Just a game?

[Purplecat]

When I rage in a game, it's usually when i try something else for a bit.

I guess ragequitting is probably the best thing you can do infact. :V

[Werevixen]

My main problem isn't dying, but due to my rather... suicidal nature, I tend to die alot. That doesn't bother me much, I happen to be able to do lots of damage in my short lives, and occasionally get a total rape spree going on. But sometimes, I manage to get killed 5, up to a whopping 50 times in a row once without getting a single kill in between, and that usually grates on me, really, really hard. I don't need to win to have fun. But I need to be able to mean something in the game to maintain said fun.

[Ayeaka]

That happens to me a lot, actually. As some classes, (Scout, Medic, Engineer, and Spy) I can live a long time. I think I had a thirty minute life as medic, once, and I believe I'm up to 17 minutes with Spy.

But others, well, hell.

Honestly, who expects a pyro to live long? As pyro, I generally make it my purpose in life to make as much hell as I can, before I inevitably die.

Granted, I don't bother calling for medic either, as pyro, unless I see one nearby.

Dying doesn't bother me. Losing doesn't bother me.

However, spawning repeatedly only to be surrounded by two heavies, a medic, and a demo, and fired upon by all of them at ONCE before I can do anything...does.

[Makaze]

[STrRedWolf]

"Is it just a game?"

In general or in anyone's case?

"In general."

Technically it's a game. But it doesn't do anything by itself. Maybe rotate through demos if left to it's own devices but that's it -- it has no socially redeeming value by itself.

To be any value, it must be played by a person... and that's the big huge variable that swings the answer to that question all over the place. It is dependent on the person.

For me, it's "just a game I can use to relax, pop into every one in a while when I have a few hours to kill, or be virtually killed." I can separate that what happens in the game is fiction -- it's a different role that doesn't exist out in real life, much like furry culture or science fiction.

For a few, it's "Oh, yeah, I played it a few times and it didn't interest me." I know a few who are like that.

To some, it's an escape. They're bullied, teased, tortured where they are... and are looking for something to latch on and help them get through. They long to get back in the game, but it's only a symptom of the real problem. GamePolitics Article, short version of BBC report.

And finally, to a slim number, it's an addiction. I hate to say it, but there are a few cases that people who can't separate that fiction from reality, and react badly (if not violently) if the stimulation of the game is removed. A true medical condition. Unfortunately, some of them got put in the press. There's the tragic story of Brandon Crisp in Canada -- he ran away after parents rightfully took away his X-Box... and wound up dead. Even worse is the tale of Daniel Petric, a 17-year old who killed his parents after an argument over Halo 3 and was convicted of murder. The Ohio native may face life without parole.

Is it a game? It depends on who plays it.