It is only a waste of time to someone who feels they are a waste of time, just like anything else. If I look at many other hobbies such as model building, card collecting, R/C cars (planes/boats) or even Comic books if you don't share the desire to do these things you will look at them as a waste of time, money and house space.
It's all a matter of perspective, even within the genre of video games. Many people see playing games like Call of Duty and Battlefield as a waste of time yet them spend hundreds of hours leveling up Pokemon. To me it seems like you enjoyed playing something for a time but grew out of it and now look back with wonder what you ever saw in it; something we all do or else we would all still be playing with out glo-worms and little people.
Reminds me of this part in one of the SImpsons episodes (Homer causes a nuclear meltdown): "Oh, I've wasted my life!"
=
To be sure, I think this question/discussion can run and run or at least give the evergreen "Sandbox vs Themepark" a run for it's money.
I guess one of thousands upon thousands of answers would be if it's a rainy day and you feel like some "me" time, a game set in a true virtual mmorpg world is an awesome activity made even more so with a great group of people? Conversely on a nice sunny day, a step outside could lead you anywhere - another country, marriage and so on. To live in the moment is sometimes the best activity.
I've clocked an absurdly high amount of hours into MMOs from WoW to Final Fantasy XI. After recently switching to a much more expensive hobby (supersport track days), I'm feeling the need to slap my face for wasting so much time on a hobby that amounts to having nothing to show for in the real world.
Anyone else ever feel the same way?
Any hobby is only a waste of time if you:
Lack the resolve to moderate it
Lack the wisdom to appreciate it
Lack the will to control it
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind : unless you are a religious *cough* person *cough* it's "no". Simply 'cuz life has no purpose but simply "being". So it's all a matter of your own idea of what is a well filled life.
Old school french hardcore whiner. Online since T4C.
I was "Namless" and "Daroot" in AO (Rk2) Been known as "Vindicar" (Aion (EU), SWTOR (EU), WoW (EU). Recently Known as "Wundicar" and "Wundee" in Age of Wushu (US) and Wulin (EU)
Franky Rivera Reyes , From the Reyes Brotherhood (Star Citizen)
I've have/had quite a few hobbies in 48 years. Music, Surfing, Soccer (the proper football), Skimming (put this in the had category... hurts too much now), Gardening, Gaming, Herpetology, and Flying R/C aircraft (helicopters and planks) to name a few. I don't regret one minute spent doing any of them. I believe that moderating my playtime has kept from burning out or regretting the money or time spent participating. Finding a new hobby is always fun, but it doesn't mean you should beat yourself up for enjoying the others.
They are only a waste of time if it's the only thing you do. I was unemployed and playing wow for around 3 years and all I could think of was how much shit I could have bought with the money. How much more powerful my computer would be if it weren't for wow.
I recently started studying and have found gaming to be far more enjoyable when it is play and not a job.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
I've clocked an absurdly high amount of hours into MMOs from WoW to Final Fantasy XI. After recently switching to a much more expensive hobby (supersport track days), I'm feeling the need to slap my face for wasting so much time on a hobby that amounts to having nothing to show for in the real world.
Anyone else ever feel the same way?
Any hobby is only a waste of time if you:
Lack the resolve to moderate it
Lack the wisdom to appreciate it
Lack the will to control it
This, pretty much.
OP plays too much video games, becomes a couch potato and gets dumped by GF. He then proceeds to blame video games and calls them a HUGE waste of time as if video games were the problem.
Kind of reminds of alcoholics who blame the alcohol for their problems.
Truth is playing video games, just like having some beers with your friends over the weekend, aren't a problem. They only become a problem when you neglect everything else so you can drink/play video games, and that's on you.
MMOs are just time killers imo, cheap entertainment. Problem is people get waaaay too addicted to MMOs and spout epeens.
Eye of the beholder, but besides cheap entertainment and enjoying you free time there is nothing worthwhile playing extensively in MMOs and really is unhealthy. MMOs are the bane of society imo, some things are better off not being created.
Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all
We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...
Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all
We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...
"There he sat. Yep."
People are going to argue with you until they are blue in the face, though. In fact, they will even try and convince you that playing MMOs teaches them leadership skills, multitasking, problem-solving and several other big steaming piles of poop. If you think running a guild teaches you leadership, you are delusional. Herding a bunch of snot-nosed brats is not leadership.
MMO players come up with the most ridiculous excuses to try and justify their hobby as being something more than the simple act of playing a game.
As for tombstones, it should just read, "Game Over".
yes they are for obvious reasons. I was a gamer my hole life(was 5'11 193) until last september when I started going to the gym. Now I am 5'11 156 and gaining muscle fast. I prefer to level up my strength at the gym than in a video game now. Though occasionally I hop onto some old games I used to play and/or check out their updates.
I've clocked an absurdly high amount of hours into MMOs from WoW to Final Fantasy XI. After recently switching to a much more expensive hobby (supersport track days), I'm feeling the need to slap my face for wasting so much time on a hobby that amounts to having nothing to show for in the real world.
Anyone else ever feel the same way?
It depends, if you were just going to veg out infront of a TV if you handn't been playing MMO's then I think as far as entertainment goes, MMO's are far more interactive than just sitting in front of a TV.
Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all
We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...
"There he sat. Yep."
People are going to argue with you until they are blue in the face, though. In fact, they will even try and convince you that playing MMOs teaches them leadership skills, multitasking, problem-solving and several other big steaming piles of poop. If you think running a guild teaches you leadership, you are delusional. Herding a bunch of snot-nosed brats is not leadership.
MMO players come up with the most ridiculous excuses to try and justify their hobby as being something more than the simple act of playing a game.
As for tombstones, it should just read, "Game Over".
Imagine applying for a job later in life at some place like Oracle and sitting in front of a panel trying to pursade them of this? I'm a great leader because...LMAO! You're right though fifty, I've heard it all before. It's crap agrguments. The older I get the more time I wish I had back. I guess you have to be older to realize that. It's all just funny ha ha until your time comes.
Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all
We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...
"There he sat. Yep."
People are going to argue with you until they are blue in the face, though. In fact, they will even try and convince you that playing MMOs teaches them leadership skills, multitasking, problem-solving and several other big steaming piles of poop. If you think running a guild teaches you leadership, you are delusional. Herding a bunch of snot-nosed brats is not leadership.
MMO players come up with the most ridiculous excuses to try and justify their hobby as being something more than the simple act of playing a game.
As for tombstones, it should just read, "Game Over".
Imagine applying for a job later in life at some place like Oracle and sitting in front of a panel trying to pursade them of this? I'm a great leader because...LMAO! You're right though fifty, I've heard it all before. It's crap agrguments. The older I get the more time I wish I had back. I guess you have to be older to realize that. It's all just funny ha ha until your time comes.
It's your fault that you didn't use your time wisely, not the games. Plenty of people play video games as a hobby while developing the skills necessary to apply to places like Oracle. Matter of fact, I'd bet a lot of the people who work at places like that play or have played video games.
Video games are not meant to help you fulfill your purpose in life. They're there as a past-time. Something you do in between the real shit. If you play video games (or any other hobby for that matter) to the point of neglecting everything else, that's on you. Video games didn't waste your life, you did.
I've clocked an absurdly high amount of hours into MMOs from WoW to Final Fantasy XI. After recently switching to a much more expensive hobby (supersport track days), I'm feeling the need to slap my face for wasting so much time on a hobby that amounts to having nothing to show for in the real world.
Anyone else ever feel the same way?
Of course its cool to show of your hobby, but should every hobby be something to show the world?
Myself have clocked many many hours into games, they fullfilled my entertainment needs, I sport 3 times a week, every other weekend go out with my male friends or just the wife or on occasion couple's night ( no not the naughty type :P )
Apart from that I feel I got plenty to show for but that's more work related, my/our businesses, never felt showing my hobby to others other then to some of my rl friends, again nothing wrong to have a outdoor hobby to share with friends, but also nothing wrong with time spend entertained.
I feel you just found a better hobby for yourself, no need to slap yourself in the face, did you really waist time playing? or were you actually entertained and had fun while playing MMO's?
I bet in everyone's life there comes a moment where you might think "D@mn why didn't I do this sooner, of course if it's something that truly alters the way you life then sure it's a right thought. But to have similar thought with hobby's to me it is just finding that better hobby and nothing more.
Of course might you say you clocked like 24/7, 7 day's a week at a MMORPG then I also would consider that a true waist of time.
I think its all a matter of opinion and what you take away from the experience. There are many good things you can take away from gaming, gaming is known to improve hand-eye coordination as well as critical thinking, you can bond with real life family or friends through gaming and meet new friends, some games can teach you to be culturally torlerant or to respect other cultures, there is plenty to take away.
Sure there are unhealthy ways of approaching games... but that all depends on you not the game.
You can't just assume everyone who plays games and are in guilds are "snot nosed brats", that is kinda ignorant... in some cases leading a group in a game can teach you leadership. How you ask? Well communucation is key in leadership and in a lot of games that I know communication is important with other people and usually goes better when one person takes charge. LoL has plenty of opputunities for leadership as well as teamwork, but the community is so terrible it ruins those aspects. Really prestigous guilds in some games take a good amount of moderating and regulating, you could say it would help in some way.
BUT lol, you should never EVER try to use experience in gaming as a reason you have good leadership, problem solving sills, critical thinking, etc.. Sure I said it can HELP learn these things but those things are, of course, fundamentally different in real life.
But the answer to the real question is easy, it depends on you the gamer and what you take away and how you manage your play time. I say it is not a waste of time if you take away good things or do it because it makes you happy, not everyone wants to travel the world or likes going out, to assume things like this is ignorant. I personally want to travel but I find parties, drinking, clubbing and activities that you don't realy take away anything good from even more a waste of time.
But I digress for this is an opinion of mine and I in no way intend to impose mine on any of you or try to change your ideals. You just keep doing you, but remember that game you are playing isn't the real world so try to put more into your real life then it.
You are born, you waste time and then you die. At the end if you can look back and say to yourself I am satisfied then that's all you need, each of us does it differently.
If you mean the current wack-a-mole, challenge-devoid games of today then yes certainly. No regrets for the 8,000 I spent in EQ. Time well spent, and I made a few permanent friends along the way. Very inexpensive fun.
If I had to do it all over again, would I? Now that's a hard question to answer.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon. In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
Originally posted by RefMinor You are born, you waste time and then you die. At the end if you can look back and say to yourself I am satisfied then that's all you need, each of us does it differently.
Originally posted by RefMinor You are born, you waste time and then you die. At the end if you can look back and say to yourself I am satisfied then that's all you need, each of us does it differently.
This is it.. It is left up to the individual to detemine what is worth living for.. What the "goal" of life is.. Even though the media, government and churches try to tell us all the time, any and everything could be considered a waste of time until YOU know what you are living for..
To me, Reality Television and Religion are wastes of time.. But people who like those things would argue with me that Video games, or MMO's are a waste of time as well.. Reality folks would say that they are "childish" "nerdy" or some other trendy word for lame and religious people would say that they are not going to help you get into heaven or some afterlife project that separates "good" from "evil"..
You can only value that of which you hold valuable.. The rest is just a waste of time..
Originally posted by RefMinor You are born, you waste time and then you die. At the end if you can look back and say to yourself I am satisfied then that's all you need, each of us does it differently.
Dern. That sounds depressing.
oddly enough i found it to be very uplifting. to each his own.
Comments
It is only a waste of time to someone who feels they are a waste of time, just like anything else. If I look at many other hobbies such as model building, card collecting, R/C cars (planes/boats) or even Comic books if you don't share the desire to do these things you will look at them as a waste of time, money and house space.
It's all a matter of perspective, even within the genre of video games. Many people see playing games like Call of Duty and Battlefield as a waste of time yet them spend hundreds of hours leveling up Pokemon. To me it seems like you enjoyed playing something for a time but grew out of it and now look back with wonder what you ever saw in it; something we all do or else we would all still be playing with out glo-worms and little people.
Reminds me of this part in one of the SImpsons episodes (Homer causes a nuclear meltdown): "Oh, I've wasted my life!"
=
To be sure, I think this question/discussion can run and run or at least give the evergreen "Sandbox vs Themepark" a run for it's money.
I guess one of thousands upon thousands of answers would be if it's a rainy day and you feel like some "me" time, a game set in a true virtual mmorpg world is an awesome activity made even more so with a great group of people? Conversely on a nice sunny day, a step outside could lead you anywhere - another country, marriage and so on. To live in the moment is sometimes the best activity.
http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014633/Classic-Game-Postmortem
Any hobby is only a waste of time if you:
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Don't go too serious on this topic roflmao.
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind : unless you are a religious *cough* person *cough* it's "no". Simply 'cuz life has no purpose but simply "being". So it's all a matter of your own idea of what is a well filled life.Old school french hardcore whiner. Online since T4C.
I was "Namless" and "Daroot" in AO (Rk2)
Been known as "Vindicar" (Aion (EU), SWTOR (EU), WoW (EU).
Recently Known as "Wundicar" and "Wundee" in Age of Wushu (US) and Wulin (EU)
Franky Rivera Reyes , From the Reyes Brotherhood (Star Citizen)
I've have/had quite a few hobbies in 48 years. Music, Surfing, Soccer (the proper football), Skimming (put this in the had category... hurts too much now), Gardening, Gaming, Herpetology, and Flying R/C aircraft (helicopters and planks) to name a few. I don't regret one minute spent doing any of them. I believe that moderating my playtime has kept from burning out or regretting the money or time spent participating. Finding a new hobby is always fun, but it doesn't mean you should beat yourself up for enjoying the others.
They are only a waste of time if it's the only thing you do. I was unemployed and playing wow for around 3 years and all I could think of was how much shit I could have bought with the money. How much more powerful my computer would be if it weren't for wow.
I recently started studying and have found gaming to be far more enjoyable when it is play and not a job.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
This, pretty much.
OP plays too much video games, becomes a couch potato and gets dumped by GF. He then proceeds to blame video games and calls them a HUGE waste of time as if video games were the problem.
Kind of reminds of alcoholics who blame the alcohol for their problems.
Truth is playing video games, just like having some beers with your friends over the weekend, aren't a problem. They only become a problem when you neglect everything else so you can drink/play video games, and that's on you.
MMOs are just time killers imo, cheap entertainment. Problem is people get waaaay too addicted to MMOs and spout epeens.
Eye of the beholder, but besides cheap entertainment and enjoying you free time there is nothing worthwhile playing extensively in MMOs and really is unhealthy. MMOs are the bane of society imo, some things are better off not being created.
Wasting time is THE POINT of mmos.
Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all
We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...
"There he sat. Yep."
People are going to argue with you until they are blue in the face, though. In fact, they will even try and convince you that playing MMOs teaches them leadership skills, multitasking, problem-solving and several other big steaming piles of poop. If you think running a guild teaches you leadership, you are delusional. Herding a bunch of snot-nosed brats is not leadership.
MMO players come up with the most ridiculous excuses to try and justify their hobby as being something more than the simple act of playing a game.
As for tombstones, it should just read, "Game Over".
It depends, if you were just going to veg out infront of a TV if you handn't been playing MMO's then I think as far as entertainment goes, MMO's are far more interactive than just sitting in front of a TV.
Imagine applying for a job later in life at some place like Oracle and sitting in front of a panel trying to pursade them of this? I'm a great leader because...LMAO! You're right though fifty, I've heard it all before. It's crap agrguments. The older I get the more time I wish I had back. I guess you have to be older to realize that. It's all just funny ha ha until your time comes.
It's your fault that you didn't use your time wisely, not the games. Plenty of people play video games as a hobby while developing the skills necessary to apply to places like Oracle. Matter of fact, I'd bet a lot of the people who work at places like that play or have played video games.
Video games are not meant to help you fulfill your purpose in life. They're there as a past-time. Something you do in between the real shit. If you play video games (or any other hobby for that matter) to the point of neglecting everything else, that's on you. Video games didn't waste your life, you did.
Of course its cool to show of your hobby, but should every hobby be something to show the world?
Myself have clocked many many hours into games, they fullfilled my entertainment needs, I sport 3 times a week, every other weekend go out with my male friends or just the wife or on occasion couple's night ( no not the naughty type :P )
Apart from that I feel I got plenty to show for but that's more work related, my/our businesses, never felt showing my hobby to others other then to some of my rl friends, again nothing wrong to have a outdoor hobby to share with friends, but also nothing wrong with time spend entertained.
I feel you just found a better hobby for yourself, no need to slap yourself in the face, did you really waist time playing? or were you actually entertained and had fun while playing MMO's?
I bet in everyone's life there comes a moment where you might think "D@mn why didn't I do this sooner, of course if it's something that truly alters the way you life then sure it's a right thought. But to have similar thought with hobby's to me it is just finding that better hobby and nothing more.
Of course might you say you clocked like 24/7, 7 day's a week at a MMORPG then I also would consider that a true waist of time.
I think its all a matter of opinion and what you take away from the experience. There are many good things you can take away from gaming, gaming is known to improve hand-eye coordination as well as critical thinking, you can bond with real life family or friends through gaming and meet new friends, some games can teach you to be culturally torlerant or to respect other cultures, there is plenty to take away.
Sure there are unhealthy ways of approaching games... but that all depends on you not the game.
You can't just assume everyone who plays games and are in guilds are "snot nosed brats", that is kinda ignorant... in some cases leading a group in a game can teach you leadership. How you ask? Well communucation is key in leadership and in a lot of games that I know communication is important with other people and usually goes better when one person takes charge. LoL has plenty of opputunities for leadership as well as teamwork, but the community is so terrible it ruins those aspects. Really prestigous guilds in some games take a good amount of moderating and regulating, you could say it would help in some way.
BUT lol, you should never EVER try to use experience in gaming as a reason you have good leadership, problem solving sills, critical thinking, etc.. Sure I said it can HELP learn these things but those things are, of course, fundamentally different in real life.
But the answer to the real question is easy, it depends on you the gamer and what you take away and how you manage your play time. I say it is not a waste of time if you take away good things or do it because it makes you happy, not everyone wants to travel the world or likes going out, to assume things like this is ignorant. I personally want to travel but I find parties, drinking, clubbing and activities that you don't realy take away anything good from even more a waste of time.
But I digress for this is an opinion of mine and I in no way intend to impose mine on any of you or try to change your ideals. You just keep doing you, but remember that game you are playing isn't the real world so try to put more into your real life then it.
P.S. Sorry for the rant, I'm just a deep thinker.
If you mean the current wack-a-mole, challenge-devoid games of today then yes certainly. No regrets for the 8,000 I spent in EQ. Time well spent, and I made a few permanent friends along the way. Very inexpensive fun.
If I had to do it all over again, would I? Now that's a hard question to answer.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
Dern. That sounds depressing.
This is it.. It is left up to the individual to detemine what is worth living for.. What the "goal" of life is.. Even though the media, government and churches try to tell us all the time, any and everything could be considered a waste of time until YOU know what you are living for..
To me, Reality Television and Religion are wastes of time.. But people who like those things would argue with me that Video games, or MMO's are a waste of time as well.. Reality folks would say that they are "childish" "nerdy" or some other trendy word for lame and religious people would say that they are not going to help you get into heaven or some afterlife project that separates "good" from "evil"..
You can only value that of which you hold valuable.. The rest is just a waste of time..
oddly enough i found it to be very uplifting. to each his own.