I think that its really a Subjective Conclusion to think that games are a waste of time or not.
We didnt go to the Moon because it was easy, we went to the Moon because it was hard.
Life, whether digital or offline is a series of challenges. And any sort of challenge can make us stronger. With games, both sides can be argued easily. The mind is as much of a muscle as any other part of the body. When we challenge our minds, we become stronger. When we play games that challenge our reflexes, we strengthen our reflexes. When we play music, we get better and better at it. When we build games, we continue to get better at building games. Even with Puzzle Games. There is a ceratain ammt of challenge to it and the challenge strengthens us in some way. For people that are out of shape, working out is too challenging so it isnt fun. For people that are body builders, performing actions that arent challenging isnt rewarding because it doesnt strenthen us. We could think of that as easily as trying to challenge someone so they become better at math by only asking them what 2 + 2 is. Its not enough of a challenge, so there is no sense of reward.
And its that reward that I think is what determines whether or not games are a waste of time or not, and why it is so Subjective for each person. So okay, you get a high score on some game, but other responsibilities are neglected. Thats probably not such a good thing. But when the rest of your responsiblities are taken care of as well as can reasonably be expected, I dont have any problem with playing games at all. Just as we can exercise our minds and bodies, we can also push ourselves too far. Too much of one thing and everything else falls out of balance. Focus only on work and the family suffers. Focus only on the Family and work suffers. Focus only on games and work and family will suffer. When working out, we dont exercise the same muscle groups two days in a row. We give ourselves a day or two to recover, then go back to working out those muscles. Thus, too much working out actually diminishes the rewards we can achieve, so a balance is needed.
The brain needs a break just as the body needs a break. Too much math and it diminishes how quickly we can become better at math. So whether games exercise the logical parts of your brain with puzzles, the reactionary part of your brain with fast paced action games, or whatever part of the brain gets exercised when experiencing a story, these things all need to be kept in balance with every other part of your life. Cello, friends, social, games, rest, exercise, study, movies, food, everything in life has a certain balance to it. That balance is different from person to person, and will also vary dependant on so many different things. Bodybuilders might be able to burn through 10,000 calories in a day, but someone that doesnt exercise much might only need 1,500 calories per day, despite the recommendations for caloric intake, it does vary from person to person.
If games are no longer rewarding to play, thats when I think something else rewarding should be done. If playing music is no longer fun, come back to it later when it holds your interest. Your brain tells you when its time to pick something up and when to put something down through that system of rewards. So close to finishing a script, you've probably got a very strong desire to continue because of the anticipated reward. And once that script is done, polished, released, and supported, its probably time to put it down and do something else for a while, even for a couple of minutes, or a couple of weeks.
MMO's really are addictive because there is so much content that the player always strives for the next small thing that gives them that sense of accomplishment. Being able to buy an armor upgrade to going on a raid and defeating an enemy that you havent defeated yet. To a certain extent, there is challenge, and there is reward, but the reward is only based on your character being rewarded with improved abilities, while the player doesn't really benefit as much. The sense of reward is still there because now the character is more powerful, but it doesnt give you better hand eye coordination, or puzzle solving abilities. It may be fair to say that if we lived our lives as we play MMO's, we would be happier with the rewards of real life and not seek that empty sense of reward from MMO's.
@Blizz - Creating games for me is probably as much fun as playing a good game. I personally dont tend to think of it as work. I realize when creating games is no longer fun or rewarding for me, thats when it becomes work, but when I can sink my teeth into what Im doing, its not work, its fun. Sure, some work is needed to get through the low parts, but if it is all work all the time, then I start daydreaming, and have to force myself to quit until what I am thinking about becomes fun again. So, whether Im playing by writing scripts, or working on a Film, both have the potential to be a form of Entertainment for me, even though they are labeled as work. And I think I just paraphrased everything else you said in your post.
Balance
Moderation
Reward
Goals
Not all of our rewards are financial. Thats when doing anything becomes work. Do this because we only want money, its work. Telling jokes is rewading because I see other peoples happiness as a result. Not because I get paid to tell jokes. The thing about money is it can be taken away, while no one can rob you of your ability to play a piece of musical equipment in a way that benefits them. That is a real reward, and I think this money thing is the false reward.
I may post more later...