Gaming and Arma - Are you spending real time or is it a waste of time?

[Gunter Severloh 4064]

Dear Arma fans,

    Have you ever been told that gaming is a waste of time, or that the time you are spending in the game isn't real?

Well i have, let me give you and those that think gaming is a waste of time and isn't real, a different perspective.

 

What is time?

The time i spend in a game, like arma for example, is being on a map running around doing whatever no different then any other time

you are spending?  Seriously time is time whether your at work, walking your dog or cat 😄

watching tv, spaced out on your phone, or what have you.   Just because a person enjoys playing, working on, and for

a game for which i yes i spend a good portion of my free "time" on, doesn't mean its a waste of time.

 

What then isn't a waste of time to you?

     Personally i say this, whats not real about being on a map, say Altis traveling in a car or by foot and going somewhere, knowing where you are.

When your not ingame, you can look at a picture of that map, and say i have been there, i know that location or that place, i recognize that tree,

or building at this or that location, is not that knowledge real?

   

Was i not actually at this place on the map? Am i not sitting in my chair "spending time" at this location with or without friends here, i mean whats not real about it?

     Ya its not real as in the physical world outside the game but yet time spent has no set context does it.

Would you rather i sit goggling my phone for 3hrs doing jack squat, or would you rather me on a map, or around the game working on code, or some

  information that would help, or make another person's life more interesting, and or more enjoyable.

 

       Again its my time, at this time and date, between the hours of i was at this location on Altis, Tanoa, Stratis, Staszow.

What can you say you were doing at the same time, driving somewhere, sleeping, eating, what?    

     Again Time is time, there is no version of time like since your playing a game the time your spending is not legitimate and is a waste of time, since your spending

hundreds of hours compiling a massive list thats taking you a month to build so the community your a part of will have a more efficient

means of locating or learning about something.

 

So your time isn't legitimate according to the time police, according to the social standard of proper living and accountability etiquette of society, its not "adult" to play games you should be

going to school, working a job, or helping family, friends, or someone in need, ect,.    Meh you could but im not interested in that, this is my life, this is my time

i enjoy every minute of it, i could care to big shiznits about what you think about it, either learn about it and know what your talking about or piss off.

 

      You know what i learned is you have to be accountable for you, not anyone else, its my time, its my energy, its my health, its my mind, its my life, to me

i feel like im spending quality time working on lists, supporting members with questions, building mods, recording a video of a tutorial, or something,

in my mind if im doing something for another, im creating value for those people.

   Does not Arma take some amount of skill to fly, to shoot and simulate certain aspects of the game, does this game not have a learning curve?

 

    The best value you can give to another is your time.

 

   What are your guy's thoughts on such a subject in terms of time?

 

Is not your time spent ingame or out of it for the game not valuable, do you not give or provide value

to the community in some way, besides being entertaining, problem solving, building, creating, is that not a quality time?

    Is it preferable to sit around and watch tv all day and glancing back and forth at your stupid phone is that more acceptable as real and not wasting time 🙄

i mean seriously could people that dont game get their perspective a little bit more open.

 

      He plays call of duty or another game, what a waste of time ...

[Janez 531]

Hey buddy, please excuse my assumptions but from your post I kind of perceived that someone you're possibly close(er) to, decided to dish out a lecture or a remark while they themselves may very well be glued to their smartphone and that infuriated you, in which case it seems entirely reasonable and thank you for posting this!

 

So to set up the scene, post WWII generations up to ~1980s, generally did what their elders told them to do, educate yourself and find work so you can provide for you family and if you're luck, you find great joy in what you do. Later generations, let's say millennials, either found their calling or didn't like what they've seen and thought they knew better just to get stuck because they didn't, often into their 40s. Reasons for being ill equipped are many but mainly parents, who meant well but only did what they were told and therefore never knew why, degradation of educational institutions that started in approximately 1960s, depending on where you live and consolidation of media.

 

Now, without making this into a huge wall of text, people who are not gamers simply don't get it, all they see is you sitting behind a computer doing something that does not interest them in the slightest. It would be wise to explain to them with love that this is quite a bit more then what they imagine, game or not, there is passion about it and you have people that have great appreciation for your work, your contributions, your conversations and your dedication to this community. I know I do but even more importantly, that people in a way count on you, I say this even if it sounds like you're being taken for granted.

 

On the other hand, they are right, make no mistake, we may be collectively straight up wasting time here. And forget about "compared-to" perspective. What perspective then? I do not have that answer for you, each and everyone of us has to find that for ourselves. I do not say this as some sort of cliche but truly, one cannot get through this life without taking time to chew on things.

OK, so what things, what am I even on about, right? Well, we have these images painted by Hollywood or whatever else in our heads on matters at hand and it is important for us to look into things ourselves, to equip ourselves with at least basic understanding about life, about these things we are being told we are supposed to do.

 

I try not to preach, to tell people what to do in regards to these matters. I like to equip my fellow men and women that walk this earth with me with tools to help and better themselves. Teach a man to fish and all that. Therefore, I will say this.

 

One of the underlying themes of The Holy Bible is balance, to have balance in everything, be it food, work, hobby or whatever else we're doing in life. To be able to listen to your body, your soul and not overdo and force things.

Quote

It is 66 books in 3 languages written by 40 authors, spanning 3 continents and over 1,500 years, and has been corroborated by 23,000 archaeological digs.

- Voddie Baucham

It is our greatest resource and a starting point. One outto go through it and see what may apply to them.

 

Godspeed!

[Gunter Severloh 4064]

Hi Janez,

Thanks for your reply,

On 2/19/2022 at 2:49 PM, Janez said:

please excuse my assumptions but from your post I kind of perceived that someone you're possibly close(er) to, decided to dish out a lecture or a remark

while they themselves may very well be glued to their smartphone and that infuriated you,

Not really, just in the past i forget where i was talking with someone and we were just talking about stuff and what each other do in their spare time ect,. and

i said i play a game that is a military sim sandbox and you can do this and that, code, mod, ect,. i build compilation lists, and have a utube channel for my work and gaming.

   So the guy thought in general that gaming was a waste of time, but in his spare time all he does it watch tv .... hmm to me at least unless your watching tv to relax after work

or watching documentaries on learning stuff, tv is a waste of time, so is doing drugs, drinking, going to parties sitting on the phone.

    Whatever do as you will.

  

        I dont watch tv, i dont even own one, when i did like 20yrs ago and only limited to so many channels while sitting there eating shit food, in the back of my mind

i felt i was seriously wasting my time even though i was enjoying what i was watching, the thought always crossed my mind that im literally not doing anything, im not creating,

im not developing anything, im not contributing, im just useless, im burning time, and when im 70 or in my 80s look back and see oh i watched alot of tv,

im just an ordinary smuck, another twit adding to the population, lol

 

This was prior to joining the forums here so alots changed for me over the years. I remember being in a store where you can buy computer games back

in the day this was before steam and the current digital games came about, and i remember this dude in the store with his girlfriend and she made this comment

that "why do you waste your time with this stuff?"

and of the course the guy didn't answer.

 

Its stupid comments that bother me some times that brings up a post like this, but this post has been a long

thought about, i just didn't know how to word it.

On 2/19/2022 at 2:49 PM, Janez said:

On the other hand, they are right, make no mistake, we may be collectively straight up wasting time here.

Then i ask for what future ideal are we waiting for that we need to be working on "something" else or melting our brains on facebook and twitter for.

Seriously we all can say the same to the BI devs about the "time" they spend coding, fixing issues, adding new content, and developing the game/s overall, whether its a "job"

they "work" at or its something that interests them, i mean computer games are a whole industry in itself.

 

   Regardless of our roles in this game and any other for that matter, its about what you do and how you spend the time that you do.

I tell you what over the years i have met and chatted with, spoke too, played with   alot ...... of people, many whom which i have made many friends, acquaintances, close friends,

and those whom i have admired for thier skill, their work, and just for their personality be it through video, mission, code, mod, ect,.

   There have been people that have died, moved on, ect,. we all know this story at least most of us vets here, and theres people that we have very enjoyable times with, being in a clan

or a unity, or a group, sharing our experience together in something interesting, ya theres frustration too when a mod or mods dont work, or there is some conflict or

issue with or in the game, either way we somehow together find a way to solve the problem which is life.

 

To me there hasn't been a better game then Arma to teach me things that i dont think i could have learned otherwise, i've learned things on the forum

in terms of etiquette, how to present things, how to format, how to list, how to chat, talk, and respond to people, in and out of game, how to record videos, code certain things

setup things, even create things, most of all even find something that i love to do that really helps the community if they choose to use those resources for whatever they need.

         There are things i have learned about my own abilities and interests that i knew i never had such an interest, maybe its a personality thing.

 

In my opinion my time is precious to me, i would rather be working, creating, producing, and helping someone in the community then being at my stupid job amongst idiots that

dont want to be there and half ass their work, and are to dumb to do things as they are laid out, literally my full time job to make money to me is a impediment to what i prefer doing

which is spending my time doing things for Arma among other things, my job is a waste of my time, its an ok job for a job.

 

On 2/19/2022 at 2:49 PM, Janez said:

One of the underlying themes of The Holy Bible is balance, to have balance in everything, be it food, work, hobby or whatever else we're doing in life.

Yes i understand about balance, Arma isn't the only thing i do in my spare time, ive studied and trained in martial arts for over 25yrs, powerlifting and lifting weights since i was 18,

studied/researched all kinds of things regarding nutrition, anatomy, attributes, and philosophy over the years, while working a full time job.

     I take the time weekly to go to the local forest preserve and run the trail there and take in the natural fresh air, among other things.

 

Thanks for your insights into the subject.

[Janez 531]

3 hours ago, Gunter Severloh said:

So the guy thought in general that gaming was a waste of time, but in his spare time all he does it watch tv .... hmm to me at least unless your watching tv to relax after work

or watching documentaries on learning stuff, tv is a waste of time, so is doing drugs, drinking, going to parties sitting on the phone.

Ah OK, as I suspected this is what this is about. You have no argument from me.

 

3 hours ago, Gunter Severloh said:

Then i ask for what future ideal are we waiting for that we need to be working on "something" else or melting our brains on facebook and twitter for.

You dissected that a bit and perhaps I could have worded it better. It wasn't strictly about Arma, I was referring more to generation stuck that hopefully finds joys of life in their 40s and therefore perhaps we outto encourage new parents to equip their children a lot sooner. We weren't quite on the same page yet. Regardless:

3 hours ago, Gunter Severloh said:

Yes i understand about balance, Arma isn't the only thing i do in my spare time, ive studied and trained in martial arts for over 25yrs, powerlifting and lifting weights since i was 18,

studied/researched all kinds of things regarding nutrition, anatomy, attributes, and philosophy over the years, while working a full time job.

     I take the time weekly to go to the local forest preserve and run the trail there and take in the natural fresh air, among other things.

seems like problem solved then.

 

PS:

On 2/12/2022 at 5:09 PM, Gunter Severloh said:

The best value you can give to another is your time.

That is very much true! I wholeheartedly get behind that statement.

[opusfmspol 282]

@Gunter Severloh, I suppose it's not the word "time" that's the issue, it's the word "waste".  What is waste?  In refining, it's the slag.  Raw ore goes in and the product is run off; but whatever's left over is the slag, cast off and disregarded.  The product is the tin, the iron, the copper, the silver, the gold.  All things precious.

 

("Precious": because of Tolkein and the brainwashing black boxes we live with, it invokes the word "Gollum" to mind, but is that what I'm speaking of here?  I mean what's actually near and dear in each of our hearts.  The things we treasure in our hearts and our minds, the things we appreciate.  Should a parent look at their child and go, "Gollum"; or should we break the brainwashing and cast that aside?)

 

We're all individuals.  We all have things precious to us.  All things precious to me may not be precious to you, and all things precious to you may not be precious to me.  Those things precious to you clearly are not all precious to whoever criticized.  But it seems they have their things precious too, which it seems you don't appreciate as they do.

 

They look upon your time in Arma as a heap of slag, and they seek gold.  Yet in your own eyes, what they see as slag is golden.  Is that a paradox?  No.  It's human, it's humanity, it's who we are.  We all have different values, and we all value the same things differently.

 

I'm in the U.S., and here in the early 1800's there was a card game called Faro that was more popular than poker or blackjack and played in all the saloons whether for money or for fun.  How do you suppose the people in the saloons would have reacted had someone come in and told the Faro players, "You're wasting time, those cards aren't real; the real world lies outside those cards!"  I figure first you'd hear, "These cards are real", and they'd be right.  Then you'd hear, "If I'm wasting time, whose time is it I'm wasting?"  Anyone who might say it's a waste of your time would be more truthful to say "It's a waste of time to me."  They're projecting if saying it's a waste of your time.

 

We all live from point A to point B (whether we go on to point C, you decide).  Simple fact is, from the moment we're conceived, we're doomed to die and we get a dash between two numbers.  So what do we do with that time that we have?  We live, we work, we rest.  Some have more and harder work than others, some have more and greater rest than others.  Some have more and better life than others.  Make the best with what time we've got.

 

13 hours ago, Janez said:

have balance in everything, be it food, work, hobby or whatever else we're doing in life.

 

Family; don't neglect family.  But sing it brother, there's a song in there.  And if a preacher can't preach about that, he's got no Spirit in him.

 

Reality is that Arma, for most of us (because for some it is a job, putting bread and butter on the table), it's entertainment, it's amusement.  We all seek entertainment, we crave it, because in life we have stresses and distresses all around us; and like a field laborer longing for the shade, we seek relief.  And when we get it, relief itself is short-lived, it's not enough, we want amusement.  I've heard it said that "amusement" comes from the Greek word "muse", which means to have in mind, to think.  To a-muse is the antithesis, the opposite, to put out of mind, not to think.  Think of what?  The labor, the stresses and distresses we have to deal with.  If we rest without entertainment, we think about those things.  We don't want to muse on them, we want to be amused.

 

And some people take their amusement seriously, like you do, and admittedly, so do I.  What you're doing is taking your bit of shade that you found seriously; constructing a lean-to, making a mattress, adding a pillow.  And others who share the shade with you appreciate that, because you share your stuff with them.  The laborer expects his wage; to you and those around you, it's silver and gold.  Those looking on from afar say, a trash heap; what a bunch of waste.

 

It's not a waste.  It's what you choose to do with your time in the shade.

 

All I would suggest is, don't ever let the time resting in the shade detract from the work, or the life (i.e., family as well as friend time).

 

[nettrucker 142]

Having spent most of time in the editor it's never wasted time to me. It's to the contrary something creative I enjoyed doing over the years. I took a long break with ArmA 3 let's say I practically overdosed and it was time to take a break.

My best wishes to all of you.

Stay frosty

[Janez 531]

On 12/19/2022 at 8:57 PM, nettrucker said:

I took a long break with ArmA 3 let's say I practically overdosed and it was time to take a break.

Seems like a sensible thing to do. I suppose I'm in a semi-break of sorts for a while now. But I'm sticking around to see what you guys are up to, what BI (I like what you're doing on YT btw, also consider mirrors on other platforms such as Odysee, BitChute, etc) is up to and if nothing else, tag some spam. 😄

[nettrucker 142]

Hi Janez

 

I'm still around but mostly reading rather then commenting. As for my youtube channel I actually never intended to do one  . . .for being honest that happened during the lock-down. I'm not considering myself in that sense a content creator I'm just enjoying to play some other games which I was formerly unable to enjoy.

 

I was still editing in ArmA 2 together with a friend of mine, Batteriefuhrer, long after ArmA 3 had been released. It was a great experience and we released a single player mission pack for the CWR2 MOD in ArmA 2 to pay homage to all Moders who contributed to this incredible MOD especially Wolle. Unfortunately most of the community already moved on to ArmA 3. But we did release it . . . unfortunately it got lost when ArmAholic ceased to exist.

 

Since I discovered Operation Flashpoint shortly after it's release although I signed up on the forum back in 2004 only. Operation Flashpoint and the whole ArmA series prevented me for a long time to enjoy other games. In OFP and Arma you had the absolute freedom to tackle any mission in different ways. This was a freedom that most of the games were lacking at that time and I couldn't really enjoy them it always drove me back to OFP and the ArmA series later on.

 

Moreover the ArmA community is amazing. I've tried so many different things out over the years and I really want to thank all community members which have contributed to this community with all the amazing mods and Addons which have been released over all these years. You are actually the main reason why it took me 19 years before I really "overdosed". LOL😁

 

I didn't want to derail this thread just to conclude I just want to say one last thing. When you enjoy doing something it brings you happiness and IMHO investing time in something that makes you happy is never wasted time whatever it is we are doing.

All the best my friend.

 

[Janez 531]

That was nice @nettrucker, similar story here in some aspects.

 

 

10 minutes ago, nettrucker said:

As for my youtube channel I actually never intended to do one  . . .for being honest that happened during the lock-down. I'm not considering myself in that sense a content creator I'm just enjoying to play some other games which I was formerly unable to enjoy.

Erm... I meant Arma official channel that I also linked next to BI in my previous post but I'm glad your having a blast going through all those games now. I see some Far Cry up there, some Crysis, so may you have maximum fun... yes, these are the terrible puns you can expect around here. 🙂

[nettrucker 142]

Oh man sorry I misunderstood with the youtube channel. My bad.😉

[cricutmaker 0]

Nice Post!

[mr burns 132]

Nice Bot!

 

Anyway, it´s been gnawing at me for years, the only regret i really have is not owning multiple lambos from influencer income which could've/should've existed in a "i know it all now" universe with the ammount of focus we were pulling on a young youtube... godammit.. 😁

 

Other than that, the journey is the reward! 🤩