Column: A Hero is born every minute

http://www.bit-tech.net/column/13/

 

I agree with chris in most facts, but it hink its much more fun to play with other humans (not with NPC's) like in CounterStrike. And some games in singleplayer have deeper stories ( MaxPayn2 ) and (or) are not possible to play online.

 

Ahh I just thank god I have never actually gotten myself into them.

I fear World of WarCraft and GuildWars might take more of my time then they should.

 

You touch very lightly on an underlying fact here. Video game addiction is very, very real. A close friend of mine recently took part in a study of this phenomenon at UNMH medical school (one of the top 10 in the US).

There is a fine line between a casual gamer and an addict. That feeling you get when you are disconnected after hours of gaming is unhealthy. Albeit understandable (being shot down after 2 hours of anything is frustrating), its the premise of what your goal is that dictates my point.

How many other things can you think of that would be better to fill your time with? Even many things that may end in failure are considered healthier in my book. You will invest hours upon hours and shell out lord knows how much cash to play these games and where will they end up? On the shelf gathering dust. Your life is in no way better for it. Your pocketbook a little emptier and your e-ego a little bigger, you'll move on to the next challenge.

You have made the choice to put your time into these activities. So much so, in fact, that you become entranced. You learn these key sequences so well you don’t even know you’re doing them. You become so involved you aren’t playing the game anymore, you’re in it. But as I said- its a choice you have made and you seem content with that decision. "Bliss" as you say, coming from an activity that you will walk away from- no better mentally or physically. You have bettered no ones life, you have made no difference.

Why are you writing this column when you "just attained Hulk-like super jumping, [can] bound from building to building, drop down in front of a terrified citizen and save the day by pressing 3,2,1,2,1,3 repeatedly until the city is safe from harm once more"? Because you have to. Its a mere distraction. We all know you have to get back to "the real world."

Perhaps I read into it a little too much, perhaps you weren't willing to make the point. Regardless, my argument remains truth, and one that I feel too many people do not consider these days when double-clicking that *.exe.

 

INTERESTING TRUTH

Did you know that there is a special hospital to help people game less or even stop gaming.
It was opened as a result of Everquest, people just started believing that the game was more real than the real world.

 

To my knowledge there is no hospital dedicated to gaming addicts, but I know many therapists (my aunt one of them) have treated patients for video game/internet/television addiction. I also know many addiction treatment centers offer help for such things. Many hospitals may employ those who can treat it, but I don't believe there is one dedicated to it.

 

Of course not, however there is no difference playing games from the majority of other everyday activities.

You say:

Correct, however the same can be said for watching Friends, reading a terrible book, going for a walk and getting cold, wet and miserable. The futility of life is something people do not want to consider, and the fact that almost everything we do day to day is just a timewasting precursor for death makes what you choose to do with your life all the less important (Ironically).

I could spend the morning doing a parachute jump or play CoH, either way I've still used up my morning doing something I enjoy which has next to no effect on anyone but myself. If people want to play these games to fill a social void, or just as a distraction from the monotony of reality, then so be it.

I see people who watch hours of TV a day, or go to the gym 4 hours a night. I see no therapy for their 'addiction', in fact they're considered normal.

 

Whats new? Anyone whos ever played an MMORPG already knows this. Anyways your addicted to a lot of things so whats new. Maybe we want someone to tell us how to live and whats right. Too bad no one really knows and if they think they know, then they definetly don't.

 

Yeeeesh- I thought I was a morbid thinker...

Reading a book (regardless of how good it is) and going for a walk aren't things I would ever compare to gaming. To me, you are bettering yourself with every book you read. You are bettering yourself with every step you take. Hell, even make it a run and get some cardio out of it.

Watching television? Yes, this is an unhealthy activity. Or perhaps I should say counter-productive with the possibility of unhealthiness??

Right now you're getting into a debate on what is considered a healthy amount of time spent on a hobby. To me there are two kinds of hobbies:

productive: They better the body, mind or soul. They dont have to be "work", in fact they can be anything from meditation to lifting weights.

counter-productive: They better nothing, however, they do provide an escape and relaxation. Examples are television, computers, video games, etc.

Now, having said that, yes, both can be unhealthy depending upon how much time one invests in them. My original point was that- to me, it sounds as though you are describing an unhealthy hobby. When does addiction become addiction? No one can really anwer that but the person, but its something you know inside- despite the games you may play with yourself.

As for your last post... sounds depressing to me. I don't (by ANY means) want to sound like a therapist, but depression is another side-effect of addiction.

One can look at the things we do between birth and death as futile. We can look at them as simple things to "fill our days" until we die. A "timewasting precursor to death," as you called it. Or we can look it as making the absolute most of that time. Yes, I know I have limited time. That is precisely why I feel as I do about this topic. Why in the **** would I want to waste the little time I have sitting (alone) in my house staring at a computer screen for hours on end almost seven days a week? Every now and then? Heck yea, I love playing video games. But I have taken it upon myself to make it a hobby I truly enjoy by doing it less and less.

My point is, it IS a distraction from reality, but its up to you to decide how far you want to go with that.

 

I disagree, I don't believe anything can be absolutely counter productive. Life is all about balance. You cant classify something as productive and counter-productive simply because even your "counter-productive" things are productive in the fact that they are necessary or helpful in some way or another.

I don't exactly remember which scientific journal it was in but it basically said that by doing things that you don't necessarily do everyday (brushing your teeth with the opposite hand, taking a different way to work) you generally increase your intelligence. How often are you forced to calculate the angle, trajectory, bounce, and blast radius of a grenade in under a second or two?

I dont think that there is anything wrong with gaming. Of course, as noted in the article everyone relizes at least once that all they are doing is pressing keys that simply change pixals on a screen. Though of course all you do when you read a book is interpret strings of letters to form an idea of what the books about.
P.S. isn't meditation a form of "escape and relaxation" ?

 

I'll absolutely agree with that. My point was never that a counter-productive hobby is a bad thing. It was that theres a fine line in counter-productive hobbies and unhealthy addictions.

I have plenty of counter-productive hobbies. I own well over 150 movies, over $800 in computer games, a 36in. television with $800 5.1 system, a $3000 computer... and I spend a fair amount of time on each one. Its merely (as you said) a balance. I think most people nowdays are very unbalanced when it comes to this stuff.

Meditation is a difficult one. Many people use many different forms for many different reasons. Personally, I dont use it to relax. I use it to align myself. I find it gives me more energy through the day and also lessens the occurence of anxiety. However, yes, to many people meditation is a form of relaxation.

 

I totaly Agree =P

 

Am I way off base by saying that in mmo's people sitting down infront of pc's playing these games are playing with other people. I know I get a lot of greif from friends and family members about my pc habit's, spending $, spending time, playing games,, instead of going out to the real world; however, I spend most of my time online, trying to gather more info on the pc world, researching some "important" thing that is taking up my 8hrs of the day, or relaxing and playing a common game with other people in my MMO. I may be sitting infront of the pc, not interacting with people in the room, but I am interacting with others via the net. If I were on a cell phone talking to my g/f while at the coffee shop with co-workers, they would not call me un-socialble, cause they know someone is on the other side of the phone. Well, in my mmo, there are alot of people on the other side.

"Hello, my name is B3CK and I am NOT an addict."

Oh, and by the way, I play City of Hero's, but due to my older rig, I can only see the city by adjusting the gamma so much that I only get a "negative" image of the so-called beatiful costumes, and city..

 

E-interaction doesnt replace good social habits. Theres nothing wrong with having people online that you know and can converse with, but it cannot take the place of actual face to face social contact.