[dan00]

> I luckily grew out of it, but being absorbed by the pursuit of easy, digital approximations of real accomplishments ...

The really harmful thing might be the artificial meaning this creates, which might be at the end more addictive than the fun.

I never really was addicted to games. The funny thing is, I could only play games that were really fun for me, because of the game mechanics or if they had some interesting new aspects. But this kind of fascination never hold that long and after that the game play just got repetitive and tedious, at which point I just stopped playing.

Therefore also most games that contain a lot of repetition feel just pointless to me.

[gonehome]

Yeah - similar for me.

I think there's something interesting here with how different people respond to 'fake achievement'. For me FPS games were fun because it was a little competition between players (also I was often interrupted growing up and short rounds are better for this).

After trying WoW and having to walk 30min to pick up a feather and bring it back then do the same for an acorn I lost total interest in ever playing again. That might be all the time I had to play that day.

I suspect some people get more of a positive feedback response from seeing numbers go up than others. I think MMOGs can also have a social component that keeps people coming back to do shared events which is probably stickier than the fake achievement bits.

I'd be curious if people really vulnerable to fake achievement would also be successful if they could create a fast feedback environment for themselves with something other than the game as the goal (since they're clearly amenable to that kind of motivation).

For me, the difficulty is on the other side. Even outside of games it can be hard to find something that feels like it matters and is important (even if you can make money and be otherwise better off in your life by doing it). Curiosity can also pull you in a thousand different directions.

Figuring out what you want is hard, figuring out how to move in that direction is hard, then actually getting yourself to focus and do the work is hard.

When the search space of what's possible is so big, it can be difficult to coordinate. I think games reduce that to something extremely narrow. For some that's effective, for me the illusion is obvious and unfulfilling.

Today I tend to like one-off indie games driven by story (like Firewatch). I feel like I get more out of it.

[dan00]

> For me, the difficulty is on the other side. Even outside of games it can be hard to find something that feels like it matters and is important (even if you can make money and be otherwise better off in your life by doing it). Curiosity can also pull you in a thousand different directions.

Yes, pretty similar for me. Therefore I quite envy people that can get that much out of just games, and I'm even struggling to find something in the real world.

I think the modern kind of work can feel quite pointless, because being just a part of a complex machinery can make it hard to see what you're really provoking. And if you're a bit of a misfit for the modern culture, can't get meaning out of money, status and career, then also these game-like achievements aren't an option.

But life in general is just quite strange if you think long and deep enough about it. So it's pretty nice if you can loose yourself in such a simple thing as a game. I really think that being able to look at life as a kind of game makes it a lot easier, because taking it really seriously is just too painful.

Well, seems to be one of my more melancholic days. ;)

[gonehome]

It may be trite, but it seems like strong social ties, community, and having a family are pretty key to filling that gap.

I suspect it’s a built in sense of purpose from millions of years of selective pressure.

Other things like novelty seeking, learning, getting better at crafts help - but looking at people that feel generally content, investing in a good partner and having kids seems like the surest way to fill that purpose.

Lots of ways that can go poorly (I think mostly people choosing their partner poorly or for stupid reasons), but if it goes well I think that’s probably a critical piece.

[dan00]

> It may be trite, but it seems like strong social ties, community, and having a family are pretty key to filling that gap.

That's certainly true, and without my partner life would be a lot more bleak.

I've a bit of a hard time with communities, because I would really like to be part of more, but have often issues with their narrow mindedness, which seems to be the needed bound of communities. Well, also being a bit of loner doesn't help connecting to a community. But nevertheless I've a strong emotional desire to be part of one.

It might be one of these mismatches, when your desire and the reality just aren't compatible.

[gonehome]

It could also be that you just haven't found a community that you like yet.

I like HN (most of the time), Scott Alexander's blog, and LessWrong.

It's hard to find the same kind of thing in-person though, plus have to overcome the social anxiety/social skills bit of actually finding and going to a place with new people which is an entirely separate (though worthwhile) skill.

I haven't succeeded with this either (though I like the people I work with).