Why I've given up speedrunning (ALL MY OPINON) (Off-Topic)

by MrPadraig08 , Steel City, Wednesday, February 12, 2014, 06:51 (3730 days ago) @ Cody Miller

When Guitar Hero was young, the three of us got really into it. I think we were in 8th grade at the time, so just the idea of playing a guitar was a big deal for us. I enjoyed the game, but didn't treat it like a competition the same way they did. For the next 6 or 7 years, they poured countless hours into Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Buying all of the DLC, joining online score communities, modding their Playstations to add custom-charted songs, going to events, building bands at PAX from other online players so they could just kill in the competitions. One of the guys was, arguably, the best GH/RB guitar player in the state for a number of years, and their RB band stomped everyone else every year they competed at PAX and Sakuracon.

And imagine if they had spent that time learning to play a real guitar instead… Might they have been better off?

I know kanbo kinda debunked this already, but I'm not really subscribed to this notion that worth and effort/focus are tied linearly like you suggest. For example, playing video game baseball will not make you better at baseball physically, but it may make you better at understanding the rules of baseball, more easily discerning the strike zone, knowing what type of pitch would be best in situations, etc.

On the flip side, if you play real baseball, you will get better physically and you may pick up some of the game rules as well, but those physical skill are almost useful outside of baseball. Across the board, baseball players are some the least athletic players. You would not really be valued in football, tennis, or other realms of sports. And as far as sports go, the skills acquired in nearly all of them are useless outside the game.

At our core, our purpose is to survive. What sport gives you a skill that would help you survive? Track. Start running kids... yes that is a threat.