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Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

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Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#91

Post by wlesieutre »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #44
M_Grey wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that videogames fill my "brain in neutral" space very nicely. If I'm just not in the mood to read, or get out, pick up some new skill or polish an old one, hang out with friends or do something productive (and sometimes you truly want to do nothing )... I find that videogames are a nice choice. I especially enjoy combining them with unabridged audiobooks that I might not otherwise bother reading/listening to o…

I believe the essence of what you're saying is true, but I dispute the overall reasonableness of what you describe. The vast majority of video games are either built around the principles of addiction, or require a tremendous amount of time in muscle memory training. What you're describing seems like describing how enjoyable it can be to smoke one cigarette a month. (assuming that actually felt good). Could be true-…

I don't think a tremendous amount of time in training is mutually exclusive with brain-in-neutral activities. It's a question of what your goal is with the activity, and how you approach it as a result of that.

My friends and I play Overwatch. It's a game with an incredibly high skill ceiling, and if we wanted to compete professionally, sure, we'd have to spend a ton of time in focused training.

But we don't. We just hop on voice chat, play in Gold/Platinum against people of similar skill level, and we have a good time with it. Sometimes we'll pick up new strategies, we learn different characters, our aim and game-sense probably improve, but that's all secondary to hanging out and enjoying the game.

None of us are ever going to be competing in Master / GM / Top 500 tiers, and the amount of time it'd take to train and get better is immaterial to us because none of us want to.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#92

Post by arcanus »

cgh wrote: post #42
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…

Same here, a few hours a week at most. It's nice to drop into an immersive, interactive world now and then and it feels more engaging than most movies. Currently trying to avoid a "High Chaos" rating in Dishonored 2...

Ack, I really need to pick that one up. Been too busy, but the original was a classic.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#93

Post by mikestew »

civilian wrote: post #67
mikestew wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Hero" type games don't interest me much, and though Team Fortress interests me, just never made time for it. But, yeah, I've always been the one to sit on the flag with a rocket launcher, throw my warm body at a territory when no one else will (K/D, phfffftt ). Don't see why that won't still serve me well in my old age.

Agreed at ignoring K/D :D Hmmm. So I don't think of Overwatch as a "Hero" type game (although I'm not sure what you mean by that). I think Overwatch classes map to TF2 classes pretty straightforwardly. And there's no leveling or grinding for functional items, so it is maybe even a better than TF2 in that regard?

Oh, perhaps I misread about Overwatch. Or getting confused in my old age. :-) Not that I'd have time to play it, what with Titanfall still being entertaining, have barely played Battlefield 1, and a new Ghost Recon comes out on the 7th. I look forward to retirement so I can have more time to play!

EDIT: And I missed the part earlier where you asked for tips with your father. Ya know, I gave it some thought, and I don't know that I have any. Your dad is about ten years older than I am, which means he was just a tad past the proper age when the Atari 2600 came out. Me, I grew up with the Sears pong console, then came the day when we got a 2600. I was ten or twelve, just the right age to get hooked. So to me it's "umm, sure, I'm in my fifties and spend way too time playing video games. Your point?" whereas your father might have been just old enough to complain about those "kids and their video games", I don't know. So both he and I have had about fifty years to fall on one side or the other, and neither one of us has probably changed all that much since.

You and I both wonder, "why wouldn't you think Kerbal is cool? Hell, if I were retired, it's all I'd do if I didn't have any discipline." because we're already over the hump of playing to begin with, whereas he hasn't gotten past the barrier of "video games==the devil's tool". Dunno, just spitballing, and unfortunately don't have any potential pearls of wisdom. IOW, I don't get it any more than you do.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#94

Post by smacktoward »

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…

Sure, but these things aren't mutually exclusive: you can learn and create and play videogames too. Not every waking moment has to be productive. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, etc.

As with most things, the key is moderation: finding a balance where you're getting enough relaxation/leisure to keep yourself happy, while not dedicating so much time to it that it completely takes over your life.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#95

Post by PravlageTiem »

Played WoW for years. Grinded most of my members to rank 14.

Ran a PvP guild that lost three times in 6 months during this grind.

Tricked the entire horde to split forces in AV with 3 deep operatives, allowing Alliance to engage with the horde in two 37 vs. 20 waves, allowing them to win for the first time on that server in a year.

I regret none of it. I learned how to lead people in high-stress situations, how to build loyalty, and how to handle high-performance people while feeding their never-ending urge for conquest. I took all those skills and now I run multiple companies in different sectors, all designed to achieve a singular goal when they are all put together.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#96

Post by mooseburger »

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 felt as if I was lacking in skills that I wished I had, and believe I could have learned in that time

I play a fair amount of videogames, but what can I say? I have never felt that way. There are some deficiencies in my life, but the main reason they remain deficiencies is that I'm not even sure how to resolve them.

I suppose I don't care much about learning skills because I know I'll never learn everything there is to learn, so I'll always have to defer to experts in certain domains.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#97

Post by mandlar »

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…

If you like CS, then you should check out Rainbow Six Siege. Very similar play style (one life rounds with an objective). Everyone chooses a unique operator (each operator has their own weapon set/special ability). It's a lot of fun and reminds me of the days I used to play CS in college 10 years ago.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#98

Post by eludwig »

smacktoward wrote: post #94
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…

Sure, but these things aren't mutually exclusive: you can learn and create and play videogames too. Not every waking moment has to be productive. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, etc. As with most things, the key is moderation: finding a balance where you're getting enough relaxation/leisure to keep yourself happy, while not dedicating so much time to it that it completely takes over your life.

Thanks for this. I was hoping someone would cover the obvious: games are fun! Why is that we feel the need to justify fun? Isn't fun (a form of happiness) what we are all striving to be able to have more of?

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#99

Post by chrisdbaldwin »

saturdaysaint wrote: post #78

One addictive aspect of gaming that the author doesn't mention is how immersive and perhaps addicting a good gaming scene can be. There are people that live and breathe competitive sports, with most people following a few teams, and it strikes me that videogames have way more addictive potential. First of all, the barriers to entry don't include winning a genetic lottery and/or having high level coaching from a young…

See: Killer Queen Arcade. The underground competitive arcade scene you (probably) don't know about.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#100

Post by neumann »

emodendroket wrote: post #60
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?

It is! When playing with other people. I find multiplayer (played locally with friends in the same room) games really fun. I used to also enjoy playing alone, or online, but nowadays the level of story telling doesn't grip me so all that's left is the challenge of the gameplay and as I got older, it feels like I am just figuring out the designer's underlying blueprint.
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