Poll: Is gaming a waste of time? - Page 9

What if video games is something you are completely passionate about? I have many hobbies, but one of my greatest is playing Starcraft and following the professional Starcraft scene around the globe. It is as much a part of me as my musical skill, interest in audio, DIY electronics, photography, etc. There are people who make Starcraft their life. Is that a waste of time? Is it ever a waste of time to pursue the things that you love?
Edited by revolink24 - 4/29/11 at 2:59pm

NO.

People consider resume or portfolio building as more productive. Spending my life on that instead of as a simple hobby is a terrible idea IMO
 

I know some people that are hardcore gamers and game testers that still live in their parent's home at the age of 35.

There is a big difference between loving gaming and spending a lot of time with it, and letting it ruin your life. The question at hand was is gaming a waste of time, not "can gaming possibly screw up one person's life through them making bad decisions related to said gaming."

When I say people who dedicate their life to Starcraft, I mean the pro players, pro commentators, and producers, some of whom make over $200,000 per year doing this. Their resume is Starcraft.

Keep in mind, after all, that SC is the fourth largest sport in Korea.

It boggles my mind that some people consider any other hobbies that they don't understand to be a waste of time, no matter how much the people participating love them. What does the outside world think of Hi-Fi? Probably that it's a waste of time and money.

Gaming is a big part of who I am, and therefore is part of what defines me. Am I antisocial? Heck no. I'm as social and well adjusted to society as anyone. But gaming is something I really enjoy.

A Starcraft commentator once said that there is nothing in the world more cool than being proud of the things that you love, and I'm inclined to agree. Do what you love, and don't give up on the things you love just because other people don't understand them.

If you just want a normal life, with a job that you hate, but pays the bills, and just ignore the things that you love, then your life will be miserable.

I want nothing more in life than to simply be happy.
Edited by revolink24 - 4/29/11 at 3:27pm

True dat, they are all distractions one way or another.

For every person who says gaming is a waste of time, there are a few hundred more that say listening to headphones is a waste of time.  (I'm not a gamer.)

I've been gaming since I had my Atari 2600 way back in the 5th grade....here we are almost 30 years later and I've got a PS3, Xbox360 and Wii (and a whole lot of games to match). I don't play as often as I used to....funny about 7 years ago when our first child was born.

But I play when I can. If you're on Xbox Live or the Playstation Network (if it ever gets back up and running), look me up....same avatar name too.

When I'm gaming (or when I use to), I feel like I'm wasting my time.  When I listen to music, somehow, I'm don't feel like I'm wasting my time.  This makes perfect sense to me, somehow.

Yes, there are people who enjoy and can make a living with games but I think they are the minority. 

 

What bothers me is the people who are capable of much more in this world but instead turn to gaming because of the achievements, shiny new gear, etc. that gives them a false sense of actually accomplishing something in life.

There isn't much greater achievement in life then obtaining happiness. It's not even about making a living. You can do other things for that. It's about enjoying the time you've got.

If the world was a perfect place with no chaos and suffering then I would agree with that. But there is still much suffering around the world and the people who are trying to change the world for the better need all the help they can get.

Speaking of which, I also enjoy volunteer work. I don't think it's just me that can balance a life with video games.

Yeah, unfortunately the majority aren't like you. I wish they were; this world needs more balance.

 

Just yesterday I read an article on gold farming. I don't play MMOs so this was new to me. For the gold farmers, I guess it wasn't really a waste of time. But this was at the cost of living and working in sweatshop conditions. So if you're doing this for money, would this change your outlook on gaming? If you were subjected to doing a repetitive task within a game you enjoy to attain a monetary benefit, is it still a waste of time? I've got friends who are going into public interest law and they'll be getting by with enough to feed themselves, but putting the rest to loans. They're ok with that, but compare that to the people who run these sweatshops. In one sense, gaming isn't as much a waste of time because these gold farming operations owners make far more than my friends, who are going to become public defenders and work to save people from foreclosed homes, will ever make. But, I don't think what they do is more helpful to society than what my friends may do. I could be wrong, who knows, maybe the gold farmers have discovered an untapped market that may be studied in some economics textbook, but I doubt that was their intention. I think the value judgments in this thread are a little skewed, and when you use monetary gain as one indicator, then other factors are overlooked.

 

After 8 years of playing Magic cards, there was one skill that I took away that's help me: haggling with rules and learning its effect on other rules. It's helped me get through the UCC, so I found some beneficial use playing that game.

 

As an aside, I've never seen this many replies to a BeamtheGreat thread. I think this trumps his earlier, more hillarious threads.

 

If it ain't games, it'll be something else. Plenty of distractions out there for those that are willing to fritter away their lives.

 

Whether reading, playing games, listening to music, watching a movie or getting in some range time, I know I'm wasting my time. And I really don't care. Man's gotta have his downtime.