"You Will Not Wish You Had Spent More Time Gaming"

[The Gnome King]

Isn't one the most common regrets of dying people, 'I wish I hadn't worked so hard'? I spend more time reading and practicing guitar, gardening, etc, than gaming. Although, I wouldn't have met one of my best friends, who I hang out with in real life, had I not played Left4Dead online.

Actually, yes. One of the most common regrets from recent studies done that I have seen is "I wish I hadn't worked so hard" followed by "I wish I had a better relationship with my children/grandparents/cousins/whatever" - so... yeah.

I highly doubt that anyone who is dying is laying there going, "I wish I could have spent more time camping." Well, maybe some people are but... camping. Ugh.

 

[The Gnome King]

On my deathbed I'll be trying my hardest not to die, and games can go fuck themselves, just as "grilling on the porch" can. Seriously...

Also, let's neglect the fact that the reason "grilling on the porch with friends and family"-type moments are so special is because they don't happen all the time. If I spent more time doing it, it wouldn't feel so special and memorable to me...

I have to agree with you on both points. There's only so much grilled meat one can stomach, after all. And constant-time-spent-with-family? Well... maybe that's for some folk. Heck, I have friends over for too long and I'm ready to get them out of my house and on their way. If I wanted them here all the time we'd be living together.

And yeah, when I'm dying I'm pretty sure my thoughts will be, "This sucks, don't go quietly into that dark night, blah blah..."

I doubt gaming, camping, or grilling will figure in. Family, maybe. Depending on how well they're taking care of me.

 

[Pink Gregory]

One has to wonder at the agenda of the author of the article.

 

[thiosk]

Nope. Gaming is about satisfaction now. Not next year. And you won't remember your current satisfaction on the deathbed.

Not that I'll ever be in a deathbed. I'm just doing a stint among the semi-feral humans of this world as an exercise in piety for the god emperor.

The thunderhawks will come to return me to my rightful place alongside the blood angels

 

[Jenny Jones]

It's poem day so I'll link you to this one by Mr S. Armitage: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/it-ain-t-what-you-do-it-s-what-it-does-to-you/

I think it explains my point that it's all subjective.

I think one of the reasons people put less value on achieving something in a game is because while it might take time and skill to complete etc, ultimately you haven't made a physical and long lasting change to the world other than removing yourself from it for X amount of time.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Well, no, I'm never going to wish that I'd spent more time gaming on my deathbed. But then again, there are a lot of things I won't wish I spent more time doing on my deathbed.

I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time watching TV or films. Better cut that out.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time eating. Better make all my meals as brief as possible.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time on the toilet. BETTER START LEARNING TO TURBO-SHIT.

I'm not saying that gaming is as important as literally anything else you could be doing, but saying that you're not going to wish you did more of it on your deathbed is a bit trite. It's like those things which try to inspire you to be active, adventurous, and to take chances, but they all just boil down to "Do lots of things and then feel smug about all the stories you have to tell".

 

[Smeggs]

Uhh...well, just as the way I can't imagine anyone saying "I wish I had spent more time watching TV/reading books."

Usually on your deathbed you lament that you wish to have lived a fuller life, perhaps a more social life, more exciting. At least I'm fairly certain nobody has ever been like, "I wish I had slept more often."

 

[Jenny Jones]

Well, no, I'm never going to wish that I'd spent more time gaming on my deathbed. But then again, there are a lot of things I won't wish I spent more time doing on my deathbed.

I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time watching TV or films. Better cut that out.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time eating. Better make all my meals as brief as possible.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time on the toilet. BETTER START LEARNING TO TURBO-SHIT.

I'm not saying that gaming is as important as literally anything else you could be doing, but saying that you're not going to wish you did more of it on your deathbed is a bit trite. It's like those things which try to inspire you to be active, adventurous, and to take chances, but they all just boil down to "Do lots of things and then feel smug about all the stories you have to tell".

Did you even read the article? It didn't say don't game or anything else, just that there is more to the world and life than gaming.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

Well, no, I'm never going to wish that I'd spent more time gaming on my deathbed. But then again, there are a lot of things I won't wish I spent more time doing on my deathbed.

I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time watching TV or films. Better cut that out.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time eating. Better make all my meals as brief as possible.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time on the toilet. BETTER START LEARNING TO TURBO-SHIT.

I'm not saying that gaming is as important as literally anything else you could be doing, but saying that you're not going to wish you did more of it on your deathbed is a bit trite. It's like those things which try to inspire you to be active, adventurous, and to take chances, but they all just boil down to "Do lots of things and then feel smug about all the stories you have to tell".

Did you even read the article? It didn't say don't game or anything else, just that there is more to the world and life than gaming.

I didn't say it said don't game or anything else. I'm saying that "there is more to the world and life than gaming" is a blinding flash of the obvious, and since the article isn't saying "don't game", it's just another vague message about doing more interesting things which I've seen a million times before. Mainly in XKCD comics.

 

[Smeggs]

Well, no, I'm never going to wish that I'd spent more time gaming on my deathbed. But then again, there are a lot of things I won't wish I spent more time doing on my deathbed.

I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time watching TV or films. Better cut that out.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time eating. Better make all my meals as brief as possible.
I'm not going to wish that I'd spent more time on the toilet. BETTER START LEARNING TO TURBO-SHIT.

I'm not saying that gaming is as important as literally anything else you could be doing, but saying that you're not going to wish you did more of it on your deathbed is a bit trite. It's like those things which try to inspire you to be active, adventurous, and to take chances, but they all just boil down to "Do lots of things and then feel smug about all the stories you have to tell".

Did you even read the article? It didn't say don't game or anything else, just that there is more to the world and life than gaming.

Well no shit, just like there's more to life than grilling with your friends on the porch. His point wasn't that the guy was saying something about being anti-gaming or anything, he was saying that the article is pretty much common sense.

Would you look back on a life of amazing adventure, sex, booze, and Rockefeller or, hell, even the life of an Average Joe that most of the people on this site probably live and then go, "Gee, if I could do it all over again, I'd sit on my couch and watch paint dry more often."

That's the same principle at play here. I've lived a fairly boring life so far, and gaming is one of the highlights of my time spent living it, but I still won't look back and wish I'd spent more time on it, just like I wouldn't look back and wish I'd spent more time collecting stamps, or playing Golf, or any other hobby that I may have, because in the end if it only affects you and you have nobody to share it with and those memories will die with you and you alone I pretty much safely consider it a waste of time, and who would wish they had wasted more time on their deathbed?

 

[CrystalShadow]

Spending time with people > Spending time with gadgets.

Only in certain contexts.

Nothing is worse than being alone in a crowd.

 

[KOMega]

When death comes, I need not worry about what I have and have not done. It will soon be none of my responsibility.
I will die with no regrets.

But, I am not dead nor dying at the moment, so I might regret not playing some games or something over the last few days.

 

[Smeggs]

Spending time with people > Spending time with gadgets.

Only in certain contexts.

Nothing is worse than being alone in a crowd.

He's also running on the idea that it's people who are nice or you enjoy being around, which is not the case most likely more than half the time.

I'd much rather be playing my Xbox than be anywhere near about 70% of the assholes at my job and in my daily life in general.

 

[Angelous Wang]

So, I ask you all. Is gaming somehow inferior to,

It's inferior to sex.

I'm only in my late-twenties and I already regret spending so much time gaming and less time with girls. I pretty much missed out on teen sex, it's pretty depressing think that I am now too old to ever get that experience.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

Grilling on the porch with friends and family is a fucking chore. I'm much more likely to wish that I'd spent more time working than I am wishing I'd done that. I have much more enjoyable social interaction sitting around with friends and gaming or watching movies, so I'd certainly rather have more of either than another shitty summer night of having to pretend I enjoy barbecued food while some aunt insists on talking to me about movies I don't care about and mosqitos eat me alive.

If I'm going to be brutally honest, though, 'I wish I'd spent more time having sex' would probably top the list. Shallow, maybe, but intensely enjoyable.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

It is never worth time regretting anything. Ever. So the whole article is moot.

 

[Panthera]

I'll never wish I had spent more time writing up pointless articles to post on the internet either, but apparently that doesn't stop it from being a worthy thing to devote time to for some people!

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

It may surprise the author of that piece to no that most of the things we do, have done, or will do fall under the category of "things we won't wish we did more of on our deathbed". That doesn't mean they weren't enjoyable or had no meaning to us. That's a ridiculous gauge to use for what's really important in our lives.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

why don't we spend all of our time doing that, then? Why play games at all? Why not just spend our finite time jamming in as much social interaction and mountain-climbing in as we can before we die?

Why don't you? Ask yourself that.

Do you want to chat with all your friends all the time? Do you want to go mountain climbing all the time? Do you want to play games all the time?

I don't.

For me it comes down to whatever I feel like doing. For example, sometimes I want to scrub the house from top to bottom, and sometimes I want to grab a cup of tea, sit in front of the computer and just lose hours doing nothing productive.

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

How is this news? At the end of the day we are social creatures. We crave experiences with other human beings more than anything else. Especially love. Why do you think so many people consider love to be the greatest thing in life? Because it is. Of course it's not gaming or watching movies, reading books or listening to music. It's all those things when we do them with people we love.

Speak for yourself. A few of us are uncomfortable around other people and find experiences with them physically and emotionally exhausting.

I'd also disagree that love is the greatest thing in life.

I'll never wish I had spent more time writing up pointless articles to post on the internet either, but apparently that doesn't stop it from being a worthy thing to devote time to for some people!

Ha! Well played.