Is it logical to spend money on video games?

[Red]

So I used to spend crazy amounts of cash on the game TF2, and I am wondering to myself, does it make sense to spend money on video games? Maybe it's like a hobby, where you collect items for your inventory, as a numismatist would collect old coins. I mean, on the outside it sounds silly to spend money on games, but then again, it's just like a hobby, where the person collect items for said hobby. Well what do you think?

[Cirion Spellbinder]

For games in general, the following must be asked:
1) What do you get from games? Does it help you in any way?
2) Do you enjoy games?
3) Do you prefer other mediums of entertainment? Do they help you in a more significant way?

For microtransactions:
Probably not unless it gives you access to something you will use for a long term and cannot acquire otherwise.

[miniboes]

Interesting:


I wonder what this would look like if you added books/audiobooks.

I have spend about 200 euros on League of Legends, which is in principle a free game. I honestly do not regret it, because
- it did make the game more fun
- i supported the developers
- for the amount of hours I spent on LoL, I would have needed to play many non-FTP games and probably would have spent more.

[brimstoneSalad]

Set a reasonable entertainment budget each month after you calculate how much you will give to charity, which is after you calculate your living expenses and rainy day fund contribution.

Then just don't exceed your entertainment budget. It doesn't matter too much what you spend it on, but it's better to spend it on entertainment that is of a high quality and supports people (developers) more so than publishers. To that end, I would favor indie games making intriguing titles and stimulating thought, and less on the big things which spend most of their revenue on advertising.

Consider what kind of entertainment makes people smarter rather than dumber, and opt for that-- both for yourself, and to support that kind of entertainment and help the world by doing so.

[Lightningman_42]

I find Miniboes's post about "cost per hour of gameplay" quite fascinating and I'd like to add that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a very good game in this respect. It's $60 and has well over 300 hours of gameplay! In my opinion it's the best videogame ever!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is also a great game in this respect, as well as many RPGs in general. I've been playing The Elder Scrolls Online a lot lately and it is also a great price considering how much gameplay time it has.

For microtransactions:
Probably not unless it gives you access to something you will use for a long term and cannot acquire otherwise.

I don't like microtransactions. They're a waist of money, and MMOs can have a good gameplay-to-price ratio so long as one avoids microtransactions. I'm not going to pay $40 for the ability to craft armor in the glass-style (in TESO; this is something purely aesthetic and not useful). I already have enough crafting styles: the 9 standard playable races, as well as ancient elven, and a few of the Dwemer-crafting chapters. I obtained all of these without real money.

By the way, does anyone here play TESO on the PS4? If you're a member of the Aldmeri Dominion, and would like to team up with my Veteran-Rank-4 Wood-Elf Sorcerer, feel free to send me a private message on the forum.

Also if any PS4 TESO players of any allegiance want certain special crafted items just let me know. I can craft armor/weapons in any of the 11 crafting styles I mentioned above. My blacksmithing and provisioning skills are both 50, and my woodworking is 40-something. My alchemy is also very high but my enchanting-skill sucks (still very low).

Also I'm a part of the guild "Insane Savages" so feel free to join!

[miniboes]

I find Miniboes's post about "cost per hour of gameplay" quite fascinating and I'd like to add that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a very good game in this respect. It's $60 and has well over 300 hours of gameplay! In my opinion it's the best videogame ever!

The cost per hour calculation sure is interesting, but I don't think it's very useful on its own. I spent 15 euros on minecraft once and probably got roughly 500 hours out of it, if not more. That would be 3 cents for every hour of gameplay. Great value, right? Well, the time I spend playing minecraft is not equal to the time I spend playing Mass Effect 2/3. The Mass Effect games gave me some of the best experiences I've ever had doing anything. Minecraft doesn't do much at all for me; as a person with little creativity once I did everything I could think of with redstone it was basically a game of routine tasks. That's fine; it does a good job of serving as a place to hang out with friends, but clearly, in my case at least, an hour of minecraft is worth way less than an hour of mass effect.

There is also the factor that time is worth a lot in itself; it's very hard to express it in terms of money. Every time you spend 3 cents playing an hour of minecraft, you are also paying an hour of your life. In the case of games, it also cuts from the time you can spend developing yourself. Or does it? If one plays a game that does not require one's full attention and does not rely on sound one can simultaneously listen to a podcast, lecture or even watch a documentary (= how I survived Earthlings and did not fall asleep during Forks Over Knives). Taking that into account, a dull game might actually be a better investment of your time than an exhilarating one. In fact, I can't think of any way a game could transfer more knowledge than playing you a lecture.

I can think of four categories major gaming benefits;
1. intellectual development (either inherent or by listening to something else)
2. mental health (e.g. better reactions, reduced risk of Alzheimer's)
3. amusement/experience/satisfaction
4. social

I think how much benefit you get is very much worth taking into calculation when deciding on whether or not to buy a game. The third is highly subjective, but the others are actually quite objective and predictable. I personally stopped playing intense games purely for the purpose of listening to things while playing; I value intellectual development very highly..

[Jebus]

[I can think of four categories major gaming benefits;
1. intellectual development (either inherent or by listening to something else)
2. mental health (e.g. better reactions, reduced risk of Alzheimer's)
3. amusement/experience/satisfaction
4. social

I think the opportunity cost needs to be considered as well. This time could be spent learning martial arts, learning how to play the guitar, taking Spanish lessons, doing vegan outreach and lots of other things that would outscore most of the above four criteria. Many people who say "Ya, but I don't enjoy those things" often do not even try to step outside of their comfort zones. Such things often take some time before one really starts enjoying them. I also think number 4 (social) is highly debatable as I don't believe online social interaction in any way improves someone's face-to-face social skills.

I remember hearing that 30 years ago, 90% of developed nation kids would play outside regularly whereas today that number has dropped to 10%. This must certainly be the main cause of increased childhood obesity.

[brimstoneSalad]

I can think of four categories major gaming benefits;
1. intellectual development (either inherent or by listening to something else)
2. mental health (e.g. better reactions, reduced risk of Alzheimer's)
3. amusement/experience/satisfaction
4. social

I think how much benefit you get is very much worth taking into calculation when deciding on whether or not to buy a game. The third is highly subjective, but the others are actually quite objective and predictable. I personally stopped playing intense games purely for the purpose of listening to things while playing; I value intellectual development very highly..

Casual games to be able to listen to things while playing sounds great.

There's also edutainment, although unfortunately not usually very good. Some foreign language learning games are OK.

In terms of mental health, from what I understand it's really only the puzzle games that help. Something like WOW or a shooter/etc. would not be very useful.
And luckily, decent puzzle games are easy to make and usually free online as indie titles (often flash).

Many people who say "Ya, but I don't enjoy those things" often do not even try to step outside of their comfort zones. Such things often take some time before one really starts enjoying them.

Absolutely. It's better to learn to enjoy useful things, just as it is better to learn to enjoy the taste of veggies. Our minds are very flexible, and it's easy to get into something new and start to like it if we're open to it.

I also think number 4 (social) is highly debatable as I don't believe online social interaction in any way improves someone's face-to-face social skills.

Agreed. Online social interaction, particularly in a game (rather than more meaningful conversation/discussion like on forums) could even be a pseudo-satisfier.
Face to face is the best. Although debate of any kind can be helpful.


There are some fitness games that may be useful too, even shooter types with new VR hardware which let you run in place.

[miniboes]

I remember hearing that 30 years ago, 90% of developed nation kids would play outside regularly whereas today that number has dropped to 10%. This must certainly be the main cause of increased childhood obesity.

I think the main cause of childhood obesity is terrible food. Sure, you might be able to sport off those hamburgers, but I highly doubt that children that play outside don't get obese.

I also think number 4 (social) is highly debatable as I don't believe online social interaction in any way improves someone's face-to-face social skills.

Online games allow you to both game with friends (see it as a social event, just like going to the movies or a bar); that's one undeniable social benefit. It also allows you to make new friends; I at various points in my life had more friends online than offline. Belonging to a gaming community also gives you the important sense of being a part of something, and you get a lot of practice in conversation even if it's not face-to-face. Non-verbal communication is very important, but you do not need to learn it simultaneously with verbal communication: It is very much possible, perhaps easier, to master verbal communication first and then start working on your non-verbal communication skills. I'm not going to argue online communication is better, but you I don't think you can make the case that it is worthless in terms of social skills.

[knot]

Sure, it's logical to spend money on games you're already playing. Spending money on them often leads to having more fun

Is it a good idea to spend a significant amount of time playing games to begin with? Not really. There are many better ways to spend one's time that are not only enjoyable but actually useful... but I also wasted a lot of time on games in my teens and twenties before realizing life is way too short..