Why do you game?

Actually they didn't: Rather, they worked for 60-70 hours a week then died by the time they reached age 49!

 

For me gaming is a way to relax at the end of the day after a hard day at school... after studying till ur brain can't take it , It really helps in relaxing ... also i don't socialize much so gaming helps me spend some time... but its really becomming an addiction... i spend 2-3 hours on a weekday and 5-6 hours on weekend... so not really that addicted

 

Because they are fun, the escape from reality and friends. I would consider myself a casual gamer meaning I dont necessarily play every day but have also been known to put a couple of hours a day into a game.

 

riding horsing and combating dinosaur

 

Vent my day's frustrations in a constructive fashion and engage in a little escapism from real-life for a couple of hours. Also, headshots are fun

 

Television. Before that the Radio.

 

I think its already been said a number of times but I've never seen a distinction between moderate amounts of any activity like listening to music, watching tv, seeing a movie or playing games. One of my friend's copped a lot of flack from an ex-girlfriend because he played NHL09 to relax, only to turn around and see her watch tv for hours...ahh funny times.

Anyway, I play because its fun, because sometimes its WAY too cold to go outside (-40 cold) and sometimes just because after working 12-14hrs I wanna shoot something

 

Basically a couple of reasons:
1) To relax in an environment out of our regular reality.
2) To enjoy the challenge of a good RPG, RTS, or puzzle game.

 

To be honest the reason I play changes. Right now I play becomes I need to pass time quickly. My fiance is in Okinawa right now and our wedding isn't until may, and the hours and days pass much more quickly when you're lost in another world. When my better half was here in the states with me I would play to stay in contact with friends back home. It seems like it'd be the converse, but it's been a social thing at times, sitting around with friends gaming. Sometimes I just find a GREAT game, with an awesome story and gameplay, and I play for the same reason you fly through a great book. Not to mention all those reasons overlap and mix. It's not about sitting on your behind getting to that next level, at least not for people who game for the right reasons. Not to mention, every minute I'm not playing games, I'm outdoors so that stereotype is pretty dated.

 

For fun. (this text between brackets is just to make the post 10 characters).

 

I think that anyone who spends time on 4chan would be unproductive, at any rate...

 

I game because it's fun, and because it's not summer and I can't go to the beach.

 

In an extreme case, suppose if you're Anand or Kasparov and you're bored of playing with people (probably cuz they suck compared to you or to win $1 mil) I guess you'll end up playing chess on a computer, which is gaming..

 

I wish I had the time to do anything for 12 hours straight (not counting working).

Hobby? Not really. Stated already.

My time on the internet is very productive; I devour books and/or online info at a faster rate than I can find interesting stuff to read about (work related, btw).

I hope my time on this forum is productive too - for many years I have used the information here as elsewhere on the internet to good use for myself and business - just thought I should give something back.

This thread actually is the only thread I can remember off hand that doesn't directly solve a problem I'm having (or, trying to fix for someone else). Just pure entertainment for me.

Gaming doesn't attract me because, since I know the story is a 'story' - I can't invest anytime to see what makes it tick.

Also, I have to disagree that reading a book or seeing a movie (a good movie - not too many of those) is equivalent to gaming. Cards, I don't play (seems like a good way to give away your money though - and, if you're not playing for money - what is the point) and board games are many decades ago that I stopped enjoying them (stopped around 15 yrs old?).

Yeah, I must sound boring to most or all here!

If I had to say I had a 'hobby' - reading must be it. Whether on the internet, books, magazines or billboards passing by - if it is written in any language I know, I'll read it (or, drive around the block to get a chance to read it again - if I missed it the first time!).

Cheers!

 

Hmmm... what is that? (4chan).

Cheers!

 

Good answer. I couldn't have said it better myself actually.

And 4chan. Don't click around too much, you may not like what you find. You have been warned.

www.4chan.org/

By the way do you read fiction? If so, what is the difference in getting indulged in a fictional story written in a book as opposed to a fictional story in a game or movie?

 

brochiller,

Yeah, I used to read fiction - now, non-fiction is more interesting and has more twists than any writer's imagination I know of.

Wow! 4chan looks worse than facebook. lol...

Never heard about it before now.

Cheers!

 

It's widely known as the scum of the internet lol.

 

You do not want to know...

I think probably the only board on there worth a visit would be /wg/ (Wallpapers and General), because they actually have some pretty good backgrounds.

But /b/...

...damn, man, there just aren't words to describe it...

All I can say is, go there and you will never be same again.

I can see that you aren't a big fan of social networking. I'm the same.

 

Ive thought abit this alot and have yet to come up with an answer, for now i believe people sat around twiddling their thumbs and drinking rum!

 

You guys/gals are funny.

Time was effectively wasted by doing something called conversation.

Cheers!

 

talking, something to do, better than drugs , i have bad anxiety so gaming gets my mind off of it!!! Overall a fun time

 

Since most of my gaming is done socially, its pretty much the same as getting together for a football/hockey game on TV.

Its another way to find people with similar interests to meet and greet from all over the US and the world.

I do prefer meeting people with a handshake, but often that isn't always the most convenient or safest and doesn't get you anywhere near as wide of an audience.

Gaming is just another entertainment activity for me... active mentally, but not physically.
Sometimes this is just what the doctor ordered.

 

I play games, sports, and socialize to get away stress of everyday's work.

 

45 is not old you whipper snapper. LOL I play games because like others I am addicted. But I have another question. Is gaming a worst addiction then drugs?

 

to make time go faster so i gt older so i can adventure around the world again

 

No, because drugs are more likely to cause damage to your physical self.

My point was that my stepfather could be doing plenty of other things with his life, like working out on the farm, or doing other stuff, but he chooses to game, and I think that is very unusual for someone who comes from the background he has. He also has a weird aversion to technology and computers, so that makes it even more unusual.

And when he sees me on my computer all the time, it's kind of like:



BTW, the two blank frames are because it's a template.

 

Just noticed you have a post average of 12 posts/day.

Just sayin', like...

 

One is interactive; the other is not.

Probably not physically, but if it interferes with normal activities it can be a sign of other social and psychological dysfunctions.

 

Point being? If you're trying to draw a similarity between posting in a forum and gaming you're off. These two things are not the same. For one, there's not a whole lot of "escape" involved with posting in a thread.

 

lol... how do you see that?

Well, when I'm waiting for RAW image files to convert and/or get backed up (multiple times), I have a lot of time to read (and respond, I guess)!

Cheers!

 

I grew up with video games. And yes, I admit it, I game more then I should be outside. (Just look at my laptop, lol) but its not like im a completely UNSOCIAL person. I LOVE talking to people and hanging out with friends. But gaming is just a large part of my life that I love doing. I do it to escape, kind of like a drug lol. Sunday evening...4 Pm..im bored. What do I do? I pop in my current favorite game, Dirt 2 and play for a few hours

 

Click any persons username and it should come up with the list, one of the options being "Public Profile" or something like that. You will see some details like their profile picture, and some other text includes the post count average. Mines something like 10.36 BTW.

This applies for your own too, you can view your own profile as public.

Should be back to something like 6 or 7 in a couple of months though, when I go back to school after the holidays.

 

In a word, because it's fun. You can do things in video games that you can't do in real life (or at least, aren't likely to do in real life), and that makes them fun. And they're more involved the TV or movies (though I do enjoy an occasional film, too).

As for investing money in it, I don't actually consider it all that expensive on the whole. I tend to buy games that have been out awhile, so perhaps $50/average per year on games. The fact that I have a gaming-quality laptop (when I bought it, at least) probably does roughly double what it cost, but I'd have a computer even if I didn't game, and probably not a bottom-of-the-line Acer, either. So put that at $900 over 3 years (it might be more if my 8600M GT holds out), and you're looking at $350 a year - less than a dollar a day. Sure, I still spend money on other forms of entertainment, but it's a lot cheaper than going bowling all the time or even going to the movies once a week. And I tend to enjoy it more.

I've never been particularly into sports, although an occasional bike ride or game of badminton is fun. I can see why some people can get really into sports, but I don't enjoy knocking myself out physically often enough for sports to be one of my hobbies. Bar hopping I've never really done since I just turned 21 (in the U.S.), but I can't imagine that saves any money over gaming (in general - sure if you spend $7000 on a desktop every year it will). I guess it has its social merits, but it's certainly possible to game and still have a good social life. Sometimes gaming even creates social opportunities - there are a good number of people out there who enjoy playing electronic (or traditional) games every so often to chillax.

 

Perhaps it's different for some, but I find gaming doesn't exclude conversation. True, I don't generally chat while playing Call of Duty 4, but like someone else said, sometimes you need a break from conversation (or anything else, for that matter). And sometimes games (or technology) can induce conversation. I have a friend with whom I regular talk about technology - it's probably the majority of our conversation topics, especially if you include games. But it's not all we talk about, either. And it's not the primary topic with most of my friends.

When games are common area of interest, though, it can be like any other conversation-starter. Just tonight I met someone for the first time who happened to have a common interest in games - and a considerably more comprehensive knowledge of games than myself, as well.

I actually consider the Internet to be, in some ways, less productive than gaming for me. I certainly can learn useful stuff from the Internet, and e-mail is crucial for my contacts there, but I also spend a lot of time learning things that really are minutia in the big picture (mostly technology-related news - I don't surf YouTube or the like much at all). Whereas with games, the idea never is to be productive per se, but the entertainment value (so long as I don't game too much, which I rarely do these days) tends to be beneficial for my mindset. If I really want to be productive, I need a book.

I guess it's the thrill of the card game that, not knowing if you'll win, the challenge, that makes it fun for me, even though I rarely play for money. The suspense, amusing moments. It's not everyone's thing. But I enjoy those factors, and board and card games are social in nature.

 

Great post and +1 for the above quote!

 

When men lived in a cave the highest form of arts were music and paintings.

Sculptures were also introduced very soon, and although in a religious context, people still could 'enjoy' them because of their esthetics.

When pressing books was invented in 1450, a older form of art became available for more people, books.

Around the 1900 the radio become a common instrument, and after the 2 world wars television also stepped up.

So, al that time people had: mucic, paintings, perhaps some cooking, books, radio and television to enjoy as certain art forms and excape reality.

Especialy music and the visual arts of paintings and sculptures were 'hot fashion' with the elites.
Now, a new form of art has taken life...games. And we are the generation that enjoy that art, for our leisure, and to escape reality. Lets face it, its not more educational than watching paintings...even if you know al the painting styles you will still get bit by a do just as easily, just to say it has no real function in real life to know all those 'usseless' things. And reading leisure books like romans give you nothing more than a desilusion and highly idealised vision about subjects like love, patriotism, and so on.

To sum up, mankind has always made things to make life look better, or even to scape reality. We are just doing what has always been done, ejoying one of the many new forms that has been created.

 

Good try making it seem that gaming is the next/current level of art, but no cigar for you!

Cheers!

 

I think we can leave this thread as the high-horsing that it is. Leave 12 posts/day guy to be with his worthy pursuits

 

Because it's enjoyable and mentally engrossing. Also, with special regards to computers, the tweaking, benching, and hardware analysis aspects are very interesting too.

 

Why is that such a false statement? Video games are considered by many to be a great form of art.

Now Im curious as to why you wanted to hear peoples opinions, and then shoot down their answers. Don't think the "Cheers!" at the end of each post hides the elitist undertones in yours 12 posts/day...

 

art is subjective. there are many 'art' hours put into designing and building a video game. there are some very extreme visual arts that are developed for games. computer art might be relatively new compared to traditional painting, but that doesn't negate its aesthetics.

in essence gaming sounds like some 'child's play' version of entertainment, though, many are highly mistaken that gaming is a childish or immature hobby. gaming can be argued to be the most advanced form of entertainment. gaming is very looked down upon, though at one time, playing board games with miniatures was something the rich elitists did (and commanding officers in the military), and now it's considered to be very nerdy. the beatles were considered 'the devil's music' and elvis was 'too suggestive' but now they contain innocence, even though many beatles songs were about drugs and the like. we consider these things to be very classic and precious items of our culture and history. as gaming grows, so does the popularity and acceptance of it as a normal, mature way of entertainment. i can easily argue that reading is childish due to the high volume of 'fantasy' and 'fiction' novels out there explaining absurd adventures that coincide with ridiculous levels of imagination that is required to mentally picture the story in the book. however, obviously reading has it's place in society as a more chic and intelligent past time. many video games possess the exact same qualities as the books, and in fact many times the same stories, though it just contains more involvement and more visuals than text does. because you visually see the picture does not make the brain less involved when it comes to imagination.

also, the interactivity required and in many cases the subset of skills and knowledge required to play certain video games certainly puts it into a category above reading and watching movies, but not interactive to the point of sports and physical activity (excluding more physically demanding games like the dancing ones and many Wii games).

there are losers who game all day, and then there are losers who read all day. they're both unproductively 'wasting' their time entertaining themselves through equivalent mediums. in one medium, a person reads text by text what is happening and does not physically interact with the story. in the other medium, a person reads can read text by text, though make distinctive decisions which alter the storyline, or they can visually and more interactively control certain features of the story line and absorb the content like a movie. in many games, text is still very dominantly used, especially for dialogue.

in fact, gaming has benefits equivalent to reading all day (increased vocabulary, increased imagination), though, the developmental phases of the person playing differs due to the social interactivity from the given game. for example, since many games have very large age ranges who play, there is a huge blob of people who are thrilled by 'smack talking' and cursing online to people because it gives them this feel of domination and masculinity. this immediately gives gaming its bad reputation.

those who play RTS games all day can posses a bit greater ability to make prompt, and important decisions because they must in order to complete certain features for a game. in fact, the US military builds RTS games to test on subjects to determine their ability to make good judgments.

pilot games are a very good way at practicing hours of flight practice without the dangers involved. many flight simulations are used to pick up on what person could be a good candidate for a pilot.

also, some universities are looking at the in-game economies in some MMO's and study them because they operate like real life working economies. people subtlety learn skills indirectly that were most likely never intended due to gaming, however, since much of the immature audience in gaming brings forth bad reputation, it is very much overlooked.

there is no need for people to be so turned off by gaming, or belittle it and mock it as child's play.

 

Back to the original question, I mostly game because it's fun. The games I remember best are either those that are fun because they make me laugh hard sometimes (Vice City and Fallout 1 and 2 come to mind) or because they challenge my brain (games like X-COM: Apocalypse, Z, and others). Games that challenge my reflexes, as seems to be the latest trend, don't interest me.

One other use of gaming for me is to let my mind drift. I've had some of the most striking revelations whether for work (I'm a researcher, so I need to do some creative thinking) or for personal life while gaming. Games that almost run in auto-pilot, such as Football Manager, are great for this.

 

Vogelbung, if you can't add anything to the conversation, why must you put me down and assume things to make yourself seem 'right'? Come down to my level (off your high horse) and lets discuss this with some respect for each other.

fifafreak18, I agree with you that video games are a type of art form. Some of them even very good to excellent. I did not state otherwise. I stated that 'gaming' is not an art form. (There is a distinction).

What my question is, is why 'gaming' is so popular. I love all the responses so far. Some of them I could have guessed or even read elsewhere. Some of them are little jewels that make me glad that I asked the question.

The only 'elitist' tones in my posts are the ones in your imagination. I come here with an open mind and am eager to learn from the posts here - even if I am too old/too set in my ways to change and actually try gaming for myself.

This is an intellectual exercise for myself, because that is all it can be. Doesn't mean I don't want to hear opinions, nor does it mean I have to park my own opinions outside either, just because somebody like you and Vogelbung think different than I.

Now, I would still be interested in your response to my original question since you too decided to attack, rather than contribute to this discussion, if you feel so inclined.

Cheers!

 

Levenly,

+1

This is the very reason I started this thread, this post will be hard, if not impossible to out-do. Anybody want to try?

Thank you for taking the time to not only respond to my original question, but also for explaining your position so eloquently.

Just for clarity's sake, I have not been belittling gaming nor mocking it as child's play. Unless being eager to learn something new is considered improper for you?

Cheers!

 

I think you've made your point, but it's an invade one since his number of posts are not analogous to video gaming. " Your" response is not a computer generated one, nor is it programmed (though it may be practiced).

In any event, it wouldn't be the number of post that would be relevant anyway, rather, the quality of those posts that would count.

 

You've had it. The answer to the original question that is - a while back. I'm a dipper-inner and an 'all the gear, maybe some idea' type. I don't really get fully immersed in any game and do best with titles that don't require a long commitment. And yes, I do get a perverse enjoyment from dealing the smackdown to smack-talking teens. And yes - there is interactive art to be appreciated at times.

I'm also just saying what I said based on the tone of your posts, both original and subsequent - yes, I've read your replies. I don't have a problem with it at all, but the point of the post eludes me given the revelations thus far, beyond the obvious.

You've posted something, and then dismiss what falls outside your thinking. And you perceive an indirect pointing-out of that as an attack. Now it is from a fairly unapologetic elitist but it is just a pointing-out, based on the content of your posts from the first one onwards.

 

Now Vogelbung, it seems you're dismissing what is falling outside your thinking?

If you read the two replies I gave above, I apologize since I'll repeat what you seem to have missed: 'Gaming' is not art to me, but the 'Games' themselves can be viewed in that way.

So, the 'tone' of my posts is something that would be very hard to change (its who I am, right?), but please try to keep in mind that my overall tone is sharing, and I appreciate that you continue this conversation civilly, if not exactly warmly with me.

Cheers!

 

If I ask someone how many times they have per week they might take offense. Yet the fact that you can look this up means that someone did just that. Scientist gather personal information all the time, for a variety of reasons. So as long as you keep that in mind--and don't take it personally--you should see it as a good thing in most instances.

I'm sure your thread was informative as well as enlightening for a lot of people, it certainly was for me.

 

All the explenations about 'why do you game' aside, the best way to find out is to try a good game for yourself that will drag you into a land of fantasy, exitement, perhaps even emotion if you consider the ff series.
Spyro the dragon 2 and 3 on the playstation 1 are in my opinion one of the best games ever. Those games have an excellent gameplay, and create a magical world with very limited graphics, and you lose yourself in that colourfull world. Just like some paintings or songs which try to have an effect on you, games like these are more than just pretty or nice, they are briliant, and therefore, art.
You ask why do people game? But the fact is, you might aswell ask, why do people risk their lives climbing the Mount Everest, you won't know untill you try it.