Playing games is not an accomplishment: How video games make you retarded.

[Kane]

it's an understandable act of defiance caused by the ever widening gap between rich and poor, an ever increasing connection between your chances in life and the amount of money you have and last but not least the so-called ~pillars of society~ living the role-model of hedonism and shallow fun that you despise so much readily to see for everyone across all the media.

To willingly embrace acedia is anything but an act of defiance.

if you say so einstein...

doesn't change the fact that the "winners" in life lead exactly the style of life buzz despises. is it really that surprising when the "losers" like that Matthew dude adopt the same style of life (and obviously fail horribly because they don't have the money to do that)?

 

[anus_pounder]

Have you played a lot of MMORPGs and Diablo clones, raw?

I don't play MMORPGs and regarding Diablo clones, the only game I have comitted more than 100 hours into is Diablo 2. I never played a game religiously like this Matthew dude though. I can play couple of hours most - then I am bored and have to do something else. It's not that I haven't tried in my younger years -- but video game addiction simply doesn't seem to work on me.

Bullshit. Absolute Bullshit.

 

[Cool name]

doesn't change the fact that the "winners" in life lead exactly the style of life buzz despises. is it really that surprising when the "losers" like that Matthew dude adopt the same style of life (and obviously fail horribly because they don't have the money to do that)?

They do not try to adopt the lives of the 'winners.' They do try to adopt lives they do imagine the 'winners' have. Yet this image is little more than a product itself. The very same product you do merrily swallow when you do write about the fantasy lives the 'winners' do live.

How defiant of them. And of you.

 

[Kane]

doesn't change the fact that the "winners" in life lead exactly the style of life buzz despises. is it really that surprising when the "losers" like that Matthew dude adopt the same style of life (and obviously fail horribly because they don't have the money to do that)?

They do not try to adopt the lives of the 'winners.' They do try to adopt lives they do imagine the 'winners' have. Yet this image is little more than a product itself. The very same product you do merrily swallow when you do write about the fantasy lives the 'winners' do live.

How defiant of them. And of you.

it doesn't matter whether that image is "real" or a product of your imagination/PR. stop steaming towards mount sperg.

Bullshit. Absolute Bullshit.

What MMORPGs do I play then, Mr. Smartass?

 

[Captain Shrek]

doesn't change the fact that the "winners" in life lead exactly the style of life buzz despises. is it really that surprising when the "losers" like that Matthew dude adopt the same style of life (and obviously fail horribly because they don't have the money to do that)?

They do not try to adopt the lives of the 'winners.' They do try to adopt lives they do imagine the 'winners' have. Yet this image is little more than a product itself. The very same product you do merrily swallow when you do write about the fantasy lives the 'winners' do live.

How defiant of them. And of you.

Look Felix Felicia Felinia, I would agree with you if you tell me what a winner is first and I agree with THAT.

 

[Johannes]

There is nothing wrong with vying for accomplishment.

No one said it is. Having goals in your life is great. I wish everyone had one. But stop putting 85% of the population in the shoes of those 15% who are talented/privileged enough to strive for *real* accomplishments. Each individual fills a role in society. I'd love to see you create a prosperous colony where people only were playing with magnets and climbing rocks.

Those were just examples. Exemplary lives EVEN OF PLUMBERS are noble goals. The key word is not plumber, it is exemplary. People who go for competence, no matter what field of pursuit, are all heroes in my book.

Even if they vie for competence in playing DOTA, or poker, or hot dog eating contests?

 

[Twinkle]

Have you played a lot of MMORPGs and Diablo clones, raw?

I don't play MMORPGs and regarding Diablo clones, the only game I have comitted more than 100 hours into is Diablo 2. I never played a game religiously like this Matthew dude though. I can play couple of hours most - then I am bored and have to do something else. It's not that I haven't tried in my younger years -- but video game addiction simply doesn't seem to work on me.

Bullshit. Absolute Bullshit.

RAW bullshit.

 

[toro]

So raw fancies himself as a retard. Why bother to break his bubble?

Also the total time from that picture is 1257 hours. Equivalent to 157.8 working days, which totals around 7.5 months of playing games if you had a full time job as a game tester or some shit.

Considering that those were only 3 games ... I guess raw lost at least 3~4 productive years of his life playing games. Well this shit is scary.

 

[Aeschylus]

I prefer to think that games are protecting society from me rather than the other way around.

 

[Kane]

So raw fancies himself as a retard. Why bother to break his bubble?

Also the total time from that picture is 1257 hours. Equivalent to 157.8 working days, which totals around 7.5 months of playing games if you had a full time job as a game tester or some shit.
Considering that those were only 3 games ... I guess raw lost at least 3~4 productive years of his life playing games. Well this shit is scary.

except i didn't.

also, your calculation is hilarious. i have these games in my account for ~2 years (GA is actually hitting 3 years). that's not even 2 hours per day on average.

your weak attempts to discredit me leave me cold.

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197991420654 -- that is some playtime!

 

[Johannes]

There is nothing wrong with vying for accomplishment.

No one said it is. Having goals in your life is great. I wish everyone had one. But stop putting 85% of the population in the shoes of those 15% who are talented/privileged enough to strive for *real* accomplishments. Each individual fills a role in society. I'd love to see you create a prosperous colony where people only were playing with magnets and climbing rocks.

Those were just examples. Exemplary lives EVEN OF PLUMBERS are noble goals. The key word is not plumber, it is exemplary. People who go for competence, no matter what field of pursuit, are all heroes in my book.

Even if they vie for competence in playing DOTA, or poker, or hot dog eating contests?

Read earlier post plox.

I read it and it's exactly why I commented. First you say "it is the target that matters". And now you say the pursuit of competence regardless of the goal is what matters - so which is it?

 

[Captain Shrek]

Johannes. Is this on purpose?

The target matters in differentiating what target is worthy of being competent at.

 

[Kane]

There is nothing wrong with vying for accomplishment.

No one said it is. Having goals in your life is great. I wish everyone had one. But stop putting 85% of the population in the shoes of those 15% who are talented/privileged enough to strive for *real* accomplishments. Each individual fills a role in society. I'd love to see you create a prosperous colony where people only were playing with magnets and climbing rocks.

Those were just examples. Exemplary lives EVEN OF PLUMBERS are noble goals. The key word is not plumber, it is exemplary. People who go for competence, no matter what field of pursuit, are all heroes in my book.

Even if they vie for competence in playing DOTA, or poker, or hot dog eating contests?

Read earlier post plox.

I read it and it's exactly why I commented. First you say "it is the target that matters". And now you say the pursuit of competence regardless of the goal is what matters - so which is it?

what are you even talking about

 

[Johannes]

Johannes. Is this on purpose?

The target matters in differentiating what target is worthy of being competent at.

Is what on purpose?

And you have not given any way of discerning between pursuits that can give *real (???)* accomplishments and those that cannot, that wouldn't be totally arbitrary. And if something, playing games for example, is a worthless pursuit, why do you keep doing it at all?

 

[Kane]

Johannes. Is this on purpose?

The target matters in differentiating what target is worthy of being competent at.

Is what on purpose?

And you have not given any way of discerning between pursuits that can give *real (???)* accomplishments and those that cannot, that wouldn't be totally arbitrary. And if something, playing games for example, is a worthless pursuit, why do you keep doing it at all?

i don't think you know what is going on in this thread. i suggest you start with the link in the OP.

and then you ~stop posting~

 

[Captain Shrek]

Johannes. Is this on purpose?

The target matters in differentiating what target is worthy of being competent at.

Is what on purpose?

And you have not given any way of discerning between pursuits that can give *real (???)* accomplishments and those that cannot, that wouldn't be totally arbitrary. And if something, playing games for example, is a worthless pursuit, why do you keep doing it at all?

As I said I am NOT competent enough to explain how to differentiate analytically. Someone must be. Go ask them.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Oh, God that's a very sad story . I think that dude needs a therapy or something.

 

[Johannes]

Johannes. Is this on purpose?

The target matters in differentiating what target is worthy of being competent at.

Is what on purpose?

And you have not given any way of discerning between pursuits that can give *real (???)* accomplishments and those that cannot, that wouldn't be totally arbitrary. And if something, playing games for example, is a worthless pursuit, why do you keep doing it at all?

i don't think you know what is going on in this thread. i suggest you start with the link in the OP.

and then you ~stop posting~

If you were a bit smarter you might realize it's all exactly about themes the link talks about. But you're not, so you don't.


I do think games can give you good accomplishments. Even ones that don't challenge you, can give experiences truly worth having (RPGs for example), similar to reading books or watching movies. Of course with games that are truly challenging and competitive, they offer more lasting goals for you when you can always get better - be it chess or a physical sport or an RTS game. Games are not necessarily about escapism, they can easily be a worthy pursuit in and of themselves, on par with other hobbies you might have.
If that was not the case why'd you ever play games?

 

[Captain Shrek]

Alright I am not smart enough. Happy? Now play some wow to get your accomplishments achievements.

 

[RK47]

Games are not necessarily about escapism, they can easily be a worthy pursuit in and of themselves, on par with other hobbies you might have.

Time to quit my job and go pro?

 

[Kane]

If that was not the case why'd you ever play games?

Fun and entertainment.

I do think games can give you good accomplishments.

No they don't. Unless you get your sorry ass to Korea and progame the shit out of SC2 16/7 there are no accomplishments in video games. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Allmost all video games are way too trivial to be a "worthy pursuit", they do not require great amount of cognitive input nor do they demand physical activity. It's all about repetition and lo' and behold, that is exactly what the article tried to tell you:

The difference between my own experience, and that of a typical hyper-successful ivy-league-bound student is that my sense of self was built around fabricated success. Video games present a fictitious sense of trial that produce a baseless sense of accomplishment. Saving the world feels like it’s worthy of note but it is simply the outcome for every person who plays the game and doesn’t turn off the console.

And therein lies the problem. Video games, by definition are beatable by anyone. The downside is that there is no success and all your perceived success is ficticious. In real life you can fail. The upside is that that implies you can actually win at life. You can only win if you can fail. You can't fail in video games therefore you can't win.

I chose to define myself by my gaming successes as a way of displacing the definition given to me by my circumstances. This has brought with it all the consequences Deresiewicz describes, but without any of the benefits gained from the hard work real-world success requires. I still craved the type of success that Ivy League schools looked for, but the ease with which I could turn on a video game and feel successful without any of the work was (and still is) incredibly difficult to pass up.

 

[RK47]

chess is a game, right??

 

[Kane]

chess is a game, right??

The difference between Chess and $random_video game is, that you cannot simply turn it on and be successful, you have to beat oponents in tournaments to have success. You have to put in long hours of trainings, and winning at chess isn't simply the logical outcome of "beating the game". The same is true for any other game that also offers an actual career path like soccer or the now emerging "pro-scene".

 

[RK47]

like starcraft right?

 

[Kane]

like starcraft right?

can someone please take RK47 for a stroll in the park? he is shitting into other peoples threads again.