I have mixed feelings about the idea that addictive video games waste time or not. I think one is in denial if they say they are not a waste of time. However lots of things are a waste of time.
Stein's opinion was just the same as my Dad's back in 1999. He would see me and my friend playing this game so much and want to rip the computer out of the wall. It was just because he didn't relate to it. When my brother and I were young we would sneak downstairs to play video games when we weren't supposed to at like 5am. He would catch us and say, "no tv/video games for a year" then two days later he would say, "hey do you wanna play me in tetris/duck hunt?" or "hey check out this cool show on the discovery channel". I feel the same way about facebook that my Dad felt about EQ. I see my sister-in-law on facebook 24/7, sending people cuddly bears, animals on a farm... I have no friggin idea... just really dumb and, IN MY OPINION (that is key), wasting her time. Then I make fun of her and she is like, "well at least it is not stupid video games." I have no grounds to defend myself.
But the thing is you waste time when you are young, and you learn what dumb shit not to do. In high school I was intense with sports, school was easy, and I had nothing else to do. I could have read more, sure, I wish I did that. I could have chased girls, but I knew that was retarded in high school. What are you gonna do, continue to date them through college, haha noobs? I could have smoked weed with some of my toolbag friends, but let's be honest, losers smoke weed, real men do coke (I kid)! Or I could have gotten a shit job, bought a shit car, and bought shitty CDs or other dumb high school crap. Although I loved high school (read: sports and the sciences) I didn't see eye to eye with many.
EQ for sure is a waste of time, but it is fun. I still always rank sports/outdoor stuff > books > video games. When in school though, I did enough of the first two, and needed time to decompress while slaying some mobs.
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