Played several hours of SMITE today. I did have a great time with it, so I wouldn't say it was a bad thing.
I like video games. I love supporting games with potential. In this supersaturated market, competition forces developers to make the best title possible. It also lets them get away with posting garbage onto Steam to milk unwary players of money. Knowing the difference and acting on it is important to me. I can throw money at the good and warn my friends of the bad.
What if I don't do this?
If I quit games, I won't donate my time or money to their cause, the great game they're developing. If they do not receive enough support, their project will cave and no one will see it again. I've witnessed this happen to a couple of games that never got off the ground, original titles that had something different and interesting and competitive to offer to their respective genres. Their communities disperse to other games where I rarely see them again.
If I follow through on my goal for the year, am I making a noble sacrifice for a greater goal? Or am I betraying good people by not supporting them?
My mind says the former, but my heart says the latter. I believe that dropping games is the right thing to do for myself and to help people in the real world. "People who play video games all day don't live in big mansions," Bill Whittle, a former avid gamer, once said. I know I am made for more than wasting away in a desk chair. Yet, I can do great things for these people who are very invested in their projects, in their own dreams. Even if it's just extra pixels or a cheap laugh, the positive impact on others' lives is a righteous endeavor, right? Despite the fact I owe none of them anything, why do I feel this urge to contribute to their success?
Coming to terms with this is tough for me. I view neither position as morally wrong; if one choice was wrong, this decision would be an easy, simple one: I'd pick what's right and go with it. But this fork in my life diverges me from what I believe is true or better to follow, and what I want to follow. I do not see a middle ground.
I need to think and pray on this.
I think that the biggest thing is striking a balance. You are relatively well off, and you have leisure time. I see no issue with you devoting that leisure time to an activity that brings you joy. If your life situation wasn't as stable and you were doing nothing in favor of blind escapism, then there'd be an issue. If your gaming is absorbing all of your leisure time, that is probably an issue.
ReplyDeleteI've grappled with this isea a bit myself. I see gaming as a legitimately intriguing artistic medium, so I see playing through a meaningful single-player title as akin to listening to a great album, or reading a good book. Multiplayer gaming is where things get trickier. For me at least, multiplayer is generally escapist. I am giving myself up to the game and diving into a world where I can rely purely upon instinct and reflex, where I can dull my perception of everything outside the game to nearly nothing. Nowadays, I almost exclusively play multiplayer games when I want to listen to something (music, podcast, etc.) just to have something to do with my hands, since I hate just sitting still and listening to things.
*idea
Delete"since I hate just sitting still and listening to things."
DeleteDefinitely true for me too. I've some thoughts on that, will post them another day.