Hi Dcrypto,

Thank you for this topic, and if you allow me to respond to it as long time gamer myself:

Yes, I believe it can have a positive effect on people as the threshold for entering games is usually not high, IF properly monitored!

The source you have about LoL and Dota: To illustrate, I have played Dota for over 12 years now I think? It was originally a WC3 MOD when I started it. And yes, you can learn team play, the complexity of different hero's and item builds can be great and I always enjoyed this aspect of the game and it intricate strategy and decision making processes.

However, the reason I stopped playing the game all together last year was the sheer negativity associated with interacting with your own team or even opponents. The pure toxicity related now in the game and if you see the many negative reviews on Steam itself: Is it worth creating and supporting cognitive skills while exposing children to this?

Personally, I am not sure it is, unless it is properly monitored by parents.

Many games I have played have a drawback and plus in the same way: interacting with other players, and I daresay that although you can make great lasting friendships and even whole communities together you also have to deal with the very real negativity of the same groups you are interacting with. And specially children who can be more influenced at a younger age should be monitored by parents when playing games and should the negative part become more prominent take appropriate action in limiting or changing games completely.

Anyway, I probably should have written an article myself seeing my own reply but hey I was happy to talk a little about this:-)