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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  2122 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: June 6, 2018

Surviving... decently well. Trying hard to escape into my hobby projects. Wish I could do those for a living right about now.

Doing anything better would require radically changing my daily regimen, habits and attitudes. Flipping the script. It's hard. It's scary. It needs to be done.

If you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I'm busy. If you see a lot of posts from me, it's because I'm really working.

EDIT: Actually, there is something I wanted to tell people:

Dota 2 is making me a worse person.

You subscribe to the standards of the group you spend a lot of time with. The Dota community, immature that it often is, made me less respectful and less patient. It offers quick rewards and barely any punishment for claiming to having slept with someone's mother (whether they're allies or enemies).

If I were to tell you the kinds of things I hear every day while playing, even your ears would fold onto themselves. This isn't a good environment for mindfulness and the better side of humanity. Neither Dota 2 nor its community foster or encourage virtues. It takes effort to power through the vile and the infuriating to get to something productive.

I used to think I was growing thicker skin because of the exposure. I think I did grow some: out-of-the-blue insults usually invoke laughter rather than dysphoria. Now, I also think it pushes me towards my worse, viler instincts.

I enjoy the game. I like the gameplay and I know it pretty well. Motivation plus experience equals a flow-like process of gaming. I wonder if there's a better way to enjoy it and to encourage communication and teamplay.





scissortail  ·  2121 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I briefly flirted with a League of Legends addiction a few years ago, and my life improved significantly when I kicked it. I realized that I was dedicating a tremendous amount of mental energy to the game--MOBAs are really information-dense, which (imo) makes them so fun and interesting.

That said, I think one could have a fun and still healthy experience with the game if one played with a dedicated team. If you had a group of five people who were serious about improving their skills, developing coherent gameplans, and sharpening their minds, it could even be useful for one's cognitive processes.

For my money, other hobbies are much more useful and fulfilling in the long run. Good luck with everything.

user-inactivated  ·  2120 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    If you had a group of five people who were serious about improving their skills, developing coherent gameplans, and sharpening their minds, it could even be useful for one's cognitive processes.

That would be the way to go to enjoy gaming, wouldn't it? Group activities with someone you care about are always exciting and enjoyable.

    Good luck with everything.

Thank you.