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

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I say screw regrets all together.

I'm not going to spend my last moments regretting what I have done and wishing I had done more of ANYTHING.

My last words aren't going to be "I regret blah blah blah" or "I wish this this and this", they're going to be something along the lines of "So long, and thanks for all the fish"

Regardless, I'll probably feel very sad that I didn't get to see whatever major game release was coming after my death.

What the writer doesn't seem to understand is that many MANY people are introverts. Spending time with other people drains me and I don't want to do any more of it than I already do.

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.

I disagree. Sex is annoying.

Also, just go to Europe if you want a more lax age of consent.

 

[rob_simple]

All of my happiest memories involve doing things with other people, some of those happen to include gaming (if you don't have at least one happy memory of playing Goldeneye with three friends during the Summer holidays, your life is a waste).

There are things I remember doing in games that were awesome, and there are games that still make me happy when I play them, but they'll never beat the memories of all the stupid real-world adventures I've had with my friends and family.

 

[rob_simple]

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.

You didn't miss out on anything, to be honest. Teenage sex is awkward and embarrassing, most of the time neither of you have a clue what you're doing.

Billy Connolly put it best when talking about suicide bombers:
"The very thought of 53 fucking virgins, it's a nightmare! It's not a fucking present, it's not a prize- it's a punishment! Give me 2 fire-breathing whores any day of the week."

 

[Terramax]

If it weren't for video games, I wouldn't have traveled to Japan, where I now live, and am enjoying myself more than when I was in England. Video games helped me get through the terrible times in school and college, and influenced my desire to travel around the world.

I hope that answers the question(?).

 

[WanderingFool]

So, I ask you all. Is gaming somehow inferior to, say, grilling on the porch with friends? Or any other hobby, like camping or hiking or cooking or wine tasting or... I don't know, any other dozen of entertainments we amuse ourselves with? Do our memories earned gaming mean less than memories earned in any other pursuit?

Are you being serious?

No one, and I mean no one will ever be in their deathbed and say, "oh, how I wish I had Platinum'd New Vegas. Or no-scoped that fag in Blops." They will wish they had more time grilling on the porch with their friends and family, yes.

I gotta agree with this... Thankfully Im nowhere near dying yet (watch as a week from now I end up dying...), but I can say there are more important things for people than gaming. What those are are completely subjective, but you have to have a pretty shitty life if you actually think about wishing you gamed more...

 

[Mersadeon]

That is illogical. Some will probably regret that they didn't spend more time on gaming. You know, some will regret not being fed feces enough. There are weird people, and making generalisations isn't the way to go. If that guy won't regret it, fine, but he shouldn't assume his priorities are mine.

Edit: And to all those saying "it must be a sad if that is your regret" - who says that is the only regret? Are we only allowed to have one regret on our deathbed? And what if my life was so awesome, that "not playing enough videogames" is the only regret left? And what if I don't value social interaction as high as playing videogames? Does that make a person like that WRONG? No. So stop assuming.

 

[M920CAIN]

I play games because of 2 things: fun and incredible stories... each game to me (I haven't played hundreds, maybe 100, I dunno) is an experience. Most of those experiences are things that in real life I couldn't really pull off because either:
1. it's almost impossible to do without dying.
2. cost prohibitive, I cannot afford it and even if I did, I don't know if it would be worth the high price/risk (see 1.) - of course affordability would make each one of us wilder.. so 2. stands for correction and individual contemplation.

I like talking to people, I am socially akward with groups, I hate groups of people, people with hats, but when you get to talk to someone just in 4 eyes, that's when it's really special to me. The group chats, the barbecues, the parties, the drinking, the eating, are probably as virtual and meaningless as gaming. Sure you treasure the people you are with, but not the activities. A lot of people will pride themselves about that one drinking night with their friends that they can't remember but "boy was it awesome", what's so awesome about it? the fact that you don't remember what you did? and the hangover the next morning? well, I catalog these adventures as trivial, meaningless, like life itself, sad, but mostly true. There is a saying I agree with "Nothing you do in life is important. Everything you will ever do will amount to nothing and it will be worthless in the grand scheme of things. BUT IT IS MOST IMPORTANT THAT YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO." - it's maybe irational, I dunno, but I stand by that. Every action you make has a reaction, everything you do amounts to who you are through life, the most insignificant thing can be the most important thing, you never know.

But to not go off topic, I think the best lived life is one with no regrets, if you have a regret, try & try & try & try & try again until that regret doesn't shadow you anymore. You'll feel better, you'll probably live better, you're certainly gonna sleep better and based on that, with a limited number of regrets (because no matter how much you try you will always have at least one) you'll be on that death bed and you're gonna say "fuck it... I lived my life... I made my mistakes.. I tried to fix as many of them as possible.. I tried to work may way up... in some ways I succeded... I many I've failed.. maybe I was bad, maybe I was good, maybe I was inexperienced, maybe you should've done more, not for me to say, but I tried my best... and the rest was just not up to me to influence." - it's long for famous last words... but for me at least... it's how one should feel, and feeling that, you won't have a care in the world, and probably none in the afterworld if there is any such place at all.

Cheers.

 

[chadachada123]

...I think that at least one of my death-bed regrets will be not having the time to complete my backlog of games.

It likely won't be one of my major ones, but it'll be a lot higher than "spending [more] time grilling with friends/family," since I see most of them enough as it is. "Spending more time with a specific person" will likely be a few of the highest, but I certainly don't need more generic bullshit hangout time with most family members.

Edit:

Are you being serious?

No one, and I mean no one will ever be in their deathbed and say, "oh, how I wish I had Platinum'd New Vegas. Or no-scoped that fag in Blops." They will wish they had more time grilling on the porch with their friends and family, yes.

I can guarantee, though, that at least one of my last thoughts is going to be regrets about something trivial like not completing a certain game or writing a scientific paper or something along those lines. I assume it'll be something similar to "Oh, shit, I never completed Dark Souls 7, did I? That's a shame." Even if I say it in a joking manner, there will still be a humorous twinge of regret there.

So, yeah. I think you were being (immensely) generalizing there.

 

[Semudara]

So, I ask you all. Is gaming somehow inferior to, say, grilling on the porch with friends? Or any other hobby, like camping or hiking or cooking or wine tasting or... I don't know, any other dozen of entertainments we amuse ourselves with? Do our memories earned gaming mean less than memories earned in any other pursuit?

Nope.

Except that it's hard to do outside. That's really the only drawback. Other than that, it's comparable to any other activity that people find enjoyable or stimulating.

 

[Black Reaper]

I have many regrets, but gaming is not one of them

I am not a social person, i stay in the classroom during recess playing Guilty Gear, while other people go outside and eat and do other other people stuff

And even if you love something, you get tired of it if you spend too much time with it, the time i spend with my family and friends is so awesome because i don't see them often, if i did it would just be the norm rather than the exception

But i do spend a lot of time with my mom, at least more than seems to be the case for most people, so i doubt ill regret that

The family thing might change if i ever have kids(which i doubt), in that case i may actually be able to spend time with them instead of doing other stuff, but if i ever have them, optimally, i will be able to spend time with them by playing videogames

If there is one thing i may say on my deathbed, it might be:
"Oh man, why didn't i spend more time with my cat?"
I fucking love my cat, but she's a cat, she might die one of these days without warning

Please don't take this post seriously

Edit:after writing all this i just saw the thread title again and i don't know if it is actually relevant

 

[AlbertoDeSanta]

I won't wish I spent more time "Grilling" with my friends, since it's more the time spent with them, not what you're doing at that particular time.

OT: I can understand why some people would wish they had spent more time gaming, because (like all leisurely activities) this implies you'd have lived a very carefree life. However, our lives are anything but carefree. We've made ourselves need to care, about others, about ourselves, etc. I'm fairly sure you can see what I'm trying to say here. If not:

Pretty much everyone wishes that they could spend more time doing leisurely activities, regardless of whom or what they involve. I know I do, and I'm fairly sure YOU, the reader of my post, do too.

 

[Ringo_Plumen]

Some of my best memories are with gaming, I could very well see myself thinking "I'd have loved to explore a new game with my friends and see what kind of stupid shit we'd come up with together one last time", the keyword here is my friends.

We primarily play games together, so naturally this is where most of my great memories are. Memories of us playing games, ranting/laughing/raging on skype, learning the ropes of the game, trying to exploit the game and fuck each other over but still knowing when to get serious so we wouldn't halt our own progress too much.

As of right now, nothing I've done matches the joy of those experiences. Would a wife, a kid and a family of my own change that, probably but right now it's gaming.

 

[Zombie Sodomy]

I think when I die I'll be too busy thinking about that to give any shits about video games or family.

 

[EnFinlay]

It all seems too subjective to be of any meaning. Some people enjoy games as an escape and other people enjoy them as truly engaging interactive experiences. Same with classical music or looking at porn. On your death bed your going to regret the time you spent escaping and relish the time you spent enjoying. Where games fall for different people cannot be predicted or judged.

 

[Olas]

On my deathbed I'm going to be thinking "I wish I had spent more time trying to invent a serum that makes you immortal"

But seriously, I'm not going to live my life a certain way because of how it'll make me feel for 5 minutes before I die. And even if I do have any regrets, it'll be that I didn't do more to contribute to the world and make it a better place, not that I didn't spend enough time outside barbequing with people. I'm an introvert, I don't even like being around people much.

For me, it'll mostly be regret that I don't get to see how things turn out in the future - as Christopher Hitchens said, the worst thing is not being told that the party's over; it's being told that the party's still going but you have to leave.

That seems kinda weird, so you're saying you'd prefer it if

 

[solemnwar]

What is the difference between a LAN party and a BBQ with friends?
Gaming doesn't have to be a solitary thing.

However, I agree I would not say that because it is rather insignificant compared to "I wish I had a child" or something. It is the same reason people won't say "I wish I read more books", it is not important.

HA, I would totally say that I wish I had read more books. I love me some books. I can never have enough books. Children I could happily go my entire life with not having to interact with the annoying fucks.

Can you tell I don't like children? I don't think it's obvious yet


OT: I'm an introvert by nature and really just prefer to have a small group of friends that I chat with and occasionally hang out with. I'll probably never be bemoaning something human-related on my deathbed. Maybe something animal-related. "I wish I had adopted those 50 kittens!" Because kittens man. KITTENS.

 

[aPod]

I agree and disagree with the premise.

First of all its very dependent on the individual. For someone who devotes their lives to gaming it would seem an entirely plausible that they would wish they had more time to play more games.

Someone like myself might look at the thousands of hours they've put into gaming and think I wish i spent that time learning to play the piano (or some such thing).

It all depends on your personal values. Having said that, I think the majority of people would find venues outside of gaming more rewarding, but to say there isn't someone out there who truly believes there is nothing more important than gaming... far fetched (even though i think that is nuts).

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

I'LL NEVER DIE!

However, a quote comes to mind

"Time you enjoy wasting, is not time wasted." - John Lennon

Let people do what makes them happy (within reason, shouting BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD and hacking up orphans is a no go) and let them regret not doing more of what makes them happy if that is what they choose to do. Because someone has a different opinion or view on something than you does not give you the right to harass or put said person down.

I personally give almost 0 shits about barbecues or family or sports or any of that...stuff. I would much rather be playing a good game, with friends or without my friends.

Now, in the incredibly unlikely and unfortunate event of me dying then I probably will regret not playing more video games, especially not the newest releases of games I was looking forward to. Like Mass Effect 36: Mordin Goes to the Beach or Dragon Age: Fashionista.

 

[InvaderTim]

I've always considered the tragedy that would be perishing before the conclusion of a much loved franchise gets released, I'm looking at you half life 3..

 

[kongajinken]

Didn't read most of the thread so sorry if this has been stated already.

You are not wishing that you spent more time grilling or gaming, the basic thing everyone is seeking is companionship. You don't want to grill alone if everyone is inside playing the snes. You don't necessarily need to change your hobbies as you might just need more people in your life that enjoy those hobbies.

SUPER DEEP GOOO!!! OOOOOOOoooOOOO!