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[cormack12]

Article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/ar...gs-to-the-sims-how-gaming-helps-mental-health

Thought this was an interesting topic, especially as mental health is such a big issue in the 'gaming community'. I thought it was cool to see a different perspective during the pandemic.

Joe Donnelly is a journalist, writer, video games enthusiast, and mental health advocate from Glasgow. He believes that contrary to popular belief, video games, can and do, save lives.

Sharing his experiences on The Afternoon Show he describes how after the death of his uncle in 2008, he launched himself into playing video games and found them invaluable in supporting him through his own experiences of depression.

"I'd always used video games as a means of escapism, to escape the monotony of anything that was going on in my life. But at a time when my life was quite turbulent and I found myself quite upset by the realities of my life... I threw myself into video games."

In navigating his own mental health, Joe found that contrary to common negative stereotypes of the online gaming world, being the preserve of young men, fixated and influenced by online violence. There were also diverse gaming communities dedicated to playing video games that provided support, community, and structure.

"I started writing a lot more about video games and at the same time discovered a wealth of games that were, exploring more somber, more interpersonal, and serious themes such as depression, OCD, alcoholism, and various other aspects of mental health, which I hadn't realised existed."

Fellow gamer Kyra Edwards agrees and explains how watching people play games helped her with her own mental health, [..] "When I'm having a really bad day I don't have the energy to do anything, so I tend to stare at a wall, so if I have something that will even remotely put me in a mindset of moving forward, it gives me perspective and emotion and I can feel engaged in something that I love."

I also think it can help with other mental capacity training like mindfulness and meditation etc. Some games like ringfit can promote activity to make people feel better or wii fitness etc.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Negative if you use it for escapism. Positive if you use it for genuine entertainment.

 

[FoundryMusic]

Games are positive. "Gamers" are negative.

 

[MasterDerico]

Negative if you use it for escapism. Positive if you use it for genuine entertainment.

99.9% use for both reasons.

 

[Roufianos]

Games are positive. "Gamers" are negative.

Sounds like something you'd read on another forum.

 

[Soodanim]

It’s an interesting discussion to be had.

I would say that overall it’s a positive medium. The escapism alone is something people undoubtedly lean on, with the article being evidence of that. There have been plenty of occasions where I’ve described a game as comfort food. Even a single music track in a JRPG can be calming when it’s well done.

There’s also the two sided coin that is multiplayer. One side is the angry teenagers on voice chat in Call of Duty, but that undoubtedly comes from competitive nature combined with the relative anonymity of being across the world from whoever you’re talking to. It’s also limited to a segment of games, and isn’t representative of the full gamut of what multiplayer has to offer, let alone games in general. Co-op can give that sense of teamwork and partnership that I imagine plenty of people out there aren’t getting. A socially awkward introvert might have trouble making friends in school, but when he drops his summon sign in Dark Souls and helps someone out none of that matters. Or, adding text or voice chat in, other co-op games. People can experience the kindness of strangers that they might not be getting in real life, and that can make a big difference. It’s no coincidence that people out there maintain long term friendships with people they’ve never met. Pop on Reddit and you’ll see stories of people who were friends online for XX years and eventually one of them jumped on a plane to go meet them. That’s the other side of the coin.

Of course there’s the potential to lean too far into that world and neglect the real life, but that’s going outside of the scope of games.

 

[hybrid_birth]

As someone with a mental illness, i can attest to the positive effects of video games on mental health. Being able to chat with my friends online while playing games brings a social element to my life. Something i don't have due to covid.

It brings me laughter and happiness. That's just one positive thing about video games on mental health.

Of course there could be negative effects too. If you neglect other healthy things in your life due to games.

 

[Chukhopops]

I think there isn’t a single answer since it would be different for SP and MP games, playing DotA2 or LoL on Eastern European servers is not the same as watering your garden in Animal Crossing.

During confinement I think it’s been a net positive so people could keep interacting and escape reality a little bit.

 

[martino]

i think looking for absolute anwser one way or another here can only lead to disappointment. You need to look at it on a case per case basis because we are talking complex interactions of multiple things (social ones especially)

 

[IanH]

I use gaming as escapism from depression and loneliness suffering from in major way. Am aware of amount of time spend gaming, either reading online reviews and YouTube etc as well as actually playing is considerable but have been advised by CBT therapist this is ok if its something I enjoy. Advised try use this as way can make friends and alleviate negativity in life. Loved gaming all life since ZX Spectrum days but yet find friends similar interest. This all ok til suffered bike crash causing epilepsy where now unable work and lost all pals/relationships. Still to play online MP have every console & pc (except ps5,) just feels weird. Guess confidence lost when friends disappeared and Stigma grew.

 

[theHFIC]

Positive for playing them.

Negative for discussing or having opinions about them on any public forum.

 

[Enjay]

Negative. Nowadays all video games usually do is prey upon compulsive behavior.

 

[Reptars Revenge]

Positive, I did my biomechanics engineering thesis on the benefits of video games. Yeah you got them cash stealing mobile games but so many are used for rehabilitation and helping those with disabilities.

 

[Zeroing]

Hmm, this is an interesting topic.

There’s a saying in art that oddly enough is starting to be applied to video games

Confort those who are uncomfortable, unconfort those who are comfortable

Or something like these lines.

I would say neutral, it really depends on what were the mechanics and intentions of the developers.

 

[Renozokii]

I think boiling anything down to a net positive or negative is flat out wrong in its logic. A lot of people would call soda a net negative to society but there are people that drink it in proper moderation purely to get some pleasure from a taste they enjoy and don’t suffer any adverse health effects as a result. It’s not soda fault people can’t help themselves and drink the stuff 10 times a day. Those that have a can of coke as a treat once a week would consider it a net positive.

Gaming at its best can deal with serious issues, tell compelling narratives with a level of immersion not possible in movies or tv, be used for rehabilitation purposes, and be used for social applications where even a 30 year old guy with a major disability can have a laughing fit with some 16 year old high schooler hundreds of miles away while killing some zombies in cod.

At its worst you see situations like loot boxing where kids are literally being exposed to gambling at far too young an age, mass racism and misogyny due to the anonymity of it all, and people literally pissing their life away addicted to some jrpg getting their heads filled with the idea of the ideal women having the waist of ps5 standing up and tits the size of watermelons.

I think gaming is good like most things, in moderation. Get off work not shit to do? Play a few hours. New game comes out you are excited for? If you have the money and can take some off work to get lost in a dope new world, go ahead fuck it.

 

[Sidesalad]

Oh boy, this is a loaded topic. TLDR: They can be both.

For several points in my life, mainly high school, and covid lockdown, I used them as escapism. Reality was sucking so hard, the only thing I wanted to do was not think about it. In both cases, I just had to keep moving on, it's not like I could have just said "I'll just skip high school", or "I'll make covid disappear". I just had to get through the days. And gaming was an infinitely better alternative to substance abuse.

That's not to say all games were good forms of escapism. In high school, I mainly played World of Warcraft (vanilla) and have so many good memories from it. It remains to be the only game I ever made a significant number of in game friends in. I loved the guild I was a part of. Every day I looked forward to just logging in and running around Orgrimmar and talking with my guildies.

Contrast that with Genshin Impact which I played probably 300+ hours of in three months. Getting addicted to a Gacha game, especially when I had almost no money to spend on it felt like being in an abusive relationship. The more I played it, the more I felt like I was being punished because I wasn't spending thousands to get full constellations of 4 stars, or more 5 star characters. I finally admitted how negatively it was affecting my mental health and deleted it.

It's been about three months now, and I can now look back on it not with fond memories like World of Warcraft, but with absolute revulsion and hatred.

So yeah, not all games are the same, and not everyone needs the same things from games either. Also, depending on what's going on in your real life, you might want to play different types of games.

 

[IanH]

Positive, I did my biomechanics engineering thesis on the benefits of video games. Yeah you got them cash stealing mobile games but so many are used for rehabilitation and helping those with disabilities.

thank-you. Read up on benefits of gaming distracting mind from negativity when depressed and struggling during Lockdown etc..
Your Positive has helped the 2 previous confusing negatives. Made me feel better already than keeping feelings ’bottled up’.
Unable have an opinion on a forum site?..

 

[Reindeer]

Generally negative today with the way modern day games prey on people and making them into compulsive addicts and gamblers. Also the fact that so many introverts are into compulsive gaming doesn't help, they would be much better off doing real world things instead of buying themselves with something that makes them more antisocial. All good things are in balance.

 

[Fulcizombie]

Positive by far for me. Videogames have helped me go through some very tough times in my life that other entertainment stuff fails (books, tv/movies, music). The fact that you have to be engaged in a videogame mentally helps a lot and takes the bad thoughts away.
Oh and no, despite what some people might think, being social when facing tough times actually doesn’t help at all.

 

[Astral Dog]

Yes

 

[IanH]

Just so tough break out of depression and loneliness caused by stigma of mental health issues. Get out to enjoy photography in countryside then return to gaming, but that’s it. lockdown prevented all current therapy to Meetup in groups etc..
Not gamble in any way my gaming. All SP RPG, shooters, racing etc..

 

[Clear]

Games are great. Gaming culture is dysfunctional as fuck though.

 

[jaysius]

If this board shows anything, it's that gaming is extremely detrimental to certain extremely obsessive personalities, most people here waste more time ranting and creating imaginary tech than actually playing games. Too obsessed with "winning" a battle that they have no stake in, simply because they're brainwashed and always think there needs to be some sort of imagined victory and the "loser" needs to give up and walk away. These people can't even see the world as black and white, they see it as only their side and the other side is completely wrong and needs to cease to exist. There's never any catharsis either, they just hunt for their next endless battle, it's a sickness that is cyclic and doing more damage to them than they really understand. At first it was entertaining when this generations console war began, but this is really dragging on, but that entertainment has turned into pity for people whose minds are warped and they think they're actually doing good for their "side" when they're only spouting nonsense and using ad hominin to "win" discussions. Those discussions end on their sides and they think they've won but in reality the other person just realizes that the "opponent" isn't near to any wavelength of reason.

 

[Jeeves]

Depends on if you're playing MOBAs or not.

 

[Bragr]

The problem is the time-consuming nature of it. If it develops into a negative behaviour it can suck up days, weeks, months, years.

I am always interested in new games and always have things to play, I can't get enough of it, and find myself having to force myself to stay away from it, as it quickly consumes my entire day. It really sets you back if you can't control it, it did for me in my past.

 

[Rikkori]

Depends on if you're playing MOBAs or not.

Exactly my first thought, in particular dota for me. Realised a long time ago during a match that it was just negative for the most part, and I don't mean because there's people cursing each other out and raging all the time. So if not played competitively (and thus with a fixed crew, and mostly in-house scrims) then it was absolutely dumb to keep playing, and that's when I quit.

It's easy to look at most team PvP games and recognise a lot of the same patterns.

Don't have a single bad thing to say about any of my single-player gaming though.

 

[Shai-Tan]

The problem is the time-consuming nature of it. If it develops into a negative behaviour it can suck up days, weeks, months, years.

I am always interested in new games and always have things to play, I can't get enough of it, and find myself having to force myself to stay away from it, as it quickly consumes my entire day. It really sets you back if you can't control it, it did for me in my past.

Yeah, any activity that interferes with other aspects of your life could be considered a problem. It’s not necessarily pathological to be addicted to a game e.g. I tend to get addicted to playing card games too much but theres no bad consequences from it other than me wishing I had spent the time doing something else (so I deleted all those games and hid them from my Steam list). But if interferes with anything important it is a problem.

Sometimes the game itself is less the problem than social isolation e.g. someone playing World of Warcraft too much might be stuck to the game because of the community. Community is good but it could be considered bad if it displaces other more meaningful relationships or personal development

 

[Reptars Revenge]

thank-you. Read up on benefits of gaming distracting mind from negativity when depressed and struggling during Lockdown etc..
Your Positive has helped the 2 previous confusing negatives. Made me feel better already than keeping feelings ’bottled up’.
Unable have an opinion on a forum site?..

Oh yeah I read an article on that, another great point

 

[Fulcizombie]

If this board shows anything, it's that gaming is extremely detrimental to certain extremely obsessive personalities, most people here waste more time ranting and creating imaginary tech than actually playing games. Too obsessed with "winning" a battle that they have no stake in, simply because they're brainwashed and always think there needs to be some sort of imagined victory and the "loser" needs to give up and walk away. These people can't even see the world as black and white, they see it as only their side and the other side is completely wrong and needs to cease to exist. There's never any catharsis either, they just hunt for their next endless battle, it's a sickness that is cyclic and doing more damage to them than they really understand. At first it was entertaining when this generations console war began, but this is really dragging on, but that entertainment has turned into pity for people whose minds are warped and they think they're actually doing good for their "side" when they're only spouting nonsense and using ad hominin to "win" discussions. Those discussions end on their sides and they think they've won but in reality the other person just realizes that the "opponent" isn't near to any wavelength of reason.

Console wars are great fun, people that are offended by them are the ones that have issues.

 

[Alright]

If you game to cover up you're boredom, it's negative.

 

[Kimahri]

Negative if you use it for escapism. Positive if you use it for genuine entertainment.

This is an overly simplistic way of looking at it. I mainly used games for entertainment, but I've used them as escapism when I've been going through difficult times, and it's been absolutely invaluable.

 

[Schmick]

Certainly positive over the lockdowns. Meant i could keep in contact with friends playing MP games.

 

[FourEyesGod]

This is an overly simplistic way of looking at it. I mainly used games for entertainment, but I've used them as escapism when I've been going through difficult times, and it's been absolutely invaluable.

exactly, i love video games since i was a child, and as i grow up without a father, problems in family, the only things that keeps me going was games, as when i play i dont think about anything else i just feel free, now that i am 30 i used games for both entertainment and escapism and it work just fine.

 

[Kimahri]

exactly, i love video games since i was a child, and as i grow up without a father, problems in family, the only things that keeps me going was games, as when i play i dont think about anything else i just feel free, now that i am 30 i used games for both entertainment and escapism and it work just fine.

Yeah, you just have to not let it take over. I've never had a problem with that, so it's been golden for me.

 

[RedWhiteBlue]

Article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/ar...gs-to-the-sims-how-gaming-helps-mental-health

Thought this was an interesting topic, especially as mental health is such a big issue in the 'gaming community'. I thought it was cool to see a different perspective during the pandemic.







I also think it can help with other mental capacity training like mindfulness and meditation etc. Some games like ringfit can promote activity to make people feel better or wii fitness etc.

What's interesting about the article is that maybe it was actually his writing and the communities he found that helped with his depression. Not necessarily the games.

I kind of hate this idea that videogames can save the world and save us all from depression or something.

We've had books and radio and TV and movies for a long time and they provide the same kind of story telling experiences as games. So it's not really a new thing.

We don't really have a book or movie equivalent to lootboxes or gambling type games. So the blanket idea that games can save lives can almost be a bit dangerous.

A bit like making the argument that if you smoke then when you go out to pubs etc you will get to socialise with people in the smoking area so my friend Dave was depressed as fuck but then he took up smoking and he met his future wife in the smoking area of a nightclub and now they have 3 kids and a house! See, smoking can be great!

A lot of overthinking about games as a medium and a form of entertainment. There was no Internet when the printing press was invented or when VHS and Betamax brought movies onto the TV at home so we couldn't know if the same conversations were happening back then.

For every college student proclaiming games as the great cure for depression there will be some kid addicted to Fortnite developing mental health issues while locked away in self isolation.

 

[Videospel]

If you game to cover up you're boredom, it's negative.

Why?

 

[Gloomnivore]

Negative for many. As you’d expect for something that’s basically an addiction.

 

[_Ex_]

It's all about moderation. If you are playing video games so often that the activity negatively affects life responsibilities and goals, than that's a problem. If you are going into serious debt buying video games, then that's a problem. If you are using video games as recreational entertainment, in moderation, within a budget, then that's not a problem. Also escapism is not a problem. The point of entertainment, in any medium, is escapism. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves.

 

[RedWhiteBlue]

Why?

I think because the poster means it will not deal with the root cause of the problem.

In some cases it could cause even more problems.

Obviously things would be different on a case by case basis but if someone is bored and they discover that sitting in their room all day playing Fortnite and spending v-bucks dispells that boredom then it might lead to worse issues.

The second example in the BBC article is a bit troubling.

Fellow gamer Kyra Edwards agrees and explains how watching people play games helped her with her own mental health, "I suffer from depression and OCD and most of my days are incredibly hard. I often don't have a schedule or anything like that, so having YouTube, Twitch, and Discord gives me a schedule to follow"

The idea that having an all day schedule of Twitch streams and YouTube is somehow a good thing or a valid way out of depression and OCD is potentially a dangerous message.

Like, if you heard about someone who just sits at home and watches TV for a living you'd have to imagine it's not good for them. Sure there is a TV schedule and maybe they watch an episode of this and an episode of that and then a movie and then the news and then a documentary and then it's bedtime. Now repeat it again. That's probably not good.

Because it's videogames then that's aspirational to spend all day on Twitch and YouTube because that's what gets her through the day.

I don't really feel like it's a positive.

I think using videogames to treat a problem is probably not great advice.

 

[Alright]

Why?

Same as drugs.

If you do it to cover up or hide boredom, it's bad for you.

If you do it to enhance your pre-existing enjoyment it can be good for you.

On the whole though, screen time is bad.

 

[Jeeves]

Exactly my first thought, in particular dota for me. Realised a long time ago during a match that it was just negative for the most part, and I don't mean because there's people cursing each other out and raging all the time. So if not played competitively (and thus with a fixed crew, and mostly in-house scrims) then it was absolutely dumb to keep playing, and that's when I quit.

It's easy to look at most team PvP games and recognise a lot of the same patterns.

Don't have a single bad thing to say about any of my single-player gaming though.

To be honest I've never even played a MOBA, I just know the reputation. It does seem like the genre was unwittingly designed in a way that brings out the very worst in people.

 

[Alright]

What's interesting about the article is that maybe it was actually his writing and the communities he found that helped with his depression. Not necessarily the games.

I kind of hate this idea that videogames can save the world and save us all from depression or something.

We've had books and radio and TV and movies for a long time and they provide the same kind of story telling experiences as games. So it's not really a new thing.

We don't really have a book or movie equivalent to lootboxes or gambling type games. So the blanket idea that games can save lives can almost be a bit dangerous.

A bit like making the argument that if you smoke then when you go out to pubs etc you will get to socialise with people in the smoking area so my friend Dave was depressed as fuck but then he took up smoking and he met his future wife in the smoking area of a nightclub and now they have 3 kids and a house! See, smoking can be great!

A lot of overthinking about games as a medium and a form of entertainment. There was no Internet when the printing press was invented or when VHS and Betamax brought movies onto the TV at home so we couldn't know if the same conversations were happening back then.

For every college student proclaiming games as the great cure for depression there will be some kid addicted to Fortnite developing mental health issues while locked away in self isolation.

I think because the poster means it will not deal with the root cause of the problem.

In some cases it could cause even more problems.

Obviously things would be different on a case by case basis but if someone is bored and they discover that sitting in their room all day playing Fortnite and spending v-bucks dispells that boredom then it might lead to worse issues.

The second example in the BBC article is a bit troubling.

Fellow gamer Kyra Edwards agrees and explains how watching people play games helped her with her own mental health, "I suffer from depression and OCD and most of my days are incredibly hard. I often don't have a schedule or anything like that, so having YouTube, Twitch, and Discord gives me a schedule to follow"

The idea that having an all day schedule of Twitch streams and YouTube is somehow a good thing or a valid way out of depression and OCD is potentially a dangerous message.

Like, if you heard about someone who just sits at home and watches TV for a living you'd have to imagine it's not good for them. Sure there is a TV schedule and maybe they watch an episode of this and an episode of that and then a movie and then the news and then a documentary and then it's bedtime. Now repeat it again. That's probably not good.

Because it's videogames then that's aspirational to spend all day on Twitch and YouTube because that's what gets her through the day.

I don't really feel like it's a positive.

I think using videogames to treat a problem is probably not great advice.

Excellent posts. I would go as far as saying that games are less intellectually and mentally stimulating, as a whole, as they used to be. And instead of stimulating the mind and requiring you to think outside the box, nowadays it's a dopamine hit cycle of follow shiny glowing trail and press button. That simplification can't be good for us?

Whether or not that leads to more or less problems, I have no idea. It would be interesting to see though

 

[alabtrosMyster]

I kind of hate this idea that videogames can save the world and save us all from depression or something.

Me too, I love games, but staying in and sitting in all day, be it games, movies or books (assuming this is your main distraction)... It would make me feel depressed. Mind you, I have never been one to sit and play for a full day, ever, even as a kid, often half a day at a time, or morning, then evening, etc. but rarely a full day, certainly not two.

I find what makes me feel really good is going outside and see the world, especially mountains and large bodies of water for some reason, I can observe nature downtown too.

 

[LordOfChaos]

I'll never get people who are like

Stories: Cool
Stories with interactive problem solving: Bad somehow

As the article rightly says games can portray just as many stories and emotions as other forms of media and absolutely should be regarded as a similar art form.


Anything in excess, of course, can be harmful. Games used as an escape rather than facing your problems can be a harmful thing. But so can excessive reading or TV watching.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

If you play one or two single player games per month mixed in with other hobbies and socializing that's a net positive.

If you endlessly play multiplayer games that's a net negative.

 

[Diddy X]

Negative if you use it for escapism. Positive if you use it for genuine entertainment.

 

[RedWhiteBlue]

Excellent posts. I would go as far as saying that games are less intellectually and mentally stimulating, as a whole, as they used to be. And instead of stimulating the mind and requiring you to think outside the box, nowadays it's a dopamine hit cycle of follow shiny glowing trail and press button. That simplification can't be good for us?

Whether or not that leads to more or less problems, I have no idea. It would be interesting to see though

I'm never really sure.

I think some people believe that because games are more interactive then a man playing a game as a female character will gain some kind of insight into the experience of being a woman. As an example.

This kind of ignores real life experiences and connections. Like spending time and connecting with your mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friends, girlfriend, wife etc would somehow be LESS valuable that spending 5 hours completing some preachy indie game made by some 25 year old in San Francisco.

I think people got this idea that because you "play as" a character that somehow you unlock understanding by default and aren't distracted constantly by your phone or traffic outside or the dog needing attention etc. Like playing God of War won't teach you too much about being a father. Being an actual father will. Or just, you know, listening to actual people will.

The whole Twitch and YouTube segment is disturbing because you have to hope that surely we are not just writing off depressed young people by suggesting they just stay home and watch other people play videogames on Twitch and hope that fixes things.

At least with COD or FIFA they are just games in the same way that table tennis or pictionary are games. Good fun with friends but maybe not quite as good as playing team sports and getting all that physical exercise too.

I don't want to dunk on indies too much but here it's almost like everyone got stuck on this idea since Depression Quest was a thing. The idea that games purporting to be about deep, social, issues are going to teach us all how to understand life and live more compassionately. Like you'll get a handful of games with Humble Bundle and by next week you'll be a true person of the world who knows all about politics and has the solution to every social issue.

Its all just a few clicks away!

 

[jaysius]

Console wars are great fun, people that are offended by them are the ones that have issues.

HILARIOUS as I stated already

AD HOMINEMN: marked by or being an attack on an opponent's character rather than by an answer to the contentions made

I was never "offended" by it, it's observation and that reply proves my point.


Also, as has been mentioned over and over, gaming can be dangerous to an OBSESSIVE personality, as it gives false validation that systems/perceived worlds work in the orders that might align with the OBSESSIVE person's obsessive behaviors, ie reward for extremely repetitive behaviors like a grind game, or shooter looter, doing the exact same activity repeatedly yielding a positive result thanks to RNG. This only make an obsessives behavior seem valid.

Also there are too many tubers and other people that clump OCD with OCPD many people don't understand that there's a difference.

Here's a snippet:

EMOTIONAL DIFFERENCES​

People with OCD are more likely to feel anxious when specific things aren’t the way they want them to be. People with OCPD are more likely to feel angry if things aren’t the way they believe they should be.

So a game that has the repetitive behavior rewarded will cause both types of obsessives a certain amount of discomfort, but it impacts BOTH negatively.

You've probably heard about people that get so angry they destroy controllers or act out in other negative fashions when games aren't going their way... UH OH that means they MIGHT have OCPD or they might not, either way instead of laughing at those people or egging them on in other ways, we should try to open their eyes. Yes a good "I destroyed my controller on the 15th attempt at hard boss" posts are initially amusing, but you should feel empathy for that person instead.

The key here is as many people have already said but it's VERY HARD with the weight of a digital world gaining ground in this mandatory isolation world we're now living in. But you need to RECOGNIZE that this is happening to you, then you need to step back from gaming, you don't have to quit it, but you need to STEP BACK and realign it with ENTERTAINMENT(something you do for fun) instead of ESCAPISM(something you do to avoid/replace reality).

What makes this all harder, is that these people don't recognize it as an ISSUE, and it's very hard to do so. It's awkward when there's a mirror showing you who you really are. The only way to really fight this is through information, become informed and being to recognize, then seek help.

 

[Reality Czar]

Ugh not a fan of the OP quote. Games are not better than books or paintings. They can be. They have the potential. But art doesn't work like that. It's not like a movie is inherently better than a painting. It's not like when photography came out all paintings were useless.

Furthermore I don't like the stress on "education and inform" as if that is the role of art. LOL "Serious and wholesome stories"? Seems more like something a propogandist would say.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Honestly I personally feel like they can go either way. It just really depends on the person and situation.

For me, it's a huge positive. They help me chill, unwind, and relax. Just a nice piece of entertainment that requires more attention and reactive interaction.

But various forms of art & entertainment is completely subjective. Of course video games are huge for me and a lot of us here. But there ARE people out there that don't share the same opinion, haha.