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Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

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Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#51

Post by PascLeRasc »

gnarcoregrizz wrote: post #7

I've been semi-hooked on counter-strike for the past few years. I started getting into it again after I got sick, and now some of my long distance high school and college friends jumped on the bandwagon again and we play regularly. Its a great way to stay in touch and socialize, as well as just have fun playing the game. Its also SUPER competitive which has its upsides and downsides. It makes the game dynamic, you co…

I'm also at around 700 hours of CS:GO. I find it to be the most enjoyable and probably my best playing after a very long day of work, usually with a cup of coffee or a beer. It's just not as satisfying to play on my days off. Totally agree on spending a weekend outside with friends instead.

I don't really think meta knowledge/research is needed to play competitive though. I used to be really into learning nade throws and watching pro pushes and retakes, and now that I barely have time to play at all I'm still around the same rank.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#52

Post by KirinDave »

Yes, playing games is fun. In no small part because they're carefully engineered to engage you, provide a path to success, and otherwise resemble a theme park experience. Even games like EVE Online that pride themselves on being massive PvP arenas are carefully tuned to make constant conflict a reality.

Not many people here know this but I have a youtube channel where I have done an absolute ton of gaming content (mostly minecraft, but perhaps most famously a Dwarf Fortress tutorial series), as a way to practice my speech and work through a very difficult stutter.

And while I still respect and root for my full time youtuber friends, for me it felt like such an emply lifestyle. Ultimately you're just walking along in other people's stories, experiencing other people's visions, and working within other people's limits was increasingly galling. And short of becoming unpaid labor for those games via their modding scenes, you are a passenger in someone else's car on someone else's map.

Like television (and probably better than television, from a cognitive perspective), gaming is a great escape. But making it more and more of your life as some of this article suggests is a recipe for gradually detaching yourself from real life, real problems and real accomplishments. It's an addictive escapism, and ever year the authors of said escapism refine their techniques in a ruthless competition to keep you captivated.

And the best minecraft fort or cleverest warframe trick I've pulled off pales in accomplishment to selling a company I built, teaching a new developer a new skill, or anything similar. The minute that gaming becomes an end until itself, you end up sliding down a slippery slope to irrelevance.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#53

Post by pjc50 »

alexchantavy wrote: post #12
overcast wrote: post #3

Honestly I don't see the thirty something generation ever giving up video games. They've been a part of our entire lives at this point. Once we're old, it will be a case where no generation has ever been without video games in some capacity.

There's also probably going to be a huge market in making games that older people can play when this generation hits retirement age.

Simulators seem to be popular for this. Someone to be buying all those expensive train sim addons..

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#54

Post by marcofloriano »

laplace2 wrote: post #25

I've found learning and creating to be more fulfilling activities than videogames. That's not to advocate against gaming, or to generalize all games, but I've thought about how much time I spent playing games in the past and if I was happy with what I gained from it: I largely was not. I felt as if I was lacking in skills that I wished I had, and believe I could have learned in that time. I'm happier with myself afte…

I can relate to you. Ten years ago (with 20 yo) i was playing WOW and skipping college. Before that, i was playing competitive Counter Strike and doing bad on high school.

Today i look back and think: if i studied and worked more, i would be much far by now. Probably rich. I´m creating an online business where i have to learn and create every day. And yes, i'm very happy doing it and not playing anymore (one year now).

But, what if ... ten years ago, playing World of Warcraft would lead me to a rich life today? What if it paid well to be a Counter Strike player?

I suspect i would be even happier. But that's not the truth of the world. Yet.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#55

Post by VonGuard »

some-guy wrote: post #40
robertcorey wrote: post #36

Playing starcraft 2 totally consumed my life from about 18-22. It was very similar to a drug addiction except I convinced myself it was positive because I would eventually be a professional. My addiction prevented my from working on the underlying issues that caused my to seek refuge in the game. It also left me with a host of physical RSI problems that have been a huge negative to my life + career. Although if I had…

Very similar story to me: I played Starcraft 2 throughout college in a competitive fashion and made me feel worse. There was a period of time after that where after quitting I wouldn't touch a video game. I've since picked up a Nintendo 3DS as an experiment now that I take long train rides to work, and it's been an amazing, relaxing experience. I guess what I'm trying to say is, there are many different ways to enjoy…

I feel like both of your stories could easily be rewritten and replace videogames with sports. Many people spend their high school and college lives completely dedicated to football, basketball, baseball, or hockey with the idea that they'll go pro eventually.

These folks can come away with wasted college time, physical injuries, and hideous aversion to the sport they once loved. I guess what I am saying is that I feel like this is an athlete/esports thing, not necesarily a videogame thing. Without the lure of a career behind it, it wouldn't be quite so dangerous a thing. But as with all fun careers, the demands are super high and the number of people who make it is super small. Acting is like this too, without the physical injuries.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#56

Post by r00fus »

robertcorey wrote: post #36

Playing starcraft 2 totally consumed my life from about 18-22. It was very similar to a drug addiction except I convinced myself it was positive because I would eventually be a professional. My addiction prevented my from working on the underlying issues that caused my to seek refuge in the game. It also left me with a host of physical RSI problems that have been a huge negative to my life + career. Although if I had…

Kids or other all-time-consuming life-changing events. It's why the core of the "idle hands are devil's work" moral - excessive gaming could be considered a vice.

How did you manage to extricate yourself, btw?

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#57

Post by CRUDmeariver »

I have gone through several periods in my life where I have obsessively played video games, usually followed by me selling the console in disgust with myself and buying a new one ~1.5 years later.

What has changed for me lately is building a gaming PC. I have found that this beast new PC, and the things I can do with it, are more interesting to me than most games.

My single favorite game that has drawn me in the most is Metal Gear Solid V. It's very slow paced and tactical but still an action game. You have to make a lot of intelligent decisions and formulate your own strategy to infiltrate the buildings. Plus there is a whole Civilization-esque aspect where you build your own paramilitary organization and deal with things like personnel and budgets. Add on top of that the insane supernatural geopolitics of the story and it is a very engrossing experience.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#58

Post by gozur88 »

cpeterso wrote: post #35
my_ghola wrote: post #18

I've replaced watching movies and TV with videogames. It's more engaging and a single video game can give me 30 to 60 hours of entertainment compared to a TV series that gives me 6 to 12.

Somewhere between TV and video games, I started watching "Let's Play" game walkthrough videos of favorite Sierra Online adventure games from my childhood that I never completed. You get to discover the stories' secrets without the frustration, plus many of people recording the walkthroughs are pretty funny. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Play

It's funny you should mention that. I replaced my TV watching with video games, but over the last year have spent a lot of time watching other people play on twitch. Kind of going full circle.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#59

Post by r00fus »

robin__ wrote: post #5
arcanus wrote: post #2

>155 million Americans play video games, more than the number who voted in November’s presidential election. And they play them a lot: According to a variety of recent studies, more than 40 percent of Americans play at least three hours a week I'm among them. I play a few hours a week, after my wife and child go to bed. I barely talk about games with any of my fellow adult friends, because for some reason it is still…

I'm jealous. Every time I try a game, I totally suck at it. Even the easy difficulty is not easy enough anymore. Nowadays, I only enjoy puzzle games if anything at all.

Maybe you haven't found the right game. Seems some people are just more talented at gaming - like others are at, e.g. dancing, and honestly I wish I was better at the latter than the former.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#60

Post by emodendroket »

laplace2 wrote: post #25

I've found learning and creating to be more fulfilling activities than videogames. That's not to advocate against gaming, or to generalize all games, but I've thought about how much time I spent playing games in the past and if I was happy with what I gained from it: I largely was not. I felt as if I was lacking in skills that I wished I had, and believe I could have learned in that time. I'm happier with myself afte…

Isn't improving at the game an enjoyable end in and of itself? Getting really good at chess has few extrinsic benefits but nobody's embarrassed about it. Why is getting really good at Street Fighter or whatever any different?
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