Since I've been away from MU games for over 2 years now, I've had a lot of time to reflect. So, in retrospect, my personal opinion is that I disagree with the concept that MU is at least somewhat productive because there's creativity involved.
Here's why.
I think about all of the many, many, many variations of a theme that have patterned and repeated over and over and over again ad nauseum through my time MUing. From "let's do a bar scene" to "coffee house scene" to "this a completely different character experience than my last IC relationship because this one is Reeeeece Witherspoooon and the last one was that redhead from that one show". Looking back I realize that very, VERY few people play truly unique characters (or at the very least characters indistinguishable from one another) due to lack of change in writing styles. A large number of players stick to their comfort zones, but try to use PBs and setting to make their characters unique...but when you take a really hard, honest look at the history of MU you'll find that players mostly attempt to recreate similar experiences from game to game. We all know a few players who literally have used the same PB and character names across multiple games. So the spirit of really being creative isn't so...universal.
Sometimes I feel like MU is less about actual creative writing than it is about people (myself included) who have a void to fill and "assisted creativity" helps hit that sweet spot that makes it feel less empty.
So...give or take that whole "7 hours a day" thing I ranted on about earlier, apply it to this that I've just typed out, and I think a lot of other "hobbies" are far more truly creative and far less of a time sink.
On YouTube alone you can:
- take art courses
- learn an instrument or new language
- actually try to write an actual novel
...and a good number of those will leave you with something tangible to show for the hard hours you put into it. The VTT rpg community is a LOT less creepy and a lot more welcoming, and there's some really good vibes to be found there that doesn't come with even a fourth of the social anxiety that comes from all of the gatekeepy scene queens that MU comes with.
So...in summary. I AM NOT SAYING PEOPLE R DUM FOR BEING IN THIS HOBBY, I am saying that I feel that MU can become a bit of a black hole that people disappear into, spend years feeling like they're doing something, and then ultimately have nothing but "time spent" to show for their efforts. There are a LOT of super rewarding things out there, and I highly recommend people at least supplement their MUing with some of them so that they have one leg planted in RL and a source of positive energy to draw from that isn't MU. It's much healthier, I've found.