Get a cup of tea and find a comfy spot to sit for a while... this is going to be a while
For the sake of readability I won't post your whole quote, but I think at this point we're going two different routes. So let me try to say it in a different way.
Yes so let me just recap to make sure I am talking about the same thing you are...
So here is what I am understanding so far
It was the last lap and I began feeling the pressure. At that point I was trying to not make mistakes but at the same point I couldn't get too slow. On the last turn, there was so much pressure that I ended up making a mistake, Kimi touched me, I spun, and finished 9th. I was furious and for sure if I had a rewind button I would've used it. But at the same time, all the tension on that last lap wouldn't have happened and I would miss one important aspect of racing: pressure. That's my problem with rewind.
At this point, we have identified that you don't want to take away the tension of racing.
From how I read it, you are saying that if rewind is available, circumstances would arise in which, despite wanting to keep the tension of racing their for your enjoyment, you would use rewind and thus ruin the sense of tension and thus also ruin your enjoyment. Is that the correct logic?
I am going to assume so but feel free to correct me if I missread.
I think it's wrong to think that if rewind takes away the tension of the race then it's my fault. I really wished I had a rewind button in real life, but unfortunately I don't. It's up to the game to create that feeling, and if it fails, it's the game's fault, not mine. For example, I always try to drive the game properly, but sometimes in GT4 if I was losing I would cheat (like cutting chicanes). I'd really wish the game punished me for doing that, because that's what would happen in real life. It's not that I have low will-power, it's the case my desire to win is even greater. It's part of racing to try to cheat all the time (I'm sure a few f1 drivers come to mind), but it's also part of racing to impede drivers from cheating.
So I am going on the assumption that the logic above was correct.
I believe here you are saying that since rewind is what ruins the tension, it's not your fault that the tension is ruined, it's rewinds fault and actually it's the inclusion of rewinds fault. Either way not your fault.
Am I reading right?
So if I assume that I am, what we have amounts to this:
Because I would eventually break down and use rewind if available, the availability of rewind is what ruins the tension of the race and thus ruining the experience is not my fault.
I am going to continue chainng of thinking since forums don't lend themselves to checking every step this way...
If this is the gist of it, that the availabilty of rewind ruins the tension of the game simpy by being there and we are looking for who's fault that is (ie is it the games fault for including the feature or is it your fault) let's examine each part in isolation:
1 Rewind in a game - let's say rewind was in the game but you didn't know it, no one ever told you, you never saw it in the menu and by some miracle never accidentally activated it. For all intents and purposes you have no idea it's there but it is. At this point anything that happens due to rewind being in the game is purely the games fault as there is no way it's your fault as you don't even have knowledge of it. And of course, the result is nothing... you would never use it and no tension would be lost.
2 You know about rewind - let's say rewind is in the game and you know about it, but you are SO strong willed there is literally no way you would every use it. Your fifth try at a 99 lap enduro on the ring and on the last straight the cpu PITS you and you grith your teeth, screem and hit restart.
How does rewind effect the tension of the game now? Still nothing. You refuse to use it, nothing changes, it is entirely as if rewind is not there.
3 You break down and use rewind - you do or know there is some point at which you would use rewind and the fact that it's there and you know you would break down at some point and use it ruins the tension of the game.
The tension is ruined, part of the experience is missing. The negative possibilty has been realized.
So wouldn't you agree that whatever the defining difference is between the game being ruined and not is where the fault in the experience being damaged is?
And wouldn't you agree that the what makes the difference as illustrated above is your desire to win overpowering your desire to enjoy the tension of the race?
Notice the only difference between being ruined and not is your lack of ability to control your use of rewind. Just being there and knowing about it doesn't ruin anything... it is not until a fault in your will power brings on the use and thus negative experience.
As I pointed out before, a perfect analogy exists for me and games with God mode. I don't use it. I don't care how hard the situation, since I decided not to use God mode anymore (back in the Doom II days) I have never used it in any game I care about. I don't care if I just spent 2 hours traversing a ridiculously difficult area only to be smitten down by a cheap shot yet again, I never activate god mode. It goes so far that I may even just not play the game anymore it's so frustrating, but I know that frustrating as it is, it is the challenge I enjoy and even if being beaten by the challenge is as much as I can enjoy it, that is more than I would if I used god mode. I prevent myself from ruining my own experience.
Basically I have decided that if I can't beat the game without god mode, I won't be beating the game. My will power is stronger than my desire to win. There is no fault in my will power.
Thus evidence that the mere existence of a function does not put the fault in the game or it's creators if the experience is ruined for you. The only way the experience can be ruined for you is if your will power is not great enough to overpower your desire to win. And if that is the case, your will power is indeed the cause of your situation and this relative weakness in willpower is the fault which causes the loss of enjoyment with the game. And the fault is thus yours
This is all purely academic I remind you, I am not trying to insult you or make fun of you by saying it's your fault, I am merely trying to illustrate the illusion of fault on a third party in such a way that you can see through it.
Oh and I did read the rest of your post... but I kept it kind of for the end so it wouldn't muddle up my long winded fault explanation... but in short, here is some response to that:
I'm not saying I would use rewind and then blame PD for letting me do it.
Well actually you did as I illustrate above, but I can understand if you didn't mean to... that said, since you did, I would appreciate if you would humor my whole fault essay all the same.
So adding rewind would actually be a step back.
I must disagree... FORCING it on you would be a step back... but giving an option would at worst be a step to the side no? It doesn't actually remove or damage anything in the game... it's all still there. It seems to me like saying that putting a patty of butter next to a healthy dinner is a step back for the healthiness of the dinner... not so... if you choose to eat the butter, then the overall effect is a step back, but the dinner itself remains just as healthy as if the butter were not there.
You might think this is a bit harsh from me, not wanting people to have a more accessible game in order for them to get full realism. But at the same time, that's how GT has been so far. All games were very hard and prohibitive to beginners, but the game still sold so well that it became one of the biggest franchises in the gaming world. So I say yes to change, but let's keep the core of the game intact.
I would again disagree. GT has been trending towards adding options to make the game easier/more accessible for quite a while now. Again Bspec, racing line, normal physics... the argument that GT should continue it's trend of being for the pure and hardcore only is flawed in that the trend is actually quite the opposite.
The fortunate thing is your experience as a purist and hardcore fan hasn't been damaged by the trend as you have the option of not using those options and thus still enjoying the core attributes you like... just like if rewind were in the game
In fact the very fact that you are under the false impression that GT has not been trending towards being casual friendly only strenghtens the argument that options that don't pander to the pro crowd also do not ruin the game for them as long as the core game is still available in it's pure form (via options).
The funny thing... I could never meet the two page minimum for essays in English class
