Why does Leo give video-games such a bad stigma?

[Mafortu]

Its like the 5th time calls video games on a negative note. 

I love playing videogames, its how I like spending my time, not just any games tho, I dislike most multiplayer games, I mostly stick to immersive games with good narrative, good visuals and good music.

Games like Bioshock Infinite, Journey, Assassins Creed, Abzu, Braid, Limbo, Portal, The Witcher 3, to name a few, are simply masterpieces. You can experience surreal mind-fucks if you let yourself become immersed by the worlds these artists have created.

Art is beautiful and gives life meaning, videogames can be as enlightening as any piece of music can be, or as insightful as a film like the matrix.

Now I know Leo realizes this and he doesnt mean wrong, he was actually involved in Bioshock at one point in his life which I find neat, but we gotta stop calling video-games a waste of time! It only makes it hard for the good videogames to be considered art.

[Aimblack]

In my opinion I would say that the reason for that is that the advice Leo gives is based on his life and his past and current struggles. 

[Joseph Maynor]

I stopped playing video games around 14 years of age.  My roommate in college used to play video games from the moment he came home from class until way into the early morning every day.  Dude was super into it.  One of those hunt and shoot games.  Thank God I never had that problem.  I like games more like Zelda myself.  But then I don’t know squat about video games from like 1994 to the present.

Edited October 28, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[ajasatya]

23 minutes ago, Mafortu said:

Why does Leo give video-games such a bad stigma?

it's a good advice in general. most people who play video-games do not develop a mature relationship with gaming and become addicts. i was one of them.

but nowadays it's very different. i am building a lovely family, thriving in my profession and having fun with lots of things (video-games included). i've been playing skyrim and dragon's dogma (i have an old ps3).

[Elysian]

Breaking my video game addiction was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Harder than quitting smoking cigarettes and sweets. The only other  that was harder was porn.

Some people might be able to have a healthy relationship with video games, but for most it's an escape from reality that makes other healthy forms of time spending not stimulating enough. Video game developers intentionally monopolize on human weaknesses/tendencies. Online games which are what most people play have a social aspect, constant novelty with expansions/updates, competition with leaderboards, no end so there is never a stopping point, achievements to kick in the dopamine fix, in game currency for success driven individuals, guilds and parties for forms of tribalism/community, the list just keeps going.

How many single activities easily have all of the aspects of one's life involved? Especially with so little effort required, another tendency of humans.

Sure a healthy human can remain detached, but how many are actually that healthy?

Note: If it bothers you at all to set video games aside for a month, you might just be in denial about your addiction. And saying you could do it versus actually testing it out isn't the same thing.

Edited October 28, 2018 by Elysian
Grammar

[Hellspeed]

Becomes he didn't achieve Gladiator Title in WoW's Arena hahaha 

[outlandish]

Because video games are a serious black hole of time and energy. They're addictive and are wasting so many people's lives.

Social media and forums can be just as bad. Maybe not as consuming, there are people - usually young men - who have poured years into gaming addiction.

[Strikr]

4 hours ago, Hellspeed said:

Becomes he didn't achieve Gladiator Title in WoW's Arena hahaha 

I would add " god walking amongst mere mortal " 

Guild Wars

Edited October 29, 2018 by Strikr

[now is forever]

@Mafortu because something inside of you doesn’t know the difference between killing for real and thinking it is an illusion.

when did you last time play a game that wasn’t about competition? or a game where you would help someone without killing someone?

a surgeon who sees his own blood might faint. an ego shooter who holds a gun will shoot without blinking an eye.

Edited October 29, 2018 by now is forever

[Rilles]

Because he runs a company called ACTUALized and video games take you into fantasy-land. I like to play video games once in a while but the way its become a sort of virtual reality for young people is kinda sad. 

[Strikr]

You're whole a bunch of funny

I'll fucking play anything

[Shin]

Because a lot people who play it become addict, and rationalize like crazy that they aren't.

It's also just a waste of time, cause it doesn't make you good at anything and doesn't make you move physically either.

You're right, it's like a movie, except a movie doesn't last 15/20 hours +

 

[luckieluuke]

I really enjoy games and in the last couple of years indie developers have been able to emerge via crowd funding.
I also know that I probably play to much, it´s like 4 hours a week, which isn´t much compared to ppl watching TV. Playing a game is so much more engaging and creative than watching TV or even reading a book.
For instance, try this game:
http://www.everything-game.com/

 

...Then again generally the big games most ppl are playing are low conscious. They made to dull our minds. So it is generally a good advice althou Leo doesn´t show much nuance in his judgement. Feels kinda black and white.

[Strikr]

37 minutes ago, Shin said:

Because a lot people who play it become addict, and rationalize like crazy that they aren't.

It's also just a waste of time, cause it doesn't make you good at anything and doesn't make you move physically either.

You're right, it's like a movie, except a movie doesn't last 15/20 hours +

 

what is a waste of time ? hummmm

[Girzo]

You're here to create your own story.

High-quality games are good to be enjoyed from time to time, like once or twice a year.

Give them more attention and they become a distraction. The worst kind are highly competitive, never-ending titles, like League of Legends, Counter Strike, Fortnite or any MMORPG really.

[NoSelfSelf]

He gives it a bad rep because there are so much more amazing things to do that video games distract you from if you can play it 1h a day and dont have a feelings that interrupt your work like i wish i could play right now then you are good...

[SoothedByRain]

Ya'll need to play some Bloodborne to get some Insight.
 

Ya'll need some Madman's Knowledge

Skull of a madman touched by the wisdom of the Great Ones.
Use to gain Insight.

Making contact with eldritch wisdom is a blessing, for even if it drives one mad, it allows one to serve a grander purpose, for posterity.

 

Ya'll need some Wisdom of the Great Ones

Fragments of the lost wisdom of the Great Ones, beings that might be described as gods.
Use to gain Insight.

At Byrgenwerth Master Willem had an epiphany: "We are thinking on the basest of planes. What we need, are more eyes.

[bejapuskas]

@Mafortu Its good to be open to art, to embrace your feminine essence. I understand what you mean, but the negative thing about video games is the addiction about them. Every addiction you have is stopping you from achieving eudaimonia.

[Lorcan]

I think Leo may dislike video-games because of their often addictive nature.

For example, Leo said regarding Psychedelics that, he would not take them if they were addictive. I love the pleasure of playing a good video-game, especially multiplayer with friends. Depending on the game, I find that it can become an addicting habit. More so with low-effort, mindless, never-ending games.

MOBA's, MMO's, Multiplayer Survival , Battle Royale games, Multiplayer Twitch-Based shooters (like call of duty) can be especially addictive. Also sports games like Madden or FIFA. 

I think I wasted to many hour's playing video-games. Yes, I have fond memories of playing them, but I also remember playing them rather mindlessly.

The problem with video-games, I think is that, one can very easily fall into this mindless state, and in this mindless state, it is harder to derive pleasure from the video-game, so the user feels the need more and more and more to get that some reward, that same dopamine hit. Kind of like a bad sugar addiction, where you need more sugar to get the same amount of pleasure as you got the last time. 

But....

If, mindfully while playing, your are APPRECIATING in the game, noticing all the small details, admiring all the textures, mindfully reading the text and sending love to it, than your experience will be much better, and much less prone to addiction.

You can test this out for yourself. After you finish meditating, preferably outside, come back inside, and load up a video-game. Notice how much more you can appreciate it, try keep the meditative state.

But I assume few people do this, as you have to actively do it. (At least in my findings.) 

The best video-games in my opinion are games that require patience. Strategy games, or CRPG's or JRPG's.

For example. I'm currently trying to figure out how to play this game

It's a grand strategy game. It has lot's of depth. Bejapuskas, you should get it, and we can play one match over the course of a year 

It has multiplayer, in the multiplayer, players have to email in there turns. A turn in the games completes only every 24 hrs. So you play your turn, your email it in, and then you have to wait until the next day to play your turn again. So you spend 10-20 minutes doing your turn, you submit your turn, then you have to wait until the next day.

With the single-player you can play as much as you want, I find it it kind of anti-addictive because when you own large territories on the map there is a lot you have to manage and think about it, which can be taxing on the mind, such that you WANT to take a break because you notice yourself start to make bad strategic choices because you've been playing for to long.

 

Video-games can be sort of like sending yourself deeper into the matrix.

One might argue that this "real" world is so exceedingly mysterious, that one must spend all of ones time trying to figure out what the actual fuck is going on, and therefore, playing video games is a distraction. Perhaps. That is all concepts and imagination. 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2018 by Lorcan

[Girzo]

2 minutes ago, Lorcan said:

The best video-games in my opinion are games that require patience. Strategy games, or CRPG's or JRPG's.

These are the second worst.  They take a lot of time to complete and give you nothing in return. We are talking about hundreds of hours per game.