And if so, do you find video games ever getting in the way of writing? Just asking because I feel like nowadays there's so many different types of games that appeal to our fantasies, that it's easy to gravitate towards living out our fantasy playing those games rather than creating them. I've run into this issue a few times, but what about all the other writers here? And if you play video games and don't feel that way how do you balance it out?
I mostly stopped playing video games. They eat up a lot of your life if you let them, and it's really easy to let them. Once I pretty much stopped playing, and I went out and did a lot more stuff. One thing I really found is that experience and knowledge helps a lot with writing. Sure, video games can give you odd stories, some arbitrary knowledge, and a lot of enjoyment, but you're usually left pretty empty after it's done. Then you need another. Don't get me wrong, I love some of them, but I was wasting too much time. It's really a choice. Do you want to play someone else's story, or do you want to make your own?
I used to play a lot, but I find games are too light on meaning for me. In many cases, we go back to games out of habit, not because we feel enriched, but because we like the repetition and sense of progress without having to face our doubts. If you love playing RPG or a specific genre of games, I think one should play them. The good ones, they are there for us to enjoy! I do play some games myself cause of cool graphics, story, or good mechanics (I'm a game dev, too). But if you find you are a spending a disproportionate amount of time for something that isn't that meaningful/what you actually want to do, it might worth examining those habits.
I do, although never before I've hit my daily writing goals. After that, my time is my own. Before that, I am at the keyboard writing.
I'm playing, yeah, a lot xD But it doesn't get in the way much as gaming is during another phase of my biorythm (sounds strange, hu?) I usually write after work at night for about 1hr or so - by the time my focus lowers massively so after 1hr I can't write anymore, it's turning into crap. This is when I start gaming. Depending upo the game I'm either recharging my focus and continue to write afterwards or I'm just emotying my mind for a good night's rest xD Same thing during the day. One exeption: I'm gaming and whilst I'm chatting with a gooid friend about the writing. This is kind of a mixture as I often end up typing ideas or plot lines whilst I game and chat xD
Of course I play a lot of video games. Been doing it for 30+ years already, and will gladly do it for the rest of my life. I'm a writer, and I love to read a good story. Doesn't matter if it's horror, fantasy with magic, dragons and all that, a sci-fi set in space, or just your typical highschool drama. A good story is a good story. However, over the years, I've started to get pretty restless. I'm often having a problem sitting still for too long. A movie that lasts two hours or more can be a pain to sit through. I'm not doing anything. I'm just sitting there, staring at the screen for two whole hours. I know it might sound odd, but that bores the hell out of me. A movie has to be really, really good to keep me interested that long. Even a series with one hour episodes can be a challenge. I don't want to just sit there. I need to be doing something. That's why I can watch a movie on Netflix or youtube if I want, but I need to do something with my hands as well. Often play a game on my Switch or phone. That way, I can keep myself occupied during the movie. And that's where my love for video games comes in. Developers have always had great stories to tell in video games, but they've gotten a hell of a lot better at it over the years, with better technology, more experience and all that. My latest game was Dragon Quest Builders 2, on Nintendo Switch. The story was interesting enough, and I really liked the characters a lot. As a result, it took me 150+ hours to finish the entire story, and I never once got bored of it. Sure I did a lot of things on my own too, but still. If the story had been narrowed down to a 2 hours movie, I would never have been able to finish it. But because I could get involved with the story and stay occupied, it never got boring at all. In other words, video games are a great way to hear awesome stories. We've had books, comic books, stage plays and movies. And now we have video games. Different format, same, awesome stories.
Between writing, university and programming my own game I rarely find time to play. When I do, I only do so as a means of socializing with some friends from south africa.
Yes, I play video games. Yes, it gets in the way of writing. No, I have no power to balance it out. Having said that, I really never play games for their stories. I grew up in the 80s and early 90s playing the arcade games of those eras and then got swept up in the early Nintendo craze, and to this day my gaming tastes run toward those kinds of experiences. If a game leans heavily on its story - like most RPGs, or something like Heavy Rain or Detroit Become Human - I find it a slog. IMHO the best storytelling in games is very subtle and mysterious and only works if it's buried under gameplay mechanics that are polished and satisfying in and of themselves. (Playdead's Inside comes to mind.) As I've said in the gaming thread I mostly play indie games rather than AAA these days.
Every now and again playing Video Games gives me a few new ideas. Some are good enough to inspire my writing with their atmosphere. As for if they interfere with writing? No, mostly that's just me being lazy. Of all my time I waste, I waste far too much of it watching youtube garbage and fluff. But sitting down at night, in summer, hearing crickets outside and playing an old NES game or revisiting Ocarina of Time, Final Fantasy 7 or even playing the latest PS4 games in the dead of winter, gives me a quiet peace of mind in hard times. That said, if you want to sharpen writing skills I recommend stuff like: https://logic.puzzlebaron.com/init.php or maybe https://www.vocabulary.com/. It's relaxing when you need a break, specially when minesweeper gets old and you just might find yourself thinking of things differently when you bring up your fav word processor. Cheers and Happy writing, -SIN
