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Video game addiction is a real problem. I spent my freshman year of college rooming with man-children who played video games non-stop. They didn't explore the c

Video game addiction is a real problem. I spent my freshman year of college rooming with man-children who played video games non-stop. They didn't explore the city, they didn't meet new people, they just played video games in the dark, screaming into their headsets and eating their takeout at their desk. People can certainly have a healthy, fruitful relationship to video games but since then I haven't felt the need to touch a game.

echelon 5y ago
I know people are different and I'm not wired the same way, but I have trouble understanding how people can play games for more than a few hours a week. Games like Pac Man and Tetris are algorithmic workloads. It's not much different than driving a semi or forklift, except you're not paid by a company for the work you do. It puts human brains closer to acting and performing as algorithmic worker bee agents. Modern AAA titles are the same thing, just with more degrees of freedom. I understand that there are dopamine triggers, but game engines subject players to the same repetitive thing over and over until the game ends. Kill this thing, collect 12 pelts, etc. There aren't very many variations on this theme, either. I can't grapple with how this squares with the limited time we have in life. I think the best argument from my perspective is that Animal Crossing has you literally working to pay off a fake mortgage to buy digital items you don't need. You shouldn't stress out over a game. I've enjoyed games for their mood, setting, music, and narrative, but gameplay itself is work. I'd rather just have a movie or narrative story. I already work too much.
- christkv 5y ago
  Most games are power fantasies as well as narratives. You get to role play as a overpowered avatar.
- zabzonk 5y ago
  > I'd rather just have a movie or narrative Open world games _are_ the equivalent of movies or narratives. think Skyrim, for example.
  - leetcrew 5y ago
    I think the point is you actually have to do stuff (often menial collect n of thing tasks) to advance the plot. once the suspension of disbelief is broken, you are no longer a valiant hero saving the kingdom. you are pushing buttons to complete arbitrary tasks that trigger the next cutscene. if you don't enjoy the core gameplay, why not just cut out the tedium and watch tv or a movie?
    - zabzonk 5y ago
      > why not just cut out the tedium and watch tv or a movie? Well, I would dispute it is tedium (particularly compared with watching a modern Hollywood production, and particularly watching TV) - I like exploring and finding new and strange areas of the world.
- heylook 5y ago
  > I already work too much. That’s your problem. Repetition, mindlessness, boredom, flow are different facets of the same phenomenon. When your ancestors needed to build a shelter, they spent hours and hours chopping, hewing, digging, etc etc. Birds have nests, bees have hives, beavers have dams; the list goes on and on. It’s perfectly normal to find some amount of busywork soothing. You hit your cap at work; others don’t. There are also those with real addictions where it inhibits their ability to accomplish other goals, but that’s true of tons of habits that scratch the same itch.
  - courtf 5y ago
    Not to mention, many jobs actively encourage this busywork grind, giving out more money for more grinding. So you get trained to chase the rabbit, but then you lose your job or something happens that makes it harder for you to get employed and you are left satisfying these ingrained habits any way you can, just so you don't go nuts. Video games can fill that need for grinding and give a feeling of virtual progress, but they aren't necessarily the source for that drive in humans. I blame school and work for training us to be this way, like a Skinner box. I don't blame young men for getting hooked on video games, even though it can become an unhealthy coping mechanism.
- leetcrew 5y ago
  I kinda agree with you. as I get older, more games feel like repetitive work than fun. I think I finish some games more because I want to feel like I got my money's worth than because I actually enjoyed them. still, some multiplayer games get me absolutely hooked for a while. a well-designed multiplayer game can be a never-ending stream of novel situations. open-ended puzzle games like factorio are always fun (for me) with a couple good friends. for some reason it never feels like work, even though it's fairly close to what I just did from 9-5.
- tenebrisalietum 5y ago
  I think since most online games have chat rooms or other such social aspects, and also the game is there to provide an inherent icebreaker activity when speaking with others, online games tended replaced older hangout-style social activities for some people. The game being work, but not hard work, provides a number of things beneficial to easy social interaction: a reason to be there, typically an easy way to add value (within the game) and therefore have a reason to approach groups you aren't a member of and potentially join or meet, and an overall good background for chat/conversation without necessarily coming off as desperate or creepy.
- username90 5y ago
  Work and games are the same activities. The only difference is whether someone cares about the end result, and hence will complain if you don't do it properly, take your time or go explore different areas. Having a casual conversation is fun. Being forced to have casual conversations with people all that long is work. And so on etc.
david-gpu 5y ago
Not a psychologist, but I would guess that playing games at all times is more a symptom than a cause. A symptom of depression? A coping mechanism for chronic anxiety? A happy well adjusted person does not try so hard to escape reality or responsibilities. Demeaning them by calling them man-children is not going to help them in the slightest.
- depressedx 5y ago
  Depression is often characterised by a struggle in finding the motivation / desire to do something you love: if they love video games and can play them 12 hours a day, it's very possible they simply... don't care about the outside world. A job, family, exploring the world, these are all things some people just don't like. They don't have to have mental illness in order to spend their lives doing one thing!
  - zabzonk 5y ago
    > They don't have to have mental illness in order to spend their lives doing one thing! I'd argue that doing one thing for the rest of your life is a classic definition of mental illness.
    - waynesonfire 5y ago
      I disagree, it's an mental illness if it interferes in your desired pursuit. For example, there is nothing wrong with playing games ur whole life.. except if you decide you want to get a girlfriend and can't. Now you're dealing with a mental illness.
      - wizzwizz4 5y ago
        Also if it interferes with your health, and a few other things. If playing video games takes precedence over, say, taking regular showers, or even basic exercise? I'd call that a mental illness too. But I agree with the main point: “person wants to live in a way I don't like” is not mental illness.
    - 5y ago
JoeAltmaier 5y ago
One young man in my boy's cohort got addicted. Sat and drank beer and played video games until exhausted; then slept on the couch and repeat the next day. Two years later, died of liver failure.
- InvertedRhodium 5y ago
  Are you sure he didn't have an alcohol addiction? I'm not convinced inactivity and video games lead to liver failure.
  - JoeAltmaier 5y ago
    Drank nothing but beer. No solid food. Skeletal by the end. So call it what you will.
Chris2048 5y ago
What made them "man-children"?

echelon 5y ago

I know people are different and I'm not wired the same way, but I have trouble understanding how people can play games for more than a few hours a week. Games like Pac Man and Tetris are algorithmic workloads. It's not much different than driving a semi or forklift, except you're not paid by a company for the work you do. It puts human brains closer to acting and performing as algorithmic worker bee agents. Modern AAA titles are the same thing, just with more degrees of freedom. I understand that there are dopamine triggers, but game engines subject players to the same repetitive thing over and over until the game ends. Kill this thing, collect 12 pelts, etc. There aren't very many variations on this theme, either. I can't grapple with how this squares with the limited time we have in life. I think the best argument from my perspective is that Animal Crossing has you literally working to pay off a fake mortgage to buy digital items you don't need. You shouldn't stress out over a game. I've enjoyed games for their mood, setting, music, and narrative, but gameplay itself is work. I'd rather just have a movie or narrative story. I already work too much.

christkv 5y ago
Most games are power fantasies as well as narratives. You get to role play as a overpowered avatar.
zabzonk 5y ago
> I'd rather just have a movie or narrative Open world games _are_ the equivalent of movies or narratives. think Skyrim, for example.
- leetcrew 5y ago
  I think the point is you actually have to do stuff (often menial collect n of thing tasks) to advance the plot. once the suspension of disbelief is broken, you are no longer a valiant hero saving the kingdom. you are pushing buttons to complete arbitrary tasks that trigger the next cutscene. if you don't enjoy the core gameplay, why not just cut out the tedium and watch tv or a movie?
  - zabzonk 5y ago
    > why not just cut out the tedium and watch tv or a movie? Well, I would dispute it is tedium (particularly compared with watching a modern Hollywood production, and particularly watching TV) - I like exploring and finding new and strange areas of the world.
heylook 5y ago
> I already work too much. That’s your problem. Repetition, mindlessness, boredom, flow are different facets of the same phenomenon. When your ancestors needed to build a shelter, they spent hours and hours chopping, hewing, digging, etc etc. Birds have nests, bees have hives, beavers have dams; the list goes on and on. It’s perfectly normal to find some amount of busywork soothing. You hit your cap at work; others don’t. There are also those with real addictions where it inhibits their ability to accomplish other goals, but that’s true of tons of habits that scratch the same itch.
- courtf 5y ago
  Not to mention, many jobs actively encourage this busywork grind, giving out more money for more grinding. So you get trained to chase the rabbit, but then you lose your job or something happens that makes it harder for you to get employed and you are left satisfying these ingrained habits any way you can, just so you don't go nuts. Video games can fill that need for grinding and give a feeling of virtual progress, but they aren't necessarily the source for that drive in humans. I blame school and work for training us to be this way, like a Skinner box. I don't blame young men for getting hooked on video games, even though it can become an unhealthy coping mechanism.
leetcrew 5y ago
I kinda agree with you. as I get older, more games feel like repetitive work than fun. I think I finish some games more because I want to feel like I got my money's worth than because I actually enjoyed them. still, some multiplayer games get me absolutely hooked for a while. a well-designed multiplayer game can be a never-ending stream of novel situations. open-ended puzzle games like factorio are always fun (for me) with a couple good friends. for some reason it never feels like work, even though it's fairly close to what I just did from 9-5.
tenebrisalietum 5y ago
I think since most online games have chat rooms or other such social aspects, and also the game is there to provide an inherent icebreaker activity when speaking with others, online games tended replaced older hangout-style social activities for some people. The game being work, but not hard work, provides a number of things beneficial to easy social interaction: a reason to be there, typically an easy way to add value (within the game) and therefore have a reason to approach groups you aren't a member of and potentially join or meet, and an overall good background for chat/conversation without necessarily coming off as desperate or creepy.
username90 5y ago
Work and games are the same activities. The only difference is whether someone cares about the end result, and hence will complain if you don't do it properly, take your time or go explore different areas. Having a casual conversation is fun. Being forced to have casual conversations with people all that long is work. And so on etc.

david-gpu 5y ago

Not a psychologist, but I would guess that playing games at all times is more a symptom than a cause. A symptom of depression? A coping mechanism for chronic anxiety? A happy well adjusted person does not try so hard to escape reality or responsibilities. Demeaning them by calling them man-children is not going to help them in the slightest.

depressedx 5y ago
Depression is often characterised by a struggle in finding the motivation / desire to do something you love: if they love video games and can play them 12 hours a day, it's very possible they simply... don't care about the outside world. A job, family, exploring the world, these are all things some people just don't like. They don't have to have mental illness in order to spend their lives doing one thing!
- zabzonk 5y ago
  > They don't have to have mental illness in order to spend their lives doing one thing! I'd argue that doing one thing for the rest of your life is a classic definition of mental illness.
  - waynesonfire 5y ago
    I disagree, it's an mental illness if it interferes in your desired pursuit. For example, there is nothing wrong with playing games ur whole life.. except if you decide you want to get a girlfriend and can't. Now you're dealing with a mental illness.
    - wizzwizz4 5y ago
      Also if it interferes with your health, and a few other things. If playing video games takes precedence over, say, taking regular showers, or even basic exercise? I'd call that a mental illness too. But I agree with the main point: “person wants to live in a way I don't like” is not mental illness.
  - 5y ago

JoeAltmaier 5y ago

One young man in my boy's cohort got addicted. Sat and drank beer and played video games until exhausted; then slept on the couch and repeat the next day. Two years later, died of liver failure.

InvertedRhodium 5y ago
Are you sure he didn't have an alcohol addiction? I'm not convinced inactivity and video games lead to liver failure.
- JoeAltmaier 5y ago
  Drank nothing but beer. No solid food. Skeletal by the end. So call it what you will.

Chris2048 5y ago

What made them "man-children"?