I suppose we will have to agree to disagree at this point. I have played games since I was pounding away on the Atari and although I love them and enjoy every minute I get to play, they do not give my life purpose in any way. A purpose is determined by deep rooted values and belief systems that drive an individual towards an ultimate goal that is beneficial for their psyche and their prosperity. If I fail at a game and die it might annoy me or anger me but my reality has not been shattered or effected. I believe when we start confusing the word "purpose" and its implications we fall into the trap of those who would strive to vilify our gaming experience and cite examples of those who confuse the "fantasy with the reality". If an individual truly derives his or her life's purpose on fighting the darkness within the fantasy world of a video game... I would suggest that individual super are himself from those games immediately as that is not a healthy psychological reaction to the media.

But when you fight to save the world, even in a game, aren't you mirroring those same "deep-rooted" values through your choices in-game? I understand what you are saying about games not being reality and I agree with you. But in my opinion that is all the more reason they should be epic. If I want repetitive grinding I have a job IRL for that exact experience. When I sit down to play I should be left with a feeling that I have taken part in a unique experience. Now you can argue that the experience doesn't mean much to you because it's just media, and that's ok. I, however, still remember the first time my raid took down Ragnaros after weeks of failed attempts in Molten Core in WoW. Ventrillo exploded as 40 people were simultaneously cheering from all over the country. It was exciting and rewarding and I was running around my house high-5ing people! It had stopped being just media at that point. That's what we want more of. Nights like that..

I completely get that sense of achievement and euphoria surrounding accomplishing something difficult that you have worked hard for. I get that same feeling quite often playing games as well. I agree that our games should make us want to jump up and down, pumping out fists in victory when we deliver the final blow to our enemy and save the kingdom or what have you. There is nothing wrong with that and that experience can be developed and engineered through game design. Reading this very eloquent individuals letter, I believe his longing for completion dips further than those experiences, and even if I have him pegged incorrectly there are people out there that hang their very existence on striving to find a "purpose". You can manufacture an experience as you have stated and "empathize" and identify with a character but when you are striving to find something to cling to in your real world life... Finding a "purpose" in video games is not a healthy option. Surely you would agree with that?