I lean toward "efficient entertainment", but I do sometimes wonder what that chunk of my free time would look like otherwise.
this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2024
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I'm in the computer industry, haven't played video games in decades. The time sink that video games demand, on top of working with machines all day every day just isn't appealing to me. From the outside, seeing the vegas style "no clocks, windows and plenty of air conditioning" gamblingification of the games industry, from microtransactions, loot crates, games as personal identity, leads me to reckon they're absolutely a thief of focus, as that's what garners the most revenue for the games producers themselves. It's a snake eating it's own tail, with lifetimes spent, just clicking away.
Video games don't demand your time more than any other hobby... do you avoid woodworking because you're scared you'll make an elaborate wardrobe instead of a little box? Do you avoid swimming because you don't want to go across the English Channel?
You can play small games and you can play for an hour a week, there's no need to burn every hour of every day on it like a teenager.
I want a TV show about wood working addicts. Please Jeff, you must stop crafting intricate cabinets. No more driftwood tables either. I'm sick of cleaning up resin goddamnit.
The Woodwright’s Shop
If you look around, probably on YouTube, I bet you can find episodes.
I can see some indie games as being easy to pick up and put down without a huge time commitment.* However, we shouldn't discount the fact that a lot of games today, especially some of the "AAA" types, are purposedly designed to be addictive.
*Despite being a small indie game, ~~Cracktorio~~ Factorio will ruin your life. The factory must grow.
Bigger games can also be quick. A match of rocket league is like 10 minutes. There's no story so you can pick it up and put it down whenever you want.
We also live in the golden age of indie games anyways, plenty of smaller quality games that don't demand all of your life. I haven't played a AAA game in ages. The biggest games I currently play are league of legends and that's cause I started when it was an indie company before it became AAA and ff14 and I only do ff14 like 3 hours a week or so with my fiancee cause she loves it.
It's possible, but it can really change the type of games available to you too. I used to love Skyrim and similar, but eventually found I needed a minimum session of 2-3 hrs, otherwise I hadn't even done any real playing, just inventory management, or getting crafting supplies. These days, with kids and work, I like rally simulator games, it can be satisfying to just do one or two stages, which can take as little as 5-20 mins. But it's a whole different thing, no story, character development, surprises...a bit like going from watching Kurosawa films to watching the sports highlights.
Agreed. It's the same reason I occasionally pop in Madden or 2K. I can play a game or two and then just be done with it.
It's way too easy for people to be exploited through video games, just as with gambling, for it to be "just another hobby". They can also become addicted.
Yes, it can be a very nice hobby; with some games you can even show something for the time spent (As in skills, not "achievements").
But it can also become a symptom of dangerous reality abandonment. The worst for this is in my opinion still better than substance abuse, but a danger nonetheless.
Anything can be addicting. I knew a woman who was literally addicted to maraschino cherries. There are people who are addicted to work.
Anything done to excess is an addiction. So choose yours' carefully.
Yes, everything can be, but games are designed to be addicting. Most are designed to keep you engaged as long as possible, some even to profit as much as possible from the player.
Almost everything you can buy is designed to be addicting. From video games to peanut butter. Because that's how you get people to continue to use your specific product.
So choose your addictions carefully and try to keep them as under control as possible. Sadly, some can do that and some cannot.
True. This might be a more personal thing for me, which is why I felt the severity might be higher than it actually is.
Personal bias about addictions is a real thing and you aren't alone. The shrapnel of an addiction can leave some pretty heavy scars on those who have to live around an addicted person. And it matters not a whit about what the actual addiction is.
If you have those scars, I hope you find internal peace.
Nah, miss me with this mindset. Not every minute of your life needs to be productive, you should have at least one hobby that you can't show something for the time spent.
Agreed, not every minute needs to be productive.
Hobbies (like woodworking, to which I was trying to relate my text) can be very self affirming, especially if you get very good at them. I was thinking about this self affirmation, not about productivity when I was writing that.
For AAA, live service, "games as an industry," sure. However, there are plenty of examples of games that are passion projects, respect your time, and have mutual respect with their community. You just won't see them advertised on billboards.