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Are You Gaming For the Right Reasons?

Posted by Soulskill on from the gotta-make-that-int-bigger dept.

An editorial at IGN discusses healthy (and unhealthy) ways to play video games. The author says that while gaming is a perfectly legitimate hobby, it needs to be approached with moderation and an understanding of what you get out of playing. Without understanding your motivations and compulsions, it's quite possible to play video games in a way that's detrimental. From the article: "Games, especially modern ones, revolve around the principle that if you put the time in, you will be rewarded. Many gamers claim to not understand how anyone could put up with grinding in a video game. But grinding is comforting. Grinding tells us that, no matter what, if you keep playing you'll become more powerful. ... The real world does not operate this way. You can 'grind' at a job for 10 years and still be laid off. You can 'grind' at your physical health your whole life but if you switch to an unhealthy lifestyle you will immediately begin losing this progress. ... It's important for gamers to have mastery of their own mind. Are you grinding out a level in World of Warcraft because you're truly enjoying the experience, or are you doing it to replace missing feelings of self-worth that you don't want to confront? Do you revel in your virtual successes to avoid the uncomfortable internal dialogue regarding of your abandoned gym routine? Are you playing games because you're having fun, or because you have an unconfronted fear of failure?

14 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Pffft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I play games to shoot people in the face. Call it end of day "stress-relief."

    1. Re:Pffft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I used to think that's what I was doing. Then I realized that, more times than not, the night ends with my blood pressure being higher than when I started and I'm inches from throwing the xbox remote through my TV.

      Maybe I should pick games I'm better at. That or we euthanize known campers and snipers as a public health measure.

    2. Re:Pffft... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe you shouldn't play a FPS with a fucking controller.

    3. Re:Pffft... by gman003 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Pro-tip: Play against bots, not other people, and at a lower difficulty than you normally would.

      Don't play against people for stress-relief, because there are players who play specifically to annoy other players, either to win in a dirty way (campers) or for its own sake (trolls).

      Play at a low difficulty. Normally, you *want* to hit a point that you ave to get better, have to work at it, in order to win. But when playing to vent, drop the difficulty a notch or two below that, so you don't frustrate yourself.

      Also, pick the right games. I've found Unreal Tournament 2004 (especially the Mutant gamemode) and Counter-Strike are the best for stress relief. The right music helps as well - I generally go for thrash metal, Ride the Lightning, Endgame, that kind of stuff.

  2. Re:You Game Like You Eat by Walterk · · Score: 5, Funny

    You try to preach the virtues of healthy eating and then proceed to advocate Subway "sandwiches"? Oh boy, wait till you learn about this thing called fruit!

    --

    "If anyone needs me, I'm in the angry dome."
  3. WHOA !! DUDE !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you are GAMING and think you need any sort of reason, you are one messed up dude !!

  4. because you have an unconfronted fear of failure by Neil_Brown · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Or because it is a better means of escapism than reading cod-psychology online?

  5. grinding is for neckbeards with no skills by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    all they have to do is play it 100 hours a week and they're gods. that's why i don't play multiplayer rpgs, i don't want to be in a "no life contest" with some unemployed fat guy in kentucky.

    1. Re:grinding is for neckbeards with no skills by Skarecrow77 · · Score: 5, Funny

      quite honestly, in all truth, modern western MMOs (fuck that eastern masochism-as-an-mmo shit) are way better than trying to beat a 13 year old who has been off of school all summer at call of duty. kids today are inhuman, I swear.

      I'll get my revenge though, by the time my own spawn is 13 years old, this current crop of kids will be in their mid-late 20s, and my boy will avenge his daddy! avenge I say!

  6. It's time for another good idea, bad idea by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Good idea: Playing a game to have a good time, challenge your mind, and reduce your stress.
    Bad idea: Playing a game instead of having a good time, boring your mind, and causing stress.

    In other words, the moment a game starts interfering with your friends, family, work, marriage, etc, stop now! The game will be there for you if and when you come back to it.

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  7. Re:You Game Like You Eat by realityimpaired · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To be fair, it is one of the more creative trolls I've seen, though... certainly more entertaining than the usual goatse or racist crap. I especially love the part where he says he gets angry if he hasn't had his daily subway, like he's as addicted to it as he is to video games... :P

    Healthy eating is part of the equation. You can eat as healthy as you want to, if you're not getting enough of the right exercise you'll still have health problems. Humans evolved to move, and the sedentary lifestyle we live today is bad for our health.

  8. Are you sure you're reading Slashdot for ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Are you sure you're reading Slashdot for the right reasons?

  9. Re:Fear of failure? by jeti · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... by twelve year olds

  10. Just replace the words where you like by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are you grinding out a [paycheck] in [employment] because you're truly enjoying the experience, or are you doing it to replace missing feelings of self-worth that you don't want to confront? Do you revel in your [monetary] successes to avoid the uncomfortable internal dialogue regarding of your abandoned [other factor]? Are you [working] because you're having fun, or because you have an unconfronted fear of failure?