Why do you play video games?

[Justin11]

Provided it brings me fun, I wouldn't stop playing. And again, it helps me to get rid of sadness and stress, it is master for controlling my emotions when I'm depressed. I'll only stop when I see no fun in video games, only micro transactions can ruin it completely for me when it becomes too mandatory in all the games I find favour playing. 

[Heatman]

7 hours ago, Dannyjax said:

There's a good number of people who believe that playing video games is effective in helping people with depression problems get better from it. There's a possibility of that happening, depending on the nature of one's depression level.

There's been a lot of studies on this subject. What I can deduce from it is that it might work for some and not work for some. If it works for you with your depression problems, then you're in luck, otherwise depression is too big a problem to be corrected with just only video games. 

[Justin11]

Their are some kind of depression you'll face, and you'll never remember to play video games. I just pray I don't develop chronic psychological depression. 

[m76]

To relax and forget real world problems and issues. This is exactly why I don't think games should try to reflect or incorporate aspects of the real world, unless they are historic period pieces, or are set in the current day real world.

Making a game 100% subservient to current zeitgeist will make them look extremely dated and cringe quickly, even if they are praised in the moment, they'll never be timeless classics. That's exactly the point of timeless classics, that they were equally relatable 30 years ago as they are now. Nothing that is made with emphasis on current day issues will be  relatable in 5 years, let alone 30 years.

Edited July 3, 2022 by m76

[Dannyjax]

4 hours ago, m76 said:

To relax and forget real world problems and issues. This is exactly why I don't think games should try to reflect or incorporate aspects of the real world, unless they are historic period pieces, or are set in the current day real world.

Making a game 100% subservient to current zeitgeist will make them look extremely dated and cringe quickly, even if they are praised in the moment, they'll never be timeless classics. That's exactly the point of timeless classics, that they were equally relatable 30 years ago as they are now. Nothing that is made with emphasis on current day issues will be  relatable in 5 years, let alone 30 years.

That's true. Video games are supposed to be purely fantasy and the only way it's going to be capable of absorbing gamers from their real life dispositions and put them right in the world where they explore the fantasy world. When that is interrupted with real life issues in the game, it makes a mockery of everything. It's just like games that are politically related with what goes in real world, it's not always satisfying for me to play them. Games like Animal Crossing : New Horizons is a typical example of such political games. 

[Kane99]

Video games can do more than make us happy. They can help us meet new people, friends and even future husbands and wives. It's cool that people find each other over their joy of gaming together. I've met a lot of interesting characters gaming online. Some I would even consider meeting for real. 

[Clasher]

Now I just play video games as a recreational activity, as a kid Been able to have control over a character or a car or some other features of the game and tweak it to do exactly as you command was very exciting to me, I grew up to liking video games and I haven't been able to stop playing it ever since.

[Shagger]

15 hours ago, m76 said:

To relax and forget real world problems and issues. This is exactly why I don't think games should try to reflect or incorporate aspects of the real world, unless they are historic period pieces, or are set in the current day real world.

Making a game 100% subservient to current zeitgeist will make them look extremely dated and cringe quickly, even if they are praised in the moment, they'll never be timeless classics. That's exactly the point of timeless classics, that they were equally relatable 30 years ago as they are now. Nothing that is made with emphasis on current day issues will be  relatable in 5 years, let alone 30 years.

 

11 hours ago, Dannyjax said:

That's true. Video games are supposed to be purely fantasy and the only way it's going to be capable of absorbing gamers from their real life dispositions and put them right in the world where they explore the fantasy world. When that is interrupted with real life issues in the game, it makes a mockery of everything. It's just like games that are politically related with what goes in real world, it's not always satisfying for me to play them. Games like Animal Crossing : New Horizons is a typical example of such political games. 

 

I disagree. To be clear I'm going into this post on the assumption we're talking about single player games of fiction, or at least thier single player story modes.

 

All works of fiction are creative works. In many, if not most, of them there are obvious distinctions between those creative works along with the imaginary world they are set in and the real world we all share in our day-to-day lives in. Sometimes these distinctions are obvious, sometimes they are more subtle, it depends on the work in question.

 

However, there is one thing that doesn't change, that we react to them (or at least when it works we do). How each Individual reacts to them will change from person to person, but the fiction can't just tell us and decide how we're supposed to feel. The writing influences and even provokes it, yes, but does not create it on it's own. That's all down to how the work taps into our own emotions and that can only established by one thing, our real world experiences.

 

I could tell you a story about how the High Priest of Zarg acquired the Honglof from the Vindings and the impact that has on the Alliance of the Hyless and the Kark and it would mean obviously nothing to you. What's missing is context, and context is something that can't just be described, it's need relevancy. It needs to tap into how you, as a real person, feels. And those feeling can only be shaped but your own experiences in the real world. No good work of fiction will just tell that you're supposed to feel "this" about how the High Priest of Zarg acquired the Honglof from the Vindings and the impact that has on the Alliance of the Hyless and the Kark, it needs to reflect something in your reality to make feel the story than just be told it. Sometimes it's blatant, sometimes it's really subtle or something in between, but all (good) works of fiction reflect reality, that's how they have impact.

 

That's why it really annoys me when people say to "Keep "insert real wold social/political issue" out of games/movies/TV" because those people either;

 

1. Simply don't understand that's how fiction works.
2. Don't like to see those issues reflected within "thier" fiction because don't like to be reminded of those issues in reality.
3. Or most likely both.

 

Just thinking of any old example, there were scores of people who hated on TLOU Part 2 because of the pro LGBTQ+ themes in the game. They always said it was "forced pollical correctness"  or a "left wing agenda" or something when the truth was quite simply they didn't like those issues being reflected in thier fiction because they didn't like them being reflected in thier reality. It is literally the only reason one would have problem with it. I mean if one didn't have a problem with the LGBTQ+ people in the real world, why would it be a problem in something as arbitrary and unimportant as a video game? They may have been to stupid to realize it, but they were homophobes, simple as that.

 

Gaming is a form of escapism and that is it's appeal, I understand that, I truly understand that, but if a game's story doesn't make you care, then it's failed. And it is not going to make you care until it taps into your real emotions and experiences that only only your life in the real world can create.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Shagger

[Heatman]

13 hours ago, Kane99 said:

Video games can do more than make us happy. They can help us meet new people, friends and even future husbands and wives. It's cool that people find each other over their joy of gaming together. I've met a lot of interesting characters gaming online. Some I would even consider meeting for real. 

Your very correct about that. When I started playing Top Eleven Football Manager 5-6 years ago, I meet a guy in Netherlands through the game and since then we have been so tight. He's got a daughter whom I dot on so much. 

[Dannyjax]

11 hours ago, Clasher said:

Now I just play video games as a recreational activity, as a kid Been able to have control over a character or a car or some other features of the game and tweak it to do exactly as you command was very exciting to me, I grew up to liking video games and I haven't been able to stop playing it ever since.

My parents were the one's who introduced me to playing video games when I was still a kid. They knew the educational importance of games and it's why they got me games that helped with my development. 

[Justin11]

Yours is better that your parents are gamers, and they're behind your love for video games. My own parents worked in the past to stop me from playing games, because they thought it was derailing my activities in school, but it wasn't so, since I wasn't lagging in my school performances. 

[Clasher]

2 hours ago, Dannyjax said:

My parents were the one's who introduced me to playing video games when I was still a kid. They knew the educational importance of games and it's why they got me games that helped with my development. 

My parent were not even happy I spent so many hours playing video game, the only Games they approved of then was chess, Monopoly and other board games, though they never tried to stop me from playing video games.

[Steerminator]

I consider video games to be my whole reason for being.  There is nothing in life I'm more passionate about.

[Reality vs Adventure]

On 7/3/2022 at 4:13 AM, m76 said:

To relax and forget real world problems and issues. This is exactly why I don't think games should try to reflect or incorporate aspects of the real world, unless they are historic period pieces, or are set in the current day real world.

Making a game 100% subservient to current zeitgeist will make them look extremely dated and cringe quickly, even if they are praised in the moment, they'll never be timeless classics. That's exactly the point of timeless classics, that they were equally relatable 30 years ago as they are now. Nothing that is made with emphasis on current day issues will be  relatable in 5 years, let alone 30 years.

What's an example of a game made with emphasis on current or past issues? Maybe then we can see if your theory holds up. 

[Clasher]

2 hours ago, Steerminator said:

I consider video games to be my whole reason for being.  There is nothing in life I'm more passionate about.

That's some real passion mate.

Just keep doing what you love.