Consoomer

I play them the most when I am awake in the middle of the night and i can't sleep. Its better than staring at the ceiling. When i was in my 20's I'd walk past the video-game store and look at the people my age in there and shake my head, `what a waste of a life' i would say. so i can agree with you to a point. I have hobbies, I do gardening and home improvements. But the primary reason i bought a video game machine is because the movies now-a-days are so garbage I can hardly watch more than ten minutes without being bombarded by gay or pepsi propaganda, they are unwatchable. I need some kind of escapism, at least with a game, I can be pretty confident what it is about. My newest game is like 10-15 years old so, yes, some modern games are just as crap as modern movies, and I don't play them either. I just play them for entertainment, I couldn't tell you the birthdays of the characters or anything, I just skip over the cut-scenes.

Because they're fun.

but you're def not a loser, posting about how much you hate things on a small niche community. Seriously though, what do you make?

It's a hobby, some people produce content with video games or getting into making video games and computer science as I did. I don't know why I would be canning fruit and vegs or carpentry when I want to relax or hang out with friends. Being this elitist over a hobby is a red flag in itself. Could be a bait post too.

I see it as a vice. Its something to do when you dont want to be productive. Same as browsing here. I do it in moderation and maintain my responsibilities.

But when I think really hard about it I realize that I cant imagine a life without playing some games here and there throughout the week. So im likely addicted to games myself.

I do get restless when Ive been playing for a while. At that point I usually want to do something productive.

Great subject by the way.

Props to you for laying out it there with no sugar.

Counter point: I'm an adult. I game. Probably a little on the wrong side of responsibly. Pretty much everyone I work with also games, including all my management. We game because we did it growing up so we will do it ("I used to game. I still do but I used to too" - Hitchenberg or something like that). And I make a decent salary, I'm the sole income earner for my family. We limit how much our kids can game to 1 day a week generally (sometimes they get to mess around on the iPad a bit). I have other hobbies too but sometimes I go on binges and play for a while. If you met me and didn't bring it up, I doubt you'd find out I game so if you decided I was well-adjusted it wouldn't change your stat.

My assertion: I think you have a bad sample group. I think actually nearly everyone from the last few generations are gamers, you're just noticing there are some losers around you and they game while not noticing all the normal people who also game.

EDIT: I have other hobbies like programming, so I also try to make stuff. For me, gaming is like watching movies/TV, just more interactive.

It's the cheapest hobby. We're poor.

they just pathetic losers who are stuck in a state of perpetual adolescence and lack the maturity to function effectively in the real world

I really appreciate the criticism.

Given it up.

Now my 'gaming' is just chess - I am open to the idea of playing a little again someday but here's the thing, muchachos... The thousands and thousands of hours spent in these things did not develop me well.

I am not fully on @drugs'' side but it is a position that needs to be advanced since we have generations of men now spending their livs in the virtual world and achieving nothing

If it's a complex enough game, you are creating. Think of a game like Factorio.

Also, you can't be productive 24 hours a day. Sometimes, you just want to rest after a day of work.

I'm pretty sure there's something in the Patriot Act about this, I've read it in full and it clearly says in Article 52 Secion 3 paragraph 7.253

• All citizens shall prioritize productive activities over leisure activities during their free time. Engaging in recreational pursuits such as video game playing, sports, reading for pleasure, etc., shall be discouraged except on designated days off.
• Any individuals caught engaging in excessive amounts of leisure activities may face consequences, including fines or mandatory community service.
• Employers shall offer employee benefits and perks that encourage healthy work-life balance, but must ensure that employees spend the majority of their non-working hours engaged in productive tasks.
• To promote the wellbeing of society, governments shall provide incentives for companies to develop products/services that foster personal growth, skill development, and professional advancement outside of regular working hours.

There are atleast two parts of the human psyche that video games tap into.

The grind, which I agree is super wasteful. We seem to be hard wired to want to invest lots of time in things that build up to a payoff. Farming does this, workouts.playing really Grindy games seems like time that could be better spent doing other stuff. Like learning a language, working out, going on dates.

Then there is story telling. We want to relive the experience of others so as to avoid making the same mistakes and learn how to make similar good decisions without having to learn first hand. This is a very high level of learning few if any other animals can do.

I think playing games to live out a story is fine and it's no different than reading a book or watching a movie. It may even be able to train the mind to do helpful things

But not at the expense of real life.

I play a couple hours per month. My five year old is bilingual, can swim, can read and write a good bit and plays the piano.

Doom scrolling and endless ipad YouTube is worse for kids in my opinion