MMOs are just time killers imo, cheap entertainment.  Problem is people get waaaay too addicted to MMOs and spout epeens.

Eye of the beholder, but besides cheap entertainment and enjoying you free time there is nothing worthwhile playing extensively in MMOs and really is unhealthy.  MMOs are the bane of society imo, some things are better off not being created.

Wasting time is THE POINT of mmos.

Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all :/

We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...

"There he sat. Yep."

Originally posted by iamrta

Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all :/

We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...

"There he sat. Yep."

People are going to argue with you until they are blue in the face, though. In fact, they will even try and convince you that playing MMOs teaches them leadership skills, multitasking, problem-solving and several other big steaming piles of poop. If you think running a guild teaches you leadership, you are delusional. Herding a bunch of snot-nosed brats is not leadership.

MMO players come up with the most ridiculous excuses to try and justify their hobby as being something more than the simple act of playing a game.

As for tombstones, it should just read, "Game Over".

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?

It depends, if you were just going to veg out infront of a TV if you handn't been playing MMO's then I think as far as entertainment goes, MMO's are far more interactive than just sitting in front of a TV. 

Originally posted by fiftyplusgeek

Originally posted by iamrta

Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all :/

We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...

"There he sat. Yep."

People are going to argue with you until they are blue in the face, though. In fact, they will even try and convince you that playing MMOs teaches them leadership skills, multitasking, problem-solving and several other big steaming piles of poop. If you think running a guild teaches you leadership, you are delusional. Herding a bunch of snot-nosed brats is not leadership.

MMO players come up with the most ridiculous excuses to try and justify their hobby as being something more than the simple act of playing a game.

As for tombstones, it should just read, "Game Over".

Imagine applying for a job later in life at some place like Oracle and sitting in front of a panel trying to pursade them of this? I'm a great leader because...LMAO!  You're right though fifty, I've heard it all before. It's crap agrguments. The older I get the more time I wish I had back. I guess you have to be older to realize that. It's all just funny ha ha until your time comes.

Originally posted by iamrta

Originally posted by fiftyplusgeek

Originally posted by iamrta

Sitting in the same chair for weeks and months at a time while staring at a screen farming fake plants while real life passes by? Not a waste of time at all :/

We gamers will have the most worthless tombstones...

"There he sat. Yep."

People are going to argue with you until they are blue in the face, though. In fact, they will even try and convince you that playing MMOs teaches them leadership skills, multitasking, problem-solving and several other big steaming piles of poop. If you think running a guild teaches you leadership, you are delusional. Herding a bunch of snot-nosed brats is not leadership.

MMO players come up with the most ridiculous excuses to try and justify their hobby as being something more than the simple act of playing a game.

As for tombstones, it should just read, "Game Over".

Imagine applying for a job later in life at some place like Oracle and sitting in front of a panel trying to pursade them of this? I'm a great leader because...LMAO!  You're right though fifty, I've heard it all before. It's crap agrguments. The older I get the more time I wish I had back. I guess you have to be older to realize that. It's all just funny ha ha until your time comes.

It's your fault that you didn't use your time wisely, not the games. Plenty of people play video games as a hobby while developing the skills necessary to apply to places like Oracle. Matter of fact, I'd bet a lot of the people who work at places like that play or have played video games.

Video games are not meant to help you fulfill your purpose in life. They're there as a past-time. Something you do in between the real shit. If you play video games (or any other hobby for that matter) to the point of neglecting everything else, that's on you. Video games didn't waste your life, you did.

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?

Of course its cool to show of your hobby, but should every hobby be something to show the world?

Myself have clocked many many hours into games, they fullfilled my entertainment needs, I sport 3 times a week, every other weekend go out with my male friends or just the wife or on occasion couple's night ( no not the naughty type :P )

Apart from that I feel I got plenty to show for but that's more work related, my/our businesses, never felt showing my hobby to others other then to some of my rl friends, again nothing wrong to have a outdoor hobby to share with friends, but also nothing wrong with time spend entertained.

I feel you just found a better hobby for yourself, no need to slap yourself in the face, did you really waist time playing? or were you actually entertained and had fun while playing MMO's?

I bet in everyone's life there comes a moment where you might think "D@mn why didn't I do this sooner, of course if it's something that truly alters the way you life then sure it's a right thought. But to have similar thought with hobby's to me it is just finding that better hobby and nothing more.

Of course might you say you clocked like 24/7, 7 day's a week at a MMORPG then I also would consider that a true waist of time.

I think its all a matter of opinion and what you take away from the experience. There are many good things you can take away from gaming, gaming is known to improve hand-eye coordination as well as critical thinking, you can bond with real life family or friends through gaming and meet new friends, some games can teach you to be culturally torlerant or to respect other cultures, there is plenty to take away.

Sure there are unhealthy ways of approaching games... but that all depends on you not the game.

You can't just assume everyone who plays games and are in guilds are "snot nosed brats", that is kinda ignorant... in some cases leading a group in a game can teach you leadership. How you ask? Well communucation is key in leadership and in a lot of games that I know communication is important with other people and usually goes better when one person takes charge. LoL has plenty of opputunities for leadership as well as teamwork, but the community is so terrible it ruins those aspects. Really prestigous guilds in some games take a good amount of moderating and regulating, you could say it would help in some way.

BUT lol, you should never EVER try to use experience in gaming as a reason you have good leadership, problem solving sills, critical thinking, etc.. Sure I said it can HELP learn these things but those things are, of course, fundamentally different in real life.

But the answer to the real question is easy, it depends on you the gamer and what you take away and how you manage your play time. I say it is not a waste of time if you take away good things or do it because it makes you happy, not everyone wants to travel the world or likes going out, to assume things like this is ignorant. I personally want to travel but I find parties, drinking, clubbing and activities that you don't realy take away anything good from even more a waste of time.

But I digress for this is an opinion of mine and I in no way intend to impose mine on any of you or try to change your ideals. You just keep doing you, but remember that game you are playing isn't the real world so try to put more into your real life then it.

P.S. Sorry for the rant, I'm just a deep thinker.

If you mean the current wack-a-mole, challenge-devoid games of today then yes certainly. No regrets for the 8,000 I spent in EQ. Time well spent, and I made a few permanent friends along the way. Very inexpensive fun.

If I had to do it all over again, would I? Now that's a hard question to answer.

Originally posted by RefMinor
You are born, you waste time and then you die. At the end if you can look back and say to yourself I am satisfied then that's all you need, each of us does it differently.

Dern. That sounds depressing.

Originally posted by RefMinor
You are born, you waste time and then you die. At the end if you can look back and say to yourself I am satisfied then that's all you need, each of us does it differently.

This is it.. It is left up to the individual to detemine what is worth living for.. What the "goal" of life is.. Even though the media, government and churches try to tell us all the time, any and everything could be considered a waste of time until YOU know what you are living for..

To me, Reality Television and Religion are wastes of time.. But people who like those things would argue with me that Video games, or MMO's are a waste of time as well.. Reality folks would say that they are "childish" "nerdy" or some other trendy word for lame and religious people would say that they are not going to help you get into heaven or some afterlife project that separates "good" from "evil"..

You can only value that of which you hold valuable.. The rest is just a waste of time..

Originally posted by iamrta

Originally posted by RefMinor
You are born, you waste time and then you die. At the end if you can look back and say to yourself I am satisfied then that's all you need, each of us does it differently.

Dern. That sounds depressing.

oddly enough i found it to be very uplifting. to each his own.

MMO's are entertainment, and a life without entertainment is not a life worth living.

If you feel it's a huge waste of time, then don't play them anymore. Get out and enjoy other aspects of life that don't ring as a waste of time in your mind.

If it makes you happy for even a short amount of time, it's not a waste of time. If you feel you're addicted to the genre in theory, but aren't actually into the games themselves, then it's probably time to move on. Personally, I don't really find current MMO's overly fun, but I have an addictive personality, and I've been playing them for so long, I'm just on here checking to see what's up all the time. I haven't really played any MMO's in a long time becuase I always end up trying them and getting bored quickly. I was hoping GW2 was gonna be the end to that, but I ended up getting tired of that game within a month and now I'm back in MMO limbo.

I just basically go out and have a life, and when I'm bored, I try to find an MMO that's worth playing, and if I can't, I just play my PS3. :P

I think I'm actually more interested in fun PS3 games with an online component nowadays, rather than a full blown MMO's.

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?

I can think of a bigger waste of time. 

Posting on an mmo forum about what a waste of time mmos are.  I can't think of a bigger waste of time than that.  Of all the pointless things a person might do, that's right up there. 

So you've topped yourself.  Congratulations.