> This is apparent especially in dating circles, where more often than not, listing video games as hobby for a males is a negative signal to the opposite sex.

This is almost certainly because of the small portion of men who see "video games" as a personality rather than a hobby and are probably quite strongly responsible for society's view on "gamers" too.

One loud and toxic apple spoils the batch etc

It is quite ridiculous since scrolling through social media and texting endlessly, spending hours on youtube or netflix, gossiping for hours, or playing the dating game (notice I said dating game, not dating) are an equal waste of time. There's a point where any activity becomes an obsession and that's when it becomes a problem.

If you aren't obsessing and are otherwise stable (no debt, bills are paid, job, housing), then it doesn't matter what others say about them. We could be doing something more productive than arguing on HackerNews, yet here we are. Life isn't about being productive 100% of our lives since nothing really does matter anyway.

In a thousand, million or billion years, most (if not all of us) will be forgotten.

On the billion year time span, don't think it matters if women look down on some dude's dating profile because he lists "gaming" as a hobby.

The issue is that very often video games are addicitive and you are very likely to neglect everyone including yourself to feed that addiction. It's pretty much like a gambling addiction. Now I wonder why it's a negative on dating circles...

Gaming IS a waste of time, as are a number of hobbies. The question is really if you care that you're wasting your time.

According to your definition, when is time not wasted?

I think he means waste as in "doing something that carries no real benefit to yourself", and if that's the case then you're probably grinding instead of actually enjoying a game.

FF VII teaches you real values. LoL teaches you absolutely nothing besides resilience when getting bashed for going 0/1

Dedicating a healthy part of your time to having fun is not a waste of time.

> listing video games as hobby for a males is a negative signal to the opposite sex

Maybe those girls make own observations on the behavioral difference between a guy who takes gaming as an identity and lists it as important vs guy who sometimes plays games.

People look for matches.

I would complain the opposite, that gaming is become too accepted and too mainstream and we are raising a generation of sedentary addicts.

perhaps it's "wasting time" that is considered "juvenile" and just because more people have enough time to waste some of it doesn't make playing games any more "adult".

I have nothing against games, it's no better or worse than any other hobby or time-killing activity. It's just stunning that so many people are so busy and yet have so much free time.

You have to deal with the world as it is, not as you wish it was.

(Unless you have a realistic plan to change it.)

In my opinion, they are a waste of time.

Sign up to a MOOC, geez.

Just because video games are popular doesn't mean they are not juvenile and a waste of time :)

actually, it kind of does. Technically, watching TV is a waste of time as well. But watching the latest show, i.e. Game of thrones, office, etc. Is not considered a waste of time, society almost sees it as a requirement.

> society almost sees it as a requirement

I never seen office and it never mattered. Majority of people I know never seen Game of Thrones and would not liked it. Some people do like Game of thrones. So no, it is definitely not a requirement by "society". It may be requirement in your own bubble of society, just as some other bubbles treat dota or Witcher III as requirement.

I also cant recall people defending TV watching as not-a-wasted-of-time. There seems to be consensus that it is waste of time. That if you spent whole weekend by watching tv or watched tv till late hours, you should get a grip and self control.

Watching TV is a waste of time. Watching the latest show wastes one hour a week.

Being a “TV watcher” as in spending several hours a day doing it as your main hobby is not any better than being a “gamer” for dating purposes.