Over the years, online games have become an inevitable part of our culture. Along with their evolution, there have been various debates about whether the games are good or bad for society.
The truth is somewhere in between — games can be both beneficial and destructive for your relationships, which mainly depends on the way you approach them. Below, you can look at several aspects of online games to see what we’re doing wrong and how to change the behaviour to get the most out of this pastime.
Socialization
When you imagine someone playing online games, that mental picture includes a person alone in a room sitting for hours in front of a computer. This anti-social aspect of online gaming makes a person isolate and spend less time with family and friends.
And indeed, some games do not require the assistance of anyone else. Whether you’re building a house in SIMS or playing free slots, the game is reserved only for you, and there’s no need to communicate with others while playing.
However, in most popular online games, one team competes against another. Of course, they offer a single-player option as well, but playing it alone is not that interesting.
During these multiplayer games, you need to communicate with your team members and work together to come up with the winning tactics. Even though this is not real-time socialization, you still have to communicate with others, and very often, these people become your friends in real life.
Focus Shift
In romantic relationships, online games often become a stumbling block and a cause of frequent arguments. Yet, there’s also a positive and negative viewpoint that can make or break a relationship in this aspect.
Let’s say that one partner is playing games for a long period of time every day, while the other wants to use their time together differently. In such cases, the other partner will probably feel neglected and abandoned, which will eventually put the relationship at risk of falling apart.
On the other hand, if online games are played moderately, they can positively affect the relationship. While one partner is playing a game, the other can use that time to do something else they find important but usually don’t have time for.
When approached like this, a few rounds of free slots on slotomania won’t cause any relationship problems. On the contrary, they will provide the needed space to both partners, as having time for your own interests is crucial for a healthy relationship.
Still, you should determine in advance how much time you’ll devote to your solo activities in order to avoid them getting the best of you.
Discipline
Online games can also be used in a parent-child relationship as a disciplinary method. Namely, a child that gets too absorbed in online games can easily go down the rabbit hole and forget about the real world, both at home and out of it.
They will only think about playing games and, because of that, forget about cleaning up their room, doing their homework, or even socializing with family members.
Many experts have dealt with this issue and tried to discover why online games enjoy such popularity — if you’re interested in finding out more about it, you can check out this text. However, if left uncontrolled from an early age, such behaviour can lead to addiction and cause more serious consequences later in life.
Therefore, parents who notice that their child displays signs of huge attachment to online games can use this pastime to develop a sense of responsibility and discipline in their child.
For instance, they will let the child play games only after they complete essential tasks. In that way, a child will have to follow a set of rules to understand that real life is what matters more.
