Factorio is particularly attractive to autistic people?

[the_potty_1]

This is just a pet theory of mine, but I would like some feedback from the group. I've been tempted to test my theory by giving some people I know who are clearly on the spectrum a free sample and seeing if their lives implode, but that doesn't seem entirely responsible behavior.

So, first, some definitions. High functioning autism spectrum disorder. It used to be called Asperger's syndrome, but that only really described the extreme cases at the tail end of the bell curve, the ones parodied in various popular media, Big bang theory, House, Sherlock. It is of course a spectrum, at the one extreme, you have people who are superhumanly analytical, but often emotionally .. low scoring?

Scoring is something worth discussing, because the traditional IQ test is a systematising test, so almost certainly designed by someone autistic. It's framed in a way that autistic people intrinsically understand, so we score high. The EQ test was created much more recently, tests emotional intelligence, and we score poorly. This doesn't make us psychopaths, for myself, I would say I have normal empathy, but poor situational understanding. Which has improved as I got older, I'm 54 now, and am now only slightly obtuse.

Another point to note is that there is some overlap with gender in this, although how you choose to frame this is still very much up for discussion. You could assume the male brain has their own bell curve that's offset to the right on the autistic spectrum, while the female brain sits on a second bell curve offset to the left. Men can still believe in the healing power of crystals, and women can still be calendar savants. Or you could say the male brain is to the right, and the female brain is to the left, of a single curve, and sometimes your junk doesn't match your brain.

There is a bit of a trend for autistic people to transition, but frankly I'm doubtful that this is the correct approach. Being neurodivergent doesn't mean you're trapped in the wrong gender, it means you kinda don't fit in at all anywhere. Not to be rude, but why would you want to fit in with some of these idiots?

I'm assuming some, no many of you, are somewhere on the spectrum. I don't want to out anyone who isn't ready to embrace their .. goddam superpower, but I'm curious how many people already self-identify as at least some level of autistic? Because this game seems to me to be aspie cocaine?

[Tertius]

Factorio is a game that is particularly attractive to people who can immerse themselves completely in one thing.

To get a meaningful answer to your question, you need to ask everyone, not just Factorio players. All Factorio players (ok, not all but many) will tell: "Yes, this is cool, started playing in the evening, then I realized the morning dawned and I had to go to work". This isn't as sign of autism, it's a sign of immersion. It isn't exclusive to autism.

In this forum you will never find all the (autistic) people who don't find Factorio attractive. Not all autistic people are able to pull enjoyment from the game challenges. Some are, and you will certainly find some of them here in the forum, but there are many others who aren't. The autism disorder is much broader and diverse. You cannot reduce this to a simple "autistic people will like Factorio".

[NineNine]

Because this game seems to me to be aspie cocaine?

Did you give a mental disorder a "cute" nickname? That's pretty messed up. Do you have a cute name for cancer, or Lou Gerhig's disease, too? Do older people get "Parkie's" in your world?

[pioruns]

Maybe the nickname "aspie" became popular after Elon Musk falsely claimed to have it. He has a huge fanbase of young, gullible people, and at one point, it was "trendy" to be an "aspie"—almost as if it signified being more elite or intelligent. I’ve noticed a similar pattern with ADHD; some people mention it proudly at every opportunity, as if it explains all their problems.

[the_potty_1]

Because this game seems to me to be aspie cocaine?

Did you give a mental disorder a "cute" nickname? That's pretty messed up. Do you have a cute name for cancer, or Lou Gerhig's disease, too? Do older people get "Parkie's" in your world?

Cancie does suck it's true


EDIT actually I'm rather pleased you demonstrably read to the end of the post. Which did ramble a bit, sorry.

[the_potty_1]

Factorio is a game that is particularly attractive to people who can immerse themselves completely in one thing.

To get a meaningful answer to your question, you need to ask everyone, not just Factorio players. All Factorio players (ok, not all but many) will tell: "Yes, this is cool, started playing in the evening, then I realized the morning dawned and I had to go to work". This isn't as sign of autism, it's a sign of immersion. It isn't exclusive to autism.

In this forum you will never find all the (autistic) people who don't find Factorio attractive. Not all autistic people are able to pull enjoyment from the game challenges. Some are, and you will certainly find some of them here in the forum, but there are many others who aren't. The autism disorder is much broader and diverse. You cannot reduce this to a simple "autistic people will like Factorio".

Damn, valid points. I was just taking a spot poll with no intention of writing the results up in a thesis. The 'clickbait' title would have selected for people who were either already wondering if they were on the spectrum, knew they were on the spectrum, or didn't know what the spectrum is but think it's caused by vaccines. Neurotypical people would probably have moved straight on to something else.

[Kyralessa]

Maybe the nickname "aspie" became popular after Elon Musk falsely claimed to have it.

[citation needed]

(Not for your assertion that he claimed it, but for your assertion that he's lying.)

[Tertius]

Damn, valid points. I was just taking a spot poll with no intention of writing the results up in a thesis.

Your poll is just invalid. You asked in the Factorio forum, the forum full of Factorio lovers: "Do you love Factorio?". What answer do you reasonably expect? You wanted only autistic people to answer. I'm sure this constraint wouldn't change anything with the answers. There are all the same and in general sound like "yes".

In addition, autistic people will lurk and watch, but not advertise they're autistic, because there's no point in doing that. Those who are able to communicate just want to blend with the crowd and be part of it. They're no superpowered freaks, just ordinary people who see the world as it is.

[the_potty_1]

Maybe the nickname "aspie" became popular after Elon Musk falsely claimed to have it.

[citation needed]

(Not for your assertion that he claimed it, but for your assertion that he's lying.)

I was also curious about that. Musk certainly strikes me as being on the spectrum, and I'm unsurprised if he claimed this. However, now that he's cosying up to the right, perhaps he wants to downplay this so as not to alienate yet another support base.

[the_potty_1]

Your poll is just invalid. You asked in the Factorio forum, the forum full of Factorio lovers: "Do you love Factorio?". What answer do you reasonably expect? You wanted only autistic people to answer. I'm sure this constraint wouldn't change anything with the answers. There are all the same and in general sound like "yes".

In addition, autistic people will lurk and watch, but not advertise they're autistic, because there's no point in doing that. Those who are able to communicate just want to blend with the crowd and be part of it. They're no superpowered freaks, just ordinary people who see the world as it is.

Yes, yes, yes.

I would argue that one of the perks, one of the distinguishing characteristics of autism, is the ability to .. see the world as it is? Yes, really see. To observe, to analyse, to see patterns. To differing degrees, and only sometimes in fields where this is useful. So very occasionally, we get someone like Copernicus, who looked at the sky, then looked again the next day, and the next, and said, hang on, that star is moving. And everyone said, yes, they all move, every day. And Copernicus said, they all move, but that one is moving differently to the rest. And from this we get Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and from that we get newton's laws of gravitation, all of science is a tower built on the observations of madmen. and madwomen of course, but historically mad women were typically burned at the stake :p

[pioruns]

[citation needed]

(Not for your assertion that he claimed it, but for your assertion that he's lying.)

I was also curious about that. Musk certainly strikes me as being on the spectrum, and I'm unsurprised if he claimed this. However, now that he's cosying up to the right, perhaps he wants to downplay this so as not to alienate yet another support base.

Elon Musk Claims of Asperger's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCS0SuPsDH4

This video analyses and breaks down everything what there's to know about Elon Musk lying about his asperger's syndrome. If you don't like video format, sorry, but this source I trust more than reddit discussions or random blogs.

This channel made more about Elon Musk lying in general, if someone is interested:
DEBUNKING ELON MUSK Pt1/Pt2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-FGwDDc-s8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DopFo1rjAr4

[Kyralessa]

If you don't like video format, sorry...

Indeed, I don't.

If you have written sources, or transcripts of the videos, I'm happy to read 'em.

[Tertius]

I would argue that one of the perks, one of the distinguishing characteristics of autism, is the ability to .. see the world as it is? Yes, really see. To observe, to analyse, to see patterns.

No, I mean seeing without prejudice, assumptions and narratives. Unbiased and without judgment except their own. This is not glorious and more a curse than a blessing, but that's the truth behind seeing the real world. Children are like that as well, until they're corrupted by education and by life in general.

[pioruns]

If you don't like video format, sorry...

Indeed, I don't.

If you have written sources, or transcripts of the videos, I'm happy to read 'em.

Sadly I don't, this video is 4 years old, and it stood the test of time. Since then, there has been most likely another thousand written articles about Musk, making it hard to dig out worthy links from 4 years ago when he said it and people were talking about it a lot. You can either dedicate 30 minutes to watch it, or try to find your own sources, for me this video is spot on, and sufficient, sorry.

[TheKillerChicken]

I have 1 part schizophrenia, 2 part autism and this game is most certainly attractive to me. I love solving logistical puzzles an creating complex ingredients from the most basic ones. during the 90's however, I was more of an hardcore arcade game player as I had arcade-style games for my Sega Megadrive that were designed to punish you and be impossibly difficult. I am 40 now, and am more interested in logistical puzzles as it keeps my brain healthy and strong as my response time in arcade games have slowed down immensely. So, thank you Wube for creating the best and most complex automation/logistics game on the face of the earth. My life is stable as a rock and I have immense intellect with science, volcanology, space-time, quantum physics, interstellar hypothesis, dark energy, and technology, but there are many areas I fall short of, like learning another language. Just yesterday, I asked for help on modding porting from legacy factorio to version 2 because my ability to mass-convert code is not my strong point (I have dyslexia at an epic scale). Thankfully, a Wube member nudged me the right direction to help interpret the new application programming interface (API).