Should you ever stop playing games?

When you're a teenager some people will already look at you as if you're weird or just an idiot when you say that you play games, because a lot of people don't understand how people consider that a hobby and waste money on something that expensive. Well the same can be said about fireworks, it's expensive and one moment you have it and the other moment it's blow away...literally! But somehow I don't hear a lot of people complain about that. So this makes me wonder, are you ever too old to play games?

There is no maximum age for gamers?

If you get weird looks from people when you say that you play games and you're a teenager, then you can imagine how weird those looks are when you're over thirty and you say that you play games. I personally don't see the problem but a lot of people don't take you seriously and think that you're some immature douchebag. Well that might be true but that doesn't mean that every gamer is just like the other. Sure some people are immature douchebags but that has nothing to do with gaming, besides who gives a shit what other people think? If I would worry how other people feel about me I'd probably never do anything fun, because who knows what others might say or do? It's your life and you decide what you do with it, if you want to play games then that's your choice! You don't harm anyone with your hobby and if you really enjoy playing games then I don't see the problem!

Hobby or way of life?

I guess some gamers take things a bit far, spending the entire day behind their tv or pc playing games. I can understand that some people will be concerned for you then, because not only is that an unhealthy way of living it can also get you in a lot of trouble! I mean you need to earn money, so unless you can earn money with playing games I would suggest to also invest time in studying and of course try to get a good job. The games will be there when you get back home and it will be that much more fun to relax and unwind after a long day of school and work. But if you spend every day of every week in every month the entire year on gaming then things aren't looking so good for you. I understand that you sometimes look for an escape from it all and games can offer you that escape, but don't get lost in the world of games because it's not easy to find your way back into the real world.

You should take gamers more serious?

A couple of weeks ago I read an article how gamers are often quite smart and are often better at solving problems than people that don't play games. That doesn't mean every gamer is a genius but it does show that games will often make you think about things, wether that's a puzzle in the game or the choices you have to make in certain games. So whenever someone has something bad to say about your hobby then you can say that it's not a waste of time! I know that this can be an issue with dating, because the moment your girlfriend hears you enjoy playing games then they will often think you're one of those guys that spends the entire day inside and stare at the screen. Eventhough there are people that do that I think it's unfair to judge people just based on one piece of information. But I guess people that hate games or never played a game (no surprise that these are often the same people) can't understand and refuse to understand why you play games. My advice is to ignore people like that, they're not worth your time and it would never work out with that person no matter how nice you thought she was. If someone can't accept a part of you then this isn't someone you want to be with. Gaming isn't a serious hobby, but gamers are people and we should be taken serious. Your boyfriend or girlfriend doesn't have to like it as long as they can accept it, the same counts for other people in your life. We don't all like the same things but that doesn't mean we have to, as long as you can accept eachother the way you are then things should be fine.