[alexktz]

I was just saying to my wife last night when her Lego Hobbits game crashed that I don't recall a single crash in my 1000+ hours in Factorio. Not one!

Factorio is the standard against which I compare not only other games, but all other software. For polish, stability and craftsmanship. I hope they read this thread because the love for the game everywhere is truly well deserved.

[mickdarling]

I had a repeated crash of Factorio. It was from one of the 30+ mods I had running and it only crashed after 14+ hours of straight gameplay.

I considered the crash a Quality Of Life feature to make me stop playing and get some sleep.

With Factorio even the bugs are features.

[colpabar]

And documentation and maintenance. Their website is great and they are incredible at fixing bugs reported by players. And the game is only $30!

[AnIdiotOnTheNet]

I have no particular love for the game, in fact I honestly kinda hated playing it because I felt compelled to beat it yet didn't enjoy it.

But that said, I will echo everything else you said about it as a piece of software.

[Silverback_VII]

1000+ hours...

It is probably very unpopular but maybe one has to start asking in what way humanity as a whole does benefit from the creation of such addictive games.

Theodor Kaczynski wrote in one of his books that computer games will increasingly distract younger generations(males are obviously more affected) from solving urgent issues resulting in an erosion of freedom. maybe he was right

[wadd1e]

I hope you understand that if people were not spending a 1000 hours(presumably over years) on "addictive" games, they would be spending those 1000 hours on something else that was available in their time.

Nobody can and does spend 12 hours a day solving "urgent issues", we all need ton do something to decompress and relax, and video games are a modern way of doing so.

[nthj]

I have at least a thousand hours into Factorio.

Factorio has provided a sandbox for me to visualize and acquire skills on managing bottlenecks in data flows; skills that I have and am applying as the point software engineer to resolve critical bottlenecks in multiple e-commerce systems. I won't speculate as to the commercial value of resolving those data bottlenecks here, but whatever dollar number you're imagining is, I suspect, probably missing multiple zeroes.

[bhouston]

Does he have children? Time for computer games dwindles if you have kids, except for the computer games you can play with your kids. :)

I think games are fine as long as you are living an otherwise full life. Games are only problematic if they are an opiate that prevent you from achieving goals outside of virtual entertainment. Games should not be a present day "soma" to paraphrase some words from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death

Also 1000 hours for a game can be similar to how many hours of TV many watch in a year, at least games involve more active engagement and problem solving.

[pluijzer]

Those 1000+ hours are dwarfed by the hours my grandmother spend on her jigsaw puzzles. Also I think most people play games as a form of relaxation, time which someone would not spend on solving urgent issues.

[mandmandam]

At least games are interactive. I've never played, but Factorio looks quite healthy for the mind.

If you want to rail at wasted time, there are much better targets out there. Try corporate tax accountants, or insurance salesmen, or fossil fuel PR goons; people actively destroying value.

We have PFAs in the rain; plastic on Mt. Everest and the Mariana Trench. We have a warming planet alongside proxy oil wars. You want to solve those problems by looking at addictive computer games? Really? Not even reality TV, or corporate media monopolies - games? ..... I think your high horse is pretty sickly looking tbh.

[danudey]

I think video games are very comparable to chess. I mean, chess:

1. Is dull

2. Promotes laziness

3. Is sedentary

4. Stunts societal progress and growth

5. Limits the mind

6. Promotes violence

The list goes on!

Yet can you believe that people can spend hours of their time on a game of chess? And parents allow their children to play it, which is most definitely irresponsible parenting. I would certainly never allow MY child to play chess when it's clear that it leads to such negative outcomes - nay, downfalls!

Source: https://gizmodo.com/chess-was-once-deemed-a-menace-to-societ...

[michaelmcdonald]

Games are a hobby. Hobby's utilize time. No different than reading a book, building a chair, gardening, etc...

[pyinstallwoes]

Everything in life is literally a game. Game design exists at every level of life and the most amazing ones are the games that bring people together and develop “real world skills.”

[tikhonj]

How is that any different from sports and non-video-game hobbies that people spend 1000+ hours on?

[fayten]

People do not need to be productive 100% of the time. Let people have fun without shaming them. Just think of how far science and technology has come in the last decade.

[BlueTemplar]

Heh, I wonder what Kaczynski would think of the game's message about the consequences of exponential industrial development, and resulting pollution (and specifically the dangers coming from cutting trees or polluting them so much that they die, at higher difficulty...)

[rbetts]

Theodor Kaczynski the Unabomber? That would be an odd place to find life advice, if so.

[counttheforks]

They said, before going back to watching their TV.

[chrischen]

Why does anyone choose to work and live if not for recreation?

[shepherdjerred]

How much free time do you have? What do you do with yours?