A life of gaming

[MrJoseCuervo]

I think it's an important question. Any kids reading should know it is not a good way to live.

[binchickendreaming]

I think it's an important question. Any kids reading should know it is not a good way to live.

 

I've never had kids or a spouse and I'm doing great. Not everyone needs the expected narrative of marriage and kids to be happy. Most of my interactions are online and I'm perfectly okay. :)

[MrJoseCuervo]

I'm glad you think so. Truly.

[MuteSignals]

I don't play nearly as much as I use to do, partly cause of other interests but mainly because I've found higher value in making stuff others can play and enjoy rather than to sit alone in singleplayer. I'm always thinking of new ideas, I'll just leave the playtesting to someone else.
Despite seemingly being the youngest in this thread (I began with a Playstation 1 haha), I've been going through the same two and a half year cycles of having a gaming friend group but then slowly it dissolves.

Last time I played a game was 8 days ago, I struggled to play more than an hour before uninstalling again. It's okay for a little bit but I highly doubt I'll be doing my 10 hour sprees or hitting thousands of hours like I use to. Some games like MMOs I realized I was only there for the social factor/community whilst the gameplay itself was pretty repetitive, when I had that social meter (Sims terminology) filled, I didn't need it as much anymore.

[omegabeam]

I'm turning 37 in 3 days and this topic is making me think. I started gaming at 4 and got my first console at 5 been playing ever since. Even though I'm currently single and have no kids I still lived a life outside of gaming. I had relationship and all that, but at the end of the day I still preferred gaming over all of that. I never felt that I absolutely need traveling the world, have kids, being married etc, I don't really think about it.

At the same time I don't play games anywhere near as much as I did when I was a kid, teenage and young adult. I can spend several weeks without touching a game and be perfectly fine with it. I love gaming, but it's not my whole life.

[ScytheBearer]

If you played Colossal Cave Adventure before 1980, then you can talk about a "lifetime of gaming". 

[AlienSlof]

I didn't get into computers or gaming until I was in my 20's and my partner introduced me to them. Before that happened, I played tabletop D&D and Warhammer, (complete with fully painted armies!) - indeed, the wargaming club is where I met him and we're still together gaming and painting stuff 30 years on. I was the only woman there!

He introduced me to his Commodore 64 when he moved in with me and we played games and he taught me how to program in Basic on it. Years later, I was running my own buisness and bought a 2nd-hand Apple Mac with Photoshop 2 on it and I learned how to paint digitally as well as with normal art media. I also became competent at Tetris, my first computer game! The rest is history. I used Photoshop through all its incarnations until it went subscription, at which point I stopped buying upgrades. Still using CS6 to this day and refuse to bow to Adobe's greed.

I disagree with 'kids should not be on computers playing games' - my friend's son is autistic and online gaming has really helped him to learn the gentle art of socialising. As he's grown I've seen him go from an awkward kid into a functioning young man. Computer gaming did that for him. He didn't spend all his time indoors either - he loved playing football, though these days he prefers watching it to playing it! I wish I'd had access to a computerwhen I was growing up. I'm old now (60+) and still enjoying my gaming and art. I find it keeps my brain sharp - indeed, such activities can help avoid falling to dementia. 'Use it or lose it', as they say!