"It's just a game."

[ivocaliban]

Leave it to gamers to figure in decimals. Make mine 2.25.

 

[Wombat]

I've been playing these games 30 years now.

Yep, I'd call that a dedicated hobby.

OTOH, I don't put more into my games than into, say, general reading and writing, my other two favourite hobbies. If a game ends, it is sad, but there will be another one; if a character dies, it is sad, but I can make a new one.

I'm a game addict, but I've got it under control

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Four. This is what I spend the majority of my time on; it's my art form. It's also what inspires most of my writing, which is my other art form.

And all my life, I've been raised with the saying "There is no such thing as just a game." Games are life-- and if you learn to live like you're playing a game, you usually play to win.

 

[The Shaman]

I voted two, but I probably fall somewhere between two and three - an awful lot of my leisure reading is game-related, so it's a bit more than just a pastime.

 

[sniffles]

I started to select "dedicated hobby", but then I realized that honestly it is more than that. I spend an awful lot of my time thinking, talking, and reading about gaming.

 

[devilbat]

Dedicated Hobby. We once had a player refer to D&D as his religion. We had to cut him loose.

 

[IronWolf]

I went with three, a dedicated hobby. I spend a fair amount of time reading about the hobby, posting on message boards, prepping characters and thinking about the game. It is a nice outlet and a chance to allow a little bit of creativity to flow.

 

[Angel of Adventure]

Voted a 2, . . . but its a very fanatical 2. I take it seriously but I'm OK w/putting it aside to get REAL stuff done.

 

[AIM-54]

1.5. I'm with Henry--the game itself is just a game, although I take it more seriously than I do sitting down for a few hours in front of an Xbox or whipping out Settlers of Cataan or something like that.

But it's really the social aspect of it that makes it different from other games in terms of how seriously I take it.

Pretty much goes for me. I voted 1, but I think that's wishful thinking on my part. I'm probably realistically at 2.5. I'm always feeling guilty about the time spent on gaming that could be more fruitfully spent on reading more professionally important stuff.

Alternatively, I spend plenty of time thinking about world-building type stuff, but I never have the energy to work on it in a concrete way.

Really, I'm undecided on what it is for me...

 

[dren]

Number 1.