Games Outside the Games
How much attention does a game deserve outside the game itself?
We all face a balancing act, and life is about priorities. (Video/roleplaying) games, sports, whatever hobbies and interests all need to be weighed against work, family, and home. If you can't keep the electricity on, after all, there's no chance to play WoW.
And yet, at lot of games "want" some outside effort. Spending time organizing a guild, researching strategies, and looking at gear options can make WoW progress much smoother. Discussing characters and plotlines between roleplaying sessions can keep interest up and make for greater depth in the game. Even standard video games all have FAQs and forums these days. There's a lot of opportunity to glean just a little more about any given game even outside it.
I usually derive some enjoyment from roleplaying sessions. I think I got a lot more, however, back when the games were something I would discuss with a friend at lunch or trade e-mail over regularly. The games were on my mind, and I would anticipate and actively look forward to the next play time. Now, I "look forward" to games more in the sense of having to schedule around them than chomping at the bit to see what happens next or play out some grand plan. Those games used to feel more rewarding, and I'm left wondering if that's simply because I (or, collectively, all the players) put more (thought, effort, whatever) into them even when not actually playing.
I think it's pretty obvious, though, there's such a thing as "too much" also. Burnout can be quite real, and clearly sacrificing time spent working or schooling isn't healthy. But more often than not these days, I feel dissatisfied with games because there's "not enough." I don't feel invested and/or it feels like others are just showing up with me. Is it still worth playing at that point? Is it worth putting more into it? I don't know...
We all face a balancing act, and life is about priorities. (Video/roleplaying) games, sports, whatever hobbies and interests all need to be weighed against work, family, and home. If you can't keep the electricity on, after all, there's no chance to play WoW.
And yet, at lot of games "want" some outside effort. Spending time organizing a guild, researching strategies, and looking at gear options can make WoW progress much smoother. Discussing characters and plotlines between roleplaying sessions can keep interest up and make for greater depth in the game. Even standard video games all have FAQs and forums these days. There's a lot of opportunity to glean just a little more about any given game even outside it.
I usually derive some enjoyment from roleplaying sessions. I think I got a lot more, however, back when the games were something I would discuss with a friend at lunch or trade e-mail over regularly. The games were on my mind, and I would anticipate and actively look forward to the next play time. Now, I "look forward" to games more in the sense of having to schedule around them than chomping at the bit to see what happens next or play out some grand plan. Those games used to feel more rewarding, and I'm left wondering if that's simply because I (or, collectively, all the players) put more (thought, effort, whatever) into them even when not actually playing.
I think it's pretty obvious, though, there's such a thing as "too much" also. Burnout can be quite real, and clearly sacrificing time spent working or schooling isn't healthy. But more often than not these days, I feel dissatisfied with games because there's "not enough." I don't feel invested and/or it feels like others are just showing up with me. Is it still worth playing at that point? Is it worth putting more into it? I don't know...
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