Gaming is just a new type of social activity that we as a people don't understand very well. Slowly better research is being done, but a lot of work done so far to investigate just copy pastes ideas from gambling addiction and applies it wholesale to gaming. So questions such as "Do you think about gambling when not gambling?" (usually asked in anonymous questionnaires) that might throw up worries for a gambler then become "Do you think about the game when not playing?" and is also treated as a warning sign of addiction - which is of course nonsense. When you are trying to clear new content, or there is a guild drama cause your two guild leaders have a massive falling out, of course you are thinking about it offline and it doesn't mean that there is anything to worry about.
Some real worries of gaming though could be linked to the repetitive nature of them. Learning new things keep the brain healthy, just as exercising your muscles keeps them healthy. People in their 80's can take twenty years off their mental capabilities by learning a new language due to the effort of remaking so many neural connections. Do the same thing over and over again, reinforces your neural connections, leading to less ability to adapt and a denigration of cognitive abilities.
Also, another major worry about excessive gaming is the tendency to over prune your other activities to make more time for gaming. Taken to excess....
Wait. Am I taking this too far?
Anyway, gratz again the baby. With three kids you should have an idea of what is coming, though I warn you there are babies and then there are babies. My brother wanted to have a huge family and then his second child kinda cured him of that desire. Unfortunately he is just like me :p
In game it is nice to be able to be who you want to be, either for escapism or to actually be the person you feel inside without needing to take real life complications into consideration.
@Mouse I'm not sure if I should congratulate you, commiserate you, or run screaming through the nearest window. Still, good luck with your kids. I'm glad I only have a boy sometimes, I don't know what I would do with a daughter as hits her teenage years. I've heard that locking them in the basement and not allowing them to see boys ever (or know of their existence) can kind of hamper their development into adults. Not sure what the alternative is though :p
Quoted from "KatalanOrk;524955"
Gratz on the baby, regentego.
