boiled-covered wretch etc.

[prog]

Died before level 20. Threw out executable (again), emptied trash. Need a shower. (I mean: literally.)

I sort of feel that my occasional public railing against digital games that function mostly through their continual and entirely illusory exploitation of one's accomplishment-drive makes me like unto a gay-bashing Republican who desperately cruises public restrooms when nobody's watching. (Yes, redundant definition, wev.) On the other hand, I deny nothing, and at least can confidently speak from experience.

Comments

[rserocki.livejournal.com]

Do you think you would feel the same way if you spent as much time playing chess against the computer or against other humans through a computer?

[prog.livejournal.com]

Playing a game like Chess is a real intellectual challenge, and encourages mental growth and sharpening.

Playing D&D with (cool) people exercises one's freewheeling creativity and helps form social bonds.

Angband combines these two pursuits in some ways, but when you add in real neurochemical addictiveness - which I'm willing to agree that not all are equally susceptible to - the cost can outweigh the benefits.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Let me refine this, replying only to myself now.

A game like Angband or even WoW can count as time well spent along the lines of Chess or D&D or a board game with friends or kayaking around the lake. There is always a cost in time and sometimes a cost in money, and on the surface the payoff is entertainment. But there are other rewards in mental/physical/social improvement, and this can be very valuable stuff, often more valuable than choosing to spend the same chunk of time earning money.

But when one approaches any of these activities with an addictive mindset, these payoffs can end up in the back seat to playing for its own sake, and that is not time well spent. I pick on games like Angband and WoW because I argue that they are intentionally designed to zap a person's "You did it! Now you're stronger! Keep going!"-based pleasure center, encouraging them to play long after the palpable mental and social rewards for a given play session have petered out.

[rserocki.livejournal.com]

Okay, then.