Feelings on Video Games


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Guest MormonGator
4 minutes ago, Fether said:

I myself have been reconsidering my initial stance on gaming and may cut back more

I found my GBA and have been playing Tactics Ogre during this conversation. GREAT game if you are into turn based strategy. 

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2 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

I found my GBA and have been playing Tactics Ogre during this conversation. GREAT game if you are into turn based strategy. 

I'm all about RTS AND turn based x) I play a game series called 'Total War' that is a perfect mix of the two... 

wait...

Thou child of hell! Why tempt ye me!? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptation!?

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Guest MormonGator
Just now, zil said:

My turn-based strategy is to coast through the first half of the turn and accelerate through the second half. :P

My favorite types of games: College sports games (surprise!), RPG, and turn based strategy. 

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14 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

My favorite types of games: College sports games (surprise!), RPG, and turn based strategy. 

Caution: thread jack ahead. This is no longer about why video games are evil. It's now about what your favorite evil video games are. 

My faves are often local multiplayer games, but not limited to them. 

- PS3 Bomberman Ultra - Great party game. 

- PS2 Dance Dance Revolution - get your exercise in!

- Nintendo 64 - Super Smash Brothers. 4-player brawl !

- Nintendo 64 - New Tetris - give garbage lines to your opponents!

- PS3 - Little Big Planet - 4 - player platformer

Edited by eddified
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Guest MormonGator
11 minutes ago, eddified said:

Caution: thread jack ahead. This is no longer about why video games are evil. It's now about what your favorite evil video games are. 

My faves are often local multiplayer games, but not limited to them. 

- PS3 Bomberman Ultra - Great party game. 

- PS2 Dance Dance Revolution - get your exercise in!

- Nintendo 64 - Super Smash Brothers. 4-player brawl !

- Nintendo 64 - New Tetris - give garbage lines to your opponents!

- PS3 - Little Big Planet - 4 - player platformer

Those are great games. 

I'd add:

Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance I and II for GC-Xbox
Mario Kart on any system
X-Men Legends GC-Xbox
Goldeneye on N64 

Edited by MormonGator
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6 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Those are great games. 

I'd add:

Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance I and II for GC-Xbox
Mario Kart on any system
X-Men Legends GC-Xbox
Goldeneye on N64 

Golden eye and Mario kart -- such classics!! They should both be in "eddified's video game hall of fame"

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3 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Oh come on. You're supposed to say, so I'm in a class all my own.  It's the obvious come back. Where did you take bantering classes anyway?

Then @MormonGator can say, that's because no one would want to be in a class with you.

Then you could say, just because they can't satisfy the"awesomeness" requirement...

 

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9 hours ago, paracaidista508 said:

Well gee I feel so bad you are offended.

First off I directed this at the "men" in the YSA wards. Not all of them, just the ones who occupy their free time by wasting it on this garbage while they should be trying to make something of themselves. Theres no helping them. If the motivation of having a real life and a wife is not enough, what am I gonna do? After all they served their missions and are priesthood holders so all the boxes are checked right?? Thats waht they think possibly. Little do they know that is just scratching the surface. Not my problem so long as they stay away from my daughter. Now that you mention it- I also know several older men with kids. wife etc who still cant maintain good jobs, etc because they don't have any time to go to school to improve themselves. They do have time to sit around playing games though. I didn't just make this up, this is what they say they do with their free time. Ive been an Elder for 25 yrs and I have heard it over and over. I do also know some who play games and are just fine, but I would bet they don't spend much time doing it- their wives would kill them.

Back to the YSA topic: Just like many here who are fathers or mothers who feel any young man is not worthy to marry their daughter if they didn't serve a full time mission for whatever that actually is worth, I also reserve the right to label and discriminate against anyone I would feel worthy to marry my daughter. When you spend the better part of three years getting feedback from three different YSA wards, knowing dozens of the young men there, what they do with their free time, what their career aspirations are (or are not) and seeing their progress or the lack thereof well you begin to form an opinion.

I mentioned previously being able to point out about 50 or so who are dead enders or "losers" which they are and show you some real winners. Many constantly whine about not being able to get a good job. Well they have no college or only take one class at a time so likely will never finish. Many say they don't have time for school, yet they play games 20 hrs a week. Employment is also a huge issue. We have tons of jobs available here. Problem is many are unwilling to work a night shift, or on weekends, or outside, or at all. The one thing they all have in common- they burn their free time (aside from complaining about not having the ideal job or school stuff) playing video games. Either still living with mom and dad or with four others just like them in a 2 bedroom apt. Three years later, many of them have gone no where, but they are always out and about on their Instagram or FB thing and when not dong that they are playing games.

As a Father, any dude who is gonna court my daughter better have their act together and display a little bit of drive towards accomplishing something. If they cant even do it when it is easy and while they are single with no kids, how can I know they will be even  worth having around as a son-in-law? I mean am I gonna have to support them? Is my daughter going to have to work extra (more than full time) just because mr mushy body cant get off the couch? Naturally she can choose who she marries, but she complains about the same issues with the guys. She openly acknowledges most of them are up to absolutely nothing. Women tend to marry people like their fathers in many cases so go figure where she gets her opinion. 

I'm not the perfect dad, perfect priesthood holder or whatever. I do work very hard and while doing so to get the employment I wanted which was appropriate for our family, I was aggressive about taking as much school as I could afford and worked two jobs (60+ hrs a week). Good thing xbox or PS or whatever wasn't around then. Id still have just my HS diploma and never would have accomplished what I have AND been able to provide a comfortable living for my family. I expect the same of a SIL.

When I was in the Army as a Private- they instilled in me many principles about leadership to include being aggressive about studying, out working your competition, being loyal, sacrificing your time, money, your last bite of that tasty MRE, sleep and even your life to help a brother out. Every time I went to a school or to some kind of training the motivation coming from leadership was to absolutely win at all ethical costs, be ruthless in the pursuit of success and never leave a fallen comrade. By the same token, those who were not willing to be an asset to the team were promptly gotten rid of. I didn't learn that at church and never would have. Perhaps those are terrible traits and values, but they are what I have and I expect any prospective son in law to at least have a little of each of those values. 

I don't care if they went on a mission, went in the military or went straight to school- if they cant step up and be a man and do everything it takes to succeed then they are by my definition a "loser." If they can do all that and still find time to play games then so be it, but they are not the norm.

A lot of that "idle time" you're complaining about may be against their will. 

Contrary to the certain official narratives coming from Washington, the economy still hasn't fully recovered. Most of those promised "shovel-ready" jobs didn't actually happen, the "Affordable" Care Act frightened a number of employers into cutting positions, and a lot of sectors are still trying to rebuild. In these instances, it could well be that either jobs aren't available, or competition is so tough that even with their best efforts they're stuck. *Maybe* if they had the funds to relocate to some place where jobs were plentiful they could, but even if they saved up all of their gaming money they likely still couldn't do it. 

I myself spent 13 months unemployed after losing my entry-level office job due to the recession. I know what it's like to keep striking out when it comes to employment. Before the recession, I had firm offers from two insurance companies, both pending upon completion of my undergraduate work. Once the recession hit, no one returned my calls. I was doing odd jobs just to get gas money, and much of what I did wasn't particularly pleasant. I briefly even considered relocating out-of-state, but the money just wasn't there. 

From there, a number of the other people who game may do so as a form of release. What they do in a day is just so frustrating and draining that they want something mindless to empty themselves into so that they can function again. If not video games, they'd be going for something else instead, possibly something actually self-destructive. The job I did find? Well below my level of education. "Escapist" entertainment became a cheap way to compensate for the fact that I was in a bad way and had few immediate prospects of anything better, including a relationship. 

So before you paint with a broad brush, you need to separate the wheat - the people going through a rough patch and relying on games for something to do - from the actual chumps. 

 

As for myself? 

I have a master's degree in business administration (3.8 GPA / 4.0); if not for the recession, I'd be in a corner office right now. Instead, I ended up having to get on with a local newspaper. I write a weekly opinion column *and* a weekly movie review. I'm in a second newspaper as of this spring, and may be in a third by the end of the year. If I get #3, then editorial has promised me that they'll push for proper syndication. 

Yes, I still *also* run a newspaper route on top of that, but the flagship paper I'm with is small and so everyone has multiple jobs; they've got the sports guy with a route, too. And thanks to the "Affordable" Care Act money's a bit tight; about 60% of my monthly earnings is going to a Bronze policy that's such a massive dumpster fire that last kidney stone set me back $2200 (kidney stones and other such conditions are occupational hazards of the newspaper industry). 

Oh, and I'm doing it all with a heart condition (birth defect), bad back (hurt myself in school athletics; parents didn't believe me and so I didn't get prompt treatment), and a blown knee (completely wrenched it in an on-the-job accident one hour in to a four-hour shift, but finished it out anyway because no one was there to replace me). 

My marriage options are pretty well non-existent at this point. The stake priesthood leadership when I was growing up hammered everyone into thinking "If you don't go on a mission, you're useless to the church", and so anyone who didn't go was regarded as not being worth marrying. Well, my maternal grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's during my senior year of high school, so I never went since mom needed the help. Non-Mormon ladies have their pick of soldiers from the nearby military base, so that's a thin pool as well. I *literally* have not had a date in well over a decade. The fact that I'm greying prematurely isn't helping any either, as it makes me look older than I actually am.

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8 hours ago, paracaidista508 said:

I'm curious if any dedicated gamers here could tally their play time for a month and compare that with the time spent working on their unachieved goals??? I really am curious how much time one spends doing one vs the other. It may say a lot about how much they value achieving the goal. 

Sure it is unscientific, but would be interesting.

Define "play time". 

I ask as I frequently leave one or more browser games running in the background while I try to get my writing done. If I get stuck on something, I'll do the browser game for a few minutes to clear my head. 

So if you count "play time" as "the entire time I'm logged in", then I can easily beat the people you're complaining about. 

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2 hours ago, eddified said:

Caution: thread jack ahead. This is no longer about why video games are evil. It's now about what your favorite evil video games are. 

My faves are often local multiplayer games, but not limited to them. 

- PS3 Bomberman Ultra - Great party game. 

- PS2 Dance Dance Revolution - get your exercise in!

- Nintendo 64 - Super Smash Brothers. 4-player brawl !

- Nintendo 64 - New Tetris - give garbage lines to your opponents!

- PS3 - Little Big Planet - 4 - player platformer

My favorites are:

-Metal Gear Solid games (1-5 and peace walker)

-anything with "Tom Clancy" in the title

-Goldeneye 007 (both N64 and wii)

-Batman Arkham City

-The Operative: No One Lives Forever

-Basically anything else involving stealth and sneaking up on bad guys.

If you are concerned about the opportunity cost of playing games, just make sure to do your gaming at hours where you won't be missing out on anything important (the hours between 11 at night and 2 in the morning a couple of times a week is prime time!)  

I personally think there is plenty of value in having some relaxing time and doing something completely mindless and unproductive, so long as it is just some time and not all the time.  I have known people who never relax and have to be super productive all the time, and in my experience, these super productive people are also super miserable.  Getting some real relaxation time in helps you be productive the rest of the time.

If your gaming starts to approach part-time job levels (20 hours or so a week, which translates to 3 hours every day), then it may be wise to think about using time more wisely.  However, I see absolutely nothing wrong with gaming a single digit number of hours per week, and that includes taking opportunity costs into account.

 

Edited by DoctorLemon
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1 hour ago, Ironhold said:

A lot of that "idle time" you're complaining about may be against their will. 

Contrary to the certain official narratives coming from Washington, the economy still hasn't fully recovered. Most of those promised "shovel-ready" jobs didn't actually happen, the "Affordable" Care Act frightened a number of employers into cutting positions, and a lot of sectors are still trying to rebuild. In these instances, it could well be that either jobs aren't available, or competition is so tough that even with their best efforts they're stuck. *Maybe* if they had the funds to relocate to some place where jobs were plentiful they could, but even if they saved up all of their gaming money they likely still couldn't do it. 

 

Employers here cant fill jobs... they are everywhere. My employer has a non-skilled 40 hr / week job, receptionist, $14 hr full benefits... no one wants it. Of the few who applied, half when asked couldn't even remember which job they applied for. We are just leaving it unfilled for now because all who applied were idiots.

As for the balance of the Phoenix area- here ya go. Non-skilled demand is through the roof and these kids mostly have no skills. HS diploma only. They do not want to work. There is a home depot just a coule miles from where several of them live....20 ish unfilled jobs. $10 / hr, full bennies, 401K, etc... all over the place here.
https://www.indeed.com/jobs?l=phoenix,+AZ&explvl=entry_level

 

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Edited by paracaidista508
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