What is "back seating"?

[Boudicia.Dark]

(a bit of context right up front. I've been playing games for 50+ years, been playing video games for 40+ years, only started watching streamers in the past -5 years)

 

What is "back seating"? It seems intuitive to me. I think it means if someone is playing a game and someone else starts telling them things like "go turn over the third rock, it will reveal a hidden quest that rewards you the best armor ever created in a video game." or in a story driven game saying something like "don't trust him, he is going to betray you to the evil dragon lord. Go pay off that dwarf instead because he is secretly your benefactor."

 

I don't consider it back seating if a person reminds the player of something the game has already explained. Like "game explained you should rest at the sparkle dot so you can do any leveling up" or "press X to jump" (said after the tutorial). So, what's the consensus? Is it considered back seating to remind a player of something the game has already explained?

[Snarky]

There are so many interesting and inappropriate things to say.  So little time.

[Scarlet Shocker]

2 minutes ago, Snarky said:

There are so many interesting and inappropriate things to say.  So little time.

 

That's never stopped you before!

[Boudicia.Dark]

10 minutes ago, Snarky said:

There are so many interesting and inappropriate things to say.  So little time.

Well? Like what? I guess you are itching to make a joke (or just itching, who can say) but I am sincere, I really want to know, both an answer to my query as well as all the nasty (or sweet?) things you really want to say...

[Snarky]

4 minutes ago, Boudicia.Dark said:

Well? Like what? I guess you are itching to make a joke (or just itching, who can say) but I am sincere, I really want to know, both an answer to my query as well as all the nasty (or sweet?) things you really want to say...

You get one.  Which hopefully will not get me a nasty note from a GM.

 

*clears throat

 

"Is this related to pegging?"

 

and a bonus one in German...

 

 

"Das ist Hundestellung?"

Edited August 1 by Snarky

[ZemX]

I assume the same meaning as "back seat driver".  Someone who isn't playing the game, but is criticizing the way YOU are playing it while you're playing it.

 

 

[Spaghetti Betty]

You pretty much nailed it. "Backseating" refers to any unwarranted advice or recommendations given to someone else while they are playing a game. It's a little

bit subjective as to what someone might consider backseating, though!

 

23 minutes ago, Snarky said:

There are so many interesting and inappropriate things to say.  So little time.

 

Not to be confused with backdooring!

[Boudicia.Dark]

So is it back seating if you remind someone of something the game already explained to them in the tutorial as well as a later pop-up AND the information is available in game? I guess it's obvious that I have encountered a situation where a player somehow forgot some fundamental aspect of a game and when I mention it to them...some people just go ballistic and I honestly don't understand what I did wrong since I was just saying what the game had already said. I don't know and so far I'm not really getting any consensus on this thing.

 

I hope Snarky uses lots of lube. ❤️

[Yomo Kimyata]

45 minutes ago, Snarky said:

There are so many interesting and inappropriate things to say.  So little time.

 

You're already dead.  You have nothing but time.

[Yomo Kimyata]

23 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

"Backseating" refers to any unwarranted advice or recommendations given to someone else while they are playing a game. It's a little

bit subjective as to what someone might consider backseating, though!

 

I think I'd replace the word "unwarranted" with "unsolicited".  If I'm joining a Mo-*** run or someone wants to lead a team to do things in a specific way, I consider any advice or recommendations I'm going to get to be solicited on my part because I'm buying into it.  If I'm just kicking around and someone tells me I need to do XYZ because that's what they do, /gignore Bossy Becky.

[MoonSheep]

8 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

 

You're already dead.  You have nothing but time.

 

omae wa mou shindeiru?

[Riverdusk]

Sounds you are talking mostly about in a Twitch stream or something.  Problem is that is very much going to vary depending on the streamer and it is their stream, so their rules, "consensus" doesn't matter.  Some don't like ANY directions, others are much more lax.   

 

I do agree with you there is a difference between technical gameplay reminders compared to story spoilers or more directly telling them how to play.   As said though, some don't want anything at all, no matter how simple. 

[Triumphant]

I don't know if you got a useful answer to your question, but the topic itself has brought me many chuckles and great personal joy.  And I need a little levity in my life these days, so thanks. 😄👍

[Boudicia.Dark]

Happy to help Triumphant.

[Scarlet Shocker]

1 hour ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

You pretty much nailed it. "Backseating" refers to any unwarranted advice or recommendations given to someone else while they are playing a game. It's a little

bit subjective as to what someone might consider backseating, though!

 

 

Not to be confused with backdooring!

 

[Luminara]

There are two ways to deal with confrontation online:

1. Dwell on it, turn it over and over in your mind, let it keep bothering you until it eats you from the inside out,
2. Bake some cookies.

[ZemX]

1 hour ago, Boudicia.Dark said:

So is it back seating if you remind someone of something the game already explained to them in the tutorial as well as a later pop-up AND the information is available in game?

 

If someone is annoyed by your unsolicited advice... then it's back seating.

 

It's just as annoying when some games do this to you too.   I was recently playing Horizon: Forbidden West because it had finally come out on PC and the protagonist, Aloy, does this ALL THE FREAKIN TIME!   She "talks to herself" but really is prodding the player with unsolicited advice without almost any delay allowing the player time to figure things out on their own.   Like, "Oh, I think I can move that crate over there!" or "Maybe if I scan this area I can figure out what to do!"  Gahh! Give me five freakin' seconds to look around, will ya?!  There is literally a mod on Nexus called "Shut up Aloy!" to help prevent this because the game developers didn't think to put in a game setting to tone this stuff down. 

 

I'm not saying this is exactly what you're doing, but it's one example of how this kind of thing gets under people's skin, even if they're just trying to be helpful.  A lot of the enjoyment playing a game is doing things your way and in your own time, which might not suit someone else who is watching.  It might be as simple as slowing your roll.  Like that example from HFW above, it would never have been that annoying if the game would let even 30 seconds pass before prompting the player with hints on how to proceed.

[Boudicia.Dark]

Can you imagine a game with both Aloy AND Atreus (GoW 2018/Ragnarok)? You'd never have to look anything up at all.

 

OK so what I'm taking from this is....back-seating is in the mind of the player and someone watching should just never speak about the game being played just in case the player is a prickly person. Thanks for all the in-put everyone! Beep-beep from the back seat, I'm outta here!

[Snarky]

[Glacier Peak]

I thought the term was bridging. 

 

"LF Level 41 bridge, come to Portal Corp."

[ZemX]

2 hours ago, Boudicia.Dark said:

Can you imagine a game with both Aloy AND Atreus (GoW 2018/Ragnarok)?

 

I've somehow yet to play any GoW game, so... thanks for that warning. 😉

[Riverdusk]

3 hours ago, Boudicia.Dark said:

Can you imagine a game with both Aloy AND Atreus (GoW 2018/Ragnarok)? You'd never have to look anything up at all.

 

OK so what I'm taking from this is....back-seating is in the mind of the player and someone watching should just never speak about the game being played just in case the player is a prickly person. Thanks for all the in-put everyone! Beep-beep from the back seat, I'm outta here!

 

Or just ask first.  Or just watch for a while and see how they react to other people offering advice. There will always be someone, it's human nature, and then you aren't the one being yelled at.   

[UltraAlt]

13 hours ago, Boudicia.Dark said:

....some people just go ballistic and I honestly don't understand what I did wrong...

 

I'm assuming the ones that you run into that are "ballistic" are the exception and not the majority of players that you game with.

Some people are just jerks.

[Uun]

The only "backseating" I do is reminding people to find/rescue Officer Hopp and Madame Bellerose in the various Dark Astoria arcs as they are prerequisites to the Buddy Cop and Incarnate Rival badges.