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"Life is too short to worry about highscores"


gremmy

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Video games and how they correlate to the psychological aspect of social interaction is a great thing to study, i might choose that for my scholarly paper. However, personally I don't believe video games affect everyone that way unless they have a very addictive personality and go to extremes. OP should post some links to credible sources on his first post to add some discussion, hard to take a guy who says video games made him obese and divorced seriously lol.

 

 

I'd highly recommend choosing to do your paper on that or something similar. Gaming/internet psychology is an interesting field and not overly saturated as of yet. As for the guy, video games didn't cause him to become obese or divorced, his addiction to them did f-d his relationship up and a sedentary lifestyle made him obese.

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There are guys that spend HOURS at the gym everyday: addicted much? There are guys that play chess for hours every day: addicted much? There are guys that write for HOURS a day: addicted much?

 

Most things can be an addiction. Things that you have some irrational desire to do consistantly. Exercise, reading, guitar, collecting, gaming, etc. can be approached with positive and negative outcomes. Doing one to the exclusion of everything else can be considered destructive, then again it can make you the best in the world to be paid for said addiction.

 

Personally, I say get yourself addicted to about 2 or 3 things so you're forced to split your time among them. It'll look less bad then, even though you're still spending equal amount of time per day on addictions.

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There are guys that spend HOURS at the gym everyday: addicted much? There are guys that play chess for hours every day: addicted much? There are guys that write for HOURS a day: addicted much?

 

Most things can be an addiction.

Addiction isn't simply a case of, "He spends y hours doing activity x, he's addicted". People may have good reasons to do all of those things without necessarily losing the ability to stop doing them; working out to maintain fitness as a professional athlete; practicing chess for an upcoming tournament; writing for the sake of creativity is hardly a rationale for addiction either. Although with the gym case there are people undoubtedly there for the wrong reasons (eating disorders, body dysmorphia etc.).

 

What defines a behavioral addiction is a preoccupation with the activity in question - skipping school/sleep in order to play, for example. The only behavioral addiction that currently receives special status in the DSM is gambling, and that's simply due to how powerfully addicting gambling is (VR reinforcement).

 

Video gaming doesn't receive the same treatment, and shouldn't.

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FYI, he is having his midlife crisis.

Most men have that.

A bad divorce will bring it on.

I doubt video games are the sole source of his problems.

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"I'm not addicted"

 

Suppose I was addicted, how would I know any better? Isn't that the whole point of addiction?

 

It just makes me laugh how fast some people on here have distanced themselves from this guy's experience, and instantly denied that playing RuneScape for hours on end is even a little bit unhealthy when, frankly, if they were suffering from an addiction, they wouldn't have any rational basis to claim they aren't.

 

I'm not claiming that people on here are addicted, just that it's irrational to claim this person's experience is something no-one else could ever go through.

It's not that hard to tell if you're addicted. I've been through periods in my life where I had nothing to do but play a lot of Runescape, but I know it's not an addiction because when suddenly my life picks up and I hardly have half an hour a day to get on the internet, I drop Runescape (and other gaming) without even thinking about it for months at a time until I have spare time again.

 

I'm sure a lot of other people are this way. The thing that separates addiction from playing a lot is the ability to set aside RS when you have other stuff to do without regretting it or thinking about it constantly or rearranging stuff so that you have more time for it.

 

I'm sure I'm one of those guys people would pin as "addicted no lifer" just because I'm 138 combat and have a high total, but really it's just that I've been playing for 9.5 years and play smart when I'm on. This video hit a bit of a nerve for me because it's echoing all the bs I hear all the time from noobs who wish they were me but justify that they aren't by turning me into this fat pathetic loser in their head. Nope, sorry, I'm a normal guy with friends and am in shape and everything, I'm just also better at you than RS.

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Priorities, balance, efficiency and multitasking are key. Priorities: Work and studying should always come first, having none of those and playing 7 days a week is not acceptable. Balance between work and play. Efficiency when you do play, if you have any goals, And multitasking during low-attention activities, and I don't mean watching a film multitasking, something useful like studying. Sprinkle some 30 mins+ exercise a day and a good diet and I reckon gaming is going to be fine.

 

The problem is when people throw everything out of the window and make video games their #1 priority out of lack of self

control/addiction.

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While the video does suggest the blame is on the games rather than the individual there are suggestions that gaming gives the same effects as dopamine the same as a drug addict would get. However this is the same thing that pretty much anything that we crave for makes us produce the stuff. Interesting topic thougn, I remember seeing this article a while back.

 

What's really interesting is that there's some posts on here that are trying to justify that they are not addicted. Who are you trying to justify these things to? Probably yourselves. Good way to tell if you are - Give up RS for a month and see how you go. If you can't then you'll probably have your answer.

 

Enough of this, addiction is for wimps...I'm off for a smoke before I head to the casino.

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While the video does suggest the blame is on the games rather than the individual there are suggestions that gaming gives the same effects as dopamine the same as a drug addict would get. However this is the same thing that pretty much anything that we crave for makes us produce the stuff. Interesting topic thougn, I remember seeing this article a while back.

 

What's really interesting is that there's some posts on here that are trying to justify that they are not addicted. Who are you trying to justify these things to? Probably yourselves. Good way to tell if you are - Give up RS for a month and see how you go. If you can't then you'll probably have your answer.

 

Enough of this, addiction is for wimps...I'm off for a smoke before I head to the casino.

 

 

True, I do enjoy RS. But i have, and do take breaks, both for other games, as well as for time off the PC altogether.

 

I think you are mis defining addiction, actually.

 

 

Addiction has the idea of "psychological dependency"

 

Just because one enjoys a game, and plays it often, doesn't make one addicted.

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The video makes video games sound like evil life-ruiners. The fault lies with the player letting video games completely consume their life and there is a huge difference. Video games don't cause people to become overweight or get a divorce. People allow this to happen. Those same people could allow it to happen with ANY activity. They could allow gambling to take over their life, drinking or even just staying home and watching TV. It is not the video games themselves but people who are unable to maintain a healthy balance between The activity and the rest of their lives.

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While the video does suggest the blame is on the games rather than the individual there are suggestions that gaming gives the same effects as dopamine the same as a drug addict would get. However this is the same thing that pretty much anything that we crave for makes us produce the stuff. Interesting topic thougn, I remember seeing this article a while back.

 

What's really interesting is that there's some posts on here that are trying to justify that they are not addicted. Who are you trying to justify these things to? Probably yourselves. Good way to tell if you are - Give up RS for a month and see how you go. If you can't then you'll probably have your answer.

 

Enough of this, addiction is for wimps...I'm off for a smoke before I head to the casino.

 

 

True, I do enjoy RS. But i have, and do take breaks, both for other games, as well as for time off the PC altogether.

 

I think you are mis defining addiction, actually.

 

 

Addiction has the idea of "psychological dependency"

 

Just because one enjoys a game, and plays it often, doesn't make one addicted.

True, but I agree that if you can't take a month off, you probably do have some sort of dependency going on. That's kind of the definition of dependency.

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To be fair, the video isn't all bad. Now so many houses have games consoles, it's almost become socially acceptable to be a 'gamer', and if someone's interest in games gets them physically going out and meeting new people then that surely can only improve their social and mental wellbeing, not detract from it. The point reminds me of 'We Are Rockstars' by Does It Offend You Yeah?. They're talking about how social networking has ironically made us more and more isolated from each other, I think people need to be mindful that when they play RS they're basically not doing the same thing in isolating themselves from the bigger picture.

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It's amazing how he NEVER said "moderation" in that video ONCE.

 

Disliked it. I'll probably never watch it again.

 

I've been playing games for 14 years now and I LOVE IT. I treat it as any hobby like basketball is

to sports and drawing is to art. I don't care how much of my life invests into games. All I care

is how much fun I am having by playing the game which is pretty important. I never really seeked

any form of social contact because I'm just not interested in it. I tried going out and doing what everyone

else is doing and i gotta say I didn't really like it. Games may had impacted my life in a positive and

a negative way but in the end, it's the positives that I will remember because the feeling I got from

playing my N64 and the joy of beating my first RPS...I could give a rat's ass what the media thinks.

I will play games no matter what video says otherwise.

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The whole "consumer of time" aspect in the video is BS. It all depends on the merit you place on the activity. Who's to say that learning to play guitar is less of a consumption of time than video games? I also think the fact that he had to quit the games completely was kind of childish on his part. This guy needs to learn that you can still be healthy physically, mentally, and socially while still playing videogames. I play video games avidly, but when I do I'm often playing with friends and I take time out of my day to do important things such as going to classes and the gym. Just because he couldn't maintain a healthy balance doesn't mean videogames are the devil.

 

Some people just need to quit. Some people have too much trouble balancing otherwise. And btw, do you think it's childish for a former alchoholic to completely quit drinking anything alchoholic? Really, him needing to quit video games completely is exactly the same concept.

 

I'm taking a bit of a videogame break to catch up on my classes... I'm having some trouble balancing lol.... tbh, a break would be a good thing anyhow.... I have to agree with tripsis 100%.

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Well if it bothers you that the game is more fun now, then you can go cry in a corner. :shame:

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This goes back to the broadest possible perspective on how to live your life: maximize pleasure, minimize pain.

 

Why do you play RS? Hopefully it's because it's fun/pleasurable. Why would you (hopefully) quit RS? Because it becomes boring and no longer pleasurable.

 

Why do you study in school? To be able to get a career to make money (+pleasure), to provide for yourself and possibly others (+pleasure), and to make sure you've got a steady lifestyle (-pain).

 

Why go to the gym every day? To make yourself look/feel good (+pleasure), and possibly to improve your social standing because of it (+pleasure).

 

People who regret playing RS (or WoW) because they feel they've missed out on opportunities shouldn't feel much regret as long as they were having fun playing...

 

My perspective at this point may differ from others, since I don't believe in an afterlife. As such, it's impossible for the human mind to comprehend one's own demise and the amount of time which you will no longer be able to experience anything. It doesn't matter if you played video games for 80 years of your life, or if you spent your whole life trying to be "productive" and accomplish your goals-- it ultimately means nothing once you die.

 

The only thing that really matters when it comes to this kind of thing is spending your time benefiting others. At least when you die, someone else is still pleasuring from your influence. When you think of the time you've spent playing these games, think of the friends you've made in the process, and how you've touched their lives.

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people will say things like "value is subjective"

or "im haveing fun so it does not matter"

 

etc

 

in the end. the guy makeing that vid said all that needs to be said. and never did he say you you should do.

 

the way he speeks makes me really think if he wasent playing games, he could become president.

no one here should deny how much truth there is in there. your choise to act upon the turth and maht you the truth means to use is all up to you though.

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people will say things like "value is subjective"

or "im haveing fun so it does not matter"

 

etc

 

in the end. the guy makeing that vid said all that needs to be said. and never did he say you you should do.

 

the way he speeks makes me really think if he wasent playing games, he could become president.

no one here should deny how much truth there is in there. your choise to act upon the turth and maht you the truth means to use is all up to you though.

Okay, do you know what "subjective" actually means?

 

It means what sounds awesome for one person isn't worth anything for another. A lot of people would like to be president. I am not one of them, it sounds stressful and horrible to me. For me there is no value in a course of action that ends with me as president, it would be a gigantic waste of time- much more than playing a game I enjoy.

 

Life is about figuring out what's valuable to you, not being told by some fat divorced guy on youtube what you should consider valuable.

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people will say things like "value is subjective"

or "im haveing fun so it does not matter"

 

etc

 

in the end. the guy makeing that vid said all that needs to be said. and never did he say you you should do.

 

the way he speeks makes me really think if he wasent playing games, he could become president.

no one here should deny how much truth there is in there. your choise to act upon the turth and maht you the truth means to use is all up to you though.

 

If all that was need to be said was the story of some guy who's life was ruined by his video addiction, then sure. And FYI, I really don't think he'd've become the president and made peace in the middle east, solved starvation in Africa, started a martian colony, and come up with a cure for cancer on the side, using nothing but a paperclip, string and a toothpick, if it wasn't for his video game addiction. Just throwing that out there.

 

Also, please fix spelling errors. What's a maht? I'd probably express my disagreement with whatever you are trying to say in that last sentence if I actually knew what that was.

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my difinition of noob is i dont like u, either u are better then me or u are worst them me

Buying spins make you a bad person...don't do it. It's like buying nukes for North Korea.

Well if it bothers you that the game is more fun now, then you can go cry in a corner. :shame:

your article was the equivalent of a circumcized porcupine

The only thing wrong with it is the lack of a percentage for when you need to stroke it.

 


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While the video does not offer the word "moderation", it doesn't necessarily means that the argument of the video does not stand. It's clear that striking a healthy balance in life is necessary. Addiction to video games, for some people, is too serious. No doubt that the majority of us are living a rather okay life as compared to the guy in the video. But features of the guy doesn't make you argue that therefore it's his fault. The video is more about highlighting to those who are in serious addiction to the video games that they cannot have a proper life.

 

It would be positive if we do gain something from games, but it is negative if it is harmful.

 

The word "regret" is only used when you have made an extremely bad mistake that you would definitely reverse, if you could.

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Wow. Does the guy in the video know ANYTHING about what he's saying?

 

Video games aren't bad. It's how you choose to value them that makes them bad.

 

If video games are your only thing in life, of course it's going to be bad! You're basically giving up everything else just to satisfy this gaming greed you got in yourself. However, if you value gaming amongst other important stuff in life, it won't be as bad since you know how to CONTROL this value.

 

The guy in the video simply lacks this control, and that's how he got overweight and divorced, basically. He was wrong about his values.

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I blame hip hop.

 

 

 

Seriously, people who try to blame X for ruining Y are in denial that there is absolutely no correlation between X and Y, and the only reason your Y sucks is because of your own stupid decisions.

 

I've spent thousands of hours playing games. But so what? I've spent thousands of hours on the bus...or driving to work. I've spent thousands of hours brushing my teeth, showering, etc. I've probably spent thousands of hours sitting in my room, laying down, and staring at the ceiling.

 

What was the point of all these hours??? I couldve been out driving to LA, learning a language, taking a class!!! Except...IM NOT GOING TO SPEND MY WHOLE DAMN LIFE WORKING. Jesus christ...we need some relaxation in this world. My mom used to criticize me for playing games until I pointed out the fact that she watches the same amount of TV every day. I said "Whats the difference between sitting in front of the TV and sitting in front of the computer?" She couldn't think of a single reason, and simply said "Well, I guess youre right...sorry"

 

Sometimes theres just nothing better to do on a weeknight. The house is clean, the laundry is done, youve cooked some meals to reheat for the next few days...lets spend a few hours doing something UNproductive. Imagine that, my whole life isn't hell bent on being "productive"

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Sometimes theres just nothing better to do on a weeknight. The house is clean, the laundry is done, youve cooked some meals to reheat for the next few days...lets spend a few hours doing something UNproductive. Imagine that, my whole life isn't hell bent on being "productive"

Actually, in a sense playing something like Runescape is still "productive" since you're actually making progress through that game. Hence you're actually "doing" something.

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The first time I was exposed to a game console was when I was maybe eight or so with an SNES at my grandma's and an old Atari system that my uncle had there as well. Even then I was still kind of bleh, games. Now with computers it's easier, but at the same time it's all down to self control. Once it's time to get cracking at the books, I wave bye bye to RuneScape and my Steam games. When my friends want to go hang out, I go with them. But if I have nothing else better to do I game, simply for pure enjoyment. Yes I've been staying at home more than usual these days, but only because I'm avoiding unnecessary spending of money.

 

Am I addicted to gaming? Yes, I'm willing to admit that. But is it controlling my life? As far as I can tell nope. I still go to school regularly, still do all my housework, etc. If anything I spend more time chatting with the people I know from the games I play on MSN, Skype, and Ventrillo during my free time. :lol:

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