I couldn't disagree more. The problem with spending literally thousands of hours in a game is most of what you experience and learn is not transferable to real life.
You are playing in someone else's sandbox and I have no doubt that it stunts developement in the real world.
-someone who spent far too much time playing these games.
Once the game is gone you will have nothing to show for it. It's worse than any hobby because it demands so much time with so little return.
I largely disagree with this. In WoW I spent a ton of time reading and writing with other people, organizing and recruiting for a bunch of guilds, and making a lot of great long term friends.
That's not to deny that you can avoid doing those things, or that many games don't provide those same opportunities, but rather that it's not a fundamental property of games that you gain nothing beyond the game. I gained a lot from my time in WoW.
I think this also ignores that the alternative for a lot of people would be watching TV or using social media.
It's possible there is a problem with games like Fortnite in that you're communicating almost solely by voice and there's a very limited complexity, but it might just be that there's something about it that I don't get.
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.
You are playing in someone else's sandbox and I have no doubt that it stunts developement in the real world.
-someone who spent far too much time playing these games.
Once the game is gone you will have nothing to show for it. It's worse than any hobby because it demands so much time with so little return.