"It's just a game"

Spawned from this post, which was in response to this post's video.

The boy's parents mention that World of Warcraft is "just a game". This is a line that I've heard many times. And I know that a lot of us gamers hate hearing it. But I wanted to think a bit deeper about it.

Something being "just a game" is a frequent line uttered by parents, and many others, in regards to gaming. I'd say, in some ways, those who use this line have failed to understand the psychological implications of modern gaming—it's no longer like a game of cards, because modern games tend to be quite engrossing, and the more engrossing it is, the more one's sense of accomplishment and self-esteem become tied to it.

Is this a bad thing? Well, I'm not sure it's necessarily good or bad. On one hand, an immersive game can be a great respite from the annoyances of real life, as well as a great engagement of one's imagination and aesthetic senses. One can even say they're the next step in storytelling, after theater and television, by adding interactivity and audience participation. On the other hand, the factors that make a game immersive can become addicting, especially for people with less restraint or greater desire for escapism, and addiction-like phenomena can occur—such as feelings of inadequacy or frustration from not being able to accomplish something in a game (either due to lack of access to the game or lack of ability in the game itself), and a strongly reinforced low-risk gradual-reward pathway that has been exploited by the gambling industry (see a recent {{60 Minutes}} article on penny slots).

I think that people such as parents, when dealing with people who play games and get really into them, should actually think about what's going on in the mind of the person playing the game. And don't just think "OMG! INSANITY! GAME ADDICTION! I HAVE TO REMOVE BY FORCE!". For example:

• Convince the person that the gaming accomplishment doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
• Some gamers play because their friends do. Strategies that work in dealing with peer pressure may be useful here, depending on how much the person is playing because his/her friends want him/her to play.
• People, having invested time and effort toward a goal, generally don't like seeing it go to waste. The first thing you should do is to determine how long it will take to get to the next save point, autosave point, or other progress-preserving point. Then determine whether you can wait that long.
  • It may be helpful to recommend that the player get into some games that can very easily be quicksaved, for ease of putting down whenever. Such games include Fire Emblem, Nethack, Pokémon (possible to save as long as you're not in a battle), and many more. Note that such games are more commonly found for handheld systems, since they run on battery power—I shouldn't have to explain why.
• For multiplayer games, you ought to strongy suggest that the player think of it as a formal part of his/her schedule. It's extraordinarily irritating to be on either side of the dispute—to be the player who feels a strong social obligation to his/her teammates or to be the person who is trying to get the gamer to, from the player's perspective, basically present 'emself as a completely unreliable person. As the argument drags on, time becomes an increasingly critical factor since social relationships with real people occur in real time, so the player will become increasingly desperate; besides, such situations may be caused by a time crunch for non-gaming obligations, making the other person very desperate. You might even run the risk of violence breaking out.

What do you think of this statement, and how people should deal with it?

Don't think I've ever really thought that much about it. I mean, it was always slightly annoying when people would act like video gaming was somehow a less worthwhile passtime than football (that is, soccer) or rugby or basketball or whatever, but other than that, it didn't phase me.

They are ultimately just games, after all. However immersive they are, it's pointless to obsess over them too much. Like, if they're actually upsetting a child or getting in the way of their life, I think "It's just a game" is a reasonable thing to remind them. I'd also say it was a fair thing to say to kids who get too worked up or overcompetitive over sports, as well.

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GOD DAMN IT

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Of course, there's the other side of the coin - people who use the phrase as a method of pointing out how "delusional" video game players are. Usually this comes from the (fortunately dwindling) "video games are evil" crowd. I could link another video about it, if you want.

All in all, it's a phrase to be applied very carefully, and you'd want to be sure the person you used it on knows exactly what you mean by saying it.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

But yes, after realizing I was in OTC all of the sudden, it's too late to turn back.

It's kind of hard to congratulate and admire the effort and accomplishments made on a video game, that you know nothing about. It's like if somebody was able to create the Tournesol, defeat Priere or survive hardcore mode on level 8. Unless you know which games I am talking about, these are just words, and don't feel like accomplishments.

Since parents have never played the game they cannot appreciate it, and thus go "it's just a game", disregarding it for the sake that it's not real, doesn't improve you financially, and is generally for fun, and isn't supposed to be life-changing and revolution starting.

This pisses me off too, a bit. But it's not like my mother will be happy that I finally made a Diamond Pickaxe if she doesn't even know what it is, or cares.

Troper Page

I'm a World Of Warcraft player, have been playing for what..4-5 years now? And there's two points there that really resonate for that game in particular that I really have to explain to people.

1. 1. The social aspect. For a lot of players, the social aspect is why they log on. It's why I log on. My guildmates, are people I've known for years, I've never met them IRL, but we've talked about everything under the sun, they're people I'd trust bigtime. If my guild broke up I'd quit World Of Warcraft. Full stop.

2. 2. For the most hardcore, it really is already by and large a scheduled thing. You're raiding from say 9-1 or something like that, and you've made a commitment to be available at that time. Now, I play in a casual guild, and with most guilds will be understanding if something comes up. Going out drinking does not often count as something coming up :)

It's just like most other scheduled group activities. There are people counting on you, and just because they are on the internet, that makes them no less real, and I think a lot of people can't get past that. They think that "internet people" are not real. My personal opinion is that sometimes, I tend to actually be able to talk more with people over the internet and because of that they actually get closer quicker. Thusly in a way you could say they're more real.

In the end, I wouldn't say "it's just a game". It's just an activity, and there are tons of things that are more important than activities. At the same time, there are tons of things that are on the same level as activities. But in the end, often one activity is just as good as the next one, it's a case of YMMV.

Democracy is the process in which we determine the government that we deserve

Game Theory. It's Serious Business. (unrelated, I know... )

If said video game critics are huge sports fans, ask them if it's just a game.

I did this at work with a few guys. They quit bugging me about video games after awhile. Plus, there's professional game players who get some serious prize money for winning in strict competitive matches. Just a game, still?

Yes - it is a game. But it's not just a game.

edited 29th Jan '11 11:15:57 PM by pvtnum11

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

Uh, game theory is a mathematical discipline only barely related to video games.

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

I know - couldn't resist though.

The rest of that still stands.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

Amazing ability to sum up my mother's opinion on everything that is related to science fiction and fantasy.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Hmm, I usually only use this line when someone is taking a game way too seriously, especially if I use "cheap" tactics to win.

Like a game of starcraft 2 that I played today, we had one placement match left for 4v4 with this particular combination of my buddies, so on our last one we decided to use the most risky and odd strategies possible. A Planetary Fortress Rush, a sixpool, a Protoss cannon rush, and a terran building a proxy base really close to all their shit.

It worked, my planetary fortress totally strangled the mineral line of one player, the sixpool did the same to another before being wiped out, the cannon rush completely destroyed another player to the point of quitting, and then the proxy base kept sending marines in to finish up the job.

We hadn't planned on winning this game, but it started to work in our favor that one particular time. The opposing team was raging in all caps the entire time about cheap tactics and such, and I said "Dude, it's just a game, I wouldn't make lecherous advances regarding your mother if I was losing right now."

But it was fun making them mad I guess.

Yeah, it's calling video games Serious Business. Although it's how I feel about most cultural and artistic things, I don't consider people who put high levels of importance on them to be freaks.

Fight smart, not fair.

It's a personal thing but I find I have my own problems with the "What you do in a game doesn't really matter in the greater scheme of things" matter of thinking.

Other things I compare it to, in terms of doing something enjoyable with my time, don't tend to come out much better. Yes, if I spent that time engaging in some sort of creative pursuit, I would have made something. But in the end, the only person who would ever be likely to give a shit about what I created was myself. And if I can get more fulfillment with less effort from a video game, it seems like the rational way to go.

edited 30th Jan '11 2:57:23 AM by TibetanFox

Unfortunately, this very same mentality has been adopted by "hardcore gamers", whom many of are starting to chastise games for spending to on things other than that which makes gaming feel like a boardgame and the like. That games are supposed to be "all-mechanic", and no heart.

I mean, I wouldn't be into Video Games if I viewed them as "just games". I view them as the most versatile media form.

Genkidama for Japan, even if you don't have money, you can help![1]

There definitely needs to be a greater awareness of the gap between "Challenge gamers" and "Experience gamers".

I'm the latter, given my raging casualfaggotry.

edited 30th Jan '11 3:17:42 AM by TibetanFox

I hate "Hardcore Gamers". Them and casual gamers combined together are the reason why most mainstream games are sucking so bad most of the time. No story, no investment, time wise.. Just these little action games that go "OOH LOOK GRAPHICS! ACHIEVEMENTS!" and send you on your way for 50 bucks as one playthrough.

It's why I play old RPG games so often, from a bygone era of quality and depth! Or to be more precise, all the shit that Black Isle made. New Vegas was really good, though that's because they had tons of the guys from the original fallout team who now work for Obsidian onboard, as well as using a tweaked Van Buren script.

"Hardcore Gamers" is a term alot toss around, and I'm still not sure the definition.

When I mostly hear it, I hear of it meaning just...people who dont want casual gaming. Like its just us v them.

And if thats the case, then I'm a "Hardcore Gamer" then. I'm sick and tired of all these shovelware "Adjective Sports" or all of the crappy dance games or what not.

If its on the Kinect, its Casual.

I think more with the old definitions, hardcore gamers put lots and lots of hours into their games and may or may not play professionally, but are really competitive. They are people who don't care about the journey, only the destination. And in this case the destination is any kind of scoreboard. I hate how these guys always fag up my FPS games, they are obsessively good from unrealistic man-hours of playing, and have such a high attention span to where they can just keep attacking vulnerable points.

I consider a casual gamer kind of lockstep with the idea of some dude who just came home from work, wants to play two hours of halo/bad company 2/cod/whatever, and then get back with his bidness. He probably doesn't really know what the "internet community" is, and probably doesn't care.

And I don't know what to call myself, really. I'm a product of the first generation of teenagers with a dialup modem... Been on the internet since it came up, just about, I know the lions share of popular internet culture, I put quite a few hours into gaming, but I'm not very competitive. While I do get good, I just enjoy the journey, actually playing the game, more than the destination.

Oh, and I couldn't play without my mates on ventrilo, we've been playing for years and I wouldn't have any desire to play multiplayer games without them. A good part of the time we just sit on vent and bullshit with eachother while we watch TV.

edited 30th Jan '11 7:39:27 AM by Barkey

^^They're making a sequel to Steel Battalion that uses only the Kinect.

What do you all consider Dance Dance Revolution fans to be? For some reason I doubt a lot of them are 'hardcore gamers' but im sure many are...

WHASSUP....... ....with lolis!

Some of those folks who do it competitively in Japan scare the shit out of me.

I also can't help but roll my eyes at South Koreas worshipping of Starcraft.

Mind you, World Of Warcraft comes with parental controls. It really seems like the best way to deal with it especially since video games are notorious for messing up schedules and many teenagers (many adults for that matter) don't have the maturity to schedule themselves properly.

edited 30th Jan '11 10:29:02 AM by CBanana

and that's how Equestria was made!

@Funny

Dont remind me. The whole point of that game was the freaking huge controller.

I guarantee this game will not involve using anything like that. You'll probably crouch like a mech, have crappy on rail gameplay (because with no controller there is no way to control movement yourself) and you just go "pew" to shoot.

Personally, I hate the term "hardcore gamer". It brings up images of some asshole who can only be content playing FPSs and looks down their noses at everyone else..

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

I used to identify by it. For me it meant actually caring about the games rather than just playing whatever was fashionable at the time.

I think "experience gamer" is a good term that I'd like to hear more often.

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