Meaningless, Meaningless, Everything is Meaningless

Some time ago my wife relayed on her blog a revelation I had. I love video game, always have (that’s not the revelation). Since I played Ernie’s Magic game on my dad’s Commodore 286 I’ve loved them. I grew up on Nintendo, moved to Nintendo 64 (Goldeneye is still the best game ever!), then to Playstation and finally settled into computer games. I’m pretty picky about what I play but if I find something I like I will play it forever! I play Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion fairly regularly (5 years old) and I still spin up Starcraft every once in a while (over a decade old). The real Lifesuck is the MMORPG. For those not hip to the lingo, a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game is like a regular game just on a global scale. It’s a huge world where you interact with game characters as well as real live people who are also playing the game. I call it a Lifesuck because that’s exactly what it has the potential to be. For the average person who gets into it (usually guys) it will consume your every waking hour, either playing or thinking about playing, and several of your sleeping ones too (I really have had dreams about playing World of Warcraft (WoW)). I have spent DAYS of my life (not all at once though) playing these types of games, very often ignoring my duties as a husband and home owner. There are stories of people letting their children starve because they played too much and at least one person died while playing.


So my revelation. I realized why games are so popular to people like me. Beyond the simple fact that it lets weaklings and geeks be heroes on a grand scale, I think there’s more to it. I think it fills the void that would normally be filled by actual accomplishment, i.e. satisfaction from our work. Ecclesiastes 2:24 says, “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God”. We are supposed produce, accomplish, or complete something however today most jobs are just a mundane passing of time in order to get that check. Really, how much satisfaction can a receptionist get from her daily work of answering phones? Or take my job. Everyday I fix the same problem, or similar one, move the same furniture and fill out the same report, and tomorrow I’ll do it all again. It’s really hard to feel fulfilled by that kind of repetition. So games give you little micro rewards, the next level, next good piece of armor/weapon, a little something to brag about to other unfulfilled people playing along side you. But at the end of the day, what’s the point? You haven’t achieved anything. Your house is still a mess, you’re health is worse off, and your wife is probably mad at you. It’s a series of 1’s and 0’s that don’t care if you’re there or not and if the power goes off at the wrong time all of your “work” is lost to cyberspace for ever. I realized this after the first season of gardening. I got a real since of satisfaction and accomplishment out of my hard work and sweat and at the end of the day I had food on the table to show for it.

So that being said, I still play games though I’ve gotten much better at managing my time and learning the skill of disconnecting myself from them when needed. I prefer to play games that are pausable so that I can get up at a moments notice. I’ve gotten away from the Lifesuck of the MMO, in part because of the reasons mentioned but also because of the added monthly cost for most. That was until I read THIS article in the Simple Dollar (I’ll wait for you to read it). The SD is a financial blog about a guy who was completely upside down in his finances and now turned his life around, makes a living doing what he loves and helps others along the way. He pointed out that if you view gaming as a hobby (which is what it should be) that you partake in for an hour or so a day, it’s relatively inexpensive and fairly relaxing. I hadn’t taken this view point into consideration. If I look at it as my hobby, some guys fish, some guys golf, I slaughter Orcish hordes, then it’s no different. The problem is the time management and getting addicted, which I can do easily I’ve discovered. So as I’m typing this I’m also downloading WoW. But like The SD says, if I play for an hour a day, I’m only paying a few cents, I have a chance to unwind, I can socialize a little, and, if I do it right, I can get my “fix” and disconnect and move on with my life. That’ll just have to be key, if I can pull myself away easily. I know I had difficulty when I played before but that too was in part to my real life friends (vs. the online ones) playing alongside me so there was a bit more peer pressure as well as camaraderie whilst playing that I won’t have this time. Plus, it’ll give me something to pass the time and keep me out of trouble while I’m deployed. I don’t know, I’m thinking of playing next week when Holly and the kids are in New Mexico (in addition to doing some house work too of course). We’ll see. If I realize that it’s just a hobby, it’s not going to give me any lasting satisfaction, there are more important things to do, and not neglect my family I should be alright.