Maybe life is generally a waste of time, you could as well waste time playing MMOs?

If you say "get a family".. well woohoo, so the next generation can waste time on this planet?

If you think about it, everything is a waste of time. Working, relationships, tax declarations, TV, MMOs... who the f*** cares.

Originally posted by HappyFunBall

Facebook is a complete time-sink and waste of time.  Reading countless trivial "status updates" makes me say, who the **** cares that you just got home, went to the mall today, etc.  If you're posting pics of the hurricane you just got caught in, then that's interesting, and non-trivial.

Facebook is generally a waste of time, as are cell phones etc. (IMO), but at the same time there are benefits to communication that might lead to something impactful.  The problem is that we didn't really evolve to our current state to toss away 50% of our person to person connections in the span of a few hundred years (telegraphs, phones, etc.).  I think it makes the world a more tense and disagreeable place because our very nature rejects it at some level, even if we think it's "cool" on the surface... or rather, because advertising agencies tell us it's cool.

I lost one of the comment i wanted to quote from OP but in a few words.

You are shallow and simple. Having to rely on other peoples' compliments to feel some sense of gradification is what you call a good use of time?

Also , to the guy with the medical degree whose post i also lost xD

You are talking about MMO addiction not MMO entertainment.What stops you from having a decent mmo fun and spending time with your family ?

Spending all or a lot of time with the same person over and over again(family or not) creates unwanted feelings of boredom and some times spite. 

So I'm guessing you are some sort of ex-addict of WoW and your mind is tangled within the game and the addiction.

The addicted gamers are just a fraction of gamers.Note that unsocial people with interest in games,graphic novels(both western and eastern), collections... aka. geeks, fall into a different category, since they make up of a big enough amount of people to be called a community therefore have your "precious" peer gratification.

Why do I even bother posting? xD

This is the last post for me :P

Originally posted by fiftyplusgeek
For some people, it's entertainment. For others, a waste of time. For many, a waste of a life. It all depends on how trapped you get. After looking at the "how much do you play" poll and seeing the largest group in the 4-8 hours per day category, I'd say life-wasting for most people.

What exactly is a waste of life?  Do you think you're going to be graded at the end or what?

Generally, I would say yes, it's a waste of time.

You can spend that time doing sport, meeting new people, learn new things, study, find new hobbies and interests, make more money for traveling etc. The list is long. 

But I guess we all need our little useless time sinks...

Pretty much, a young life can become an old one and running out of time with Online games. but people still play them, if it's a hobby that only takes a few hours a week it's fine. if you play more then 3 well 3 becomes 4, then 5 or more. then gaming starts to become your life. The more your family and friends can't reach you the kless you want to return to the real world.

I have all but gave up on gaming and now just play an hour a week if i can get myself to do it. more fun in the real world these days, less need to escape it with gaming.

Originally posted by NC-John

 

I have all but gave up on gaming and now just play an hour a week if i can get myself to do it. more fun in the real world these days, less need to escape it with gaming.

whoa whoa whoa...

Just because the word "escape" gets bandied about a lot  we shouldn't assume that everyone who plays video games is escaping.

Anything you do to avoid "something" can be escapinig.

If my life sucks and I retreat to the gym and become a gym rat that is using the gym as an escape.

If I go to the gym because I want the benefits of excercise then that's an investment in my life.

If I read books so that I don't have to go out and speak to other people then that's an escape. If I read them because I love the stories or information in them then that's an investment in my life.

If I go out and socialize every single night because I hate what lies for me at home then that's an escape. If I go out and socialize because I have many friends and I enjoy that interaction then that's an investment in my life.

Same with games.

any activity can be either good or bad depending on the motivation for that activity.

It is only a waste of time to someone who feels they are a waste of time, just like anything else. If I look at many other hobbies such as model building, card collecting, R/C cars (planes/boats) or even Comic books if you don't share the desire to do these things you will look at them as a waste of time, money and house space.

It's all a matter of perspective, even within the genre of video games. Many people see playing games like Call of Duty and Battlefield as a waste of time yet them spend hundreds of hours leveling up Pokemon. To me it seems like you enjoyed playing something for a time but grew out of it and now look back with wonder what you ever saw in it; something we all do or else we would all still be playing with out glo-worms and little people.

Reminds me of this part in one of the SImpsons episodes (Homer causes a nuclear meltdown): "Oh, I've wasted my life!"

=

To be sure, I think this question/discussion can run and run or at least give the evergreen "Sandbox vs Themepark" a run for it's money.

I guess one of thousands upon thousands of answers would be if it's a rainy day and you feel like some "me" time, a game set in a true virtual mmorpg world is an awesome activity made even more so with a great group of people? Conversely on a nice sunny day, a step outside could lead you anywhere - another country, marriage and so on. To live in the moment is sometimes the best activity.

Originally posted by Lienhart

I've clocked an absurdly high amount of hours into MMOs from WoW to Final Fantasy XI. After recently switching to a much more expensive hobby (supersport track days), I'm feeling the need to slap my face for wasting so much time on a hobby that amounts to having nothing to show for in the real world.

Anyone else ever feel the same way?

Any hobby is only a waste of time if you:

• Lack the resolve to moderate it
• Lack the wisdom to appreciate it
• Lack the will to control it

Don't go too serious on this topic roflmao.

 I've have/had quite a few hobbies in 48 years. Music, Surfing, Soccer (the proper football), Skimming (put this in the had category... hurts too much now), Gardening, Gaming, Herpetology, and Flying R/C aircraft (helicopters and planks) to name a few. I don't regret one minute spent doing any of them.  I believe that moderating my playtime has kept from burning out or regretting the money or time spent participating.  Finding a new hobby is always fun, but it doesn't mean you should beat yourself up for enjoying the others. 

They are only a waste of time if it's the only thing you do. I was unemployed and playing wow for around 3 years and all I could think of was how much shit I could have bought with the money. How much more powerful my computer would be if it weren't for wow. 

I recently started studying and have found gaming to be far more enjoyable when it is play and not a job.

Originally posted by Ramonski7

Originally posted by Lienhart

I've clocked an absurdly high amount of hours into MMOs from WoW to Final Fantasy XI. After recently switching to a much more expensive hobby (supersport track days), I'm feeling the need to slap my face for wasting so much time on a hobby that amounts to having nothing to show for in the real world.

Anyone else ever feel the same way?

Any hobby is only a waste of time if you:

• Lack the resolve to moderate it
• Lack the wisdom to appreciate it
• Lack the will to control it

This, pretty much.

OP plays too much video games, becomes a couch potato and gets dumped by GF. He then proceeds to blame video games and calls them a HUGE waste of time as if video games were the problem.

Kind of reminds of alcoholics who blame the alcohol for their problems.

Truth is playing video games, just like having some beers with your friends over the weekend, aren't a problem. They only become a problem when you neglect everything else so you can drink/play video games, and that's on you.