Evergreen Times

We often see information pointing to the potential pitfalls of online gaming: excessive screen time, neglecting real life, overspending, or being exposed to unpleasant personalities hidden behind the anonymity of a gaming profile. In a sense, online gaming is what you make of it, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend games that come with social interaction for the very young, the overly trusting, or for people who are easily upset. However, online games do have a positive side. Here’s how you can benefit.

Friends of All Ages From All Over the World

The ability to make friends with people on an equal footing regardless of age, gender, nationality, or religion is one of the very best things about online gaming. Of course, some of them may not be who they say they are – and that’s alright too. It’s a fantasy world and they can “be” whoever they want to be.

Some of the friendships won’t last very long, but they can still be meaningful. Ever had a nice chat with a fellow-gamer? They’re quite possibly people you’d ordinarily not see anything in common with, if you ever met them at all.

The game becomes the initial shared interest and as time goes on, you discover that you have more things in common with your online friends than you ever realised. Perhaps you’ll even shed the occasional bias or two along the way. Young people can be wise, and older people can be fun, for example.

A Lively Social Life at the Touch of a Button

Loneliness is said to be an “epidemic,” and it’s not always easy for people to get out there and find like-minded friends in real life. Even if they aren’t disabled and don’t live in isolated locations, options for making real life friends, and opportunities to spend time with them, are limited.

Online games that promote social interaction and teamwork mean that you can log in and find someone to talk to at just about any time of the day or night and without having to set foot out of your home. While these friendships are not as significant as the relationships you have with your nearest and dearest, they can still be a big help.

The world becomes your playground, and although some may say that in-game friendships aren’t “real,” the logic behind that statement is questionable. After all, there is a real person behind every game account you encounter unless it’s a bot. And if it is one, you probably wouldn’t be able to befriend it in the first place.

Learning Patience, Tolerance, Self-Discipline and Where Your Boundaries Should Be

Not every gamer will learn how to be a better person through play, but there are certainly opportunities for learning if one is alert to them. Let’s not pretend your gaming career will be all joy. You’re going to meet some really unpleasant people along the way, and you may be at risk of behaving badly too.

If you’re alive to the possibility of learning from your game, acquiring the ability to keep your temper will be among the lessons you learn. Some of your worst decisions in game are likely to be prompted by anger or impatience. Keeping it cool, verifying situations, and laughing off the bad behaviour of other players instead of taking it to heart helps you to build social resilience.

Patience and self discipline will help you to overcome many of the pitfalls of online gaming too. No, you can’t be online 24/7. No, you don’t have endless money to advance to the top echelons of a pay-to-play game – but you can do pretty well if you just take your time.

Engaging With Antagonists and Competitors

Remembering that there are real people behind game accounts can help you to engage with them even when they behave antagonistically. After all, it’s just a game. why should you, or anyone else, make it an excuse to be a bad person?

Most gamers are perfectly normal people, and they’re willing to engage and talk things through. They may not give you what you want, but you can still initiate a relationship. If you can make them smile, or even laugh, you have a shared connection, and that can be very valuable. The same is true of real life interactions.

Recognizing Trolls

Some people are just trolls in online games, and it’s worth knowing who they are so that you can stop feeding them. Reactions are what trolls live off, and no matter how positive and thought-provoking yours are, you’ll know when you’re wasting your time.

In real life, some people are a waste of time too. And knowing when to move on can be a good thing. Choose the positive instead of spending your valuable time trying to show people who couldn’t give a damn what’s wrong with their ideas.

Fast-Track Your Results and Get Thick-Skinned

In games, things happen much faster than they do in real life. People fall in love, then hate each other within weeks. Alliances are made and broken. Team members move from loyalty to disaffection. Along the way, you learn, and you learn fast. Some people will be worthy of your trust, others may not. It’s not necessarily about you.

Have you experienced this in real life? You will, if you haven’t yet. Discover the way these dynamics work through online gaming. Learn to roll with the punches. Learn to deal with everything from internal insurrections to entire teams choosing you as a focus for their antipathy. Should you run away? Absolutely not! It’s your opportunity to learn how to identify real friends, how to convert false friends, how to turn enemies into friends, and how to know when enough is enough and its time to move on.

Yes, You Can Learn from Online Gaming

Online gaming is the real world wearing a mask and moving much faster. The tempo may vary. Intentions may not match. And sometimes, you just have to shrug your shoulders and walk away. It’s real life in miniature, conducted at greater speed, and that means you get to learn faster too!

There are many life lessons to be learned through online gaming, and I haven’t discovered them all yet. Still, I believe they’ve made me a better person. Stronger. Less easily upset. More knowledgeable of human nature. Better able to turn situations to mutual advantage. More skilled in negotiation.

If you have the personal resilience it takes to be an online gamer, I encourage you to try it. Online games present learning opportunities, and what you make of them is up to you.