I lean toward “efficient entertainment”, but I do sometimes wonder what that chunk of my free time would look like otherwise.
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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.
The time sink that video games demand
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.
I want a TV show about wood working addicts.
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,
CracktorioFactorio 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.
Yes, it can be a very nice hobby; with some games you can even show something for the time spent (As in skills
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.
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.
Guy probably never heard of Tom Scott. Or CGP Grey.
Two of the best, let alone all the cool content you can find on local beetles.
It’s not video games keeping me from doing my niche interests. It’s my 60 hour a week job consuming all my mental resources. Then I have to go home and do all the other things necessary to keep myself alive. Not much left for getting immersed in cool projects after that.
The tricky thing is that there’s less “real” stuff to be done. Take my silly passion for rocks/minerals as an example. Back in the day I would’ve happily made geological maps but my country has already been fully mapped in detail. Similarly the guy in OP’s post can look up the bugs of his area online because they’ve already been documented. Videogames can give us a sense of exploration and progress that is hard to find in real life these days.
There are more unanswered questions in science than ever before, but researching them has become less accessible
Hey we share an interest!
My family would always say “why don’t you do something with minerals?” And usually I say “well there’s no job that is just admiring dioptase, and I really don’t want to work for the enemy (oil companies)” lol
I don’t know but I know if you raise this topic usually you will get stoned to death by downdoots and comments like “I could be doing meth or killing people but I am a gamer instead”
In my opinion it is delusional to not notice that these things are mostly just slop. Sure there are some games that actually enriched your life and changed your perspective but compared to movies they are few and between. It’s the lowest entertainment for pleb in most cases.
Take something like call of duty what does that game brings into your life? It’s nothing just digital heroin straight to the brain. On the other hand there are sophisticated games such as disco elysium.
There’s nothing bad with slop but if you only consume slop your brain will turn into it. It’s all common sense
I find the best games are challenging ones where I can watch myself improving at them, like training a skill. It’s not a transferable skill, of course, but I think the act of building your tenacity and accepting success/failure is healthy and good for the ego.
When I try games that I would consider “slop”: fetch quests and walking simulators in between cutscenes, I can feel my brain rotting and I don’t enjoy it.
TL;DR :
-There are good games and bad games but both are inferior to movies since videogames are “the lowest entertainment for pleb in most cases”
-Good games entertain you
-Bad games entertain you, buuuuuut they are bad games
Damn, you sound like that one asshole elitist teacher
I just like to face reality and not pretend that dopamine escapism is cool. Sorry if that personally hurt you but it’s better to be self aware and still do the thing than delusional that it is the same as more worthwhile forms of time spending.
Dopamine escapism IS cool. It’s fucking amazing we can hack our electric meat that hallucinates “reality” and has cool memetic self reproductive patterns.
Pretending we’re anything but wet sacks of chemical reactions is weird to me…
They probably have a gun collection that would make people pause.
The worst thing about (thing I don’t like) is that people do it instead of (working towards [goal]).
Why aren’t you (working towards [goal]) ?
And yes, I get the whole undertone that this is about people with autism or hyper focus or whatever you want to call it. It doesn’t make it any funny.
Please, I need these YouTubers for things like the “Coin Collector” subset of achievements in Super Mario Sunshine, you really have to get every single one!
I’d like to see the author prove that beetle counting is more productive than creating game tutorials. People make all kinds of baseless assumptions that are biased by their personal values.
Since we live under the hell that is capitalism, I’d argue the game tutorials are better!
- Revenue generation via ad views
- Will likely encourage additional sold copies from people that stumble on the series
-VS-
- A book about beetles in some niche village somewhere no one will ever go.
Fuck your beetles.
(this is a joke, beetles are cool)
But I dont want to cure cancer, I want to make dinosaurs!
This answer scares me from a user named Mechaguana. You aren’t planning anything the rest of us should be aware of are you?
Just in case you’re not in on the joke:
Literally listening to the author’s podcast as I came across this (Elliott Kalan, and he has a few podcasts, but the OG and my favorite is The Flop House).
Thanks for sharing the source! (Sincerely)
This sounds like all of the people who were complaining about comic books back in the day. Or books before that.
I don’t like this thing, therefore it’s terrible and everyone should hate it and I am not prepared to have a discussion about it.
It’s the same thing every time a new far reaching tech is invented even the printing press was looked down on
I would imagine every generation had their vices (lack of better word) that previous generations harped on. Why back in my day it was MTV (ok, occasionally they were right). But I’m sure when newspapers came out it was similar to tablets and phones. When tv came out, the radio-heads bitched about the “idiot box”. So on and so forth. Any history buffs out there care to elaborate?
Thank you very much for sharing that article! t’s an awesome read.
You can find newspaper articles from the late 1800s IIRC, that decry the slothful youth wasting all their time reading novels instead of playing outside like the glorious generation before them
Longer than that. 2500 years ago Ancient greek philosophers complained about the youth in the same ways.
One of the oldest written works that we have, and can translate, was written centuries before the Roman empire and it is complaining about “kids these days”.
This crap has been going on for millennia.
The counts of the indictment are luxury, bad manners, contempt for authority, disrespect to elders, and a love for chatter in place of exercise. …
Children began to be the tyrants, not the slaves, of their households. They no longer rose from their seats when an elder entered the room; they contradicted their parents, chattered before company, gobbled up the dainties at table, and committed various offences against Hellenic tastes, such as crossing their legs. They tyrannised over the paidagogoi and schoolmasters.
It is commonly attributed to Socrates or Plato, but apparently the real quote was made by some student for his Cambridge Dissertation in 1907
Well, I’d rather the youth were reading books instead of watching 5 second clips
Pastime I think is the correct term.
“idiot box”
it was called the boob tube
“Stop sitting so close, you’ll damage your eyes! Sit farther back!”
Everything in moderation. It’s important to find an outdoor hobby you enjoy and make time for when the weather permits and let video games fill gaps when it’s bit suitable.
Fishing kicks ass btw.
Downhill mountain biking for me. When im injured from throwing myself off something stupid it gives me time to catch up on platinum trophies.
It’s funny you mention that circumstance, I finally got around to finishing all three endings and S-ranking most missions of Armored Core 6 while I was recovering from rolling my ankle slipping on a ledge while hiking.
More to the point of the post, I also spent a good bit of time researching the ecology of my local lakes and rivers for summertime for when I estimated my ankle would heal and once I was better I was equipped to get back out on the water.
I will never understand fishing. You just throw the lure in and fucking wait.
I see it as an addiction like gambling. You put in some time but don’t always win. That causes a bigger positive feedback for when you do win.
Then the win is a delicious fish and you’re hooked.
I think there’s SOME element of truth to this, but there’s a lotta skill that can be applied to fishing. Also, most days I don’t even get a nibble but it doesn’t bother me. I just enjoy getting on the water and soaking up some sun in beautiful scenery. I’ll fish less “productive” waters for a nicer view.
That said, the other week I “caught” a lure I lost last season and that was a bigger rush than some fish I’ve landed.
And therein lies the catch. I don’t like fish.
Y’all don’t need to eat them. I have a friend that is a avid fisherman, he doesn’t like to eat fish. But he loves to go fishing and catch and release them. He even enters into fishing tournaments a couple of times a year.
Yeah sure but you’re missing my whole point. I do not see the appeal in fishing. I think it is boring and also you get nothing out of the activity if you don’t like fish.
Then you have missed the point of fishing and generally being a part of nature. Which differs greatly from simply being out in nature.
Yes I do not see a point in fishing that is correct. I do however like being in anture and being part of it.
and you’re hooked
Ayyyy
Meditation.
Okay but I can do that without buying expensive fishing equipment.
The money needed can be less than the cost of one popular video game. And you can fish for years without fear of the servers ever being turned off…
You can also do it without buying an expensive plane ticket but that hasn’t stopped the idea of “raw-dogging a flight” from spreading
Fishing equipment doesn’t have to be expensive. I got everything I use off of Ali Express for less than $50 and I got a full set of tackle and lures that’ll last me years. I reckon you could spend $25 and have solid equipment that’ll have you catching fish for a while.
You don’t need expensive gear to catch fish, you don’t need name brand stuff. People have been fishing for millenia with very simple tools, fish aren’t going to really care you cheaped out on line and got knock off lures.
Location depending, there’s probably plenty of local water ways to explore and enjoy, too, you don’t need to travel to do it.
Well sure. But there are 4 main issues.
- Meditation itself is free.
- I do not want to spend any money on fishing equipment.
- Where I live you need a fishing permit each day you want to actually fish.
- I dont like eating fish.
Well, I’m not here really trying to sell ya on fishing, I just really enjoy talking about my own hobbies, honestly!
And, of course, different strokes for different folks. Sucks you need a daily license to fish where you are, though. I pay like $10 once a year for a license and money goes to maintaining the ecology of the state and programs to revitalize local fish populations through reintroduction of farmed fish to the wild. We’re encouraged to catch certain kinds of fish and report tagged fishes to the state so they can better understand the effectiveness of their programs and we get a little prize for the trouble.
I think a lot of the similar joys of nature of fishing can be achieved through hiking, if that’s more your speed, and that needs far less equipment. Sure you can buy fancy gear, but all you really need is a pair of shoes and probably a water bottle.
Don’t worry I have mountaineering gear. I just struggle to find time to actually go and do it.
I think hunting and fishing are mostly an excuse for meditation or hanging out with friends. I have some family members in hunting/fishing geographies and they never seem to care whether they actually catch anything.
Yep. They have reached the understanding of what it means being a hunter/fisherman. While it’s nice to bring home something to eat, it’s not a necessary. It’s the memories of that day that matter the most.
Well sure but then I could just meditate without the need for an excuse.
Sitting still /= experiencing nature. There’s nothing wrong with meditation but it’s an unrelated exercise.
I can sit next to a lake without a fiahing rod.
I’ve meditated in my room and I’ve meditated on a deer stand. They are not the same.
Deer stand?
A place to sit and watch for deer when hunting them. Often an elevated seat, either on it’s own frame or attached to a directly to a tree. It gives the hunter a better vantage point to see the surroundings from. It’s amazing just how few critters actually look up. I have seen many wild animals going about their daily business from one. From little birds landing around me to rabbits, raccoons, fox, the odd bear. And ever so often I see a deer. Sometimes I have shot, sometimes I have let them pass freely.
But I find it an excellent place to look inward into myself. It’s a far better place to see deeper and more honestly than any room in any building.
So there’s a few different ways of fishing. I also am not a big fan of the bait a hook and wait style. I mostly fish with lures and spinners and this has a different appeal. One, it’s far more active. I’ll cast and retrieve a lure a few times in five minutes. I’m not sitting around waiting for a bite, I’m trying to make one happen.
That brings me to point two, I get to learn, practice and exercise different techniques while fishing. I’m constantly learning what works and what doesn’t under different circumstances. If it’s cloudy, I’ll throw a particular set of lures vs when it’s clear. The water conditions matter, too. Is it clear? Is it murky? Is there a lot of vegetation? I’ll also change up how I retrieve a lure to try and better imitate prey fish. Do i retrieve fast? Slow? A combination? Do I wait until I see a fish following it then let it stop for a second to trigger a strike? Will jerking the rod a bit help? All these factor into a decision making process and experimentation element that keeps me engaged.
Three, to put that theory into practice, I have to study the very thing I’m trying to catch. I’m researching the fish I intend to target. What are their behaviors during different times of day? Different seasons? When are they mating and how does this change what they want to eat? And this changes for each fish! So there’s a great deal of study that I can do off the water to help improve my success on it.
Four, its simply a great excuse to be outdoors. More often than not, I’m not hoping to get a fish, I’m enjoying the beautiful lake or river I’m at. I’m relishing the hike I took to get here, the exploration and excitement of finding a new fishing spot or even finding out something new about one I’ve fished dozens of times. Also, to be an effective and conscientious angler, I need to participate in the ecology of the waters I enjoy. I’m as much a part of the environment as the fish I catch and I owe it to myself and them to be a good steward of the land.
Fifth, I also LOVE cooking as a hobby and fishing plays into that in a nice way that I don’t feel I need to explain further. I mostly fish catch and release, but sometimes you gut hook a fish and it makes no sense to return it to the water because it’ll die. So, now I gotta figure out how to cook this thing.
All that said, there’s the rare occasion (usually when I got a few friends with me) that I’ll set up a chair, throw out a hook on a bobber with some bait, sit back, sip a beer, and enjoy the weather and conversation with my buddies. Or the peace of nature alone.
But I understand it’s not for everyone and that’s a-okay. I just think fishing is a fun activity that’s fairly inexpensive that a lot of people sleep on because they think it’s inactive and boring.
This guy fishes. Glad to see you enjoy it. It is probably quite location dependent. Where I live there are basically no lakes I could go to and fish in peace even if I wanted to.
Nah.
You are hunting the right spot, with the right lure, with the right cast and return. You want to match the right gear with the right lure.
I generally do that waiting in a beautiful place chilling with friends. It’s the journey not the destination, etc. Although actually catching fish is great as well.
People many years ago didn’t understand the purpose of looking at, and even copying, the squiggly little lines found in what we today call books, so as with any every generation, you’re in company.
What a roundabout way to say I am not alone in that opinion.
Fishing is hunting done on water. Sometimes you wait, sometimes you’re actively searching for your prey.
You do get the bonus of being outside, seeing the world as it is today, and if you hunt successfully you get to eat better than anything you can get from the finest restaurant. And even if you catch nothing, you get to keep the memories of just being there. Maybe alone or with friends.
I don’t like fish though. Especially fresh water ones.
No one says you must keep and eat them. You can catch and release them if you so choose.
Such a great example of ‘reality is what you’re conscious of’, I feel! ‘Just throw the lure in and wait’ could for another person be ‘arrive at a beautiful waterside location, ritually prepare your tackle, cast it into the water (a skill that can be a minigame in itself, with all the associated space for practice, improvement, and intermittent positive reinforcement), then enjoy the wonders of being still in nature, but also focus on your task and be ready to react instantly.’ It takes all sorts.
I might just be influenced by all the fishermen I see fishing at my local lake. There is no peace to be found there due to all the tourists.
So if someone wants to watch those videos on collecting all the rings in Sonic games, where might a link to said list be? You know asking for a friend.
Either document beetles, or get REALLLY in to opium
I run a company that does something very specific for some of the largest companies in the world. Key infrastructure is only functional because of what we do. One of the key skills that differentiate our people from the rest is something I often see in some of the top video game and TCG players. I always wonder, “what if they had focused that weird brain of theirs towards X or Y”.
What’s the skill tho?
The ability to see the entirety of an environment as a single entity, find synergistic relationships and figure out how to exploit those relationships to force a system to do something it was not designed to do. Like those people that make really niche character builds that suck 99.99% of the time but given this unique set of environmental variables it will suddenly hit you with infinite fireballs with one million points of crit damage or something like that.
The problem is that a mind like that is one requirement, another is years of experience (been there, done that, I know what that is) and really deep and wide knowledge in the field, which is also very hard to find. Finding someone with all of them is like finding a jedi unicorn. These are the people that make very high six or low seven figure salaries.
I’m being relatively vague on purpose.
Explain your vagueness!
Just being cautious about security non-disclosure agreements. It is possible to inadvertently disclose client vulnerabilities by discussing how certain specific skills are necessary, how precarious certain environments are and how fragile they can be without said skills. It is also possible to alert bad actors to the fact that certain skill sets are a weak link in certain client’s infrastructure.
If you are a teenager with a very strong knack for synergy, build crafting, etc., please consider pointing your obsessive mind towards technology (not software development or tech support).
Imagine enterprise level applications as complex living organisms where one insignificant misconfiguration in a peripheral and, as far as everyone was concerned, unrelated system can snowball into bringing down and entire service provider. Sure, someone will eventually do an incident investigation and maybe figure out what went wrong back then, but it is far more valuable to have people that can look at a set seemingly unrelated and not at all concerning metrics and flag the lot as a priority action item BEFORE the system crashes. It seems like black magic fuckery to some, but what it really is about is a combination of deep and wide knowledge of all moving parts related to the application, experience, and the ability to think holistically and understand the synergies.
You can’t just tell us gamers that and then not tell us how to get that bag
Do you guys really need some intense clickers?
