Should we keep playing games?

[foxrain4]

  This topic is originally called should we play games? But playing games does have its own benefits, its entertainment, its educational, it allows us to have experience on stuffs that cant be easily found in real life, it helps us learn to socialize, and there are much more benefits.

But what i want to talk about is when we have obtained all the benefits of playing games, should we continue to keep playing games? For example you are a level 80 paladin in WOW, or for example you have completed all quests in elements, or you are already familiar with all the features in your facebook games like farmville and candy crush, most likely, you are continue to play these games, so why would you continue to play these games even though there is no more real benefits in the real world to achieve, why are you still carrying on playing your games for?

Lets look at some possible factors why some people still continue to play games non-stop
1. people play games because they experience emotions that are closely related to the main factors of happiness
2. they are waiting on bus and trains while using convenient smartphones to play smartphone games
3. to socialize on facebook games.
4. helps reduce their stress
5. they got bored

Is it correct to use games to become happy, pass time, socialize, reduce stress, fun?
There is much better alternatives for the above factors.
1. people can find a real hobby and make their life more fulfilling and experience happiness.
2. while waiting on bus and trains, they can use their convenient smartphones to read books to enrich themselves.
3. isn't it better to socialize by calling, sms, facebook message or talking face to face.
4. exercise to reduce stress and improve overall health?
5. find friends and mates to make your life much more interesting than playing games..

Are you the type of people that chooses gaming to pass your life or do you search for more in your life?

  Extras
foxrain4 does not only play games, i did create some games without those proper C programming,
and in fact, im gonna to register for a computer science degree that specializes in game design.
Why do i continue to do so, wasting my time to make games that wastes people time?

I was intrigued by someone whom is going to graduate from the game design degree without the computer science,
i was shocked and wondered why would she do that, is it gonna help her get a job? is it her passion?
But when it comes to my moment that i need to get a degree, i too realized i have no interest in engineering, business related, accounting,
and in the end registered the degree i looked down upon, although, i did chose the one with computer science so i could still get a programmer
job if i wanted to.

Why do i despise games so much but am still attached to the realm of gaming and game creations?
I had spent too much time and on the side note, i have spent unnecessary money on gaming, during these years
of gaming, or should i say decade of gaming, i have lost the opportunity to make more friends, to get to know more about my friends,
to flirt with schoolgirls, to study, to improve my health through exercise, to increase my wealth of knowledge, i know i have lost all of my golden time
in the world, but somehow i am still interested in game design  .

Well at least the situation of mine is not as bad as those of my secondary school friends of mine when we started to play games a decade ago addictively without control or any discipline,
they did play DOTA, and now they still play DOTA2, they have flunked their grades and entered private schools to get those poorly recognized degrees,
they are fat and they wait for their maids to bring food to them, they dun have girlfriends, they just sit in the air-con rooms playing DOTA all day.
I am ashamed to say that i was the first one to introduce them to gaming, especially DOTA to my friends, i didn't knew it would have such a big impact on their lives even a decade from then on.
While sitting in the air-con and watching them play DOTA2, they asked me dun i want to play? I said not really, i didn't go back to the air con room anymore, i didn't visit any of my old friends anymore, and they probably too busy playing DOTA that they have forgotten about me.

  No gaming is better?
i have friends in polytechnic, and they are those typical students that cares for no gaming, even if they do game, they play games like minecraft multiplayer and socialize,
after a few days, you will not see them play again. they have sergeant and officers ranks in army, they have girlfriends, they have a huge network of friends and they are happy unlike those DOTA
friends of mine complaining everyday.
Of course these could be a cherry picked analysis since the number of real life friends i have is limited to only 100 and below, but i hope it expresses why my hate on playing games impulsively.

[Kamietsu]

I'm not gonna make a huge post here. I just woke up and saw this and it intrigued me. I'm also going to try and not use any sort of facts that would require backing up as I am not awake enough to do that though there are plenty of statistics and research on games and game players.

I feel addiction is one of the leading causes when it comes to why people continue to play a certain game almost religiously, or to devote a large percentage of their free time to a certain game or games. A lot of people see addiction as something only drugs or alcohol can do but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Sure, drugs definitely make it easier to form an addiction thanks to the chemicals present and how it affects your brain chemistry, but it's also evident that not everyone who tries drugs get addicted. The same can be said for alcohol, though I believe to a lesser extent. Forming an addiction isn't something that can only happen on things you have to put into your body. An addiction can be formed on almost anything. Can't function properly without your morning coffee and you start to get extreme headaches when you don't drink it? That's an addiction. Working out almost daily to the point that working out is all your really do? That can be an addiction. Even some things such as bad habits can be forms of addiction.

I feel a lot of those people that have sunk hundreds and thousands of hours into a game with no signs of stopping could be experiencing and addiction to that game. Where they start to feel depressed, sad, or maybe even a bit sickly when they dont play their favorite game. Maybe they will become panicked or stressed when a new version comes out and they can't access the game right then and there and proceed to drop whatever they are doing to head home and play the new content. Severing ties with real life friends, maybe some that have been around since elementary school, in order to play the game.

I don't feel this is the only reason people still play games, but I do think it's one of the more damaging reasons out there.

But I ultimately think it comes down to entertainment. I'm not going to play a game I don't find fun or enjoyable for a thousand hours. Or pay a monthly subscription fee. The people that tend to do that really enjoy the game they are playing. Despite seeing or earning everything in game, it's still fun to partake in the game mechanics. Or maybe they really love the story/world that is set up and enjoy experiencing it over and over again despite knowing everything that's going to happen. Same thing for people who read the same book, or book series, over and over again. It doesn't matter if we experienced it all; as long as we still enjoy the game we will still play.

Another thing comes down to socialization. A lot of people, partly due to media and stereotypes, believe that making friends online is much less rewarding then making friends in real life. Well, there's something people don't really understand who constantly make that comparison. Online is still real life. Those people still actually exist. They are still experiencing emotions based upon how other people online react to and with them. Not everyone needs to be able to reach out and hug someone, or be physically in their company. People also like to make the assumption that you can't really know someone online; that there are predators and liars online who only want to use you. But those types of people exist offline as well. You hear news stories about them. Usually not very good ones too. The major difference, though, is that people online can't really do anything to you unless they know a thing or two about tracing IPs, or other forms of hacking/computer knowledge. Just because a bunch of people use computers doesn't mean those users are all super capable of hacking and finding where you live. Sure they can cyberbully you. That's definitely a problem. Especially if that person was someone with whom you were friends with and they turned on you. But that's no different than someone in real life bullying you. In both cases police can be involved, and in both cases evidence can be found and the situation can be stopped. It's not always so cut and dry like that, of course, but it's still a parallel to the similarities to online and offline relationships and problems.

Playing MMOs, I feel is the real basis of making friends online. In real life, not all the people whom you have become friendly with will share a bunch of your interests. But when you meet people in games, there's already a huge interest you both share: that game. So you can run around together, doing quests, trading items, helping each other, etc. You form a bond with that person, despite never seeing them, or possibly never knowing their real name. And then there are real life events involving that game that you love some much. Meet-ups, LAN parties, conventions, tournaments, etc.

As for your DOTA friends, what else do they do? Do they put DOTA first? Do they try to find girlfriends? Are they self-proclaimed 'nice guys' where the only trait they bring to a relationship is some 'nice guy' title and DOTA? It very well could be that your friends complain because the problems they complain about are problems with themselves and they use DOTA to escape those problems, or to find others who are similar to them to be surrounded by. Stereotypes are what they are for a reason. They might not be politically correct but they come about because enough people see a similar trait in a certain group of people and then pair it with them habitually.

[foxrain4]

As for your DOTA friends, what else do they do? Do they put DOTA first? Do they try to find girlfriends? Are they self-proclaimed 'nice guys' where the only trait they bring to a relationship is some 'nice guy' title and DOTA? It very well could be that your friends complain because the problems they complain about are problems with themselves and they use DOTA to escape those problems, or to find others who are similar to them to be surrounded by. Stereotypes are what they are for a reason. They might not be politically correct but they come about because enough people see a similar trait in a certain group of people and then pair it with them habitually.

I am glad that someone can see the point that games can be damaging in a time where excessive gaming have become the norm.
I might be straying a bit from my topic because im about to talk some extreme cases of gaming addiction.

Besides DOTA. they play WOW. They always talk about how much they love a "girl" on facebook but they never add her as facebook friend, never talk to the girl, never do anything practically, they just keep talking about her and how much they are in love, yeah, after a few years, when they still continue to say they are in love, I kinda find it awkward, what kind of love is that when you only talk about it and never do anything. They dun put DOTA first, they play DOTA the whole freaking day and everyday after, do not be surprised when i say both my siblings are playing DOTA or LOL too, i find them fun games too but playing it the whole day and everyday after will only make it super boring.

Just a walk to any LAN shop; shops that provides computer gaming and you can see countless of zombies playing DOTA 2.
My amateur guess of why youngsters in my country is so obsessed with DOTA 2 is because the modern world gives them too much challenges, hardships and troubles to handle,
study, work, girlfriend, socialize, everything good you want to achieve often have to deal with some sort of competition, and so, they turn into DOTA 2 to feel the adrenaline of winning a competition
which they tried to find in real life but cant find it since the real life competition is much harder for them.

Yes, you are right that they are complaining about stuffs that actually is about themselves, for example, they will complain about how useless the education system is, how they dun learn anything from it, how horrible their bosses of their jobs is, not giving them medical leave, they complain about some people they dunno about being a playboy flirting with all the girls and lastly they complain about why old friends dun contact them anymore and go out with them anymore when their definition of "go out" is staying in an air con room playing DOTA2.

Yes i am probably stereotyping to make my point, since in the case of my polytechnic friends that ended up in universities, having sergeant and officers ranks,
they have decent jobs, they have girlfriends that annoy them on facebook, what else can they complain about? they virtually have nothing to complain about,
not saying those that have a bad life have a right to complain about since everything good in life is earned by hardwork, sweat and blood and i want to put in the most commonly left out factor; time.

[OldTrees]

But what i want to talk about is when we have obtained all the benefits of playing games, should we continue to keep playing games? For example you are a level 80 paladin in WOW, or for example you have completed all quests in elements, or you are already familiar with all the features in your facebook games like farmville and candy crush, most likely, you are continue to play these games, so why would you continue to play these games even though there is no more real benefits in the real world to achieve, why are you still carrying on playing your games for?

I question your examination of the topic when your examples (WoW, Farmville, & Candy Crush) are all intentionally designed as skinner boxes (an immoral design optimized for creating addictive behavior).

What about Chess, Minecraft, or Roleplaying games?
If a game exercises a mental skill, then different frequencies/intensities result in improvement/maintenance of that skill (use it or lose it).
If a game is a canvas for self expression, then its merits for the artist are the same as other art mediums.
If a game is a social activity, then its merits are that the shared interest creates time for socializing with those individuals.

Games have value. But not all games are equal.

(Just to be clear: Addiction negatively impacting one's life is bad. Continuing to feed such an addiction is unwise.)

[foxrain4]

I thought im better than others since i plays multiple games instead of a single game repetitively.
But someone said people whom play games dun have achievements in real life
which hits me hard.

The question should we keep playing games is actually hard to think about than it looks like
because we dun often know whether we are already in a state of being addicted to a game or games.

I realized im just another example of a gamer addicted to playing games to fulfill the sense of achievements
which i have not found in real life.

I thought I play games to improve my intellects, "skills" or enjoy.
But the truth that is blind to me is that im just another average joe trying to fill the gap in the hole.