Ya, being a "gamer" still has a negative connotation with a lot of people. I still get into arguments with my parents over why I spend so much money on games (only $240 in 2012). Also, we argue over all the time I'm wasting (literally 4 nights a month, if that). I'm going to school for engineering and I attribute a lot of my intelligence and problem solving skills to gaming when I was young. Gaming to me, is a lot more rewarding hobby than other social norms. I just don't see how watching television 6 hours a night, every night is considered socially acceptable, but gaming isn't.Pyromaniacal said:
Gaming as a hobby
- Thread starter Pyromaniacal
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Hmm... well according to Merriam Webster a hobby is defined as "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation". So given that I play video-games in my free time, it would strictly count as a hobby.
There appears to be a requirement for a hobby to have an end product, like writing, or modelling. However, I occasionally draw, and play the guitar - now, nobody apart from myself has ever "enjoyed" the end product of what I draw or play (ie. I rarely show people what I've sketched, and have not really played music for other people). And yet both drawing, and playing music, are regarded as proper hobbies. Does that mean that the end product is invalid? I mean, I've enjoyed the process...
It's true that as gamers or readers or film buffs, you're mostly passively enjoying a piece of entertainment/art that has been previously created. Yet it still counts as something you do outside your regular occupation for the express purpose of relaxation. So yes, video gaming is a hobby, even if it is a very new type of hobby.
There appears to be a requirement for a hobby to have an end product, like writing, or modelling. However, I occasionally draw, and play the guitar - now, nobody apart from myself has ever "enjoyed" the end product of what I draw or play (ie. I rarely show people what I've sketched, and have not really played music for other people). And yet both drawing, and playing music, are regarded as proper hobbies. Does that mean that the end product is invalid? I mean, I've enjoyed the process...
It's true that as gamers or readers or film buffs, you're mostly passively enjoying a piece of entertainment/art that has been previously created. Yet it still counts as something you do outside your regular occupation for the express purpose of relaxation. So yes, video gaming is a hobby, even if it is a very new type of hobby.
There are a few people in my family who don't think that gaming is a hobby, and quite a few people I tell otherwise look at me weird too. I was always told constantly when I was younger, "You need a hobby, and not damn video games, that's not a hobby, that's entertainment."
So...unless what I'm doing is boring...it's not a hobby?
It's something I do for pleasure, and in many ways has enriched my life. What other purpose should a hobby serve? Every answer I get to that seems to end up being hypocritical.
So...unless what I'm doing is boring...it's not a hobby?
It's something I do for pleasure, and in many ways has enriched my life. What other purpose should a hobby serve? Every answer I get to that seems to end up being hypocritical.
Well, there's a difference between an on ongoing process of working on, and optimising your home theater system and just watching movies on one (even if it is all set up properly).Owyn_Merrilin said:
Like I said in my first post, you can have hobbies within gaming/movies etc. But I wouldn't call popping in a game and playing it "a hobby". Even if you spend 5 hours a day doing it.
That's what I'm saying, though: that's pretty much what home theater is. If you're obscenely wealthy then sure, you can hire someone to make something incredible and then just leave it. Alternatively, if you don't really care about it, you can go down to Walmart, buy an HTiB, and then not even bother to set it up right. In neither case is the theater itself really a hobby, although I'd argue watching the movies could be. There's a difference between just casually watching movies, and being a full blown movie buff, the kind of person who reads IMDB for fun. In between the two extremes, though, the vast majority of people with home theaters do what I described, periodically upgrading and tweaking their equipment. If you think about it, a home theater is a really complex system with a lot of variables, the kind which make gaming PCs look like lego sets by comparison.Pulse said:
Well my Mum keeps telling me to "find a hobby" then says something about Chess Club or some other crap. Chess? Really? I dunno if that is funny or tragic.
I mean how is playing several games a day not a hobby?
hob·by 1 (hb)
n. pl. hob·bies
An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.
Yeah sounds about right. Good job Oxford.
I mean how is playing several games a day not a hobby?
hob·by 1 (hb)
n. pl. hob·bies
An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.
Yeah sounds about right. Good job Oxford.
It depends on how one approaches "gaming" as the hobby that it is. I simply say, I enjoy "gaming" as a hobby. I do not, ever, refer to myself as a gamer, on ANY level.
The issue of it's "status", which sounds like an ontological status, is genuinely suspect. Consuming games, sitting around playing them all the time, and yet, knowing little to nothing about them begs the question as to "what" the hobby aspect may actually be.
I tend to say, that such a person's "hobby" is that of "being" entertained. They are a consumer, not necessarily a hobbyist. Not necessarily a game hobbyist. The key here is one of making a call as to what "hobby grade" actually is. How much "detail" knowledge about some aspect of the hobby signifies more than passing consumerist knowledge.
This visual example should clarify:
Toy Purchased at a Big Box retailer... NOT hobby grade.
Hobby Grade Arial Photography Platform.
Closing let's talk about some american football. Watching football is not a "hobby", rooting for a particular team is better defined as being a "fan". Playing football at an amateur level is a hobby, coaching the young children in the neighborhood could be a hobby.
Learning about a subject and that learning enhancing ones personal (subjective) experience is the beginnings of a hobby. Typically a "hobbyist", after a few years, having accomplished a good bit within the hobby, will have strong peer recognition and "be" referenced by other people in the hobby as "being" somewhat of a sage on the subject.
The issue of it's "status", which sounds like an ontological status, is genuinely suspect. Consuming games, sitting around playing them all the time, and yet, knowing little to nothing about them begs the question as to "what" the hobby aspect may actually be.
I tend to say, that such a person's "hobby" is that of "being" entertained. They are a consumer, not necessarily a hobbyist. Not necessarily a game hobbyist. The key here is one of making a call as to what "hobby grade" actually is. How much "detail" knowledge about some aspect of the hobby signifies more than passing consumerist knowledge.
This visual example should clarify:
Toy Purchased at a Big Box retailer... NOT hobby grade.
Hobby Grade Arial Photography Platform.
Closing let's talk about some american football. Watching football is not a "hobby", rooting for a particular team is better defined as being a "fan". Playing football at an amateur level is a hobby, coaching the young children in the neighborhood could be a hobby.
Learning about a subject and that learning enhancing ones personal (subjective) experience is the beginnings of a hobby. Typically a "hobbyist", after a few years, having accomplished a good bit within the hobby, will have strong peer recognition and "be" referenced by other people in the hobby as "being" somewhat of a sage on the subject.
I think that anything that you engage yourself in during your free-time and put a lot of time/effort into could be considered a hobby. If you're a movie buff and research, watch and discuss movies I'd consider that a hobby. If you spend a lot of time on internet forums debating topics about video games and play them a whole lot, I'd consider that a hobby as well. All a hobby really requires is a passion for something.
Well I've always seen hobbies as something creative that you do, rather than just being a consumer of something someone else has made. Eating food isn't a hobby but cooking is, I wouldn't count reading books or watching films as hobbies but if you wrote a few books in your spare time or made a video with your friends then I would count it as a hobby. I've never seen simply consuming entertainment to be a hobby. If you make mods or perhaps even write reviews and make walkthroughs, then it could be a hobby.
I don't think gaming is really a hobby. Modding is a hobby.
Reading isn't a hobby. Writing is a hobby (unless you're good enough to get paid regularly for it).
Listening to music isn't a hobby. Playing an instrument is.
And so on.
Reading isn't a hobby. Writing is a hobby (unless you're good enough to get paid regularly for it).
Listening to music isn't a hobby. Playing an instrument is.
And so on.
Yeah, I don't doubt it - but I still think that's a subset rather that a separate activity, but then every group does that kind of thing, so maybe I'm just too picky.Owyn_Merrilin said:
I see that in toy customization forums too - the action figure people insist that their toys aren't dolls, the balljointed doll people insist their toys are better than fashion dolls, and so on. And they all have specific forums, but that doesn't change the fact that they're really all subsets of the same activity.
Heh, too true, too true!Owyn_Merrilin said:This comic might be illuminating
I totally agree with this, although in the context of the original post I think it's more a question about gaming being equivalent to reading/tv-watching/etc. and I think that particular stance is harder to disagree with.Alexander Kirby said:
I consider gaming to be in the same boat as TV, films, books and such. Not really hobbies, more of entertainment. A hobby would usually have to involve something creative. Reading isn't a hobby, but writing is.
I wander how many times should dictionaries be quoted before people stop giving opinions as definitions.Da Orky Man said:
dictionary.com said:
(it even lists reading as a hobby)Oxfrord dictionary said:
A hobby doesn't have to be creative. Heck, nothing actually suggests it, outside from some hobbies including creation of stuff. If you willingly and purposefully do something in your spare time in order to not feel bored, that's pretty much what a hobby is.Merriam-Webster dictionary said:
Well, in the end, words all interpretation. I guess the definition of such things could change from one to another.
Yeah, I don't think people are actually debating the meaning of the word, it's more about the context of what causes people to roll their eyes in social situations - someone whose hobbies are all the passive consumption of entertainment are not perceived the same way as people whose hobbies are more active and/or creative.DoPo said:
When a person who spends a lot of time watching TV doesn't list "watching TV" as a hobby, it's generally out of fear of being seen as lazy, not because they don't know the dictionary definition of the word hobby.