Serious Question, why do you play games ?

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I've noticed this has been the topic of a few popular gaming pod-casts over the last few weeks, I find this topic very interesting and would like to pose the same question to my fellow 'gamers' on here, why is it you play games?, what got you into gaming in the first place?

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Personally I don't think it was ever really about playing games for me, or the actual mechanics or story's contained within the games themselves, games to me just seem to be an easily accessible vessel for a virtual experience in today's world, one that helps me escape from the mundane, I could happily wonder around a virtual world for hours at a time without any objectives or goals, if it was interesting that is, but then I suppose that's why the goals and objectives exist there in the first place, to make that virtual world interesting, but do we really need that?, tbh I'd rather make my own entertainment in the world rather than it telling me what to do or where to go, I think it's one of the reasons why I find Nobby Nobby Boy quite an interesting 'experiment', as it doesn't really have any real objectives.

What got me interested in computers (and games) was the possibilities, they seemed endless, I remember when my dad for the first time ever showed me a game on his Spectrum, it was Beach-Head, he was a keen electronic and programming hobbyist, it was a popular trend that the UK seemed to of embraced at the time and one that I'll always have fond memory's of, I remember looking at that screen and thinking wow, it was like seeing magic, one minute your staring out of your bedroom window seeing the same old world that's been there since you were born, the same sparrows eating from the nut basket, the same beaten up shed in the corner of the garden, the same trees that slowly turned different shades of green and golden brown throughout the seasons......, generally speaking I found reality quite boring at a very early age.

And then one day I was introduced to a new window, a window that was really a box with a glass front and a tuning dial on the side, it was hooked up to a little 48k Spectrum and an old fashioned Amstrad cassette recorder, suddenly I was introduced to a new world, a world that wasn't boring any more, even waiting for the games to load I found it mesmerising, the hypnotic coloured lines that danced to the sound of the erratic Morse code that came from the tape machine, it was almost like it was teasing me as line by line a picture slowly appeared on the loading screen, my eyes would light up knowing that it was nearly time to taste a new experience in the form of a virtual world, it was this that kept me coming back, and as soon as the 'high' from these experiences began to subside there was always new innovations and machines that would be on the horizon, offering better 'virtual worlds' with more colours, more sounds, more pixels, it was a never ending cycle and it's one that still continues in my life today.
 
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I used to play games casue the graphics and interactivity when I was growing up was moving so fast it was just "wow" after "wow". I first really got into gaming when my dad gabe my DOOM and we used to play F1GP over the network. None of my friends had a clue about that stuff and had never understood it so I was quite aliented until tech got more mainstream in farmer land. I then started playign new games like Full Throttle then Quake then GP4 etc. All classics and engrossing games. Some games like Unreal and Quake had puzzle qualities to them that made them stand out than just an average shooter.

These days the industry is saturated and a marketing minefield but I now play games becasue I can't apply my free time to anything more productive at the moment. I hope to find relaxation but now I find most games quite stressful. I seem to revert back to the online games I play with friends like COD4, BF2 and WoW as I'm sharing the experience which I tend to enjoy more.
 
Same could be said for anything. Why play sports? Why go to the cinema? Why eat your favorite food? Because its fun and enjoyable, plan and simple. I don't see the need of a scientific study and all that when the answer is pretty clear.

I don't play games as much these days as I feel like I've played every scenario there is in a game. Everything just seems kinda dull these days. I tend play games that are simple and can be played in short bursts.
 
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I play FPS games online in order to win.. If I am not winning I find it incredibly annoying, I can't seem to handle my name not being at the top of the list on any FPS I have played(a lot of them). Often I refuse to play sniper for more than a couple of minutes as I end up drifting away from the run and gunners. I love crushing the opposition into dust.

I play sports games online for the competition, I have no problem losing on FIFA 10-0 as long as I tried my best. I find it incredibly gripping when I have a close game, and boring if I sweep the opposition aside.

I play racing games online just to better myself, I often find that racing people leads to crashes. If I drive my own race I tend to do better as I am not worried about what the opposition is doing. I lover rounding the last corner watching the clock tick along wondering if I hit all the apex's right on my lap.

I suppose overall reason for my playing games is the enjoyment, or simply to pass the time. I don't watch much T.V and there are hours in the day that I don't want to read or eat and no one is available so playing a game makes time travel faster.
 
Good topic (and one that I can use to further avoid doing work :p).

I've had different reasons for playing games at different times of my life. When I was 10, I played them simply because I found it a lot more fun than going outside :cool:

Now that I'm getting older, I have a lot more priorities yet I continue to come back to games. I play games now because I can have really enjoyable experiences that are impossible in reality.

Right now I'm hooked on Oblivion because I can be part of a fighter's guild, helping the people; join a thieves guild and have the thrill of robbing people, or in the case of the Dark Brotherhood, kill people in a stealthy, interesting way. All the while I'll be collecting new and "cool" equipment (I have a love of the ole' swords and shields days; I actually have two katana in real life!).

Last year I got hooked on Age of Empires 3 because it's a great test on my multi-tasking abilities and figuring out how to beat my enemy.

I love the Metal Gear Solid series because of the movie-esque experience of slow thrilling gameplay, mixed with amazing action sequences.

I'm in it for the experience, enjoyment and challenge. It has to be more of a mental challenge though. My reflexes for unknown reasons just aren't up to par of most Chinese people :p I can't win in fighting or shooting games.
 
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various reasons, To do things I can't so in real life. To escape from real life and immerse my self in a world/story for a while. I'm not really in it for the challenge. I tend to enjoy playing in normal/easy and really enjoying the story or world.
 
I don't see the need of a scientific study and all that when the answer is pretty clear.

Is it that simple though?

That's your take on it, I don't think everyone has the same reasons imo, I certainly don't play games just to get "fun and enjoyment", I use games as an exploration into another world away from reality, often I wont even engage in the gaming mechanics or story, I just want to explore what it is like to be in a new virtual environment, I've been gaming for over 20 years and in all that time I have probably only completed about 25 games, and that's becuase getting to the end of a game is not an important goal for me.
 
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Is it that simple though?

That's your take on it, I don't think everyone has the same reasons imo, I certainly don't play games just becuase to get "fun and enjoyment", I use games as an exploration into another world away from reality, often I wont even engage in the gaming mechanics or story, I just want to explore what it is like to be in a new virtual environment, I've been gaming for over 20 years and in all that time I have probably only completed about 25 games, and that's becuase getting to the end of a game is not an important goal for me.

It sounds like you have problems dealing with the real world. If games are an escape for you, then what are you going to do when you can't game?
 
It sounds like you have problems dealing with the real world. If games are an escape for you, then what are you going to do when you can't game?

So wanting to immerse yourself in another world, alien to your own, automatically denotes some form of issue with the real world? If you were right then i think a huge proportion of readers and film watchers better be put on suicide alert along with the gamers.
 
It sounds like you have problems dealing with the real world. If games are an escape for you, then what are you going to do when you can't game?

Aren't most forms of media an escape? What do you do when reading an epic novel if not immerse yourself in the story and setting the writer has created?
 
Is it that simple though?

That's your take on it, I don't think everyone has the same reasons imo, I certainly don't play games just becuase to get "fun and enjoyment", I use games as an exploration into another world away from reality, often I wont even engage in the gaming mechanics or story, I just want to explore what it is like to be in a new virtual environment, I've been gaming for over 20 years and in all that time I have probably only completed about 25 games, and that's becuase getting to the end of a game is not an important goal for me.

I agree with the last part of your sentence. Completing games has never been a goal for me. But I do play for enjoyment, submersing myself in a virtual environment is great but certainly not why I play, and I often find it becomes boring quite quickly. I enjoy games more when they are simple but have scope for it to be different each time I play it. This is why I struggle to complete games as I lose interest.

L4D in versus mode at the moment seems to capture everything I want from a game, playing with and against a varied group of people keeps each game different enough for longevity. I play simply to enjoy myself and relax, nothing more.... its a very convenient hobby that I can jump in and out of pretty much whenever I wish.
 
I didn't say that he was suicidal. I just said there must be something in the real world that forces him to want to escape. I didn't say there was anything seriously wrong with him.
 
I just like stories.

Books, films, tv shows and games all deliver, at times, some amazing and really unforgettable stories. I live for the moment when i find one of those special stories with amazing characters, a complex world and a deep, involving storyline. Off the top of my head games have provided four of those moments.

I didn't say that he was suicidal. I just said there must be something in the real world that forces him to want to escape. I didn't say there was anything seriously wrong with him.

I was using suicidal for dramatic effect. There doesn't have to be something wrong with the real world to want to immerse yourself in a fictional world.
 
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