The good of Gaming

[Jwimmer 2,835]

 

I was recently looking through my Facebook feed and found that a friend shared a rather interesting post. Its title was "Video Games: An Hour a Day is Key to Success in Life", and was on The Huffington Post's website. I immediately thought that was a hoax, and was surprised to see it was not on The Onion- I have always heard that gaming is simply a waste of time, and doing something such as reading instead is much better. I went into reading the article, and found that my mindset about the helpfulness of gaming was completely changed. I will share my thoughts about how gaming has been good for me, and maybe take away the guilt in the back of people's minds about "wasting" their time as they play Tanki Online.

          

One of the main reasons I play games (mainly Tanki) is because it is a great form of stress relief. I currently have the most strenuous math and science- based schedule offered at my high school, and as you can imagine, a lot of stress comes with that. I have found that, even only a few weeks into the year, Tanki has helped me so much. When I get into a good game, or sometimes even a gold party, my mind almost completely escapes the stress and constant concentration that abides by my schedule. I might not realize it while playing, but it makes so much of a difference.

 

Up front, the article showed a statistic that astonished me- around 96% of teenagers (both boys and girls) under 18 play video games for atleast an hour a day.  This really led to an epiphany- even though people do not really talk a whole lot about video games at school, everyone plays them. I now know that I am not alone within my classmates just for playing games. For some strange reason, I could not shake the feelings that I was a "nerd" . I never talk about gaming, because I think I will be seen as a loser. Everyone plays games; it is not just a select few people.

 

My last main point, and another great one in the Huffington Post article was about emotion- gaming does a better job than something like reading at creating feels of curiosity, optimism, and pride. Just think about it- in a close game, do you ever feel a sense of ambition to get the last cap, or pride once you win? Of course you do! This is why gaming is so great! These are quite  common feelings that one simply does not feel very often in the real world- and these are also feelings that give life some energy.

 

Now, this whole Tanki as a stress relief comes with a major caveat- you have to know how long to play. Gaming has, in my mind, very tight regulations of “too much”- and I have been known to break those boundaries. When gaming distracts you from the more important activities, you have a problem. You should be able to go about your day at school or work without yearning to type in your password and play a game. Another boundary is that you should NEVER play a game more you are at work or school, with the one caveat being break. The best way to deal with breaking the boundaries of gaming is just going cold turkey for a set amount of time. My experience with this tactic worked very well. In August of 2015, I decided to "quit" Tanki. This was in order to focus on my tough Junior year. Of course, it was challenging at first. However, after about a week, I found that I rarely thought  about Tanki. Then, after a month of not playing, I decided to give Tanki another try. I came back with more of a focus on  real life, and Tanki quickly started to complement my tough schedule.

 

In conclusion, gaming can actually be a great part of your life that you should not be ashamed of. It helps reduce stress, along with releasing emotions that are often not unleashed in the outside world. But like  everything, too much of a good thing is never good . However, fixing over-playing problems is not a very hard task at all. So, embrace gaming! It can do just as much good for you as reading, so there is no reason not to play games.

Link to Huff Post article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-mcgonigal/video-games_b_823208.html
 

A message from Yisroel.Rabin:
Hey, I just wanted to give my opinion on the matter of gaming. Like the article and Jwimmer said, gaming can be a great thing, as long as its time is trimmed. Back in 2015, I was what I would now call myself a “Tanki addict”: I fell so behind in school, it wasn’t fun, trust me. I eventually realized it wasn’t worth it, so I reduced my playtime to half as much, and eventually a quarter. I went to a camp for the summer of 2015, attempting to quit Tanki forever, but it didn’t help :P It was a good break though: a month and a half without internet access can do you good.

 

Thanks for reading! This will be my last article for a couple of months, I have more important writing things to do for a while.

-@Jwimmer

 

[ToHoYoNTaDa 1,147]

Nice job man!

[VaudeVille 1,428]

Hmm.. Interesting

[Spit_Fyre 334]

Been struggling to see the good. Thanks for the balanced article.

[Viking4s 10,791]

Gaming is good for you. As everything else too much of it (= addiction) is bad for you.

[studyacc051203 5]

Ha, definitely sending this to my friend. Thanks!

[Guest]

 I went to a camp for the summer of 2015, attempting to quit Tanki forever, but it didn’t help

:P It was a good break though: a month and a half without internet access can do you good.

Yisroel, it IS true, but unfortunately very few people can do it. You can be proud of yourself. 

Write an article about your "Big Break" please *very cute cat face*

 

I much rather write a much longer story on my entire life. Or at least the best 3 years or so. If I do say so myself, it could be quite a fascinating piece.

To not go off-topic I answer here. I liked most of your works on forum, so I'd welcome this super-long story. I hope you plan to make it this year  :rolleyes: 

 

Edited August 24, 2016 by i200000

[Yisroel.Rabin 16,224]

Yisroel, it IS true, but unfortunately very few people can do it. You can be proud of yourself.

Write an article about your "Big Break" please *very cute cat face*

I much rather write a much longer story on my entire life. Or at least the best 3 years or so. If I do say so myself, it could be quite a fascinating piece. Edited August 24, 2016 by Yisroel.Rabin

[Hex 11,520]

++ Excess of anything is bad :)

[M-axis 589]

++

[Heles 9,220]

Good article :) 

I agree that games are good for u, to relief stress or pressure 

[Magenta 5,165]

" iamthegr8est1 is Not Guilty "

* :D * * :lol: * * :P *