What is the Gaming World for You?

For me it's like a gateway to escape it's somewhere i run and i hide from the bad things that happen in life and the things i can't do.Gaming is another world whether we admit it or not.It's a place where we can show our skills in something a place where we can be who we wanna be.We all know how life has it's ups and downs but Games are always there for you....if you're like feeling nervous you can always try a good shooter and get the pain off you're chest slaughtering somethin with an m4a1 :oops: But i must ad that one must not get too obsessed with games because he might loose contact with the outside world and that isn't a good thing...i've seen that in asia some parents consider WOW just like a drug for they're children and some of them live only in the virtual world, for them it's not a gateway it's the real world.WAITING for you're opinions ..thnx

My Friends What We do In Gaming Echoes in Eternity,Jade

We all know how life has it's ups and downs but Games are always there for you....if you're like feeling nervous you can always try a good shooter and get the pain off you're chest ShadyJade

that is one of the most depressing things i have ever read in my life

i don't play games to do the things i can't do in real life, because quite frankly, i don't want to kill people, and i don't want to escape from reality or forget myself

i play games for the enjoyment, enrichment, satisfaction and simple fun of it - not to vent or satisfy urges, or pander to my bloodlust, i enjoy the experience of interactivity, of mature and compelling dialogue and intelligent storytelling

really, i don't treat games any differently than i do film or television...

same cloud8900

[QUOTE="cloud8900"]same mbukste

over here too....good post, topic-maker

For me it's like a gateway to escape it's somewhere i run and i hide from the bad things that happen in life and the things i can't do.Gaming is another world whether we admit it or not.It's a place where we can show our skills in something a place where we can be who we wanna be.We all know how life has it's ups and downs but Games are always there for you....if you're like feeling nervous you can always try a good shooter and get the pain off you're chest slaughtering somethin with an m4a1 :oops: But i must ad that one must not get too obsessed with games because he might loose contact with the outside world and that isn't a good thing...i've seen that in asia some parents consider WOW just like a drug for they're children and some of them live only in the virtual world, for them it's not a gateway it's the real world.WAITING for you're opinions ..thnx

My Friends What We do In Gaming Echoes in Eternity,Jade

ShadyJade

I think it's a gateway...a gateway - to the void in my life until I go to college, get a decent career, maybe visit another country, write a book and get a life.

Until then, gaming fills that spot.

Hmmm...well this thread has already gotten confrontational, but I'll still throw my vote in on the side of the guy who said he plays just for fun. I would not go so far as to say that it is "bad" or "depressing" for those who look to games as a means of escapism. I think everyone has some device that they use for that. For me, it is sitting on my patio drinking a glass of wine and smoking a cigar...not wearing my watch so I'm not constantly looking at the time, and my cell phones somewhere in the house where I can not hear them. Or riding my motorcycle, SCUBA diving, or backpacking alone...things that require your focus and attention so that there is no left over capacity to be worrying about the BS back at the office.

For me, games are not a means of escape, and they are not a proving ground for my skills. Although I do feel a sense of reward when I employ a particularly well played strategy in an RTS or turn-based strategy game, that is about the extent of my 133t-ness. I'm not interested in measuring my gaming performance against anyone else. When I play online it is becuse I enjoy the circle of friends that I've accumulated on XBox Live or XFire, and the enjoyment is out of the time we hang out together laughing and joking and talking about games, technology, and entertainment. So I guess the social aspect is one of the reasons that I play.

At the end of the day, gaming is simply my preferred choice in entertainment. I like it more than watching TV because I think TV is predominantly a passive activity. You sit in receive mode and have the artist's perspective of a story broadcast at you. While there is some assessment on your own part, it is not interactive. I like gaming because you spend every minute thinking. You act, the Ai or human opponent responds. You are presented a puzzle, you have to figure it out to move on.

I do not think that anyone's reason for gaming is right or wrong, good or bad. This is an interesting thread because people are voicing the different reasons that they have chosen gaming as a hobby. It should be enough that our hobby is becoming more and more recognized as a legitimate past time, and not just something kids do on Saturday mornings or to get out of homework, or something adults do to waste time.

- Vr/GulliverJR.

[QUOTE="ShadyJade"]

We all know how life has it's ups and downs but Games are always there for you....if you're like feeling nervous you can always try a good shooter and get the pain off you're chest mfsa

that is one of the most depressing things i have ever read in my life

i don't play games to do the things i can't do in real life, because quite frankly, i don't want to kill people, and i don't want to escape from reality or forget myself

i play games for the enjoyment, enrichment, satisfaction and simple fun of it - not to vent or satisfy urges, or pander to my bloodlust, i enjoy the experience of interactivity, of mature and compelling dialogue and intelligent storytelling

really, i don't treat games any differently than i do film or television...

thats pretty much how i feel about games, exept for i do enjoy the fact i can do things i normaly can't like rain fire upon my oponints or shoot them with a shotgun. because in the case of the the fire storm i cant normaly do that and in the case of the shotgun i wouldn't want to do that because i would feel horrible if i killed an actual person.

Nice pink text..

I play for fun, and because I dont have a job... im going back to school soon so wont be gaming as much.

A gateway? I just play games for fun :|firefly026

same here..

Being an older gamer and a woman, I prefer to play games to test my abilities against younger whippersnappers. ;) So the gaming world to me is a Me vs. Environment challenge. Something to drown out the horrors of RL, and escape for a while into exploring new worlds, seeking treasuresand accomplishments. Too feel good to achieve something different that can be done in RL (like playing a character from the Middle Earth, or a starship captain).

Hmmm...well this thread has already gotten confrontational, but I'll still throw my vote in on the side of the guy who said he plays just for fun. I would not go so far as to say that it is "bad" or "depressing" for those who look to games as a means of escapism. I think everyone has some device that they use for that. For me, it is sitting on my patio drinking a glass of wine and smoking a cigar...not wearing my watch so I'm not constantly looking at the time, and my cell phones somewhere in the house where I can not hear them. Or riding my motorcycle, SCUBA diving, or backpacking alone...things that require your focus and attention so that there is no left over capacity to be worrying about the BS back at the office.

For me, games are not a means of escape, and they are not a proving ground for my skills. Although I do feel a sense of reward when I employ a particularly well played strategy in an RTS or turn-based strategy game, that is about the extent of my 133t-ness. I'm not interested in measuring my gaming performance against anyone else. When I play online it is becuse I enjoy the circle of friends that I've accumulated on XBox Live or XFire, and the enjoyment is out of the time we hang out together laughing and joking and talking about games, technology, and entertainment. So I guess the social aspect is one of the reasons that I play.

At the end of the day, gaming is simply my preferred choice in entertainment. I like it more than watching TV because I think TV is predominantly a passive activity. You sit in receive mode and have the artist's perspective of a story broadcast at you. While there is some assessment on your own part, it is not interactive. I like gaming because you spend every minute thinking. You act, the Ai or human opponent responds. You are presented a puzzle, you have to figure it out to move on.

I do not think that anyone's reason for gaming is right or wrong, good or bad. This is an interesting thread because people are voicing the different reasons that they have chosen gaming as a hobby. It should be enough that our hobby is becoming more and more recognized as a legitimate past time, and not just something kids do on Saturday mornings or to get out of homework, or something adults do to waste time.

- Vr/GulliverJR.

GulliverJr

One of the purely best posts I've ever read on here. Absolutely.

Text colour = OW MY EYES!

Content = Exactly my thought.

Definitely an escape - sometimes ordinary life is so.....ordinary.

Can't wait for the holodeck!

For me, its about doing what you cant do in real life. Test Drive Unlimited, for instance, you can buy really nice cars, drive and race them around way and break all the rules of the road. I get to speed 150 mph on city streets, run red lights, not stopping for a stop sign, run from the COPS, and crash into cars.

Other games like Grand Theft Auto, numerous of shooters, and RPGS. I know the difference between real life and what I see on my monitor. So the fun of gaming is to see and do what would be wrong, illegal and impossible in real life.

Gaming with just your mind is normal.Gaming with your heart is sentimental.Gaming with both is fantastic...

My Friends What We do in Gaming Echoes in Eternity,Jade

I do have to ask this: what does "what we do in gaming echoes in eternity" mean? I can't say I understand that.

Mind, I'm absolutely not flaming. I just don't get it.

Dudes only addicted posts here...

Maybe for many Gaming world is their life and stuff....growing fat and never get a job and have a stupid life....I just say for some people...

Well for me gaming world is after a hard day of work after the evening i relax playing a game...i deserve it.....u can learn from games much but dont exagerate like playing 24/7......this idea is l that many ppl are nervous ...never talk to others...they are in their own world....lol

This world is cool but if exagerated it will be a drug.:twisted:

Gaming with just your mind is normal.Gaming with your heart is sentimental.Gaming with both is fantastic...ShadyJade

Nothing is better than using those brain cells (tactics, tactics, tactics) AND gaming to win with a passion!

Some gamers just play for fun. Some love to twiddle with the code (moding types). Some love to dive into an immersive atmosphere and pour their heart and soul, if for only an hour, into a new world.

But in the end, gamers are like what Sir Edmund Hilary stated about climbing Mt. Everest, they play-- "Because it's there".

LOL! No more stalking for you!

I just play for fun. That's it. I disagree with taking games too seriously or elevating them to something more than they are which is simply entertainment. If that entertainment is fun or immersive or exhilarating or mentally stimulating, great. As someone above posted, it sure beats the passive experience of watching television for me too and being bombarded with what I view as mostly garbage or bad news from the real world.

I don't think the real gamer thing was called for. The guy had a point. They are just for fun and that is ok. I am real and I play games so as far as I know I am a real gamer. Whether or not you've created some other definition based on how seriously someone else takes this fun is not relevant. It is what it is.

The fact is, when you say something like "the games are always there for me" it does sound sad. Is that all you've got? Because if it is, then you do need to get out more and experience life and participate in it, in reality. Why pretend to be a knight in shining armor when you can do the real deal volunteering in your own community helping people who need it? Does that make any sense? Reality is not all bad I guess is what I am saying. It is what you choose to do with it and make it many times.

I can guarantee you that being actively involved helping other people will do more for you than any game ever could in terms of feeling good about yourself with the plus that you have real and valid reason to feel good about yourself when you have. A game can't give you that. It's just pretend. Fantasy is fine in moderation as you mentioned yourself but it doesn't addess the things you mentioned like proactivity in real life does. I think that was his point and I know its mine.

Last night I went to work in a nursing home. Some people have said to me how can you do that? It must be so depressing! Well yeah, it could be I guess. I could walk into the rooms of dying people all glum and miserable or quiet and "professional" but I don't. I try to make thier night a little better one person at a time in any way I can come up with besides the nursing care I give them. I am creative all the time with this. I tell them funny stories from my life. I make fun of myself with jokes about how good help is hard to find when they complain to me about something. Whatever it takes to bring a little smile in that place is just one of my therapeutic goals every time I walk in. It works too. I get the smiles and the laughs. They get some love and understanding. Everybody wins.

I am damned tired when I get out of there in the morning. But I don't need to mount up or grab my fake AK-47 and kill people for stress relief. I already did something about that as I went. But I do enjoy some good fun playing games that is for sure. That's all they are to me. Just for fun, nothing serious. I do not care about rankings, gear, who is number 1 Paladin on my server, etc. I could care less. I feel sorry for people that stuff is a big deal to. Because when it is I know other much more important stuff probably isn't nearly a big deal enough in thier lives and I also know it could be. You get to choose and you own your choices more and more the older you get.

There's lots of ways to escape from reality but if a person "needs" to that is sad. That is what the other person was also getting at. He had a valid point whether it was welcomed or not.

Escapism is never healthy. For my own part, I play games to join in the creative process. As a result, I frequently have trouble getting into shooters because the atmosphere isn't particularly engrossing anyhow, and the limited scope of the game narrows my ability to create personal meaning about the story.

When I was younger, I played games for the social interaction it provided. Fighting games and the like. As I got older, I became engrossed by the idea of the game's story, and most of the games I played were for storyline purposes. Sometime around the time I read Dostoyevsky, I realized that most videogame storylines are boring and ultimately sad. I think the last storyline I really enjoyed in a game was Lunar: Silver Star Story. Beautiful characters, even if the storyline itself was somewhat narrow. I found other good storylines in FFT, Vagrant Story, all the Ogre Battle Saga games (of which Tactics Ogre was the best) and a handful of the Final Fantasy games. Also, Xenosaga. As you can see, my favorite storylines are all very old games. This is primarily because modern games have very dull storylines.

So nowadays, it's not for storylines, but for creative outlet. The ability to customize my character in a game is an immediate perk, regardless of the game itself. Likewise, open ended storylines or in-depth character development stand out to me in a big way. I even loved Aidyn Chronicles, despite its god-awful graphics, primarily because I could develop the characters into almost anything I wanted them to be. The Total War games are big favorites of mine because of the stories I have in my mind regarding how my empire has grown and why, and how my generals wound up where they are. Oblivion would be a great game also if Bethesda hadn't of lost their sanity and implemented scaling levels. Scaling levels, in point of fact, wouldn't have been too bad, but scaling equipment immediately kills all immersion.

Anyhow, the point is that games, for me at least, are about sharing in a creative movement. Not so much the "flabby impressionability dignified under the name of creative temperament," but rather the twisting of a game world to suit my own ends (Fitzgerald). What you, my friend, were discussing was escapism. As much as I like games, I love life far more. There is nothing more beautiful than life, and I thank God for every day of it, good and bad. Remember that no matter what you do in a game, you never really did it. Nor should you, for that matter.

Escapism is never healthy.FinalMyrmidon

That's why games exists. Otherwise we'll be playing the Encyclopedia Britannica | CNN| FOX News| 60 Minutes MP games (to make sure the latest "if it bleeds, it leads" content is updated every 5 minutes).

A gateway? I just play games for fun :|firefly026

same

gaming is an escape. The very moment you concentrate on the action, be it storyline, or gameplay, or even the beauty of the GFX, you are gone. You have forgotten yourself.

To, use it, AS, a means of escape, is quite viable. If, you had problems ,or worries, they are gone...
until ultimatley, you re-emerge, from the game and get back to reality.

Whatever purpose you use, gaming ,for, be it social, sole entertainment, enjoyment of elemental gameplay, or escapism, you can, be, sure of one thing. There is more, to, a, game, than life itself, as, the game ,if, for, the moment, is a part of your life. Live it, enjoy it & never let go :)

It means that our opinions matter the way we play games and the way we want games to be....We the gamers have the power of changing gaming forever.Compare it to life and mymotto will become WHAT WE DO IN LIFE ECHOES IN ETERNITY maybe this will make better sense.ShadyJade

Our opinions matter when it comes to games? Maybe a bit. Our pocketbook matters more, though. That's the way we have this "power of changing gaming forever". If we buy what we like, and avoid what we don't, that's pretty much the only way we can have a say in what's happening, gaming-wise. The way we play games has no bearing on this - remember, it's just a business to the folks that produce them.

I was a bit worried that you meant that what we do in gaming echoes in eternity for mankind, which, well, it just doesn't. The thing with gaming is, what you do in the virtual world stays in the virtual world. Yeah, you might be able to talk to other folks about it, but that's about it. I sincerely hope no one is under the illusion that slaying an imp in Oblivion leaves some mark in human history.

Gaming is gaming, life is life so if u chose to stay 24/7 then screw u and ur life......

Yeah i love gaming but not playing all day......

Nevermind......

Games to me are the greatest form of art on the planet.

What other medium involves the observer's perception to create "beauty" like gaming does?

The gaming world for me is being a 23 year-old college student, and sneaking into Bestbuy. I go in, try to avoid anyone I know since PC gaming is for nerds for my age group( though its OK to deathmatch on Halo 2 for 6 hours on console). Then I go up with my game to buy it, and feel even more ashamed when a hot girl is at the checkstand. Then I go home and sneak into my room so my roommates dont think any less of me.

And then I install the game, and I feel like a 10 year old again and all that shame goes away! Idunno where it comes from, but when I was growing up and to this day PC gaming just isnt a socially-acceptable hobby. I dont care, though, Im gonna game 'til I die!

The gaming world for me is being a 23 year-old college student, and sneaking into Bestbuy. I go in, try to avoid anyone I know since PC gaming is for nerds for my age group( though its OK to deathmatch on Halo 2 for 6 hours on console). Then I go up with my game to buy it, and feel even more ashamed when a hot girl is at the checkstand. Then I go home and sneak into my room so my roommates dont think any less of me.

And then I install the game, and I feel like a 10 year old again and all that shame goes away! Idunno where it comes from, but when I was growing up and to this day PC gaming just isnt a socially-acceptable hobby. I dont care, though, Im gonna game 'til I die!

mrbojangles25

You shouldn't give a damn about what others say man :D just enjoy your pastime

Well for me, it is a form of escapism. When I was born on December 4th 1992, I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, a form of brain damage, caused by lack of oxygen in the womb( my mom pwned me there =_=) so I use it to do **** I can't do in real life, like be a nerd with a crowbar, or a sniper. whatever! It's probably why I get pissed off when I can't see my character's feet ;)it's great and all when a game has a great storyline, however that is a rarity, so I just read for that :cry:

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A gateway? I just play games for fun :|firefly026

I like the way you think;) Video Games are and can become a serious addiction, and fill the role of life until a person reaches college and a real life. But there's that group of people that play for fun, some times refered to as fanboys when needed. They make games a part of their life, yet still maintain a healthy lifestyle with a little bit of everything in it as well. But as most of us know, most of the hardcore addicts are teenagers locked away in their basements playing countless hours without stopping and modding consoles, or even tearing apart a computer to just put it back together. I know I'm not like that, but the question is are YOU? :shock:

As far asI can judge by now the majority of you agree that gaming is a gateway to escape...Still waiting for even more opinions even if there are some people that like to call themselves gamers trying to accuse me of being cut off from the world and being dramatic.Gaming is another world...Playing them for more than just fun doesn't mean you're a dork with eyeglasses.

As far asI can judge by now the majority of you agree that gaming is a gateway to escape...

ShadyJade

I'm not seeing that an overwhelming majority of folks are saying gaming is a gateway to escape. In fact, nerdily going through and tallying up the responses, I see about 14 people saying they play games as a form of escapism and 14 that game for the fun-factor, or because it's an interactive form of entertainment/movie/etc.

Just thought I'd point that out. :)

[QUOTE="ShadyJade"]

We all know how life has it's ups and downs but Games are always there for you....if you're like feeling nervous you can always try a good shooter and get the pain off you're chest mfsa

that is one of the most depressing things i have ever read in my life

i don't play games to do the things i can't do in real life, because quite frankly, i don't want to kill people, and i don't want to escape from reality or forget myself

i play games for the enjoyment, enrichment, satisfaction and simple fun of it - not to vent or satisfy urges, or pander to my bloodlust, i enjoy the experience of interactivity, of mature and compelling dialogue and intelligent storytelling

really, i don't treat games any differently than i do film or television...

you don't play games to vent? you're missing a huge benefit of gaming that is quite therapeutic and NORMAL. it helps to release the stress of the day and help you forget about work. It is healthy.

[QUOTE="ShadyJade"]

We all know how life has it's ups and downs but Games are always there for you....if you're like feeling nervous you can always try a good shooter and get the pain off you're chest mfsa

that is one of the most depressing things i have ever read in my life

i don't play games to do the things i can't do in real life, because quite frankly, i don't want to kill people, and i don't want to escape from reality or forget myself

i play games for the enjoyment, enrichment, satisfaction and simple fun of it - not to vent or satisfy urges, or pander to my bloodlust, i enjoy the experience of interactivity, of mature and compelling dialogue and intelligent storytelling

really, i don't treat games any differently than i do film or television...

Agreed. I do not treat video games like a heroin addiction. I don't sit down at my computer to play the pain away. They are fun, so I play them from tim to time. Simple as that.