Why play the game?

Over at Acid For Blood Brinstar asks a deep and profound question:

Why is gaming not pointless?

So many answers… where do I begin? Okay, purely in the order that they fall out of my head and onto the keyboard:

1. Gaming is fun
   Where would you be without a little fun in your life? Working in a cubicle and named Dilbert, that’s where!
2. Games provide a common topic around which people from all walks of life can bond – all that talking about serious real world issues like schools and politics and terrorism and television can get tiresome and heavy after a while. Easier to bond around who sucks the most at Buzz! The Music Quiz, no?
3. Games (online) provide an area where you can not only meet up and talk to people, you’re also presented with things to do together – problems to solve, areas to explore. C’mon Brin, I know you play Guild Wars. How great does it feel when your team conquers a mission like Elona’s Reach?
4. Gaming can be a distraction – when your significant other has just dumped you out of the blue for someone else and you’re not in the mood for drinking yourself into a blind stupor, games can take your mind off “What if I’d only been more (insert adjective here)” and maybe help you gain a little perspective and clarity. Or just kill time (and monsters) until the off-licences (a.k.a. liquor stores) open in the morning.
5. Gaming can help boost your self-esteem – Take a look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which says that to be truly happy, most (non-sociopathic) people need a sense of belonging. Game guilds, clans, tribes can provide that in a way that transcends the traditional family and friends relationships of the real world with the added advantage that if someone you were once nice to becomes clingy and demanding, you can always just put them on your ignore list ;)
6. Games can improve your ability to work in a team – obviously this only applies if you let them. See Leeroy Jenkins for an example on how not to do so. For normal people, they can provide a pretty clear demonstration of how poor communication leads to failure and how planning, capitalising on strengths and working together to shore up weaknesses can help bring about success. Bringing up Guild Wars again, because I know it best, try winning 3 matches in a row with a random group in the PvP arenas and then see how much easier it is with a planned and organised group of guild mates.
7. Games can improve your problem-solving skills – again, if you let them. Sure you could just blast your way through Deus Ex or Far Cry shooting everything on sight and going back to an old save game if you ran out of ammo. Or could stop and smell the roses and on the way maybe (e.g.) notice that little loose grate behind the bushes that leads to the armoury. The most obvious solution isn’t always the best.
8. Games can improve your memory – I do get frustrated at the poor journals you get in games these days. Right, I need to get the loaf of bread from the town across the way and bring it back to Tom. Who the heck is Tom and where was he when I met him 2 weeks ago??

Hope that helps!

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