Saturday, August 4, 2007

Gaming Addict or Enthusiast?

The question is really more complex than what we think. Gamers have always denied the acquisitions that they are addicts (ofcourse most addicts fail to realize their addiction). Parents and educationists have always called gaming as nothing but addiction (any person who hasn’t tried something for himself will neither understand the complexity nor appreciate the art involved). But the overlooked fact here is that, addiction is subjective & not objective.

Choices:
Only a thin line separates addiction & enthusiasm. There is nothing wrong in being a fan of someone, or being passionate about something. Till the day we go to work, get employed & settle down, we have time in our hands. And only in these few years we can live our passion. When responsibilities start to pile up, there is no room for personal desires. But still, we must make sure that passion doesn’t turn into addiction, as it can, very easily.

Basically, it comes down to choices. We have to choose what we are going to do with the time we have. Certain choices can forever change our lives. If you take time to carefully consider these choices before doing something, then you are not addicted. You might get tempted to do something but that’s not addiction. Temptation shouldn’t be compared to addiction. But when you forget about these choices & start doing something without giving any thoughts to your life, then, it’s called addiction. Youngsters can understand temptation, but addiction is hard to realize. Like ‘Neo’ said, no one would like the idea that they are not in control of their life. But that’s what addiction is. And it’s hard to come to terms with it.

But gaming is just like any other activity people fall in love with, like playing music, driving cars, reading books etc. To us, gaming is a sport. We know lots of parents & neighbors who keep a cupboard full of old trophies, cups & photos to remind them of their glory days in anything from Chess to Football. They will go on & on, about how they were State Level Champions or National Level Players. It was once their passion, their desire & eventhough they had to give it up as life progressed, they still cherish those good old days. Gaming is exactly that for us. And 20 or 30 years from now, we should remember ourselves as people who were passionate about gaming & not as addicts. No grown-up would accept being called an addict for spending time in a sport that they loved & gave up when the time came. Nor will we accept being called addicts for pursuing our desires until the time comes, for us to fall into the ocean of responsibilities.

Conclusion:
Let me put this in simple words. Of all the things you could’ve done, if you are spending the time in gaming, it’s because of your passion for gaming. It’s because you want to do this, even though you are provided with so many other options. This is called Enthusiasm. But, when there are issues that need your attention or if you have some work to be finished but you are not able to stop gaming for a few days to attend to your responsibilities, then, it means that you forgot that you have a choice. It means that you are not able to see anything beyond gaming. This is what we call, addiction & you better realize it before it gets too late. By a gamer, to fellow gamers.. Neither should you be an addict, nor should you let others call you as one.