Why Do We Do This? (Computer Games / "Virtual" Worlds)

reply to post by NoRulesAllowed


Why did you leave Wow , is secret world a good replacement for Wow?

I stopped playing video games a long time ago as it doesn't give me anything. I spend time, energy, money on these games that are designed today to make you pay even more. You spend hours trying to build up a fake character, perfecting your head shots, making a fictional city, what are you gaining?

Who will care about any those zeros and ones after 20 years? 10? 5? 3 years?

Nobody. Video games are just a waste of time, they give you temporary pleasure and nothing else.

I think all the main points have been hit. Games provide a challenge that is often lacking in modern society. Even if you are not living a luxurious life, the obstacles you must overcome to survive in the modern world are usually mind numbing and detrimental to your health rather than stimulating and physically intense in a beneficial way.

I think, too, gaming can be a truly beneficial kind of meditation. I can play Mirror's Edge for hours, and when I do I am so focused that all the noise in my head dissipates, which is often the goal of meditation and can be difficult to achieve.

My state of mind has drastically changed though. When I was younger, I enjoyed violent games for the violence. However, now I take a certain pride in non-violent solutions. This is partly due to moral consideration, but also from the aforementioned perspective of challenge-seeking. It's one thing to defeat an opponent in a gunfight, but you must be significantly better to subdue/disarm them without resorting to the same violent methods yourself.

Either way, I think many people do crave challenge in the form of combat. Whether this is innate or a psychological result of our environment in society is hard to say. Personally I think it's a bit of both.

reply to post by ketsuko


heh yeah I won more than my fair share of costume contests. Loved CoX.

Itisnowagain
Another dream within a dream is all it is.

Virtual fake world (YOU PAY FOR) is just a reiteration or mirror of this fake world you are endouring and completely missing in its point (called SCHOOL OF THE 3D). This is a sound stage and you are the star of your own life. There is nothing different between being shown what is happening (film/vid industry) and what you are waking up to every morning. Nice observation Itsnowagain.

AfterInfinity
reply to post by NoRulesAllowed

 

The same reason people play football or go skydiving. But much, much cheaper.

Not sure instant death is in the quotiant (parachute fails) or continual brain concussions occure and one has symtoms of MAJOR BRAIN DAMAGE (drooling loss of memory). I think its all about experiencing fear (build the fighting avatar) in the most nascient/safest way; be a warrior behind the keystrokes or whatever the device is used; yet experience hightened adrenylin rushes in the safety of a bedroom; under a blanket with a flashlight.

As above, so below.

To me it's obvious humans are destined to merge with computers. Someday a game will be connected to the brain in a more direct fashion, might even be about transcending the material and ways to speak to spirits or any other immaterial beings. Meanwhile robots do most of the work, people stay in hibernation for years on end, plugged in maybe constructing their afterlife.

So what better way is there to learn this with fantasy games. Even though maybe today's influence is mistaken about how it affects the human psyche. Looking at new devices like emotiv, oculace, kinect, sense deprivation tanks and robots and how many people hate going to work or rather live a life of leasure, after several years you have seen the planet and since there's no spaceship it would make sense we'd entertain ourselves like that. Even with life span extension living a life in a virtual world full of stories of all times, maybe in adapted forms or variations doesn't sound too bad.

AthlonSavage
reply to post by NoRulesAllowed

 

Why did you leave Wow , is secret world a good replacement for Wow?

After the Pandas, me and wife simply had no interest in Wow anymore. (We played for years and were very involved, guilds etc..). Wife is playing SWTOR at the moment and is looking foward to ESO...TSW for me is only because for some reason I wanted to try a new MMORPG again...maybe to cover the time until ESO...or Space Citizen or Elite Frontier will be released. Just something to waste some time.

While in large parts different than Wow, many BASIC essentials are still the same. I simply cannot find fun in the eternal grind anymore...and the idea of acquiring SPs/skills, endlessly repeated quests for teh sake of advancement etc....it simply got old and the principle is the same in Wow, Swtor or TSW...

I have one MAJOR criticism about TSW and this is that the monster numbers are just insanely over-the-top with insane quick re-spawn rates and otherwise such as if they placed "a ton" of challenging monsters all over the world just for the sake of it to make "the game more difficult" but not in a smart or good way.

Example: You can never really clear a room. Say you go into a building, you see a number of zombies. You kill them....due to the insane fast re-spawn rate it's guaranteed some monsters will pop-up again in another corner of the room...just MINDLESSLY and entirely random. Or you clear a room, you leave the room and go back in, and the monsters are there again.

This was entirely different in Wow since you could strategically work toward a goal without random monsters spawning so fast. It's really annoying.

spiritspeak

spiritspeak
To me it's obvious humans are destined to merge with computers. Someday a game will be connected to the brain in a more direct fashion, might even be about transcending the material and ways to speak to spirits or any other immaterial beings. Meanwhile robots do most of the work, people stay in hibernation for years on end, plugged in maybe constructing their afterlife.

Maybe, but there is the possibility that robots (say those on the automotive floor assembly line) will or have already gained a dim awareness of themselves, this is digital awareness, just like the universe has had and stepped it down (because it was profitable for a growth opportunity) to include physical matter forms. You are way ahead of the game (fun). What is happening with the virtual world is a recombining of digital with physical matter (OR THE IDEA OF PLAYED OUT). Its here its obvious. I recognised it with cars 'suddenly accelerating out of control' (what? sentience?) and the law suits. Christine lives.

spiritspeak
Even with life span extension living a life in a virtual world full of stories of all times, maybe in adapted forms or variations doesn't sound too bad.

Its really not necessary; this is just a primer for life after bodydeath. I guess no one believes in reincarnation or "a kingdom" in afterlife unless you are fully doctrinized to a religious belief system. I see this as a new way to teach the human that IT IS NOT REAL it only seems so. The 'reality' is not of this dimension; the heavy third. Its the other lighter ones above this one. Just if not more 'real' because you can do anything a virtual world could offer you here. These games are just another way of telling the gamers, see; you will get it "eternal life' on some level even if its specious and irrelevant at the time.

reply to post by NoRulesAllowed


Wow was a great game to play and sometimes I miss being emerged in that world. I stop playing it 3-4 years ago after the Outlands add on. Still cant really think what game beats it, but in its peak time 5 + years ago it was close to perfect. The grind is what eventually wears people down, and the great difficulty of attaining good gear if your a casual player. I tried Eve online but quit because I didn't want to play a Morgh with monthly fees. Never played Tor heard to many bad reviews about it so I figured it was another Warhammer.

reply to post by NoRulesAllowed


We do it because we like to mimic nature. Maybe must be in a simulation in real life and mimic it by making virtual realities..

purplemer
reply to post by NoRulesAllowed

 

We do it because we like to mimic nature. Maybe must be in a simulation in real life and mimic it by making virtual realities..

Maybe the reality we are currently in is one big sophisticated virtual game, and has just not ended yet.

If anyone finds any cheats codes PM me.

Peace out,

RT

reply to post by RedmoonMWC


Oh crap... elder scrolls online? There goes any freetime or actual living I might do. Well, it looks really, really fun and as a Bethesda fan (Elder Scrolls and Fallout... two best game series ever) I'm feeling like a kid at xmas again... at forty something.

I hope to live long enough for really immersive, imaginative simulation game tech to develop... kinda like real life but better. Full sensory simulation, starting with visual goggles and ending with brain stimulation through em fields, will happen and is being developed now.

The people wondering why violence is the prime gaming mode, well... I'm not a violent person, but action gets the brain chems flowing in the simple games we have now... and an even virtual life at risk engages our psyche.

In the future, social interaction replete with witty rejoinders, flirting, sex, problem solving and exploring in exotic, carefully crafted worlds will be the norm... and shoot em ups (or hack and/or magic burn them ups) will seem as barbaric and funny as silent movies seem now.

Imagine meeting real people in a virtual space as malleable as a lucid dream. Over time and increasingly engaging tech it's possible we will evolve into brains in vats, plugged into a gaming network. Perhaps that's where we are now, only to end the game when dead here.

Imagine roaming the universe in your self designed starship, and nearly every planet found would hold a complete new world down the last pebble... the sky isn't even the limit and we'll be doing that exploring virtually long before any actuality.

The future will hold some neat chances at expression for game designers... or gods.

Just saw this recently and it explains it pretty well. I feel it's a replacement for something we're lacking in our lives. Our imaginations and brains need to carry out these primal tasks I guess. I also played Secret World for a while, I loved the complexity and the subject matter of it. I also play WoW the simplicity and story appealed to me as well.

crowdedskies
reply to post by NoRulesAllowed

 

Just thought I would speak for the minority ? - I mean those who never play computer games.

I have never been interested in computer games and ,to be honest, I have difficulty in understanding the addiction to things such as Xbox and Playstation. It is scary to see how people are so taken over by virtual games. Apparently it is even worse in countries such as Japan.

Ironically, I consider the gamers to be the real-life zombies. It is really sad that so many clever people have fallen prey to the virtual world and have effectively stopped "living".

Why do people do it ? In my view it could be a subconscious acknowledgment of failure to shape their environment. Sadly the more they retreat into the virtual world, the more it becomes difficult to impose the will on the surroundings.

While I can respect your perspective, I think it comes off as a bit naive/ignorant because you can't understand it. I guess I feel this way about people who drink alcohol, so I have empathy to your lack of comprehension towards people enjoying something you don't.

While -some- people may be addicted, wanting to engage in a hobby you enjoy is common. Do you have such disdain towards an individual that would spend as much time surfing? What about playing sudoku with a pen? People that waste their off days at a beach? What about wasting time and money at expensive movies ($60, two people, two hours)? What about the people who are obsessed with watching sports ... you know, spending thousands on seats for a game, hundreds for game parties or jerseys, superbowl betting, etc?

Are these people subconsciously acknowledging their failure at shaping their environment because they do things that I might find wasteful?

I'd consider the real life zombies to be the ones who can't choose for themselves; or mindlessly continue the rat race, participating in the commercialism. The ones who follow MSM and pick sides all the time like life is a game, and they forget the people all this division affects. You are being divisive against people who play games because it is different and outside your personal preference, and instead of trying to understand, you attacked. You assume they are no-lifers because you think they are wasting away.

See, I understand your viewpoint, I've dealt with it before. My mother, before she passed, was trying to be insistent that I 'get out more'. I like to be at home. I like to relax in my own house. I don't mind going somewhere now and then, but I have no drive to be at a beach every weekend, or to drive around all the time. I DID that, when I was a teenager. My wife and I enjoy being at home. Our kids are too young to do a lot of the park/beach stuff. We will take them, it is healthy; but if they want to play games? GREAT! because I will find educational games for them. If they want to be on a computer? Wonderful, typing is a great skill to learn young and a well set up parental controlled user will give me peace of mind about what they find.

It isn't what you do, but the state of mind you have when you do it.

Games in general aren't about violence. Most games are about being a hero. There are a lot of violent games. I knew someone who was in Iraq. He was having a lot of issues back home. He started playing Call of Duty; and it helped him psychologically. Prior to CoD, he was jumpy, he'd react to rocks on the road (fear of them being IEDs). After playing CoD in his free time, he mellowed out. The video games helped heal his mental wounds.

Now, I'm not into those FPS games, but I can respect the fact people like them and that it is good for some people, the same as I don't like war/military movies. I don't like horror movies or zombie movies, so I don't care for games of that genre either. I do play high fantasy games, simulation games, simple fun games, etc. I spend nearly nothing on games these days though.

The average gamer, spends less on their hobby than most others. They spend less than the sports fan. They spend less than an RC vehicle hobbyist. They spend less than the people who go to the movie theatre. They get more value for their money than most other hobbyists. And, if they play an 'MMO', they can get more social activity than the average person involved in their hobby, with a much larger pool of people. Some of those MMO servers have 10-20,000 people on them. There could be thousands of people they interact with at any moment. That is a lot more than the guy drinking beer watching the Packers while eating a cheese and sausages. Or more than the person basking in the sun ignoring the other beach goers. More interaction than you get while watching a movie at the theatre.


Games aren't for everyone. But other than water, food, and shelter, nothing is meant for everyone, not even love/companionship. Some people are happier alone. Gaming isn't a anti-social things for most people either. Many people not only type to each other, but use Skype or a VOIP to communicate, making it quite social. It may be hard for older people to comprehend, but it is the future. It is live, instant group calls to people around the world, even including video. People make friends this way now. It is valid for them to do so.

People that play MMOs spend 3-4 hours with up to 39 other people trying to cooperate and achieve goals together several nights a week. That is quite social, and healthy for most of them.

I'd never make assumptions towards others and their happiness like they have been made to me; because I don't like to drink, don't like bars/clubs, and don't care to socialize with random people or befriend the people I meet for no good reason. I've been told I was wrong because I keep a very small circle, and I felt pity for that person who believed I needed to share myself with the world to be happy.

I've never met anyone who called a gamer a zombie before though. While I can see why, I am saddened because it is an example of the battles left ahead for humanity in people accepting each other and what another enjoys doing even if it is something one doesn't understand or relate to personally.



To the one who asked if TSW is a replacement for WoW ... if you go into a game trying to compare it to something else, you are doing yourself and the new game a disservice. This is the problem a lot of new games in the genre are having, getting compared to the elephant in the room.

If you are looking for MMOs, Rift is free and the events are great for encouraging social cooperation, but I personally stopped because of the grind at high level. Tera is free and has no tab targeting and you have to dodge everything 'action' based combat, looks pretty. Star Wars: The Old Republic has the best story immersion of any MMO, like playing a movie; though free, the experience is better had paying for it though not necessary. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is quite fun, and the one I'd pay a subscription to first; the atmosphere, lighting, world is great, especially if an old FF fan. I would highly recommend any of those; but none will 'replace' WoW. They are separate and independent and should be played as such, with a clean slate. Have fun

I think it could be said about our entertainment industry as a whole. The killing and violence is something represented through the whole industry. I find myself enjoying videogames regardless, because one person or a team of people spent the time creating a world that they think will be captivating for about 6-8 hours and want to tell you a story there. The potential for something wildly creative is there but often is ignored for the same old.

reply to post by FreeThinkerIdealist

Thank you for an eloquently written post. I am sorry that I appeared to have disdain for gamers. That was not my intention.

I too like to spend time doing unproductive things such as basking on the beach; surfing (both internet and sea waves).

Because of my own path in life, I have established long ago that the virtual world (or you could call it astral world) has powerful repercussions (both positive and negative) on the so calles real world. Hence I believe that you can create something in your life by just lying on a beach and imagining.

Therefore my message was go ahead and imagine things that will change your life but do not inter-act with virtual characters. At least when you are spending time drinking ar watching movies it is very much a passive thing

I have played console games since pong and the atari days. I also played the original EQ (life stealer), SWG, WoW, DCUO, DAoC etc etc. I use it as a cheap form of entertainment, and to blow of steam. I had to back off on SWG and WoW because at times they were like second jobs. WoW week was log in do dailies for gold, farm for materiel for raids, setup raids, lead raids, keep vent server running, finding replacements at the last minute, rinse and repeat. It was literally a second job. I turned off my subscription 2 months ago and haven't missed it at all(of course this expansion sucked).

Console games I play sports mostly, with the occasional deadpool/batman title, nothing too serious. I am a nerd at heart.