6 ms·

> Sometimes you just want to tend a garden or walk a forest I do both of these things a fair amount IRL, I'm not trying to single you out I just want to unders

by ishjoh 4y ago

> Sometimes you just want to tend a garden or walk a forest I do both of these things a fair amount IRL, I'm not trying to single you out I just want to understand motivations for playing these games, is there a reason you do these activities in a game as opposed to IRL?

ohwellhere 4y ago
Do you sometimes like to eat apples and sometimes like to eat oranges?
RC_ITR 4y ago
If the goal is visual evidence of accomplishment, then one gives you that while relaxing the other gives you that while bending over and tiring out your core/upper body. I won’t make moralistic judgements on which is better, but I will say all else equal, a lot of people prefer physical passivity.
LizardsAreCute 4y ago
While I do go for walks here, the nature in the Netherlands is mostly very boring.
- corrral 4y ago
  True in very large stretches of the US, as well. Though we also have a bunch of huge regions with beautiful, varied, striking natural environments, of course.
ljp_206 4y ago
A few potential reasons: In games the rewards are much more immediate, even if we play a game that requires waiting. Gardens and forests may not be near, available, or accessible when gamers are ready to relax. Gamers may not be physically able to partake in such activities. You might need to pay or buy something (shoes, a car, a park pass, garden mulch, tools...) to participate.
aaaaaaaaaaab 4y ago
Ticks.
corrral 4y ago
You can start a game instantly. No travel. No travel expense, either. No packing. No un-packing. No arranging for someone to watch your pets if it's going to be long enough for that to matter. No dealing with taking the kids with you, or finding some other place for them to be. Your spouse doesn't have to want to go. No spiderwebs on your face. No biting and/or disease-carrying insects. No oppressive humidity. No getting soaked by a sudden rainstorm. No sunburns. No twisting an ankle and having a horrible time getting back out. No taking a wrong turn and ending up having to go much farther than you'd counted on, to get back. Much or all of the game world may be crafted to be interesting. Even very nice natural areas have boring bits, and you can't fast-travel past them. You can do it even if you're injured, or tired. If the game has tasks, they usually have far faster reward loops than their real-life equivalents. The real-life versions might have more clean-up or mess. You have to actually physically do a bunch of stuff where the game might have a button press. You also have to know how to do it, and have the tools (if any) to do it. This is why obsessive players of games that feature gardening or farming usually don't become avid hobby-gardeners in real-life.
- henriquecm8 4y ago
  > No un-packing. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135690/Unpacking/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135690/Unpacking/
  - Doxin 4y ago
    Even that game skips a lot of the tedious bits from unpacking stuff though. There's no packing stuff first. there's no moving van. there's no discarding empty boxes.
- Mwow 4y ago
  For me personally I'm starting to accept that natur means putting on sun cream, accepting ticks and mosquito s etc. I don't want to become like the girl in the latest blade runner who only lives in her room.
duckmysick 4y ago
I do gardening in my spare time but I also enjoyed playing Stardew Valley - a game where you bring back to life an abandonded farm. Video games have faster feedback loop compared to real life. You progress and get rewards much faster. For example, I could finish an entire growing season in one long evening of playing. And it's not just scaling time. The tasks themselves are simplified to balance complexity, difficulty, and fun. You only have a handful of tools that never break. You don't have to worry about plant diseses, pests, droughts, floodings, or freezing temperatures in spring. The only thing you need to manage is watering (which you have an infinite supply of) and crows (which are repelled with a scarecrow). The barriers of entry are lower too. There are games that let you drive a truck of fly a plane; things which would be prohibitively expensive in real life.
ridgered4 4y ago
It's cheaper (no need to buy supplies) so you can do things you'd never be able to afford IRL. Which also allows you to experiment with more things. This also lessens the consequences of failure. You can do the activity when there's free time (like at night) with no real planning. You can put the task down for months on end without negative results because time is constrained to the game world. Or put another way, constant upkeep tasks and their results can be perfectly saved. Game worlds can be tightly controlled if you wish it. Reality is uncontrollable.
- gxnxcxcx 4y ago
  > You can put the task down for months on end without negative results because time is constrained to the game world. Or put another way, constant upkeep tasks and their results can be perfectly saved. After a very brief taste of Elder Scrolls Online I realized I really, really dislike when game time rules seep too much into real life and start contaminating my schedule. Nowadays I can't stand even the simplest habit-forming daily rewards loop of mobile games.
burntoutfire 4y ago
People live in flats with no garden, or don't live near a forest or anything beautiful really, or finish their shift when it's already dark. Or maybe it's just raining or 105 F outside.
vorpalhex 4y ago
I also go hiking in real life when possible, but that is a minimum commitment of four hours and by the time I get off work that isn't usually doable. On the other hand, it only takes about five minutes to boot a game and be walking the PNW.
megablast 4y ago
They don’t drive anywhere polluting the planet to walk in a forest. That’s a big difference.
raxxorraxor 4y ago
You would need to have a garden to start with.

by ishjoh 4y ago

ohwellhere 4y ago

Do you sometimes like to eat apples and sometimes like to eat oranges?

RC_ITR 4y ago

If the goal is visual evidence of accomplishment, then one gives you that while relaxing the other gives you that while bending over and tiring out your core/upper body. I won’t make moralistic judgements on which is better, but I will say all else equal, a lot of people prefer physical passivity.

LizardsAreCute 4y ago

While I do go for walks here, the nature in the Netherlands is mostly very boring.

corrral 4y ago
True in very large stretches of the US, as well. Though we also have a bunch of huge regions with beautiful, varied, striking natural environments, of course.

ljp_206 4y ago

A few potential reasons: In games the rewards are much more immediate, even if we play a game that requires waiting. Gardens and forests may not be near, available, or accessible when gamers are ready to relax. Gamers may not be physically able to partake in such activities. You might need to pay or buy something (shoes, a car, a park pass, garden mulch, tools...) to participate.

aaaaaaaaaaab 4y ago

Ticks.

corrral 4y ago

You can start a game instantly. No travel. No travel expense, either. No packing. No un-packing. No arranging for someone to watch your pets if it's going to be long enough for that to matter. No dealing with taking the kids with you, or finding some other place for them to be. Your spouse doesn't have to want to go. No spiderwebs on your face. No biting and/or disease-carrying insects. No oppressive humidity. No getting soaked by a sudden rainstorm. No sunburns. No twisting an ankle and having a horrible time getting back out. No taking a wrong turn and ending up having to go much farther than you'd counted on, to get back. Much or all of the game world may be crafted to be interesting. Even very nice natural areas have boring bits, and you can't fast-travel past them. You can do it even if you're injured, or tired. If the game has tasks, they usually have far faster reward loops than their real-life equivalents. The real-life versions might have more clean-up or mess. You have to actually physically do a bunch of stuff where the game might have a button press. You also have to know how to do it, and have the tools (if any) to do it. This is why obsessive players of games that feature gardening or farming usually don't become avid hobby-gardeners in real-life.

henriquecm8 4y ago
> No un-packing. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135690/Unpacking/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135690/Unpacking/
- Doxin 4y ago
  Even that game skips a lot of the tedious bits from unpacking stuff though. There's no packing stuff first. there's no moving van. there's no discarding empty boxes.
Mwow 4y ago
For me personally I'm starting to accept that natur means putting on sun cream, accepting ticks and mosquito s etc. I don't want to become like the girl in the latest blade runner who only lives in her room.

duckmysick 4y ago

I do gardening in my spare time but I also enjoyed playing Stardew Valley - a game where you bring back to life an abandonded farm. Video games have faster feedback loop compared to real life. You progress and get rewards much faster. For example, I could finish an entire growing season in one long evening of playing. And it's not just scaling time. The tasks themselves are simplified to balance complexity, difficulty, and fun. You only have a handful of tools that never break. You don't have to worry about plant diseses, pests, droughts, floodings, or freezing temperatures in spring. The only thing you need to manage is watering (which you have an infinite supply of) and crows (which are repelled with a scarecrow). The barriers of entry are lower too. There are games that let you drive a truck of fly a plane; things which would be prohibitively expensive in real life.

ridgered4 4y ago

It's cheaper (no need to buy supplies) so you can do things you'd never be able to afford IRL. Which also allows you to experiment with more things. This also lessens the consequences of failure. You can do the activity when there's free time (like at night) with no real planning. You can put the task down for months on end without negative results because time is constrained to the game world. Or put another way, constant upkeep tasks and their results can be perfectly saved. Game worlds can be tightly controlled if you wish it. Reality is uncontrollable.

gxnxcxcx 4y ago
> You can put the task down for months on end without negative results because time is constrained to the game world. Or put another way, constant upkeep tasks and their results can be perfectly saved. After a very brief taste of Elder Scrolls Online I realized I really, really dislike when game time rules seep too much into real life and start contaminating my schedule. Nowadays I can't stand even the simplest habit-forming daily rewards loop of mobile games.

burntoutfire 4y ago

People live in flats with no garden, or don't live near a forest or anything beautiful really, or finish their shift when it's already dark. Or maybe it's just raining or 105 F outside.

vorpalhex 4y ago

I also go hiking in real life when possible, but that is a minimum commitment of four hours and by the time I get off work that isn't usually doable. On the other hand, it only takes about five minutes to boot a game and be walking the PNW.

megablast 4y ago

They don’t drive anywhere polluting the planet to walk in a forest. That’s a big difference.

raxxorraxor 4y ago

You would need to have a garden to start with.