5 ms·

This is exactly how it is for me too. When I was younger I would feel so connected to the game world, and the wonders of exploring the game world were real won

This is exactly how it is for me too. When I was younger I would feel so connected to the game world, and the wonders of exploring the game world were real wonders to me. Discovering some new village in Ultima 6 made me feel like a great adventurer. A finder of something. If it was important in the game world then it was important. These days it falls out just like you wrote: if I try to play a game, I mess around for a bit and then think: I could spend this time doing something creative. Making something, learning something. If I found some modern equivalent of a hidden city in a game, I'd think: so what? Who fucking cares? What does that get me? I still can't figure out if this means there's something really wrong with me, that I can't even enjoy meaningless pursuits; or maybe that my sense of 'meaning' is so restricted; or if it's the opposite, and my reticence to do those things is a sign that I'm spending time the right way, or at least, that I have the right objective function in how I evaluate my time? Of course, I'm a miserable bastard. That's probably an important data point. But I'm not sure how I could change even if I was sure that I should.

santaclaus 10y ago
> Discovering some new village in Ultima 6 made me feel like a great adventurer. I find that joy of discovery varies wildly game to game. I could never get into Bethesda RPGs, new or old. There is lots to discover in an Elder Scrolls game, but none of it feels like it has much weight or import. When the Ultima games really hit their stride (V through VII p2), discoveries had weight and import. The Witcher games feel similar, to me, I spent way to much time exploring every damn polygon in the world. I can't really pinpoint why these games feel so different, but hey, I still find new games to trigger that same sense of wonder.
- enraged_camel 10y ago
  It's about depth. The world of Witcher 3 might as well be an actual world, with its utterly insane level of detail and scale. It has deep lore, history, politics, drama, intrigue, friendship, love, loss, humor. Everything is believable. No other game I've played over the past 15 years is like it. Skyrim came kinda close but that was after a ton of modding and fixing.
deleted 10y ago
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enraged_camel 10y ago
I'm the same way, although my thinking is more along the lines of "man, instead of playing this game I should go meet girls so that I don't die single." :P
gohrt 10y ago
Videogames (and most art and literature) are at there best when they can expose you things you couldn't imagine without them. When you are a ~teenage, old enough to understand things, but still inexperienced enough to not understand so much, they are a font of mental stimulation. Videogames taught me (some) history, geology, geography, chemistry, phsyics, math, psychology, anthropology, etc, etc. But as I got older (and as Internet got better), there were more and more real things to learn about, and life skills to work at (earning real money, doing real exercise, meeting real people), and a lot of videogame tropes stopped being novel. So they hold less appeal.
groovy2shoes 10y ago
> I still can't figure out if this means there's something really wrong with me, that I can't even enjoy meaningless pursuits; or maybe that my sense of 'meaning' is so restricted; or if it's the opposite, and my reticence to do those things is a sign that I'm spending time the right way, or at least, that I have the right objective function in how I evaluate my time? Neither. Your interests have just changed as time has passed. Now, I'm in the same boat as you and GP, nowadays not really enjoying the same types of games that I used to. However, there are some things I still enjoy, and there are new things I've discovered that I enjoy. Any psychologist will tell you that your waning interest in something is only a problem if your interest is waning in general, and that as long as you still have something you're still interested in, not a problem. Otherwise, it may or may not be a sign of depression, burnout, or other malady, in which case I'd urge you to see a counselor or therapist, perhaps even a psychiatrist. That said, it's important not to think of media consumption as "wasting time", per se. There's a point where it can become a problem, but for most people playing games or watching TV is a vital source of stress relief. I myself have fallen into (and am still in...) the trap of feeling like if I'm not constantly doing something productive, I'm wasting my time. It's important to slow down once in a while and give yourself a break when you need one, and to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, etc.

santaclaus 10y ago

> Discovering some new village in Ultima 6 made me feel like a great adventurer. I find that joy of discovery varies wildly game to game. I could never get into Bethesda RPGs, new or old. There is lots to discover in an Elder Scrolls game, but none of it feels like it has much weight or import. When the Ultima games really hit their stride (V through VII p2), discoveries had weight and import. The Witcher games feel similar, to me, I spent way to much time exploring every damn polygon in the world. I can't really pinpoint why these games feel so different, but hey, I still find new games to trigger that same sense of wonder.

enraged_camel 10y ago
It's about depth. The world of Witcher 3 might as well be an actual world, with its utterly insane level of detail and scale. It has deep lore, history, politics, drama, intrigue, friendship, love, loss, humor. Everything is believable. No other game I've played over the past 15 years is like it. Skyrim came kinda close but that was after a ton of modding and fixing.

deleted 10y ago

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enraged_camel 10y ago

I'm the same way, although my thinking is more along the lines of "man, instead of playing this game I should go meet girls so that I don't die single." :P

gohrt 10y ago

Videogames (and most art and literature) are at there best when they can expose you things you couldn't imagine without them. When you are a ~teenage, old enough to understand things, but still inexperienced enough to not understand so much, they are a font of mental stimulation. Videogames taught me (some) history, geology, geography, chemistry, phsyics, math, psychology, anthropology, etc, etc. But as I got older (and as Internet got better), there were more and more real things to learn about, and life skills to work at (earning real money, doing real exercise, meeting real people), and a lot of videogame tropes stopped being novel. So they hold less appeal.

groovy2shoes 10y ago

> I still can't figure out if this means there's something really wrong with me, that I can't even enjoy meaningless pursuits; or maybe that my sense of 'meaning' is so restricted; or if it's the opposite, and my reticence to do those things is a sign that I'm spending time the right way, or at least, that I have the right objective function in how I evaluate my time? Neither. Your interests have just changed as time has passed. Now, I'm in the same boat as you and GP, nowadays not really enjoying the same types of games that I used to. However, there are some things I still enjoy, and there are new things I've discovered that I enjoy. Any psychologist will tell you that your waning interest in something is only a problem if your interest is waning in general, and that as long as you still have something you're still interested in, not a problem. Otherwise, it may or may not be a sign of depression, burnout, or other malady, in which case I'd urge you to see a counselor or therapist, perhaps even a psychiatrist. That said, it's important not to think of media consumption as "wasting time", per se. There's a point where it can become a problem, but for most people playing games or watching TV is a vital source of stress relief. I myself have fallen into (and am still in...) the trap of feeling like if I'm not constantly doing something productive, I'm wasting my time. It's important to slow down once in a while and give yourself a break when you need one, and to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, etc.