain initiative, or the sense of accomplishment of winning the initiative over from an opponent. Can't leave out finding\pioneering a brand new line no one has seen before that just trips everyone up either....you got to love that! All of these things make the game more addicting for me.
I also dream of stone positions (who doesn't? ), especially if I've been studying the board a lot that day.
Jay also makes a good point, something about those glass stones too (for those of us who own the game in the red or black tube) we all know about the feel of sliding the stones around on the board and how cool that is! I've got 6 colors too (clear, red, purple, green, blue, yellow) because any pente player knows you can never have enough stone colors. Blue is the coolest though!
I learned over the board long before online play was around but the addiction isn't specific to form. Whether it's virtual or real OTB play doesn't matter, Pente is just as addicting to me in both forms just in differing ways.
So yeah, I guess I'm an addict, but so far I don't think I need intervention or the 12 step program in Penteholics Anonymous. Though some of the players here with thousands of games just may
, to prove my limitations were not set low, that i can do anything if i want it bad enough! when u have enough will, desire, belief, and time, anything is obtainable damn near, im living proof of this in my opinion.
kinda like a sane person locked in a crazy house, they will convert to being crazy eventually lol. resistance is futile!
This is all good stuff.