A Game You Found More Enjoyable than Life Itself?

[Kyr Knightbane]

Diablo 2:

I bought the Battle Chest when it first came out for the first computer i ever bought myself. Paid 80 bucks for, and played it with a brand new mouse and just became completely engrossed in Diablo 2. I clocked in well over 300 hours in that game, and occasionally I still boot it up when a few buds of mine come over and have a hankering for some good old fashioned demon slaying.

Oblivion:
Played it so much that i thought i'd hate it, and recently got the GOTY edition on steam and its still very much enjoyable. I'll play for a few hours and realize I've forgotten to eat IRL and immediately get scolded by my wife.

 

[A Weakgeek]

Quite a bunch, what you do in your spare time is better than what you do in your obligation time (or "life").

Life has good graphics and lighting, the solo campaign is too long, the co-op produces too many NPCs to cater for, the NPCs are all idiots, the multiplayer is a hell-hole that usually ends up with you out of pocket and the framerate chugs when you do anything other than eat vegetables and drink water.

The buissness model is the worst part. SO many goddamn microtransactions. I literally spend all my money on them, and most of them are one time consumables.

 

[veloper]

Interesting how all these mediocre or below average time-sinks get mentioned (exception: DS). Something about these games or the people who play them?

While games offer really good value for money and will keep you entertained, "better than life" makes it sound like some gamers live like hobos or something.
Games cannot beat a big fancy dinner with quality meat and alcohol for a good evening, but I may be privileged.

Then for such people whose alien tastes cannot find enjoyment in food, sex, drugs and rock, there is always the Elder Scrolls.

 

[sanquin]

Most of them, really. Otherwise I wouldn't be a gamer.

But the ones that really drew me in are these:
1: Ragnarok Online, back in the day. It was my first real mmorpg and back in the day the community was a lot better.
2: WoW. Enough said, I'm guessing. I'm glad I no longer play it after 6 years though.
3: Mass Effect 1. I was so sad that the game was so 'short'. I would have loved a 50+ hour mass effect 1.

 

[Brown Cap]

Mass Effect has been and still is a healthy obsession of mine.
I have every game
Paragon Lost DVD
The Three Novels: Revelation, Ascension, and Retribution (the fourth, Deception, was a disgrace that should never be spoken of again)
The first texbook library of the comics...
Yeah. Mass Effect kicks ass.

 

[ChanTheNoob]

Pretty much all the games I play on a regular basis are games that I find more enjoyable than life. Whenever I think about it, I find that I really hate my life for no reason, and playing video games is a good way to just zone out and forget about my real life problems and just have fun.

 

[Fractral]

Both modern Persona games come to mind. Persona 3 has a special place for being the first one I played and totally engrossing me in its story for the 5 months it took me to play through it, while Persona 4 caught me with its incredible cast. Never before or since have I felt so much like game characters were real friends of mine- and I don't care how sad that sounds, you have to have played the game to understand.

 

[KOMega]

Not a bold question at all.
Life is either boring and dull or very unpleasant.

Games on the other hand work to be the opposite.

I used to spend a lot of time playing Dungeon Fighter before they closed it down.
Spending some time playing fighting games now.
Feels like something I can pick up whenever now.

 

[Bluelaughter]

In general, I find most games to be more enjoyable than life on average, but not in sum happiness, as games are part of life. Not sure how the answer could differ unless you counted obsessive grinding as negative happiness.

 

[AngloDoom]

Most.

Right now I am in limbo, working nights to save up so I can afford to go to university and gain a career and hopefully do something with my life. When I'm not working, I'm struggling to get to sleep or studying in my spare time for my course. I'm currently waiting to have a test booked in hospital so I can see whether or not I'll need a heart monitor surgically implanted into my skin, which will prevent me from following a hobby I've been hoping to get back into in future which I cannot currently do now because I work nights.

Last week in X-Com: Enemy Unknown I advanced the human race several hundred (thousand?) years ahead technologically in the course of a year and lead a team which saved the Earth.

 

[WhyWasThat]

Most.

Right now I am in limbo, working nights to save up so I can afford to go to university and gain a career and hopefully do something with my life. When I'm not working, I'm struggling to get to sleep or studying in my spare time for my course. I'm currently waiting to have a test booked in hospital so I can see whether or not I'll need a heart monitor surgically implanted into my skin, which will prevent me from following a hobby I've been hoping to get back into in future which I cannot currently do now because I work nights.

Last week in X-Com: Enemy Unknown I advanced the human race several hundred (thousand?) years ahead technologically in the course of a year and lead a team which saved the Earth.

You lost me at the heart monitor part... What??

 

[Foolery]

I was pretty hooked on Final Fantasy XII for a bit. Also, Killing Floor, and Left4Dead.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

...so much cynicism in this thread. Are you guys even listening to what you're saying? "Life is dumb, boring and miserable, yay videogames!"


Sure, life has its rough patches and most of us (myself included) DO play games for the variety and escapism but... come on! There's a lot more to life than pretty graphics and frustrating mechanics. Sure, the difficulty curve is fucked up but once you pick your specialisation and get into the swing of things, it gets so much better! I've only started to really enjoy it when I was about 20 years in. You get used to all the XP grinding and at some point, it actually starts to pay off.

Also the exploration options are unparalleled, the graphics and sound are just stunning at times, you get to pick your own soundtrack, maybe even create it in real time if you put enough XP into musical instruments or computers.

Combat is almost entirely optional as well. Myself, I put a few points into hand-to-hand just in case I run into some trouble in one of the story missions but if you don't want to, you can get through the entire game without firing a single shot.

Also, it has emergent storytelling and large parts of the world are user-generated. I mean come on. I don't want to sound like a fanboy, I know some of the plot twists can be just retarded and the ballance in multiplayer is completely broken... but still, I'm pretty sure there's at least some appeal to be found for just about anyone. Give it a chance.

 

[Snowbell]

Ever consider getting into Demon's/Dark Souls?
With the exception of Oblivion (my favourite game of all time in, case you couldn't guess from the thread), I've never played an RPG more mesmerising and engrossing - and flat-out brilliant - than the Souls series.

I'm going to buy Dark Souls soon! You know, when I have enough money to pay for rent, food AND games ;_;

As for Oblivion, I started playing it and became instantly lost in the first area and murdered by some wizards - should I pick it up again? Will it be more fun and colourful than Skyrim? Which mods would you suggest?

 

[Glongpre]

None, life is way more enjoyable. You will eventually get tired of a game because it is fairly static, but life never is. So I guess you could say a game could be more enjoyable for a time, if otherwise you would be bored or something.

 

[Iron Gix]

WoW back in the day and Suikoden 2.
Would dream about them,would daydream about them and played them non stop for a great many of weeks,friendships were lost,love life took one for the team. Good times.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Life is a blast, but if you insist, I suppose most games are technically more fun than life itself. However, there are those moments in real life that are way more enjoyable than even the best video games. The problem is, they are few and far between. Video games are one way to have lots of fun while you wait for those special moments.

I can't say a game I find better than life itself in particular, but my personal favorites like Ocarina of Time, or most Zelda games for that matter. Pokemon games, Mario, Halo, Metroid, Smash Bros., etc. will do in a pinch.

 

[Sanshou]

Definitely TES IV: Oblivion, I still rate that as my favorite game of all time. I lost so many hours into that it's unreal. I hope the next elder scrolls game and captivate me the same way that oblivion did, I just couldnt get into skyrim to the same extent :/

 

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

System Shock. Oh boy, System Shock.

Citadel Station became like a second home to me for a good few months of my life. A dark, corpse-ridden, bloodstained, malevolent AI-haunted, terrifying second home.

To this day I could draw you exact maps of most of the levels.

 

[frizzlebyte]

Since playing games are done as a part of life, then no, I don't think so. Along with everything else life throws at me, I enjoy my gaming sessions.