It's a good question, but I guess the answer is - people just don't work that way. You can't separate the form (community) from the content (space ships). These are not substitute goods, you can't just replace Eve with World of Warcraft or with helping Red Cross.
And the reasons people choose games instead of life? I guess it's complicated. I am guilty of that too; I could be building real rockets and learning real aeronautics instead of wasting 400 hours in Kerbal Space Program and I'd be probably much more qualified than I am now. But I know that I wouldn't find the strength and willpower to pursue "the real deal" instead of a fun game that approximates it.
I sometimes am sad too, just like I am sad about the world's focus in general. Most people waste even more time on even more useless things that Eve players do on Eve. It took 12 years from first artificial satellite to putting a man on the Moon. If people could maintain that kind of focus and channel it to the right goals - ending poverty, illness and death itself, we'd live in a paradise before the end of this century.
(IMO it's actually a huge mistake that a lot of people in the field of educational games make - they try to make education apps pretending to be games, instead of making games that educate as a side effect)
> * I could be building real rockets and learning real aeronautics instead of wasting 400 hours in Kerbal Space Program and I'd be probably much more qualified than I am now.*
I think part of it, as well as EVE vs. feeding the homeless, is the ability to walk away when it's not fun.
If you walk away from three years in college studying aeronautics, you're throwing away everything you sunk into it. If you're walking away from a homeless shelter, a family might go hungry.
If you're walking away from Eve or Kerbal, well, some bits don't get exchanged, and I guess maybe someone might lose a fake spaceship. No guilt.
True. You approach the game out of interest, stick to it as long as it's fun, and take a break with no guilt if you don't feel like playing or are busy doing something else, only to maybe return to it later. The lack of real responsibility can be (and in my own case, very often is) really motivating.
Just this morning I've been reading yet another book on US railroad history, and collecting copies of historical documents about railroad corporations. With an eye toward eventually (someday (tm)) writing a book about it myself.
All because of an interest created by Railroad Tycoon many years ago.
And the reasons people choose games instead of life? I guess it's complicated. I am guilty of that too; I could be building real rockets and learning real aeronautics instead of wasting 400 hours in Kerbal Space Program and I'd be probably much more qualified than I am now. But I know that I wouldn't find the strength and willpower to pursue "the real deal" instead of a fun game that approximates it.
I sometimes am sad too, just like I am sad about the world's focus in general. Most people waste even more time on even more useless things that Eve players do on Eve. It took 12 years from first artificial satellite to putting a man on the Moon. If people could maintain that kind of focus and channel it to the right goals - ending poverty, illness and death itself, we'd live in a paradise before the end of this century.
(IMO it's actually a huge mistake that a lot of people in the field of educational games make - they try to make education apps pretending to be games, instead of making games that educate as a side effect)