[Unrealityfeeling]

My look on computer games

Is online games bad, or good? Most of the adults thinks its bad, because young people spend many hours online. I myself spend mostly like five to seven hours online gaming each day. And is it a bad thing for me to do? No, in my aspect i don't think its a bad thing to do.

Gaming is just like a sport for me. I'm in a clan, just like people who play soccer is in a team. Its all about team work. Its the same when you are playing video games online. In my clan, we got people from all over the world. So at the same time I'm gaming, I also learn something. I learn English, cultures other countries have, and I have fun at the same time!

But there is always something negative. Gaming is very addictive, but so is soccer. If you find it fun, you want to do it more! Adults thinks gaming ruin youngsters social life, and their studies. Well soccer can also do that? But of course there is a real negative thing you can find mostly by gamers. Imagine you are sitting in a dark room playing video games by yourself many hours in a row, stay up late to play video games. You will be a mess the day after. I'm not saying all of the gamers are like this. But there is always someone. Many people who live that life style, often gets depression and anxiety. They think its because they don't get enough sleep. And why is that? Because they are playing video games all night.

I still think video games are a sport, and if you want to play all day long, go on do it. If you want to play soccer all day long, do that then. But don't let it ruin your social life and studies. take care so you don't mess your life up by playing too much.

This is a very importen thing for me, that i care much about. and i would love to know what other people think about it, so please LEAVE A RESPOND ))

[Sunna]

I agree that computer games are not inherntly bad. Neither are they good. I know young people whose life have gotten literally ruined by computer gaming (my nephew) and whose computer gaming stays in a nice balance with the rest of their life (my other nephew).

I have gotten very addicted to gaming myself (at a tender age of 40) and was contemplating quitting my job so I could play all day long (5:30 pm to 01:30 am each day and all day and half the night on weekends just was not enough to get everything accomplished in the game) I had no time to exercise or to make good food. I had no time to waste keeping informed of the news, or watching my finances.

So, this issue is not limited to young people, but I believe young people are more likely to be harmed, because they can miss out on learning social skills with real people. While online gaming can provide a good sense of comraderie, and good fun, it is not the same as learning how to interract face-to-face or learning how to talk to the opposite sex. Also sitting that long in a chair staring at computer screen is just not healthy, and very unnatural. Sorry, but running your toon in a game just does not replace running your body through a park.

By the way, I was not aware there was a soccer addiction. Watching soccer or playing it?

And, oh, you are very good with English. Better than many native speakers

[Unrealityfeeling]

Hey! thank you for your reply!
i know adults can be addicted to online games too, and im sorry for your addiction. i hope its better now! Gaming can ruin lifes. i know many people that are very addicted and are a danger to themself. but its all about balancing it. and its hard to find out when you are starting to get addicted.

Yeah soccer addiction hehehe, well if you find anything fun, you wan't to do it more. i don't play soccer or watch it. but i know someone who don't have time for school, and such , because they are playing soccer.
all they can see is soccer. soccer maniacs.. i bet its not as addicting as online gaming(any kind of gaming in general) and not as unhealthy :P
and thank you for your kind words about my english

the reason why i made this post is because everyone sais im addicted. im not
i can controll it. i play maybe 3 hours a day now. maybe 4.. but im outside biking and such too. so the online gaming is just positive for me but you have to watch out. because its hard to find out if you are addicted before its too late

[Sunna]

I understand why people worry. You play every day. Listen to their concerns though, if they start telling you that you are neglecting your non-game life, hear it. If you bail out of going to hang with friends once, that's not a tragedy, but if you keep doing it, take a good look. Be concerned, when you realize that game obligations start becoming more important than real life obligations, or when you find yourself thinking about game all the time. One of my young game-friends played so much he flunked his exams at university - and with that he also lost the scholarship, and his family could not afford to pay for him to go to school without that scholarship. And he really didn't care, that was scary.

The way I understand the game addiction it happens when people escape from life into a game. When someone neglects their life in order to play, the temptation to just hide in a game becomes stronger, and life gets even more messed up. It's a vicious loop.

On the other hand, our GM for years was a single dad who played with his 2 sons. They played almost daily, for some hours, but dad made sure there was a good life/game balance, the boys were active in sports, were doing well in school. Dad made sure they got to bed on time, made sure they've done their responsibilities, cleaning house, homework, etc. They played at least for 7 years, the kids growing into young men, and gone on their own ways. I never believed they were addicted, this was just something they were doing together, and their dad was one of the best PvP group leaders on the server, with stats to prove it. It was really cool.

Actually gaming could be a good exercise in learning life skills and discipline. Practicing commitment to your life by keeping game in balance with real life. Keeping your agreements with yourself and with your non-game life. Resisting temptation to indulge, to play a little longer than you ought to on a school night, or skip something you should have done, and perhaps didn't want.

For all that you need to believe your life matters. That is another game-addiction trap. People think, "I don't care. I don't matter anyhow, except in game. I can flip burgers for a living, and as long as I get to play the game afterward, that's all I need". The game will end, it must eventually, even if there will be another game after it, it may never be the same, and they will be in stuck in a life they don't like.

Hey, life is a really cool game too!

[VirtZX]

Computer games is not a sport. This cyber sport.))
And except for the reaction of fingers nothing more useful..

[St406]

We only live once. If one continues "playing" anything for these amounts of time, how much of life are you missing? If you played chess for fun for 7 hours a day--what are u gaining other than mastery at this game. When will the game end? Will you somehow turn this into a career? When you are old and look back at your life would u want to say I played video games for approx one third of my waking life. It just seems way too excessive an amount of time to be playing ANYTHING.

[Yoda]

If your life is in balance otherwise I don't see a problem with hours playing video games. Or hours watching movies, TV, listening to music, reading books, writing books or whatever. I am on the internet for hours at a time everyday. Should I stop?

[RubenRawr]

hmm tricky one. Ofcourse physically soccer is a better thing to do. But as the thread creator said, gaming teaches you other things. Studies have been done and agree they teach kids things too. Like working in a team on a task. Or hand eye coordination. Forgot the rest. Anyway. St's argument that you are not gonna turn gaming into work isnt valid cause for 99.99% of the population turning soccer into a career isnt doable either. Yet we dont frown upon people who spend all their spare time playing sports.... It's maybe a bit like how people looked upon comics and then tvcartoons when they first came out.

[AAAAA]

The games themselves are not good or bad. You can use anything as a crutch to avoid life. One crutch I use is reading. Now who would stand up and say reading is bad? I do enjoy reading, it is healthy for you, it expands your mind and exercises your brain. But when it crosses the line between "entertainment" to "crutch" is is unhealthy.

[Perna]

I see your excellent point about it being like a sport or other activity that takes practice and doing to become good at it and if that is your choice, an okay thing to do.

The problem with younger people though is not yet having tried very many things or gotten enough all-around education yet? That can lead to not having a good "base" and being lopsided

My husband is an engineer and my degrees were in sociology and history. He and I have a fun discussion about what courses we had to take in college, he didn't think he gained anything from his English literature courses, thought they were stupid for him to have to take. But it is often pointed out how poorly engineers write/communicate (my husband does both extremely well) and that causes problems for them as they get further in their career. http://neptune.spacebears.com/opine/engineer.html

A soccer player doesn't just play soccer; he does drills and exercises his body in other ways. Look at football players and their conditioning exercises? Where are your conditioning exercises so you learn to communicate better with your co-players on your team? No, you probably don't need a "teamwork" course, but working on teams in school, doing a science project together and talking to people face-to-face would help you with your game playing. Learning to see patterns, in "real" life, in nature, human relationships, art, music, etc. would help you find the "enemy" or solve the problem faster.

Look at a group of soldiers in real life; they don't just do practice raids but also have school work and discipline, keeping their weapons cleaned and in order, their shoes shined and beds made. They may not enjoy doing those things but do them because it helps them discipline themselves, helps them learn to focus and pay attention to details and learn the patterns that make things work smoothly.

I think there is a lot you are missing by playing games for most of your time. When you are at school, you do not concentrate on just one course, don't sit in just one classroom do you? The routine of school and how it is laid out is not just to frustrate you because you'd really rather do something else and adults know that so try to thwart you You can use that routine to your advantage in life.

I'm 61 years old and daydreamed my way through trig in 11th grade. I have a great imagination and creativity oozing out of my pores. But that's not enough! I got to college and took the "easiest" math I could get away with and 10-15 years later, when computers were beginning to get really big, I was screwed because I hadn't paid attention in math. Who knew? I hadn't been present for my life as I was living it; I was in my imagination instead, inventing "stories". Yes, I'm a good writer (which is not just default creativity either but 10+ years practice/hard work) and I have all the aptitudes for computer programming but I failed to pay attention in that part of my life and it was too late to get that back. I could have had an interesting-to-me AND paid well job but had to settle for a lesser one that just paid the bills.

I'm not unhappy with my life and choices but just pointing out that I wish I had paid attention in all of my life instead of escaping to "easier" or more fun ways of being as a teenager.

Ask people who played sports/basketball most of their teen years but didn't make professional teams what they "became" as adults? What choices are you working toward as an adult? You can't design games unless you have the math, science (physics) and "art"/design background and that takes a lot of work, now, not later. You miss what's going on "now" by doing X and you can't get now back so maybe later you can choose Y or Z. The games and those who play aren't going to go anywhere and you're good enough that a couple hours a day would keep you in fine form! Choose something else to help you in the future with the 3-5 other hours?

i go back through the years and my life is littered with games. Really from 2002 onwards, which is when i got my Xbox. Then i hated the xbox games and when i got a pc i just started downloading games to play and i haven't really stopped. Some of them are real good and real addictive, some of them are **** and i just delete them.

I think it IS an addiction and it does impinge on the quality of life. If i wasn't on the computer i'd be outside walking the dog, or going out, or making an effort with something.

Having said that it's very likely it's just replacing TV.

So, TV and computer, if i had neither I would be doing something. Probably.

[DenisDonnacha]

I used to play a lot of online games from the time I was 15 to 18. I would play during week days, i.e more time on games than homework, and play hours on end at the weekend. Then all of a sudden I just got bored of them. I'm only 19 now but almost never play, even in the last month I only played 30 minutes of 1 game. I've got more involved in outdoors and sports like rugby because I've found it pulls me out of depressive moods (hitting people is fun xD).
I still spend more time on my computer than I should though :P

[sandworm]

How could a person speak with a friend who is dealing with gaming addiction??
Would creating a con's and pro's list be favorable, or is their another way that
would work better than a 'con's and pro's' sheet.? to help visualize the
dangers of gaming all day. ( oor night).?

thanks
SW

[ivalice82]

I agree that games aren't bad. I think it's a perfectly fine hobby as long as you don't let it get out of hand and interfere with other parts of your life. Some people like to read books, some people like to play sports, some people like to play games. I don't see anything wrong with it. I myself love videogames and from time to time I'll find a game I really like (not online games though). But I don't play for hours and hours, I do take breaks, I do talk to people. It's just a way for me to pass the time and I happen to like the stories in many games, like movies.

[MsMesuggah]

Gaming in moderation is just a past-time. But it can really interfere with relationships. My ex best friend would CALL ME up on the phone and still continue to "play" his game ! Now that was down right rude as he would be so into the game that he wouldn't really hear me ! Said he could multi-task...yeah right !
Needless to say after many years of this behavior I got mad finally and haven't heard from him in awhile. I guess he made his choice which was more important to him...the gaming won ! Such a waste !

[Invest]

Gaming can be an addiction and gaming can be a sport, if you do it in a clan. I was addicted because he only thing i could think about was gaming, i almost lost my longterm gf because of it. Now after 6 month break last year we are back together. GamIng can also be soooo awesome and exciting - when i game i lose the feeling of time and thats a good thing - i am in a flow and enjoy my time like nothing else. But i need to manage it well and not overdo it. I love games and i hate reallife events where people here just go to drink beer and alcohol, to smoke and do stupid stuff. This is me and i am proud of myself - imo gaming is so much better than alot of other reallife activities (like i coudl do stupider things in my free time, drugs and so on)

Also i work as a programmer in a big bank. Wouldnt know so much about computers wihout gaming i bet ;-)

[manicman66]

I know I have a gaming addiction. I just dont know where to go from there. I just figure instead of smoking the weed I game out and I exchanged one addiction for another sort of...

[Tiamat]

It depends on the situation. For me, gaming is an escape from the problems I deal with at home and anxiety. In a social game where i communicate through typing, I excel. I've even become a community and guild leader. In real life I'm a recluse that is too scared to talk to a stranger or use the phone for most things.

If gaming overrides a relationship and takes over what would otherwise be a good life on the outside, then yes, its a bad thing. Its not like a drug. Gaming is neutral.

Ugh. It just sucks when you put so much of your life into an online game and then lose access to it, like what happened to me. My friends miss me and I miss them. I have to make trips to Starbucks and hide in the corner just to chat with them over skype, and I can no longer play the game (It has a monthly fee). Double-edged sword, I guess.

I think my so called boyfriend is addicted to modern warfare. But, it really only seems to affect me. He still does the things that need to be done, but all he wants to do with his free time is play. Maybe it's not a true addiction. Maybe if I were an awesomer girl, he'd want to play with me instead.

[Nape]

I really think it's pointless to play those online games even for fun. You should try other games that'll help you relax and will give you benefits rather than playing computer games sitting for a long time which may give you a larger risk for heart diseases. You need to choose what'll benefit you plus what'll benefit or not harm your body. I am a gamer back then and I guess I have wasted a year of my life playing those stupid games which I really regret xD.

Try basketball or real soccer instead or any other things that will be more worth than playing with those silly games and if you still can't get off playing that games... you probably need to limit yourself 2 hours or less but still 2 hours could damage your system.

[viryan23]

Oh this thread!

I've been a gamer for many years and playing online or Lan games is not necessarily bad. There are good things that come with it like building social friendships online. Games are actually strategic, so you really use your mind into it. That's an exercise! It just so happens most youngsters don't know how to manage themselves because they only see the "fun" side of it.

What makes gaming bad is how the gamers play. They play too much, lose themselves and their responsibilities.

[unstablemind8]

I think gaming can be beneficial. People have a new way to be social and doing something at the same time! Using Facebook you aren't using any teamwork skills, like you said, and you aren't actively doing something. If people manage their time with video games, they can be effective.

Gaming addiction is a concept that still eludes me. I ask non gamers. What do you do for entertainment after a long days work? some might say one thing or another but if people are honest a good portion of those people go home, make dinner, grab a beer or soda and plop on the couch in front of the tv. I don't consider them tv addicts though the number of hours the average person watchs probably would rival that of a gamer... funny I've never even heard the term "tv addict"

[Turtleboy]

i agree, most people watch tv for hours each day, i'd take a good game over a movie any day!! but i understand what you guys are saying about excessive gaming tho.
i guess you could label it all under technology addiction be it gaming ,TV, or social media.

[Erzeal]

The amount of time Ive spent on the computer playing games and what have you had been so bad that my GF had to put me on a timer. I get 3 hours a day of free computer time not including using it for school stuff. I know I'm an addict, I've admitted that, but it's been so hard not being able to use my laptop for as long as I like. I've used the PC to escape from my problems for so many years, that it is just killing me to have this timer. Whenever I feel horrible or something is going wrong I just don't know what to do. I should be able to go to my GF, but I spent so many years with the same emotional hideaway that it's just painful. Sorry to go off on a ramble. But to get it back to topic. Computer games are wonderful, just don't hide away in them like I've done.