Gillhunter Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 I suggested on a thread on the old forum about 6 years ago that playing computer games was a hobby. (Actually I was asking what other hobbies people had besides playing WoWs.) I got my head handed to me by suggesting that gaming was a hobby. Of course nobody could define what it was other than it wasn't a hobby. My definition is any activity that a person pursues because they enjoy it and with no intention of making a profit. Do any of you consider gaming a hobby, and if not what is it? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral_Karasu Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 3 minutes ago, Gillhunter said: I suggested on a thread on the old forum about 6 years ago that playing computer games was a hobby. (Actually I was asking what other hobbies people had besides playing WoWs.) I got my head handed to me by suggesting that gaming was a hobby. Of course nobody could define what it was other than it wasn't a hobby. My definition is any activity that a person pursues because they enjoy it and with no intention of making a profit. Do any of you consider gaming a hobby, and if not what is it? Hmm... I got to thinking is it a hobby or a pastime. Apparently it can be either, or both, depending you how you view it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snargfargle Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Gillhunter said: any activity that a person pursues because they enjoy it and with no intention of making a profit. That's being an adjunct field biology professor. I don't know what gaming is. 😄 I always heard that "retirement" was supposed to be lazing around the house reading and occasionally going fishing too. I've been spending my retirement digging holes and setting posts this morning. Edited March 12 by Snargfargle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral_Karasu Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 6 minutes ago, Snargfargle said: That's being an adjunct field biology professor. I don't know what gaming is. 😄 I always heard that "retirement" was supposed to be lazing around the house reading and occasionally going fishing too. I've been spending my retirement digging holes and setting posts this morning. Building a private golf course or something, or just pottering around the garden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillhunter Posted March 12 Author Share Posted March 12 Well at least nobody is getting violent. But, it seems that we are still struggling to refer to gaming as a hobby. As far as "retirement" goes, that in my mind is incredibly difficult to define. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornzero Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Seems logical. Some people have more leisure time than others. Hobby: an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asym Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 1 hour ago, Gillhunter said: Do any of you consider gaming a hobby, and if not what is it? Hobbies to me are activities that I've been involved in for decades; because, I have a "desire" that drives me. Competitive shooting is one such activity I am compelled to do, no matter the complexity... Living history is another that is a full time job it seems.... Gaming to me, is an escape, that's fun and not that complicated... I have spent my entire life competing.....working to be better than my contemporaries.... Games allow me to escape that compulsion. And, some games are simply "fun...!" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral_Karasu Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 1 minute ago, Asym said: Hobbies to me are activities that I've been involved in for decades; because, I have a "desire" that drives me. Competitive shooting is one such activity I am compelled to do, no matter the complexity... Living history is another that is a full time job it seems.... Gaming to me, is an escape, that's fun and not that complicated... I have spent my entire life competing.....working to be better than my contemporaries.... Games allow me to escape that compulsion. And, some games are simply "fun...!" There's a problem with the definitions I found, because if you do something for relaxation, it's supposedly a hobby. If you do something to pass the time, rather fittingly, it's a pastime. What if you do it for both reasons, though? Pasby, hobtime, what is it? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snargfargle Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 My teaching job was a real pain. I dreamed of being able to go on vacation. It was quite a hassle having to drive thirty minutes to get to the office every day. It was tough having to wade creeks and catch smelly salmon all the time. Performing underwater biological surveys was cold and wet. My boating safety students were loud and annoying. The wetlands I had to work in were full of otters, grebes, cute girls, and other vermin. Sometimes I had to climb stupid rocks to get to where I was going. Sometimes I even had to spend the night outdoors! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral_Karasu Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 @Snargfargle Well gotta say your idea of a hobby is certainly a far cry from reading a book in a comfy chair armed with tea or hot chocolate to drink. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snargfargle Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 1 hour ago, Admiral_Karasu said: Building a private golf course or something, or just pottering around the garden? Fence blew down in a snowstorm last winter. One of this summer's projects is to put it back up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillhunter Posted March 12 Author Share Posted March 12 22 minutes ago, Asym said: Hobbies to me are activities that I've been involved in for decades; because, I have a "desire" that drives me. Competitive shooting is one such activity I am compelled to do, no matter the complexity... Living history is another that is a full time job it seems.... Gaming to me, is an escape, that's fun and not that complicated... I have spent my entire life competing.....working to be better than my contemporaries.... Games allow me to escape that compulsion. And, some games are simply "fun...!" I enjoyed fishing, working on my boat and woodworking for years before retiring. They were an escape for me from a fairly stressful career choice. My work was competitive enough for me. It seems that playing WoWs is a job for some. I hope they make a good living from it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillhunter Posted March 12 Author Share Posted March 12 26 minutes ago, Snargfargle said: My teaching job was a real pain. I dreamed of being able to go on vacation. It was quite a hassle having to drive thirty minutes to get to the office every day. It was tough having to wade creeks and catch smelly salmon all the time. Performing underwater biological surveys was cold and wet. My boating safety students were loud and annoying. The wetlands I had to work in were full of otters, grebes, cute girls, and other vermin. Sometimes I had to climb stupid rocks to get to where I was going. Sometimes I even had to spend the night outdoors! That would be considered a very enviable occupation for many people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asym Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 8 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said: @Snargfargle Well gotta say your idea of a hobby is certainly a far cry from reading a book in a comfy chair armed with tea or hot chocolate to drink. Extremes hobbies and past times exist. A friend designs and builds "Rock Climbing Trucks..." Another friend studies the science of arrow fletching and writing quills.... Another restores tanks. I study videogame life cycles for a Doctoral degree to create a tool to measure cultural Angst when new products force cultures to change (Adaptive Frictions...) Gosh, where I live we have "Rocket Clubs". We have a .50 Caliber shooting club. We have some of the most complicated model airplane clubs that replicate existing aircraft to the mm.... Retirees that build world class Muzzle Loading rifles as a hobby/pastime (and, you have to see that to believe it...!) Hunting here is another....... WW2 aircraft restoration out the butt....there's a group of Boy Scout age kids rebuilding a Swallow.... Geeze, gaming is a minor ripple in what many of us consider a Hobby or a Pastime.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asym Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 5 minutes ago, Gillhunter said: It seems that playing WoWs is a job for some. I hope they make a good living from it. Now, when I was working for our Innovation Center, one of the Venture Capitalists wanted to investigate pro-gaming.... Starting a local team. We then obtained copies of other localities and reviewed the player contracts !!! Which were, derived from NFL contract templates...... Yes, there is real money in playing games - for the <1% of the gaming population. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillhunter Posted March 12 Author Share Posted March 12 10 minutes ago, Asym said: Now, when I was working for our Innovation Center, one of the Venture Capitalists wanted to investigate pro-gaming.... Starting a local team. We then obtained copies of other localities and reviewed the player contracts !!! Which were, derived from NFL contract templates...... Yes, there is real money in playing games - for the <1% of the gaming population. Probably the same percentage that make any professional sport. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfswetpaws Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 https://www.wordnik.com/words/hobby https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hobby https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hobby Quote hobby noun [ C ] UK /ˈhɒb.i/ US /ˈhɑː.bi/ Add to word list A2 an activity that someone does for pleasure when they are not working: Angela's hobby is restoring vintage motorcycles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfswetpaws Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 2 hours ago, Gillhunter said: Do any of you consider gaming a hobby Yes. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snargfargle Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 (edited) 1 hour ago, Gillhunter said: That would be considered a very enviable occupation for many people. You do realize that that was all tongue in cheek? The pay sucked and there were no benefits but the "job" was amazing. I just got too old to hike all over the mountains or carry around a hundred pounds of scuba gear, and it's boring just lecturing every day. The Pacific Northwest is an amazingly beautiful place. I'd have retired there were it not for the high taxes, high cost of living, too many people, high crime, and the politics of the area. I now live in a "boring" place but the cost of living is relatively low, there are not a whole lot of people, and I can leave a pickup in my driveway with the keys in the ignition and a shotgun leaning on the seat and it will still be there next week when I decide to go get the mail. I don't think the back door of my parents' house, now mine, has ever been locked. I dont even know where the keys are for it. Sometimes I'll come back from the hardware store over a the county seat to find that some lady in the area has left a box of freshly baked cookies or zucchini bread on my kitchen counter. The only reason I started locking the front door when my parents were nearing 90 and having to rest a lot was that their friends and former students had a tendency to announce themselves by coming into the house and saying "knock knock" instead of actually knocking on the door. Edited March 12 by Snargfargle 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Efros Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Something you do in your leisure time for pleasure... yep hobby. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HogHammer Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 1 hour ago, Snargfargle said: The wetlands I had to work in were full of otters, grebes, cute girls, and other vermin. Well, the otters, grebes, and vermin were never part of my hobbies, but cute girls were certainly. Thinking about it, they were just like WoWs. I always ended up being short of doubloon$ and credit$. Found out the hard way the unique upgrade was not worth it either. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snargfargle Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 One thing about a hobby, and I see WOWS players falling it this trap, is that you shouldn't just pursue it because you feel that you need to. For instance, a "hobby" golfer might not feel like golfing on the weekend but may force himself to go out because there's a tournament coming up and he feels he can't afford to get rusty lest he let down his team. That's OK occasionally -- our interest in our hobbies naturally waxes and wanes -- but if performing your "hobby" becomes a grind then it might be time to look for a new hobby. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snargfargle Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 5 minutes ago, HogHammer said: Well, the otters, grebes, and vermin were never part of my hobbies, but cute girls were certainly. @Wolfswetpaws will probably agree that "critters" are oftentimes the quickest way to a woman's heart. I took a ferret over to show a girl who piqued my interest but whom I barely knew and had me a girlfriend for a year and a half. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArIskandir Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 On 3/12/2024 at 12:25 PM, Gillhunter said: I suggested on a thread on the old forum about 6 years ago that playing computer games was a hobby. (Actually I was asking what other hobbies people had besides playing WoWs.) I got my head handed to me by suggesting that gaming was a hobby. Of course nobody could define what it was other than it wasn't a hobby. My definition is any activity that a person pursues because they enjoy it and with no intention of making a profit. Do any of you consider gaming a hobby, and if not what is it? Now I'm curious why Gaming is not considered a hobby ... what bizarre logic and interpretation is used to disqualify Gaming from being a hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snargfargle Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 4 hours ago, ArIskandir said: Now I'm curious why Gaming is not considered a hobby ... what bizarre logic and interpretation is used to disqualify Gaming from being a hobby. A thing can seen to be many different things, depending on one's point of view. For instance, I now mostly shoot guns as a hobby. However, I once shot them professionally as a soldier, as a hunter to obtain food, as a biologist to obtain research specimens, as a student learning firearms safety, as an educator teaching the same, for pest control, and a few times just to make some noise when I was bored. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now