Playing Games vs. "Playing" Games vs. Playing "Games"

[Pieter Boelen]

Posted by Tab Murphy:

This...

Me:
The *psychological* games that humans "play" with each other, you mean?
I hope you've got a slightly more positive outlook on regular just-for-harmless-fun *computer* games...


Other person:
Computer games can consume your life. While I'm sure Tab doesn't mean that you shouldn't play video games, you should take care with them like any kind of addictive thing
(this makes me angry)


Me:
Computer games also can GIVE life.
PiratesAhoy! has been a real big help to me throughout the past 16 years.
Not only did I gain a lot of development experience there, which is a TREMENDOUS help in my current professional job.
The community is also SO kind that they've been an emotional support for me at times when the people who SHOULD be there for me were failing beyond reason. And I have had plenty opportunity to return the favour.


Other person:
I don't disagree with you at all. It's just a hobby you need to take care with as to avoid it negatively affecting your life. It can and often is a great thing


Me:
There is *still* too much of a stigma around it; even though that IS slowly changing.
"Computer games" are neither healthy nor harmful. Their effect can differ from person to person; and from moment to moment. It all depends on the person. An unhealthy person can let a computer rule their life. A more healthy person could rule the computer instead.
This has nothing to do with computer games; or even computers in general. It is just a general truth altogether.

That said, computers ARE most definitely very tempting to people. And equally certainly there are very real efforts by certain developers to design their games to be deliberately more potentially addicting/harmful than they need to be.

At the same time, there are developers who aim to do the polar opposite.
So again... no hard truths here of any kind.

I've actually recently been toying with the idea of an A:TLE based game.
A *new* one, I mean.
With the amount of game developers in my contacts, that might actually be NOT impossible!
Intriguing thought...

Spoiler

"Kaiti Sneddi" likes this.

Karen:
Animal Crossing does consume my life because I have an addictive personality and reality sucks right now.

I also think Pieter Boelen
might be Karen'ing over some feels and mostly talking to themselves at this point.


Pieter:
You seem to be hypothesizing about somebody (me) who you do not know at all. And in a clearly negative way too. In fact, your post reads *preeetty* judgemental in my eyes.
Based on your first paragraph: I am sorry. Clearly you are going through tough times and are not feeling like your best self.

I am sorry about that. I wish there were something I could possibly do to help.
So if there is, you are certainly welcome to ask.

That second paragraph, to me, is where I can see that indeed you do not feel like your best self. If I were to make an "angry" response, I might claim that you talking about *me* is literally uncalled for. Your first paragraph alone already sends the message that I believe you intended to convey.

But I have no wish to be angry. Anger leads to hate; and hate leads to suffering. It's a vicious spiral downwards; that ultimately helps nobody.

I myself am not feeling my best self either. Not by a long shot.
Last Saturday, I heard some news that is ABSOLUTELY DISTURBING to me and had an immediate and SCARY effect on my own body and health.
And yet I have nobody safe to share that with, forcing me to bottle it up; which you might recognize as being *exceptionally unhealthy*.

In fact, because I DID feel a need to share *something* about it, somewhere, somehow, I had written a post about it immediately and submitted it to this very group; so that other members might be able to empathize and maybe understand; and especially so that I could again gain some healthy distance to it myself.

Unfortunately, this post is *still* "Pending admin authorization", which seems to me like a very long time for that.
The same applies to another far lighter post that I made at the same time.
Either the staff of this group is currently AWOL; or they are having a hard time deciding what to do with my two submissions; or I am being discriminated against.

In other words: I have three hypotheses.
All quite different.
But I will make no judgement.
I believe in the good in people.
And I believe that the staff has a good reason for doing the things that they do; and not doing the things that they don't.

In other words: I give them the benefit of the doubt.
I hope that you can find it in yourself to give me the benefit of your doubt as well.


Moderator:
(

Conversation Starter )
Somewhere I thought I had a "I'm not reading all that" meme saved but I can't find it


Pieter:
Good.
It IS indeed a lot.

Spoiler

My thinking:
Good ALSO because you Mr. Moderator there are ALREADY dismissing quuuiiite the painful stuff there.
Rubbing it in with a lame "funny" meme would really be over-the-top in disrespecting your own members.

Also... shouldn't ideally moderators be reading EVERYTHING?
I know I don't either these days; because I cannot afford to spend the time and effort.
But at the same time I realise I am slacking on "my" "job" and I feel bad about having to do that.

There's a lot to be learned from reading it all.
But for all I know, that which you might learn, you already know.

Spoiler

My thinking:
Dude, I LITERALLY offered to try and get an Atlantis: The Lost Empire GAME made!!!
You're just going to jump over that and ignore the offer?
I thought you were an ATLANTIS FAN EXTRAORDINAIRE!!

Also, thank you for approving one of those posts of mine.
I appreciate it.

Spoiler

My thinking:
Hey, so how about that other post? Any follow-up on THAT one?
I'm still waaaiiiting...

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Funny how "Karens" are usually the ones going against games.
As for her situation I can believe that things aren't good and that this lead to being addicted to Animal Crossing.
I have no idea what the game is about other than being a cartoony game.
However just because you don't have a good experience with games it doesn't mean it's all games fault.

About the original post I disagree heavily, no matter what type of game.
People should NOT live to work. Balance is needed, not doing a 180 degree turn.
Same with addiction and games. You need balance, if you overdo it you will probably have problems... But this is for EVERYTHING!
Just as people can be addicted to games they can be addicted to any form of entertainment. Books, movies; you name it.

Also Pirates of the Caribbean and PiratesAhoy! really help me go through this whole isolation thing.
I have met genuinely good people. Plus I have no idea what I would be doing had I not started modding.
Maybe something maritime related. Oh wait... PotC had a big part with this too.
And family, with Greece being "islandy" being a sailor is pretty common; especially in my grandparent's generation.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Funny how "Karens" are usually the ones going against games.

Yes indeed.
The irony in this situation is a work of art.

As for her situation I can believe that things aren't good and that this lead to being addicted to Animal Crossing.

I believe that immediately.

I have no idea what the game is about other than being a cartoony game.

I believe it is one of those "free" to play Mobile Phone Games
that are deliberately designed to be as addictive as possible and take up as much of your time, energy and money as they possibly can.
It sounds like the exact sort of game that my mum has once been addicted to.
But even THAT one, something GOOD came out of: she got to know someone operating the neighbouring "kingdom" and they REALLY got along!
Neither of them play the game anymore; but they ARE still good friends; they phone regularly; and they've met in real life a good few times by now.

On the other hand, one of their close-ish neighbours has bee sinking SO MUCH TIME AND MONEY into "Farmorama" (I beieve).

However just because you don't have a good experience with games it doesn't mean it's all games fault.

Exactly.
Taking one thing and immediately judging everything else that's even remotely similar...
There is a word for that.
That word is "discrimination".

About the original post I disagree heavily, no matter what type of game.
People should NOT live to work. Balance is needed, not doing a 180 degree turn.
Same with addiction and games. You need balance, if you overdo it you will probably have problems... But this is for EVERYTHING!
Just as people can be addicted to games they can be addicted to any form of entertainment. Books, movies; you name it.

In fact, people can be addicted to work.
There is a word for that also.
That word is "workaholic".

Also Pirates of the Caribbean and PiratesAhoy! really help me go through this whole isolation thing.
I have met genuinely good people. Plus I have no idea what I would be doing had I not started modding.
Maybe something maritime related. Oh wait... PotC had a big part with this too.
And family, with Greece being "islandy" being a sailor is pretty common; especially in my grandparent's generation.

Exactly!
As "game" stuff goes, I'd say PA! is really one of the healthiest integrations between "games" and LIFE that I have ever heard of.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Karen

So I took it a step further and decided to send a message to this "Karen" directly.
That went like this:

Pieter:
Dear Karen,
Please forgive me for contacting you directly.

First of all, I regret that my words triggered you.
That was not my intention; even if, obviously, that was their result.

Secondly, the "some news" that I alluded to is that somebody unexpectedly reported a #MeToo crime to me last Saturday.
I was not ready for that and I find myself having a hard time dealing with it.

It is not something I have any prior experience with.
But it is also something that cannot; MUST NOT be ignored.

If you might possibly have any pointers or suggestions, you could really help me out.
And maybe possibly the victim too.

If not, that is also perfectly okay.

You should do what feels right to you; nothing more, nothing less.

So I will conclude by thanking you for reading this far; and wishing you only the very best.

Karen:
Idk who the fuck you think you are messaging me but fuck off.

Pieter:
As you wish.
Goodbye.

Spoiler

My thinking:
HOLY MOTHERFORKING SHIRTBALLS, this is ONE DAMAGED INDIVIDUAL!
But at least she confirms that which I already said before:
"[She] doesn't know who [...] I am"

And indeed she is correct. She doesn't know who I am.
That was exactly my point.

Clearly she doesn't want to know either.
A simple click through to my public profile would tell her basically exactly who I think I am.

My suspicion:
She is hurting. She is projecting her own hurt onto me.
I attempted to offer her a branch of peace, which she immediately rejected.

It seems to me that she is not ready to heal from whatever hurt she has.
And it is not my responsibility to try and do so.

I did what I felt was right.
Therefore I have every right to NOT take her accusations about me personally at all.

Again, the irony in this situation is ABSOLUTELY pitch-perfect.
An ACTUAL Karen accusing me of "Karen'ing over some feels" while subsequently quite obviously herself letting her "feels" rule her.
Because I a sentence with the word "f*ck* in it twice can not possibly be a response based on reason.
It is therefore an emotional "feels" one.

Thankfully, a "Kaiti" DID like my post before.
So clearly opinions differ. From person to person.
Not much of a surprise there; is it?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Books, movies; you name it.

Speaking of those, games can also be just as deep those.
Just look at The Witcher games. Their story is able to feel in place along with the books that spawned it.
In fact these games are probably one of the best adaptations I have ever seen.
A big part of this is that they are set after the books, so they can have more freedom to make a story that works with the medium.
And this is just one (good) example.

I believe that immediately.

I am more weary of her. Of course I go with a believe until proven wrong mentality.
But people on the Internet do lie. Especially if it means that it may sway an argument in their favor.
Not saying that she's lying, but you never know.

I believe it is one of those "free" to play Mobile Phone Games
that are deliberately designed to be as addictive as possible and take up as much of your time, energy and money as they possibly can.
It sounds like the exact sort of game that my mum has once been addicted to.
But even THAT one, something GOOD came out of: she got to know someone operating the neighbouring "kingdom" and they REALLY got along!
Neither of them play the game anymore; but they ARE still good friends; they phone regularly; and they've met in real life a good few times by now.

On the other hand, one of their close-ish neighbours has bee sinking SO MUCH TIME AND MONEY into "Farmorama" (I beieve).

Apparently it's the same type of game as the Sims, which I also haven't played and I am not too interested in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Crossing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_simulation_game

As for those free mobile/browser games, let's just say I am not compatible with them.
My parents have played a bit in the past. I look at them and really don't get why you would play them.
They usually are filled with microtransactions, or if you don't pay you have to wait... A LOT!
My parents played some strategy/city building games.
Which makes me wonder, why not play Age of Empires?!

However you are right, due to their online nature they come with a community. So if you are lucky you may find good people.
But I really can't stand their game aspect. Especially since some developers see that and put it in game you actually pay for.

Exactly.
Taking one thing and immediately judging everything else that's even remotely similar...
There is a word for that.
That word is "discrimination".

Yep, of course it isn't as bad as doing it to people. That word fits though.

In fact, people can be addicted to work.
There is a word for that also.
That word is "workaholic".

Exactly. Everything can be bad if out of balance.

Exactly!
As "game" stuff goes, I'd say PA! is really one of the healthiest integrations between "games" and LIFE that I have ever heard of.

Indeed. Especially when looking into mainstream social media and gaming "communities".
While we had some fights and trolls in the past, it really isn't that much in the large picture.
Such stuff happen everyday in some places.

So I took it a step further and decided to send a message to this "Karen" directly.
That went like this:

Pieter:
Dear Karen,
Please forgive me for contacting you directly.

First of all, I regret that my words triggered you.
That was not my intention; even if, obviously, that was their result.

Secondly, the "some news" that I alluded to is that somebody unexpectedly reported a #MeToo crime to me last Saturday.
I was not ready for that and I find myself having a hard time dealing with it.

It is not something I have any prior experience with.
But it is also something that cannot; MUST NOT be ignored.

If you might possibly have any pointers or suggestions, you could really help me out.
And maybe possibly the victim too.

If not, that is also perfectly okay.

You should do what feels right to you; nothing more, nothing less.

So I will conclude by thanking you for reading this far; and wishing you only the very best.

Karen:
Idk who the fuck you think you are messaging me but fuck off.

Pieter:
As you wish.
Goodbye.

Can't say I wasn't expecting that.
Whether or not it's her fault she really gave me some bad vibes from the get go.
I probably wouldn't have bothered much with it. You really didn't say anything to say you were "Karening".
And you definitely you didn't do anything to warrant that reply.
You see I would focus my attention to @A Person, at least there you are sure that your help is needed.
Plus you can't do anything if she doesn't want you to, which she clearly doesn't.
Besides there are some bad people around, and let's just say I am not sure about her.
If she is actually good, then I hope she find the help she needs.

Thankfully, a "Kaiti" DID like my post before.
So clearly opinions differ. From person to person.
Not much of a surprise there; is it?

Indeed.