Just an announcement: The Opinion Form for the 3rd episode of this series has been released at https://forms.gle/vJ5MjeXMcxvQypVM9! Do fill in this form diligently as your opinions are very important for this series!
Introduction
With the advance of computers and the invention of smartphones and the Internet, online games have been rapidly popping up. They have quickly become everyone's favourite pastime. No matter how good you think gaming is, you have to admit that it is a double-edged sword, having both advantages and disadvantages.
In this episode, we will explore both the advantages and disadvantages of online gaming. Using both my own research and your opinions, I will arrive at the final answer to the Big Question: Is gaming good?
Hope you like this episode!
Contents
Section A: The Advantages
Section B: The Disadvantages
Section C: Experiences And Opinions
Section D: The Conclusion
Section A: The Advantages
1. The Advantage of Improving Reaction Time, Motor Skills and Strategising
During action games with intense battles, players need to make quick decisions when attacking or dodging attacks. Therefore, these sorts of games help to train one's reaction time, resulting in it greatly improving.
Action games not only improve one's reaction time, but also their fine motor skills. This is due to the player needing to coordinate what he sees on the screen with the movements of his hands on the keyboard, controller or touchscreen. Research from the Association For Psychological Science shows that playing action video games for as little as 5 hours can help improve essential motor skills needed for driving.
For strategy games such as Warpath and Rise of Kingdoms, they quite obviously improve your strategising skills as you need them to be the most powerful player in the game.
2. The Advantage of Being Able To Spend Time With Friends And Family
With the rise of online multiplayer games, people can play with their friends despite them being in different places. In-game chats allow friends to communicate with each other while playing. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this feature has become more useful as people are unable to go outside and physically meet with friends. Some people even play online action or board games with their parents and siblings!
Section B: The Disadvantages
Now that we've covered the advantages of online gaming, let's look at the other side of the double-edged sword.
3. The Disadvantage of Addiction
Using daily goals, attractive characters and items, loot boxes and more, game companies have managed to keep players addicted to their games. They do this so that players will watch more of their advertisments, allowing them to earn more money from their sponsors.
Keeping players addicted to games might benefit the game companies, but definitely will not help the players themselves. Addiction to video games will cause them to ignore their homework, revision, other hobbies or outdoor time in order to keep on playing. Ignoring their studies will result in a poorer grade in school, affecting their opportunities to enter good institutions in the future. Some people even skip meals and sleep time (in Chinese, this is called 废寝忘食), resulting in a serious toll on their health.
4. The Disadvantage of Disconnecting From the Real World
With the addiction to online games, people will become less sociable. They will start ignoring their parents and get irritated when the parents tell them to stop gaming. This may result in arguments occuring more often and the relationship between parents and children crumbling.
Many people also disconnect from the real world. When they happen, they only communicate with others online and become shy in real life. This will have a serious impact on their life when they go to work, as life in the office often requires communicating with colleagues to collaborate (although work in the future may have already moved online).
5. The Disadvantage of Loot Boxes
Now, you're wondering why loot boxes are such a big problem that it gets listed here.
Before I can explain, I have to run everyone on what loot boxes are. They're essentially boxes in games such as Overwatch, Fortnite and League of Legends that players can purchase with in-game currency. The prizes are randomly selected, which means that players may or may not get a good asset every time they open a loot box.
This random feature means that players often purchase multiple loot boxes just to get one good asset. As in-game currency is hard to earn, players use real money to buy the in-game currency. Once, a 12-year old stole $100,000 from his mother's wallet just to buy loot boxes!
The randomity of loot boxes makes them very similar to gambling, where people win or lose money based on their luck. As such, people have actually been calling out to governments to make loot boxes illegal. China has already placed a law that requires online games with loot boxes to release the odds of winning good assets.
6. The Disadvantage of Strangers
Using the in-game chat function of multiplayer games, players can communicate with literally anyone, including complete strangers that they have not met in real life. Some of these strangers will try to gain your trust and make you reveal your personal information, such as your age, school and home address. You should know what happens next.
Section C: Experiences And Opinions
7. My Experiences With Gaming
So, I don't really play the famous online games, as those usually contain multiplayer functions which can get quite dangerous (see chapter 6). I used to play single-player adventure games that require thinking skills, such as The Last Campfire and Beyond A Steel Sky. For a short time, I played a sandbox game called Pocket Build (which is ranked 6 places behind Minecraft on the App Store), but I realised that I was spending too much time making something that wasn't even real (this is why I prefer building with Legos and collecting models).
Nowadays, I only play simple games such as Smashy Road, Crossy Road and Euro Train Sim 2. These games do not consume too much of my time (though I admit I was getting addicted to Euro Train Sim 2, but I have been awakened after writing this post), therefore I can still spend time my hobbies (and studying).
8. Your Opinions
Well, we have finally left the lengthy research portion of this article! It is now time for your valuable opinions.
3 people voted in total, with 2 people saying that gaming is good and 1 person saying that gaming is bad.
Unsurprisingly, those who said that gaming is good game themselves while those who said that gaming is bad do not game.
Gaming is good.
It helps with my reaction time and is my favourite pastime. Comments:
I agree with both points. Gaming is good.
It helps people to destress. Comments:
From experience, I know that this is quite true.Gaming is bad.
Gaming in moderation is fine but overall, violent games and excessive games may cause harm to a person’s mind.Comments:
Indeed.Section D: The Conclusion
Well, here's the part you all have been waiting for, the final answer to the Big Question...
9. So, is gaming good???
Yes and no. This is because it depends on the genre of the online game. If you're playing an addictive multiplayer game with in-chat functions, possibly having loot boxes, gaming is bad for you. However, if you play simple one-player games that don't take up too much of your time, gaming is acceptable and might even be good for you.
The overall message: If you're concerned about the dangers of gaming listed above, you should quit online multiplayer games and switch to simple one-player games. Or you should at least refrain from talking to strangers, be aware that there's a time for play and a time for rest, homework and other things and remember to constantly switch between the virtual world and the real one.
Best regards,
ze yeeter
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