I've been playing Starwars Galaxies for the last five days. It was fun at first. But what really disturbed me was when I looked at the houses of other players. They were usually well done, a few hundred objects (couches, tables, rare items and all that junk) were used to make a sweet and mostly unique home. I was under the impression that it all was a waste of time. Why would someone spend hours in a game to make rooms like this?

After a while I came to the conclusion that it's basically not a waste of time. Because now I see no difference between spending hours in making a room in Starwars Galaxies and spending hours in making a mod for Halflife. There's no difference. It's all the same. It's actually productive.

Why was I thinking that it was a waste of time? Well, at first I thought that basically I was playing a game, instead of being productive. But since you can use your own imagination to place (probably a thousand) objects in your own house - it's the same as if I'd use Worldcraft to design levels. I get a program with which I can make stuff. Of course, there are a few differences in the limitation of both ways of creation, like you can't add any custom made sounds and textures and models in SWG. But you couldn't do that with lego either, right? You could only use the given blocks and bricks.

My point is, I guess, as soon as you start creating and using your own imagination, you're being creative. And being creative is not a waste of time. I just realized that it makes no difference where you are productive. It only matters, if you are.