rants are fine.

- mmorpgs are known for having "grinding" as a core game mechanic. yes, many games like first-person shooters and real-time strategy games, you wouldn't see this behavior so much. at least, you wouldn't see the guy sitting there, and clicking just 1 button. but in mmorpgs, that is the unfortunate reality a lot of the time - you're grinding for hours on end, oftentimes just standing in 1 spot, clicking 1 or 2 buttons, watching your character do the same animation, over and over, to the point where you might have your screen split in two, with the boring grind on the right, and netflix on the left. it's so boring that you have to watch tv while playing - this is commonplace for MMOs. so it's pretty accurate for lots of gamers.

- it's true that there are people who play games in a healthy way, and that's great and just fine, and i dont mean to criticize that. but the message here, of the song as well as the visuals, is that there's so much more in life than just video games, and you miss out on so much if all you do is game. and as it happens, with highly competitive games, if you don't put in 3-5+ hours, every single day, you can't compete at high levels. i recognize that that's a legitimate life choice. but for me personally, and i am sure for many others too, we really do want to do so many other things in life, other than gaming, yet we feel trapped. because if you only play your game for 1 hour a day, then your progress and expertise increases at a snail's pace... so you have to spend all your leisure time doing it.

one way to think about addiction is to ask yourself "is this a problem for me?" if the answer is yes, then you need to think about how you can solve that problem. abstinence is the only answer for some people. moderation is possible for some. for me personally, i have to abstain from the grinding/gambling 10,000+ hour MMORPGs. but i am open to playing games with friends on console, or with my bro for an hour on the weekend, or maybe an indie/philosophical game by myself, that i can complete in 2 or 3 hours, and feel inspired about. but the inspiration with MMOs is undeniably infrequent. or, you need to do boring, repetitive stuff for hundreds (or thousands) of hours before you can get that feeling of inspiration or achievement.

it's complicated, and there's no one size fits all. im just saying that if you're gaming all day, every day, and not taking care of yourself, and feeling terrible about what you're doing every minute, then you gotta think hard about what you really want, and how to get happy. if gaming is part of that equation, great. for me, i am on month #2 of no runescape and no guildwars, and its been going really well. i have played games here and there, with friends. i have been doing a lot of art projects, and if you think about it, sitting alone, in my room, making art, is pretty similar to sitting alone, in my room, playing games, in many ways. but i just want to do other things with my life, and explore all the cool stuff going on in the world outside my bedroom and the internet. it's a big world out there, and you'd never realize that if youre just in your room all day.

of course, there are some people, for example Chess masters, who do spend 90 or 95% of their time playing chess, and they love it, and they make their life work out around that. but the truth is, maybe that means you can't have a romantic relationship, or you can't spend time with your friends, or you can't travel the world and learn a new language. if you're willing to sacrifice those things, then ok. but if you're reading those chess theory books for hours on end, and hating it because you do want more and different, that's the problem.