"You Will Not Wish You Had Spent More Time Gaming"

[SushiJaguar]

I'm gonna throw it out and promise to say (if circumstances allow it) that I wish I had spent more time playing Barbie Horse Adventures.

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

Speak for yourself. A few of us are uncomfortable around other people and find experiences with them physically and emotionally exhausting.

I used to think like this. Until I met my current girlfriend. It can be hard for us introverts to find someone deem deem worthy of our time and devotion, but it's not impossible. I hope it happens to you some day.

Your implication that I lack a fulfilling social life and/or have difficulty attaining one is both incorrect and a bit obnoxious of you; it's just that social interaction as a whole tires me out, and even with a very likely lifemate and some of the best friends a person could ask for, as I've been so fortunate to find in my life, sometimes I need to be by myself and recharge my battery, so to speak. I enjoy being around them and don't regret them being in my life, but it's still a trial at times for them to be, and there are days I'd rather be alone entirely.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

When I die I'll probably regret not playing more games. Some of my best memories have come from gaming.

 

[xPixelatedx]

So, I ask you all. Is gaming somehow inferior to, say, grilling on the porch with friends? Or any other hobby, like camping or hiking or cooking or wine tasting or... I don't know, any other dozen of entertainments we amuse ourselves with? Do our memories earned gaming mean less than memories earned in any other pursuit?

Wow, I guess I am minority because I will say that.

Not because I would rather do that over being with friends and family, but because I cannot always be with friends and family, and in all honesty all I want to do is game when that isn't happening. It's happening less and less these days though, especially as I get older and my responsibilities mount. You know what I wish I spent less time doing? Screwing around on the internet, like right now, haha.

But I guess it's in my blood. My mother died two weeks ago. You know what she spent the last month talking about? She wanted to play Video Games again. She didn't understand how these new xboxes and PS3's worked. She wanted to play an NES again, because that's what she knew she could play. As a surprise, I bought one for her... sadly, the shipping took a week, and it arrived days after she passed. She never knew I got it... And yes, we all knew she might not be around for much longer. Basically, what I am saying is that article is completely full of shit.

 

[The Gnome King]

Changing half your current video game playing time if you played for 16 hours a week would mean you could perhaps take up another hobby like gardening, car making, wood work or something else where you get a physical object that you can enjoy for years to come and will last.

Completing a hard challenge in a game is very rewarding as it takes skill to do that but there are other hobbies that do require skill but ultimately can teach you more, give you skills that will build your character and give you something to physically have and show people at the end. It also doesn't help that video games are data and data can be switched, changed and deleted in a matter of seconds, which certainly lowers the value of getting items and high level characters, well in my mind anyway.

1) You assume I value physical objects more than experiences and memories. I do not.

2) Physical objects can be lost, broken, stolen, or destroyed just as data can be manipulated and changed. Nothing is permanent. To think so is illusion. (See: Buddhism.)

3) Video games exist that can "teach people" more than many hobbies can as well, most people aren't engaging in a peaceful hobby or entertaining past time to "learn something" - you can, sure, but to state that a physical hobby offers more of a chance to learn just because it's physical is ridiculous.

 

[The Gnome King]

It's not that gaming is inferior to other hobbies, but no one wishes they spent more time watching movies or reading pop fiction either. They wish they'd spent more time with their family, or maybe they wish they'd gotten around to finishing that novel(or game) they started.

That is very subjective, though.

In the original comment thread over on Massively and on this very thread alone you see several people who claim that they WOULD wish they finished "XX" game just as much as they might wish they had spent time with family or finished a novel. I know I've finished games that have been just as satisfying as any novel I've read.

Plus, games I can play *with* my friends and family. A novel is usually a very solitary experience.

 

[Gavmando]

I think he's looking at gaming as just gaming, and not it being a part of a greater whole. The greater whole being your down time. Gaming is just one facet of chilling out. For me, it's one of the ways I relax. And when I get home from work at 2am, and no one else is awake, that's one of the ways I de-stress. It's one of the things I do when i'm not working.

And when i'm on my deathbed, i'm pretty sure i'll be wishing I hadnt worked so much.

 

[spartan231490]

It's not that gaming is inferior to other hobbies, but no one wishes they spent more time watching movies or reading pop fiction either. They wish they'd spent more time with their family, or maybe they wish they'd gotten around to finishing that novel(or game) they started.

That is very subjective, though.

In the original comment thread over on Massively and on this very thread alone you see several people who claim that they WOULD wish they finished "XX" game just as much as they might wish they had spent time with family or finished a novel. I know I've finished games that have been just as satisfying as any novel I've read.

Plus, games I can play *with* my friends and family. A novel is usually a very solitary experience.

Sure they wish it now, with their whole lives in front of them to spend time with family and finish that book(I mean writing, not reading), on their deathbed I very very very much doubt they'd be wishing they'd spent more time playing video games.

 

[Jenny Jones]

Changing half your current video game playing time if you played for 16 hours a week would mean you could perhaps take up another hobby like gardening, car making, wood work or something else where you get a physical object that you can enjoy for years to come and will last.

Completing a hard challenge in a game is very rewarding as it takes skill to do that but there are other hobbies that do require skill but ultimately can teach you more, give you skills that will build your character and give you something to physically have and show people at the end. It also doesn't help that video games are data and data can be switched, changed and deleted in a matter of seconds, which certainly lowers the value of getting items and high level characters, well in my mind anyway.

1) You assume I value physical objects more than experiences and memories. I do not.

2) Physical objects can be lost, broken, stolen, or destroyed just as data can be manipulated and changed. Nothing is permanent. To think so is illusion. (See: Buddhism.)

3) Video games exist that can "teach people" more than many hobbies can as well, most people aren't engaging in a peaceful hobby or entertaining past time to "learn something" - you can, sure, but to state that a physical hobby offers more of a chance to learn just because it's physical is ridiculous.

Funny how you missed out the first part of the quote where I say lets talk about a time period of say 1-10 years because the argument we'll all get blown up by the sun makes lasting changes moot to the point of there being no point to anything. I know nothing is permanent which is why I defined a time period over which an object whether data or physical is as close to permanence as you can get.

A physical object for the most part (some exceptions for very delicate things) is a lot harder to destroy completely than say formatting a hard drive or memory card. While your memories of it stay with you, your save will not, this would be the same for a physically engaging hobby outside of video games with the exception of most of your physical achievements will be harder to destroy (though they tend to be harder to create).

Games CAN teach people more than some hobbies however just as you say most people do not engage in peaceful or entertaining past times to learn something, the same follows through to video games. Except, if you actually look at the top sellers, not one of those will teach you much either, and most likely less, as patience will no doubt not factor in at all. You may argue that getting good kills and high scores in COD will teach you persistence, perseverance and patience when sniping but then so would spending that time gardening or learning to cook and it would give you very lucrative life skills in order to better market yourself to others.

I will concede grilling on the porch with friends will most likely not teach you as much as say playing(?) ARMA 2 basic training but it will help you more with social well being, development and any number of conversations arising in that setting could enrich your life in many more ways than playing black ops to pwn this guy that's been annoying you all week.

 

[YCRanger]

I think one thing to keep in mind is that this is on a MMO website. Those games in particular are specifically engineered to keep you playing as long as possible. They give the perfect outlet for people who do not want to engage with the outside world as they can play for hundreds of hours and still not be finished. I think those people are the ones who the article is aimed at. This is stemming from my strong distaste for MMOs in general as what they offer to me is nothing more than a time sink. Press 1 till you get that next piece of armor. Games that exhibit unique traits, work the brain with puzzles/interesting mechanics or engage the soul with an engrossing story have far more ability to stay with you. Those are the games you won't regret playing just like you wont regret hearing your favorite albums or watching your favorite movies for the upteenth time. Of course its all relative and far be it from me to judge how someone wants to spend their time. But years of MMO grind id imagine can limit you to only that community as no one outside the game will care about that rare piece of armor you got. Then it gets even harder to get out there in the real world.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

So, I ask you all. Is gaming somehow inferior to, say, grilling on the porch with friends? Or any other hobby, like camping or hiking or cooking or wine tasting or... I don't know, any other dozen of entertainments we amuse ourselves with? Do our memories earned gaming mean less than memories earned in any other pursuit?

Are you being serious?

No one, and I mean no one will ever be in their deathbed and say, "oh, how I wish I had Platinum'd New Vegas. Or no-scoped that fag in Blops." They will wish they had more time grilling on the porch with their friends and family, yes.

Just to spite you I promise that on my deathbed, I will proclaim "I really wish I'd taken more time to get a positive KD and inform more 10 year old children of my amorous activities with their mothers/sister". I will then drift off. I will proceed to have a video of these events, followed by a heartrending version of Cee Lo Green's "Fuck you" recorded by yours truly (comparable to the emotion felt in Johnny Cash's rendition of Hurt) sent to your front door, with a copy of my will that states that unless you walk into a public area dressed as a t-rex, and walk the dinosaur for three hours as recompense for doubting me, I will have paid a mariachi band enough money to plague the rest of your days.

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

Gaming counts as having fun for me. I don't regret any time spent having fun. Gaming, movies, trips...

 

[Quoth]

Playing video games has always been a pass time for me. It's not my favourite pass time, but it's seasonal, I can do it in very short bursts where I've got nothing else to do and, ultimately it's affordable.

Its unlikely I'll wish that I'd played more because I play enough. It's more likely I'll miss the things I didn't do like visiting foreign countries, had a massive family with loads of kids, earned millions of pounds each year or become a rock star.

 

[Dragonbums]

Some of my most memorable childhood moments when I was a kid is my cousins, their neighborhood friends, and I sitting around the Gamecube and N64 and taking turn playing Mario 64, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Mario party, and Smash Bros.

Those activities were just as social and fun as grilling outside. I don't regret one single moment where I spent my time playing videogames.

Even now, some of my most enjoyable times right now is going to my friends houses and playing videogames. We often like to play Amnesia together and watch Let's Plays.
I still don't regret any moment doing these things.

This guy is trying to say that grilling and "hanging with friends" is somehow more superior than gaming. Failing to realize that many a gamer DO INDEED socialize when playing games all the time. He still seems to have the impression that gamers are a bunch of unsocialized losers that play with nobody but themselves and their two other similar losers friends that share the same hobbies as them.
Case in point, I play games a lot.
However a large group of my friends, acquaintances, and I are heading over to the 3 day videogame camping convention Magstock to have one last grand hangout before we all go to college. (for me I'm returning to college)

Of course if I were on my deathbed, the last thing I would think about are videogames. The last thing I would also think about is grilling.
If anything I would simply talk about what I have accomplished with my career. What I did, what I failed at, and what I am now never going to be able to do.
If it was a good run I'll simply smile and say "I lived to my happiest." I have a small niche of friends that I enjoy my time with.
I don't need a fuck ton of people to make my life worth it.
Sometimes having a huge bunch of people can make your life miserable.