Immersion or Submersion?
Every now and then I get a new game to play. This time round it happens to be Deus Ex: Human Revolution. When playing these new games, I find that I become completely immersed in the game via its graphics, storyline and freedom of movement. I believe the last game or games to get my complete attention, possibly for too many hours, was the STALKER series. Now, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, hence the title of this article.
Is there a tipping point where my gaming could destroy my AFK life?
We have heard many times that gaming can lead to anti-social behaviour, or at least more awkward social situations with a decline in the quality of social interaction (also this article). It has been blamed on aggressive (read this too) and sometimes even violent actions IRL. It is also the scapegoat for obesity, and it has even caused death.
But how has gaming affected me?
Obviously I’m not dead, so we can strike that out.
But do I have anti-social tendencies? Is my day-to-day life degrading? AM I OBESE?
Just looking at the above diagrams of what I perceive as my current life, I probably can’t be considered a hardcore gamer. Maybe my life should look something more like this:
But then if I take a step back and reassess, maybe it’s not just about the direct gaming, but the influences it has on the rest of my activities. Take for example the topics of conversation within my tight group of friends – that is my SC2 4v4 party – when we go out for a drink or dinner.
And maybe I should then consider how much time I spend sitting in front of a computer. Does the APMs that are recorded in SC2 correlate with my time in Vectorworks / Photoshop / Illustrator / InDesign?
Stay tuned for part II, where I continue to break down my social-gaming life.