The Paradox of Choice

In this TEDtalks video, Barry Schwartz tells us how the abundance of choice can cause indecisiveness, and a feeling that something you've chosen is not quite as good as another option.

This is relevant to MMORPGs in a couple of ways, the first being that there is a growing number of games to choose from. Each time we play a new MMORPG, we may not be able to help feeling like there might be something better out there. This can hurt our ability to sit and actually enjoy a game for what it is. As this game market grows, we become more analytical of our selections (given that we have more to compare them to).

The second is related to in-game freedom. As Mr. Shwartz points out early in the video, freedom is the equivalent to more choices. When we play a theme park game, we are more likely to feel like we made the right decision, because there are so few choices available. But in a sandbox game, with so many choices, people may find it difficult to choose at all.

Watch the video and tell me what you think. Keep in mind that he is not saying that more choices is a completely negative thing, but that there are some negatives involved with giving people more choices.