Do you play online games to escape from real life?

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I'm wondering whether other people in this group like to play games such as 'The Sims' or 'World of Warcraft' etc etc to kind of create an online world to 'live in' and enjoy because their real world 'stinks' or is not very enjoyable.

I like to do this. The Sims is good for me.

I can't really fool my subconscious into believing that my online game is the real world, and the real world is a game, but gee it'd be good if that was possible wouldn't it?

I don't play online games, but I do have some Wii games that have different characters that I like to play, in order to escape and distract myself from my reality, or matrix.

No. I only play games for the sheer enjoyment factor. However, I generally view investing an excessive amount of time in a game as a means of avoiding reality, a waste of time, as I feel that time could be better spent improving aspects of one's reality.

I go on WP to face my reality and I play Wii Bowling to escape my reality, by taking on the parts of all the different characters.

It wouldn't really be good if that was possible. Your "subconscious" is more concerned for your wellbeing in reality, and if it were to become convinced that a fictional world was more real or more important, you would be lost.

That nagging feeling telling you that it's not real, and that real events would be better, is there for a reason.

I used to have two escapes: I would read science fiction novels, and I would lucid dream. Gaming never appealed to me as much as it did to some others - it was often frustrating to me, and whenever I would finish I would just feel empty rather than accomplished. Still, there are some gaming experiences that have stuck with me, as my avatar can attest (for those not of an age to have played NES as kids, it's Megaman). No real escapes for me now, although I still love reading - but it's more of a meal now than a swim. And (who knows why) I no longer lucid dream. Last lucid dream I had, so long ago, I simply ran out of ideas for things to do, so I just sat down on a bench and waited for the dream to end. Pathetic.

i do.. though online games are usually filled with people and so don't feel like that much of an 'escape'..
more that they give me a relatively clear, unambiguous purpose, albeit temporary and ultimately almost meaningless..
i don't like team games so much, i take things too seriously and try to do my best for the team, i get quite frustrated and upset when my fellow humans simply do whatever they want..
i have stopped playing as of friday because of an unrelated incident but i still would if i could.
fudo

I play Second Life but I don't really see it as an escape, I see it as merely a past time. Other people may think otherwise though. I'm usually reluctant to tell people that I play incase they think I have no real life

That strikes me as a rather powerful image.

It could also stand as a good analogy for gaming in general. Going to all the trouble to become a living being, in an almost infinite universe where you can try to do almost anything that you want, only to run out of ideas, sit down in front of a computer game, and pass away your time on this earth waiting for it to all be over.

I find it really hard to play video games, I always end up feeling like I should be doing something real instead.

Not really into RPG games (not into online gaming), but I find myself playing Mass Effect 2 over and over again. I like living vicariously through Commander Sheppard.

Same here. Videogames exhausted their interest relatively quickly for me, and dreams - full-color, 3-D hyperreal lucid experiences where I could have sex with any woman, fly like a superhero, and remake the universe around me - even they lost their attraction.

I do play sims, but as is simulation. I love flying and racing games and everything related to planes and cars IRL.

I play them to kill time.

+1 although i only play driving sims.

I have done that he use games to escape

Not really.
But as far as games go, I play games, but typically not RPGs.