I used to be hugely addicted to games, far too many of my waking hours were devoted to seeing more of computer games and even some of the sleeping hours too. Recently though, I'm seeing games as far too much effort and a bit of a waste of time too.
I think I've been having a gradual realisation of that waste of time aspect, plus the multiplayer games like World of Warcraft let me compare myself to all of the other players. A year or so ago when the first WoW expansion came out, I suffered a huge amount of frustration because working hours meant I couldn't keep up with all of the other players out there. My highly charged competitive instincts were wanting me to be the first at everything and having a job meant I simply couldn't be the first to do anything in the expansion. Not enough hours in the day and all that.
Nowadays, I'm still comparing myself to the other players but I'm realising that they're treating an online game as something more important than their job. The game actually becomes their full time job. However, they aren't earning money through their ingame endeavours, at least not money that can be spent in the real world. The addicts are also descending into that fantasy world, losing parts of themselves in the process.
Today, I had a good few uncommitted hours where I could have buried my head in a game but I found myself quickly coming out of Baldur's Gate 2 with thoughts of "I really can't be bothered slogging through this." Perhaps another of those 'if you're not enjoying the game, why are you playing it?' moments. Games tend to require effort for a reward of a one dimensional predictable experience, whereas a good book is relaxing and fun. My main PC with all the best games on it has actually been off for 2 days when it's usually on 100% of the time.
Maybe I am gamed-out (if there is such a term!). That won't be a bad thing, as getting out from behind the pooter desk will allow me to :
Do much neglected housework
Put the fence panel up again
Allow my eyes to see a little more than 18 inches to the monitor screen
Get some reading done
Not aggravate my RSI by being hunched over a keyboard
And probably most importantly, let me focus on real world stuff instead of going to bed with my mind racing on options for improving my in game characters. Time for the oven to go on and for me to relax in front of a dvd with my dinner, instead of pummelling my brain thinking of ways to beat a game.
PS New stuff still gets my interest, I've probably just seen a little too much of the normal formula.
I was heavily into the original Super Mario Brothers, and the really old Tetris that used real Russian background music and had cheerleaders for when you achieved a level, but now I'm more into Bookworm and Snood.
ReplyDeleteI'm here from Michele's. Game on!
Hmm - are games getting more complex perhaps ? I got thoroughly taken in by the ones I found via The Bluest Butterfly's Thursday 13 the other day :-)
ReplyDeletePS Tetris is lethal for chances of the housework getting done ;-)
I've never been into online gaming but whne I had an N64 I used to play far too much Doom 64. I loved that game. Now I have a PS3 I have bought some more games and some of them are really good. I'm far too busy to let it take over my life though!
ReplyDeleteI think the reason all those other players online were so good and spent so much time on it is because they were all teenage boys (or unemployed)! You know the ones who act real hard online but are just kids in real life. I understand the online gaming world is full of them, frustrating the people who play and have real lives! :)
[chuckle] One reason I'm looking curiously at a PS3 is all the driving games it has :-) Not really played many of those on PC. Need For Speed 3 was amazing but that's from a while ago.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we've had our fair share of the teenage boys in the Mercs. They can be amusing to watch but they can also end up getting a bit too big for their boots. I have a little band of people who don't like me too much because I was the one who ended up dealing with them (bit of a problem with officers not behaving like officers in the Mercs)
That's probably one of my reasons for not wanting to play Wow too much - people wanting me to do the officer job I tried to give up ages ago.
Michele sent me back!
ReplyDeleteYou know, if it isn't fun any more then give it up for something that makes you happier. 'do the officers job' sounds too m uch like work! :)
I have a great fun driving game for the PS3 called Stuntman Ignition. I really have been impressed with the PS3 games. There is one called Uncharted: Drakes Fortune which is a good shooter and puzzle game. I like a bit of problem solving mixed in :)
I have played 2 online games, City of Heroes and World of Warcraft for a couple years now. I only play for a couple of hours at a time and still enjoy both. I have a group of friends that I play with and we talk to each other using headsets and a program called teamspeak. Sometimes the conversation is more important than the game.
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me.
I'd agree there - the thing that kept me in WoW for so long was a select band of people who were great to know. It's what keeps me hovering around the Eve world too.
ReplyDeleteI had a look at City Of Heroes a while back but unfortunately didn't go past the trial phase, think it was a victim of me being anti-game again at the time ...
PS Think I'd like some snow instead of the weather we have at the moment. It's a gale outside, with the occasional banging noise ...
Hi Sleepypete. Followed you home from Michele's to thank you for that kind comment on my blog - and for the great caption suggestions!
ReplyDeleteI think every game, like any free-time activity, eventually gets a little stale. Variety is the spice of life, and too much of anything eventually reduces the novelty of it all.
I'm not really a gamer: I remember having an Atari 2600 a whole whack of years ago and over the course of a couple of years, it galvanized my interest in computers. But I never got back into the console thing. We bought a Wii last summer for the kids, but despite the fact that I work at home and could easily fire the thing up in the middle of the day, I've never been tempted to even turn it on.
I know, I'm weird that way!
You sound like you are Majorly addicted to problem solving. I have never played a lot of on-line games, except a very few that I find relaxing...And talk about simple and something any idiot can do...(No I don't always win, at all....but loosing is very pretty....lol) But you really seem to LOVE the chalange of figuring things out that are very difficult. Maybe you are at a place where you want to take these skills and place them somewhere else more meaningful to you...
ReplyDeleteI probably do not know what I am talking about, but---THAT is what came to me as I read this post.
Thanks so much for your visit and for your very dear words!
Hello Sleepypete, I would have to agree with Oldoladyof the hills. I think you're beginning a transition with gaming. Maybe it's because your wrist is bothering you periodically, too. But apparently there are other projects in your universe that want to be completed. I miss the luxury of being able to cheat sleep, drink caffeine, and eat chocolate to my heart's content. Not to mention other things... Someday, when I don't want it to be, my son will want anything but me...
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for visiting me blog!