Playing Games for All the Wrong Reasons

[Curlypaul]

Interesting read. I realised the escapism draw of games some time ago, and being aware of it I managed to control it (I think).

The point of the article, along with plenty of other articles and books written about behavioral conditioning and the like, is why they find those games as fun or engrossing as they do. Which is not to say that all players are the same, but more that it can be worth exploring what makes video games trigger happy chemicals in your brain.

Agreed, we all drawn to things that we find fun because it fits our own particular need for compensating the bits of our life that we don't like. The things we want to escape from may not be traumatic childhoods or anything like that, but for most people are everyday things like money issues, being at work etc

[Luke]

People playing games for those reasons also tend to be playing because the games are fun to them.

That goes without saying. Maybe I should have just posted: I can't relate to the author whatsoever.

[harper]

I half-expected the article to be about "hipsters" or something.

[rlrunyon]

I half-expected the article to be about "hipsters" or something.

Because hipsters only play indie games? =) I play to have fun and waste unused time. Games to me are an escape, even if you see it that way or not. You get into the gameplay and/or story and you lose yourself. You want to see what happens next or see if you can do something a different way or see if you can take that harder enemy. It's the same with books or movies. People get lost in them if they get focused in them.

[Key-Glyph]

It was a quick read and I enjoyed this guy's soul-searching, and I understand his point of view. I'm with the "because video games are fun" crowd, though. Unlike the author, my problem is usually that I have too many pursuits I'm interested in that are simultaneously vying for the same amount of attention.

He's right about the satisfaction that comes from grinding in games, though. I often wonder why it's easy for humans to take the long view when playing a video game ("If I keep fishing for a few in-game days every in-game week, I'll finally get that tool upgrade by Winter!"), but so much harder to do in real life ("If I just keep going to the gym for a few days each week, I'll be able to bike at a higher resistance level in a couple months!").

I am actually trying to apply this time of long-thinking more actively in my life. I've been trying to get in shape, for instance, and although visible results are slow to show, I find that individual trips to the gym feel much more rewarding if I think of it in terms of gaining XP. I try to stretch out my patience by reminding myself that each workout session is doing something... it's just that my imaginary progress bar is inching ever so slightly forward that it's hard to notice.

Speaking of, it really helps that exercise machines keep track of all kinds of stats as you use them. You can put numbers to your progress. Although you won't be cumulatively piling up the points and unlocking Espers or whatever, you can see that you're able to bike more miles than before, or averaging more calories burnt per minute for the same duration. Not as exciting. But useful.

[Menegrothx]

Both video games and game collecting have in common the fact that usually once you acquire something, it's yours as long as you want it with out any further effort required, while in real life it's rarely that simple. Get an education so you can get a nice job -> you need to constantly learn new stuff and improve in what you do, you have less free time and so on. Win in lottery and buy yourself an expensive car, a big house and so on-> higher taxes, car uses more fuel and is more expensive to maintain which also applies to the house and everything else, meaning that you can't maintain such lifestyle in the long rung. Spend less time on your hobbies and things you like, get in shape and change your lifestyle so you can find yourself a companion -> once you get one, you need to to maintain that "entry level", and get more and more commited and have less free time, freedom of choiche, money etc over the time. You're always sacrificing something.

[Luke]

Both video games and game collecting have in common the fact that usually once you acquire something, it's yours as long as you want it with out any further effort required, while in real life it's rarely that simple. Get an education so you can get a nice job -> you need to constantly learn new stuff and improve in what you do, you have less free time and so on. Win in lottery and buy yourself an expensive car, a big house and so on-> higher taxes, car uses more fuel and is more expensive to maintain which also applies to the house and everything else, meaning that you can't maintain such lifestyle in the long rung. Spend less time on your hobbies and things you like, get in shape and change your lifestyle so you can find yourself a companion -> once you get one, you need to to maintain that "entry level", and get more and more commited and have less free time, freedom of choiche, money etc over the time. You're always sacrificing something.

I don't know what the fuck you just said little kid...

[Menegrothx]

I don't know what the fuck you just said little kid...

If I get a rare item in World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy, my character can unconditionally use it as long as he/she wants. If I level up in either of those aforementioned games, nothing will take that level away from me. If I buy myself a copy of Earthbound, nothing will take it away from me (unless it gets stolen or I accidentally break it). However if I decided to get fit in real life, I would soon be out of shape again if I quit working out regularly, no matter how great I get at the peak of my training days. If I get myself a part time job so I can buy myself a car, it will become useless as soon as I quit my job. If I don't have that steady extra income so I can pay for gas, maintenance, vehicle inspection and other such government regulations, I wont be able to drive my car anymore. If I farm for months to get a rare mount in WoW, it will be mine to use, whenever I want, for as long as my character exists, once I acquire it.
The difference between the two is that in video games and video game collecting, your work is usually finished once you reach the goal, while often in real life you'll have to keep on working to maintain the things you've accomplished just as much as you had to work to gain them in the first place.

[garrett123]

I play video games, so I can go too a different time.

[harper]

I'm not going to lie, I probably enjoy games as much as I do because they provide a sense of accomplishment that I'm severely lacking in the real world.