I learned English through video games. When I played Golden Eye on the N64, I was using a dictionary!

I remember being so confused with the term rendezvous with 006, ha!

I played a lot of Warcraft 3. It sets you up for strategic thinking, understanding the difference between micro and macro management, creating training schedules to become better.

Like most hobbies: meta skills are transferable.

As for the specifics: games made me realize that computers are amazing machines and gave me good hand eye coordination. When I program something easy, I program like a gamer playing Warcraft 3 because typing and mouse speed are the biggest bottlenecks.

It wasn’t the best use of my time but I can think of worse things.

You chose (your game) poorly. There are vastly better experiences to be had, and useful lessons to learn. For example, one of the games I play has thought me a lot about feudal times, politics, geography and history.

Judging gaming by WOW is like judging literature by 50 shades of gray.

edit: and I want to say more. WOW is hardly a game, it is more of a reward delivery mechanism to keep you paying that monthly subscription. Nothing with a monthly subscription should be called a game, because it just doesn't match the incentives.

The mental fortitude Dota 2 gives...