Why People Play Games?

[Aka_Bar 0]

What is it that makes you enjoy playing games? Some people love the mental stimulation that word games or puzzles provide. Other people love to play mindless little addictive games that pass the time between periods of activity and yet still others play in order to have a friendly (or sometimes not so friendly) competition among friends. But no matter why it is that you play the games that you play they can be so addictive that you find yourself taking up most of your day playing them. Here is a breakdown on why people play games, perhaps you will be able to fit yourself into one of these categories.1. The Time Waster - This person plays games just to pass the time, either at work or at home when they have nothing better to do. The problem with being a time waster is that the game playing often spills over into the periods of time that should be productive2. Busy Minds - The person who plays games for the stimulation needs to have something that is constantly occupying their minds at all times. These people generally like puzzles, word games and sudoku and they play them addictively.3. The Competer - This person plays games to compete against other players. They often find themselves frustrated if things aren't going their way with the game. They don't care if they play against someone online or if they play with them in their living rooms, they just love competing.If you find yourself in one of these categories there is only one thing that you can do, play more games.So please tell me your opinions about my thoughts!!!

[richierich1m 0]

Playing games is really fun but one should make sure it doesn't use up your productive time,The time which can be used productively shouldn't be used to play games but yes making games is also a great fun if you really like games a lot. It provides you the requires simulation and designing the graphics is also a creative process

[leafbunk 0]

There's something to be said about having the ability to escape reality by throwing yourself completely into an unrealistic world. I, for one, quite enjoy this feat. I quite appreciate having the opportunity to detatch myself from whatever responsibilities or issues I may presently have, and just enjoy playing a game. Everyone has different outlets. For some, reading does the trick. Others - meditation, religion, drugs, etc.I think it might be best to broaden your categories by adding one into which I would fall: "Escapists". It must be noted though that the reasons people will offer for why they play video games would probably closely coincide with reasons people do anything.

[sujith 0]

People do the stuff they enjoy.I simply think we play games because we win.I usually don't play games because most of the times I can't play well, I just fails..So I usually don't play games.We all love winning at least in the virtual world that sense of schievemnt is the key.Jusy my views

[Saint_Michael 3]

I know for me I play games to escape from reality for a few hours just to clear my head and enjoy my fantasy of being that hero with a large sword or street racer. Stuff I normally wouldn't do in the real world. The fun factor is a by product of me playing games.

[Aequitas619 0]

Yes, I also play games to escape. To unwind and pass time! Its also very stress relieving! But I think people can fit in more than one catogory depending on what game they are playing and how they are playing it. Sometimes i just play games to mess around but sometimes I try hard to 'play to the best of my abilities'. It just depends on the game and the mood that I am in!Although some people take gaming to seriously. The forget that the most important thing is to enjoy yourself. Not to mention all the keyboard/joystick/gamepad abuse! I have seen people throw real fits after loosing a game and I dont think thats too good

[Rokuso 0]

I play games for that thrill and rush of the chase.

Such as when you're playing Counter-Strike. Chasing the guy with your silenced M4A1 and headshotting him.

And yes I agree with Aequitas. People are starting to take games really seriously. Like when that kid who
couldn't join the other faction on WoW and commited suicide after playing for 48 hours straight.
Here is an article for why people are taking so seriously.

Xinhua, a mainland China news agency, has reported that the parents of a young boy who committed suicide last year have filed suit against Blizzard, the makers of World of Warcraft. The boy jumped out of a 24-story window on December 27, 2004 and the parents blame the suicide on the boy's alleged addiction to the game. They also believe that he was trying to reenact a scene from the game.
We translated the original Chinese language article and found out that just before committing suicide, the boy left four letters and one hand-written note to his parents. In addition, he also logged onto World of Warcraft and told fellow players goodbye. The boy, who played a Night Elf in the game, believed that he could meet his favorite Night Elf hero, if he committed suicide.

While the parents allege that the boy was trying to reenact a game scene by jumping out of the building, World of Warcraft in fact does not include any part where the player is encouraged to commit suicide. There are two voluntary quests that do have the player jump off a mountain, but in both cases, you safely land with the help of a parachute or by being teleported away before the caharcter hits the ground.

World of Warcraft Feralas jump - Looking down

World of Warcraft has two major factions or sides. Night-elves, Drawves, Gnomes and Humans make up the Alliance or "good guys", while Orcs, Undead, Trolls and Tauren make the bad guys or "the Horde". Alliance players can jump off the "Twin Colossal" mountains in a zone called Feralas. Players are teleported to the top, where they are given a chance to purchase a parachute that will, if opened at the right time during the descent, save them.

World of Warcraft Feralas jump - Buying Parachute

According to Travis Meacham, author of previous Tom's Hardware Guide World of Warcraft articles, the mountains have turned into a meta-game or game within a game. Some players purposely jump off without a parachute, while other players sit at the bottom and watch their teammates come down.

Horde players have a quest called "Test of Faith" which makes them jump to their supposed death in the zone "Thousand Needles". Just before hitting the ground, the player is teleported away to safety.

The state-controlled newspapers have been on an anti-online game blitz for the last several weeks. In another story, an online gamer cut off his finger because he thought he was addicted to games. No specific online game was mentioned in the article. China has set time limits on online game play and will punish people by taking away equipment and levels if they play longer than three hours at a time.

To prevent addiction, World of Warcraft does have a "rest" feature which discourages constant game play. Logged off characters accumulate rest, which doubles the amount of experience earned from killing monsters. The longer the player is logged off, the more rest accumulates. Casual players, who only play a few times a week, can level up their characters in less time as people who play for several hours straight.

[patronus4000 0]

Hey, I fit into all three categories! XDFor me, I play games to relieve stress and to take some time off from school and stuff. However, once I start, I can't stop, so I end up wasting several hours playing games. I get caught up in the "I must raise myself to level x before I sign off" thing. At the moment, the only game I'm addicted to is StepMania, which is a good thing, because the songs are short, meaning that I play less (since I can stop as the intervals are so short). (Did I just make any sense?) Either way, I'm sticking with reading and other more productive things these days, so it's all good.For others, as I have some gamer friends, they just play because they have nothing to do. They often go online, search for games, and play many different games in one day, just to keep themselves entertained. (I think I went through this phrase a few years back.)Serena

[brcmville 0]

Why do people play games? Simply to entertain themselves! When *person* sapiens sapiens began to populate the planet, and the power of knowlege allowed for people to have free time that would otherwise be spent gathering food or finding shelter for the night, I assume that many of them played some sort of game to pass that time. The majority of people that play games now say they do it to blow off some extra time, and that is probably why they are playing in the first place, but in today's society with computer gaming, that is not why they continue playing. Those are two different things, and I will explain what I mean by that.As I said above, extra time is why most people play games, but the reason they continue to play is what we should really bge asking. There is no physical addiction to gaming but many people claim to be addicted to games. I also believe that I have been addicted to a game before. What happens, in my opinion, is that we get so engrossed in a game and enjoy it so much that we want to keep doing it over and over again. I guess you could say it is a mental addiction. Some nights after long hours of gamings, I would dream that I was actually playing the game. If that is not a mental addiction, then I do not know what is ;)In short, people play games to pass time and by doing so, they get caught up in a mental addiction that keeps them coming back for more and more. I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us!

[Herbert1405241469 0]

I definitely fall into the "Escapist" category. The daily humdrum of life is enough to get anybody down, but when you sit in front of that computer and start off with nothing and all of a sudden, you are given objectives, not matter what game you're playing, you are suddenly given a higher purpose. In real life, we're stuck doing things just to get along, and there is never really any motivation for doing anything other than to get through the day, sleep, and begin again. But with video games, you're suddenly in charge of saving the world... avenging the deaths of your loved ones (Max Payne)... trying to stop a rogue Artificial Intelligence (System Shock)... or just do whatever the heck you want (GTA )I love starting off in a game with nothing (Such as typical RPG, Grand Theft Auto, and the like) and you work to earn more powerful items and money. In the real world, you work your butt off at school and whatnot, and at the end of the day, you're just tired Oh I wouldn't give up reality for video games, of course, but there's just more motivation to do well in the games because the reward factor is higher.

[closed 0]

for me playing games is just for entertainment, like watching tv, surfing the net and dating.as i observe in most cafe, is that almost all of it's customer that play games do it for sake of competition. They feel the excitement during the war, the joy of being a champion and the grieve of being a loser.it's quiet fun to watch, how this kids and grow up game players competing each other.

[lonebyrd 0]

There are a few reasons I play video games, as many have said. One, the 'escapist', is a big one for me. Stesses of life can be overbearing at times. When I want to just immerse myself in a diffenent 'world', I play a game. For a time, I forget the stresses of life. My mind is free to wonder in a different reality. Also, there is the pure challenge of the game. I love to try to out-do myself, especially in sports/driving kinds of games. Having a fairly solitary life, challenging myself to make it to that 'next level', keeps me going for hours. It's all pure fun.

[HellFire121 0]

One reason i play games is because i have nothing else to do, and playing games is my easiest form of entertainment. Also i am involved in competitive play, i need to play games to help my team win. If it wasn't for competitive play i'd still play games anyway for entertainment. Some games such as world of warcraft are probably the most entertaining games out and you'll have a hard time trying to get off it.-HellFire

[Arbitrary 0]

Well, it's different from person-to-person, but I usually play just out of pure boredom. If I have nothing better to do, I'd just occupy my time with random flash games that I find on the Internet. I also prefer them because for the most part, they're short and can be finished within a certain timeframe, leaving me plenty of time to do actual work. If I did play an addicting game then I'd probably spend all of my waking hours playing it, which, frankly, would kill any productivity I've ever had. On the other hand, if I had a large chunk of time on my hand (say during the summer break), then I wouldn't mind playing a more addicting game, as long as the addiction was controlled and didn't last longer than several days. If it did, then the addiction would probably spill over to school days as well, which causes some rather...mind-boggling issues.I usually prefer games that require some amount of strategy...those just seem more interesting than repetition over and over again just to achieve some great goal in the end. (Though real life is probably more like the latter...but the point of games is to escape from real life, right? XD)I have met people who play games to nullify some of their rage and relieve stress, but that has never worked for me. I always find that a game tends to cause more stress than it actually relieves (let's say I fail just before I can achieve some sort of rank--it's much more likely that I'd be pissed, causing more stress than calm). Therefore, I can only play games when I'm really calm or else my anger will just go overboard.

[iGuest 3]

invest in time?

Why People Play Games?

 

I know people who play games to procrastinate, fear of many other things, like success or failure...So they avoid.

I use to play games all the time...I quit cold turkey because my life was passing before me...Opportunities.

If gaming out is productive and makes your life better...All the better...

But what game does that?

 

-reply by manifest