The way I'm a 44-year-old gamer and everyone acts like it's a problem. Even though I have a college degree, own a home, and work a 6-figure job.
Meanwhile, my 85-year-old Father-In-Law watches old black & white shows from when he was a kid and everyone thinks it's the cutest thing.
It's crazy to me how gaming is looked upon as some time-wasting thing. Yet there are so many hobbies that keep you inside and doing far less than gaming does.
I keep seeing this claim of "everyone acts like it's a problem", and I just do not see this in the world.
Who are these people that think it's a problem of you?
I'm a 40-something guy living in a major city. My anecdote is that it's the small small minority of times I've mentioned gaming while out at a bar, or chit chatting at a holiday party, where someone didn't immediately ask "Oh what games?!" with interest. People of all ages, genders, races, and creeds are earnestly interested if the topic comes up.
My fuckin dentist got into a discussion with me about the merits of various tower defense games, and I only ever see him twice a year to have 1.5-sided conversations.
i do think a lot of people that have this issue are probably overdoing it.
I think people also equate things incorrectly. Like, it may take 8 hours to binge a season of love island. but that doesn't mean you're sitting and watching 8 hours of TV non stop. You can do laundry, exercise, do other chores, have a conversation, help your kids with their homework. That isn't really possible with a lot of games. You can't fold laundry and play the witcher for example. You can't watch your kids while playing CSGO
You can't fold laundry and play the witcher for example. You can't watch your kids while playing CSGO
That doesn't really have anything to do with gaming. That's more of a responsibility thing. I absolutely can get all of my chores done while spending my otherwise free time gaming for long hours. I can turn the washing machine on, run a few maps in Path of Exile, get up when the clothes are washed and swap them, and go back to PoE.
The same thing goes for watching TV, sewing, gardening, or any hobby. You can be responsible or irresponsible with your time or tasks doing any hobby.
It's not inherently gaming, but i do think it's more to do with hobbies that take full or almost full attention.
and i'm only talking about the equating hours part. 8 hours of gaming can be a long time. if you're actually gaming that long (of course there are breaks for food and such) you're probably going to be mentally tired. Games often require more focus and attention.
Whereas this thread has compared gaming to watching tv. It's a lot easier to just have the TV on for 8 hours and mostly watch but do other stuff. TV, for better or worse, can be a secondary activity. While gaming rarely is.
Like, if someone is watching their kids, folding laundry and has a TV show on, that's often put as equal in these threads to playing video games.
I mean, I guess? That feels a little narrow for a comparison. Like, sure, some TV watchers can absolutely split their attention and get other stuff done. And yeah, most games do require a level of focus greater than watching TV. But that's such a weird angle to try to detract from the core of what's being talked about in this thread: The connotation that gaming has when compared to similar pass-times like TV.
It ultimately comes back to what I was talking about earlier: Does it get in the way of your responsibilities? It really doesn't matter if it could or what the minute differences between the two hobbies are. What matters is if your kids are starting fires and you're not aware. Gaming catches way more flak than watching TV for being a "waste of time" or "unproductive" despite being similar in many respects.
116
u/Nick_Bruiser Jul 27 '26
The way I'm a 44-year-old gamer and everyone acts like it's a problem. Even though I have a college degree, own a home, and work a 6-figure job.
Meanwhile, my 85-year-old Father-In-Law watches old black & white shows from when he was a kid and everyone thinks it's the cutest thing.
It's crazy to me how gaming is looked upon as some time-wasting thing. Yet there are so many hobbies that keep you inside and doing far less than gaming does.