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Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

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Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#181

Post by NateEag »

GuiA wrote: post #148
M_Grey wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can build the skills necessary to play games over time, and of course it greatly depends on the games you play. I would tend to stay away from pure time sinks like MMO's, and I've lost the taste for 2D fighters. That said, I've been playing FPS' since FPS', and those skills wake up whenever I play for more than ten or twenty minutes. I don't see a correlation with cigarettes, which offer you nothing beneficial, a…

> which offer you nothing beneficial Nicotine can have some benefits; see for instance https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6457772 > are physically addictive on the level of heroin False. They're a bit above alcohol; heroin is much higher. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rational_scale_to_as... > and are one of the leading causes of human death. Correct.

> False. They're a bit above alcohol; heroin is much higher.

I realize this is anecdotal, but I feel the need to point out that my father, a veteran ER doctor of over thirty years, has said more than once that based on his experience of patients, he thinks it is easier to quit heroin than nicotine.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#182

Post by matwood »

mozumder wrote: post #179
matwood wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 feel the same. I like games and still play them here and there (and enjoy them), but a couple points in the past I was clearly addicted to them. First it was DAoC that was like a second job, and then to a much le…

Overall life satisfaction of a middle-class that where people feel as wealthy as the upper-class also seems to be destroying our labor force among the young. From: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/24/opinion/the-national-deat... "Nationwide, there are now about 200,000 unfilled construction jobs, according to the National Association of Home Builders. If America were as simple as a lake, builders would just raise wage…

Good point. People do not want to do things with their hands. That's not just games though. I would imaging many people on this site make their money just typing at a computer all day. We build abstract concepts instead of physical things.

Because I deal with abstract complexity all week, I build stuff around the house and do home improvements whenever I get a chance. It's great and rewarding feeling when building something and seeing it done.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#183

Post by tradersam »

cgriswald wrote: post #149
tradersam wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference is chess is more a mental planning game, Street Fighter is muscle memory. (Disclaimer: I'm a huge gamer.)

My game is Daytona USA. My friends and I developed our skills over the course of years, dropping $40 on 40 races as often as we could afford to do it. We played against each other frequently, and against a larger group of maybe a dozen people who we met there. All of us shared the techniques we learned with each other. Every once in awhile we would run into someone who would beat us. I remember one guy in particular.…

My game is Civ VI, I know what you're saying.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#184

Post by tradersam »

enraged_camel wrote: post #116
tradersam wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference is chess is more a mental planning game, Street Fighter is muscle memory. (Disclaimer: I'm a huge gamer.)

Sure but Street Fighter is a very specific type of game. Take something like Civilization that requires tons of research, planning and critical thinking. Those types of skills are more applicable to other things outside of the game.

I do play Civ. Way, way too much Civ.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#185

Post by dbg31415 »

dvt wrote: post #128

Guess I might go against the HN grain here. I played Counter-Strike competitively and professional from around 17-22 (I'd say on average 5-6 hours a day). I still play every now and then, but don't compete at tournaments or in leagues. I'm 30 now. Not only was my experience irreplaceable and positive (I made many life-long friends and met many cool people), but it also helped me with many other aspects of "grown-up"…

I want to echo this.

Leading raids in WoW was a great experience for me. Getting "server-first" took not only ability to play the game, but the ability to recruit and manage talent, practice clear and confident communication, and give constrictive criticism and praise (which is very important when you can't pay people).

Getting good at a video game is a form of learning, it's entertaining but challenging to master all the ins and outs (every patch, no less) in order to stay elite. Few other things give you the sort of near-instant reward for your efforts that video games offer. The ability to flaunt your talents in front of others, in a situation where it's socially acceptable to do so... it's a nice outlet for some drives that you just can't do in the work place.

That said... I generally can't play games "for fun" like some people can. When I play a game that doesn't have a level of competition to it... I get so bored. And when I play a game with competition and I don't have time to be good at it... I also get bored. Suffice to say I haven't been able to really enjoy a video game in years.

(XCOM is maybe the exception. It's good "mindless" fun, and I feel like I have to work hard for every kill. I'm about 1/2 way through the new Long War DLC... I can't place why I like it so much, sure the nostalgia from the original in the 90s, and the challenge, but for the last few weeks I do a mission or two a night and it's amazingly fun. Playing the game my hands get all sweaty, pulse elevated... the terror and frustration of watching one of my favorite troops get blown away because I moved him 1 square too far... They did such a great job with this game.)

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#187

Post by tps5 »

I spent my college years pretty invested in computer games, mostly dota.

I stopped when I got a job that I actually wanted to have. For a while I tried to do both, and did. But I was exhausted all the time. Computer games are not passive entertainment (for me anyway), they require a lot of energy.

If I could invest 2 hours a day into a computer game, I'd like that. But I can't. Even aside from the energy requirement, I have trouble playing games casually. Performing poorly at something bothers me and the only way to improve is to invest more time (than 2 hours).

Anyway, I think this is an uncommonly good article. Computer games taught me that value is totally subjective. You have to pick your own goals, and you'd be making a mistake to adopt the goals of the people around you just because they outvote you.

I found value somewhere else, but there's a large segment of the population working boring, low paying jobs that they hate. For some of these people, games will provide far more value than what they're getting out of work. And that's totally fine. It's life and life only.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#188

Post by 0xcde4c3db »

> What did the game offer that the rest of the world could not? To begin with, games make sense, unlike life: As with all sports, digital or analog, there are ground rules that determine success (rules that, unlike those in society, are clear to all). The purpose of a game, within it, unlike in society, is directly recognized and never discounted.

I think this is really the underappreciated factor in why people prefer video games to jobs. For some people, it's not that they're lazy and games are an excuse to avoid work, it's that the games are actually a far better work experience than the average job. You don't have to go to any meetings where an HR manager breathlessly explains how the new performance assessment web app is going to make everything better, even though it just looks like a reskin of the one you used last year. You don't have to spend a single nanosecond thinking about whether you're going to be edged out for a promotion by someone who has a better rapport with the boss. There are no especially demanding customers or government budget cuts eating away at the revenue you're paid from. You get to just do the goddamn work.

Re: Why Ever Stop Playing Video Games

#189

Post by dpeterson »

I recently just started playing a videogame again. The last time I played was World of Warcraft in 2005. I stopped to fulfill my career goals, get a masters degree and strike it rich working on my own startup. Well, as the years went by I kept telling myself, any day now my startup will take off and I can go back to enjoying my life and do things like play video games. Uh uh. The only thing I have to show for my years of programming and working endlessly on my startup outside of work is horrible anxiety (I hope but it could be much worse). So, here I am, 12 years older and back playing World of Warcraft where I started. I should have been enjoying my life the whole time. Live and Learn.
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