Gamer Regret -- Do You Have It?
While I played through a new dungeon in World of Warcraft, got through seven campaign missions so far in Halo 3 and finally started playing Eternal Sonata all this week, this morning I felt a little depressed after I saw a pile of unwatched Netflix DVDs, unread magazines, half-read books and an office that looked like a tornado blew by it.
Which got me thinking about a recent Wired column by Clive Thompson; it addressed "gamer regret," what he dubs "a sudden, horrifying sense of emptiness when we muse on all the other things we could have done with our game time," like volunteering at hospitals, learning new languages, playing the guitar (a real one) and the like. But he concedes:
A really superb game sweeps you into its embrace because it offers a seductively controllable alternative to life. You're wrestling to master a system -- a war, a puzzle, a mystery -- that is enormously complex but, unlike the rest of our lives, actually masterable.
He also says some people watch TV as much as some people play video games, and ultimately he figures that gamer regret is an internal debate that every gamer wrestles with. Do you? I know I certainly do. But in the end, when I've had a tough day at work/life, shooting aliens, rescuing princesses and battling mystical creatures really cheers me up. Okay, now I feel better. Time to finish the fight!
Battle With 'Gamer Regret' Never Ceases [Wired]
Lazy Panda
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 30 September 2007
· Comments (9)
Other stuff like this: clive thompson, gamer regret, wired
I more often regret that I've spent too much time idling at the computer trying to catch up on RSS feeds to make any progress in my mountain of unplayed video games. There just aren't enough hours in the day.
I like that someone else made the observation about video games and the potential for mastering them, unlike life. That's part of why I'm drawn to RPGs and strategy games, not to mention The Sims. I've heard eating disorders stem from a compulsion to have control, so if there's anything to the "addiction" of video games, that's probably it.
I'm with you, Andy. These days I think I spend more time reading up on games and game-related news than I do actually playing games. It always strikes me as rather funny. ...and sad when I realize how many games I never finished (or played at all).
The only time I ever felt remorseful about playing any game is when I was near the end of my 8 month WOW addiction. I would rush home from work everyday and let myself get sucked into the game until I was exhausted, crash into bed and then get up to do it all again the next day. After a while, I felt like I was wasting my life, so I quit. ...the game, not my life. :)
I agree.
I don't see any difference between playing games, watching TV, reading books or learning, or any other life hobbies and entertainment. Games do give their rewards far more easily though and gives sastifaction enough that it can become additive - since other 'real life' things could take longer with more work.
I suppose this emptiness has to do with realising that there are other things than just playing games. *shrugs*
I usually feel "gamer regret" after leaving a MMO game, mostly because I reflect back on all the time I'll never get back. Regular games have an ending so I can at least look at my saved endgame file when I finish it. With MMOs I have nothing at all to show for it. The only way I can see my accomplishments are to go back into the game.
At least I'm getting smarter about when it's time to leave. With EQ I stayed until I was almost insane in my need to play. DAOC, I stayed through too many crappy expansions until the game became more work than fun. At least with WoW I chose to leave before the expansion came out. When the game stopped being fun I left and didn't look back.
TV leaves me cold, so I do believe that my playing games is no different than others laying on the couch for their passive entertainment except that I am using my mind a bit more.
Regret gaming? Only when I buy one and it turns out to be crap.
This is why I love my DS so much. It doesn't stop me from getting up and enjoying beautiful days like today.
I feel gamer regret not for missing out on RL, but when I grind on World of Warcraft instead of getting on with the pile of console games I need to play.
I'm actually congratulating myself for playing Eternal Sonata today instead of logging into WoW. Hopefully I can begin to curb my addiction for the plotless wonder and get back into some real RPGs.
I remind myself every time I log into WoW that I haven't completed a single console game this year. Not one.
That's something to regret.
I'm in the same boat as Andy and Hypothetical: I find myself spending more time catching up on my RSS videogame feeds than actually playing them. Before I even get a chance to play a heavily hyped game, I read about a new one and so the current one loses it's shine. I work in the videogame industry where staying up to date on the latest gaming news is incredibly important. I have to make a conscious effort to tear myself away long enough from teh internetz to enjoy my stack of unplayed games.
When I do get to playing games, I become overwhelmed with thoughts about the things i should be doing to improve my lot in life and I start to feel guilty.
The only time this didn't happen, because i was so enraptured by it, was when I was playing Bioshock. The story, environment, and gameplay had me hooked within minutes and I couldn't even sleep without thinking about the plot or the crazy denizens of Rapture. Once a game like that comes along you realize that there's nothing to feel guilty about as it is providing you with an emotional and enjoyable experience, just as any movie or tv show.
I can understand the guilt, but maybe those that feel it need to find more games that they are completely enamored with, rather than play games just because everyone else says it's the most orgasmic experience ever (ie. Zelda for me, don't kill me!)
It makes me feel like a sad panda too :( Off to the Isle of Misfit Mascots for me!
I was playing Diablo II (cause it's one of the few things that'll run well on a tablet PC) online the other day, it was late one weekend night, and I was in a game room called "Bored1." I was playing just to kill time before hitting the sack completely, and just running through tasks aimlessly with this guy who wanted some help. If my wasting time that night wasn't sad enough, the guy I was playing with said "Brb, I'm going to go start a movie for my wife." I asked him why he didn't just watch said movie, and he just said "Ehh..."
I couldn't imagine looking back on something like that at the end of my life or after losing that person in whatever way. Video games are just that--games--and we all need to step back and realize what they're ultimately alternates of.