Who here is inspired by video games?

[Daverin2112]

Don't know if this has been asked, but nothing recent shows, so... here it goes.

At any rate, as a gamer since before Kindergarten (and I mean starting with Warcraft I), I found alot of my beliefs and attitudes have been shaped by what I have played... for better or worse. At the least, as far as better goes, I have always been a big RPG fan, so I found values like perserverance, journeying, constant toil, cleverness, and those other heroic adventurer traits to be ingrained in me.

Of course, many people consider video games to be cheap entertainment with no educational or creative value, and I've never really understood this, having no small part of who I am shaped by it (and, risking sounding full of myself, I like to think I am a decent enough person. I certainly try, anyways, although there is no such thing as being "good enough".)

So, I figured, being in a forum filled with nerds who enjoy the concept of an MMO that encourages RL activity, and who put exercise into RPG terms, I should ask: who else here found much of who they are shaped by games? Of course, it doesn't have to be the only factor (I mean, I've got friends, parents, school, what I've read about history, philosophy, politics, etc.) But still, who here found video games more than entertainment in their lives?

And dear lord do I sound nerdy right now, even for me!

[leadchipmunk]

I have been shaped by video games, television and movies quite a good bit (while still having the normal friends, family, school/govt., religion, etc. influences). By being a fantasy/sci-fi/RPG fan, that is probably why I attempt to lead my life along a mostly chaotic good line. It seems the most common form of hero in these are along those lines.

"I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." - Bernardo de la Paz, Robert A. Heinlein The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (I just found that quote and thought it fit perfectly. Now I've got another book to read)

[Nuala]

I wouldn't be the person I am without video games, that's for sure. My oldest memories are me playing on the philips videopack in 1982, I was 4 year old ^^ Video games taught me a lot: patience, persistence, logic, that you can save the world starting by killing rats, English (I still need to work on this one).

I started to play violin after playing Wii music. I wasn't keen about playing instruments before, actually music lesson in middle school made me believe that music was way too complicated and not that interesting.

I met my previous BF on a MMORPG and met my actual BF because of a friend I met on the same MMORPG.

Most of my actual friends were met on MMORPG or video games forum. I have many European friends and met them in their own country. Hungary, Denmark, Finland, I fell in love with Denmark and went to live there for three month last year. I can't wait to do that again! Anyway for me video games are great tools, I can live without TV (actually it's been more than 14 years that I live without) but you won't make me stop playing.

[shortstuff]

Looking back on my childhood, it seems I own a lot to video games. Growing up I have a lot of memories of playing with my brother and one of my sisters. We all loved age of empires. So we had a real life version of it and used the farm as our board. I loved pokemon (I'm adding this becuase it is a game as well) and my brother made this Pokemon game where I was a trainer. He had made stat sheets on different people and all, which I still have. So thanks to video games I now have a lot of good momories with my brother and sister.

They also taught us how to share and work as a team.

[Gary Conway]

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[NorthFloridaNinja]

I definitely would classify video games as an "art" just as much as movies or literature. I think a lot of people in older generations shrug games off because they've had a very different experience with them. And, to an extent, I actually think this has allowed games to be a bit more controversial than books and movies. The first Assassin's Creed game is a good example of this. Could you imagine how the media would've reacted if Hollywood was coming out with a blockbuster movie that was primarily focused on an assassin in the Middle East killing the invading Christian templars during the crusades? Or, Bioshock, with that game's commentary on libertarianism and the free market? I mean, you'll find underground books and films with similar themes, but I'd argue that games are in a sweet spot where they can deal with controversial topics and still sell millions of units. I'm really glad that games have this freedom and I hope it lasts despite games becoming more and more mainstream. Games have taught to me to look at values, norms, beliefs from all different angles and to always question everything.

[Ginerrva]

Yes. Yes yes yes. Video games have shaped me tons!

Starting ever since my younger years as a toddler, playing Horses on a PC that crashed every 5 minutes- that definitely taught me patience.

Then 3-4 years later, Age of Empires- that taught me strategy.

Then 2-3 years after that, Diablo- that taught me to grit through unpleasant tasks, like trying to get back to my corpse without being instantly killed by the huge mob next to it.

Even now, games like World of Warcraft and Left 4 Dead teach me how important it is to be aware of my teammates, and how important teamwork really is.

I don't see how so many people could be against video games when it has shaped a lot of good people to the person they are today!

[Mad Rocker]

Resident Evil has taught me to keep all the shotguns and ammo to myself and send the unarmed, teenage girl down the dark corridor alone carrying a pot plant.

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Books and movies inspire me the most - especially those of the fantasy genre where they go into detail about training to be a knight or something.

When I was 10 or so I remember running around the woods with my friends/sibling doing imaginary pokemon battles or pretending to be Team Rocket, etc. So I guess in that way the Pokemon games led to lots of running around (and some really embarrassing home videos )

[azsf]

im not sure how much video games themselves have shaped me as a person, but im well aware of how much video game culture has influenced me. video games are how i made friends in school, heading round to peoples houses to play mortal kombat and sonic and what not. my social circles always started with video games.

and then there was wow... :/

on that note, while it's easy to speak to the positive influence gaming has had on your life, what about the negative traits that come with it? wow broke my life for a while, and while i dont regret logging all those hours online, im glad to have been able to put it behind me and know that i wont be going back to it.

[Legacy]

I completely agree. VGs are a big reason of why I am who I am. What attracted me was the stories. I've always been an avid reader, but what sold me for games was the immersion in the story. You get it with the writer/audience relationship, but I prefer games like Dragon's Age or Way of the Samurai where your choices matter. But even in other games, there is that close tie to the story, gameplay and text. The writer/audience relationship is still there, but the audience has more say in a way, by being able not to play the same game every playthrough. Even in linear games, you can always go through a different path or some such.

Video games are more than mindless entertainment. Video games are the myths and legends for our generation. There are works of fiction I would deem epics, (Sandman, Star Wolf, and Wheel of Time come to mind) but how many people actually read them? Granted, I'm an rpg and action/adventure gamer for the most part, but true epics in the classical sense of literature don't exist anymore, except in video games.

Not all of them are like this, but I get this sense of scope even with things like CoD. My little brother, a notorious slacker, found his love of history through games like Assassin's Creed and World at War, and he's now going to teach history, fostering others' love. Sports games call out to the hero in each of us. Puzzle games allow us to overcome challenges. It takes patience and focus to finish a hack and slash, or even grind. -shrugs-

Sure, there is a lot of negative things associated with it too, but hey, as Aristotle said in his Nicomachean Ethics: "Too much, by definition, is really too much." Not really. That's more of a really glib paraphrase, but...ah yeah. Moderation is key in all aspects of life, be it alcohol to zebra cakes.

As for how it's shaped me: They taught me to follow my dreams, even if I'm from a small farming village.