Escape vs. responsibility (Gaming)

by EffortlessFury , Wednesday, March 15, 2017, 23:54 (2819 days ago) @ Claude Errera

I rolled my eyes a lot during the reading of that article. :(

This, to me, was the crux of it:

"Whether it is emptier and sadder than one spent buried in finance, accumulating points during long hours at the office while neglecting other aspects of life, is a matter of perspective."

(I'm not sure I agree with Korny's perspective of a completely negative-towards-young-gamers viewpoint... but the article was definitely slanted towards that argument, to the point where the paragraph about Dads of Destiny was a standout "here are good things that can come from gaming" bit.)

I think life is definitely harder for new-to-the-workforce people than it used to be, and I think games are definitely better than they used to be. I think, more critically to the author's point, gaming is probably the cheapest way to fill leisure time in large blocks for most people. (Reading is cheaper, especially if you use your local library - but there aren't a huge number of multi-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week readers left any more.) That games are becoming more sophisticated at manipulating their players is an oft-heard argument around here, so that adds to things, too.

I dunno. I don't know a lot of people who've 'dropped out of life' to play games all day - and I know a LOT of gamers. ;) I think this article is more negative than it should be, in terms of what evidence it shows to back up its point.

I feel like maybe the author might be of the mindset (that they themselves mention) that looks down at gaming as a less worthy use of time. Perhaps the author is struggling to see the other point of view. Would explain the bias, and if that's the case it's commendable that they are able to accept the possibility that they are wrong.