Depends on your relative valuation of entertainment and the other things that could be done with the resources. (And, in the case of creating rather than consuming, what you expect the people playing your game would be doing if you didn’t make it.)
If playing a computer game causes (aside from the entertainment value which is in fact its main point) a little harm and no good to speak of, that’s sad but many people will deem the entertainment worth that cost.
But in the case of Folding@home there isn’t much entertainment involved; rather, people run the Folding@home client because they think they’re thereby doing something useful. So if in fact they’re doing a little harm and no good to speak of, that’s a problem.
Is it a bad thing to invent or play resource-intensive computer games?
Depends on your relative valuation of entertainment and the other things that could be done with the resources. (And, in the case of creating rather than consuming, what you expect the people playing your game would be doing if you didn’t make it.)
If playing a computer game causes (aside from the entertainment value which is in fact its main point) a little harm and no good to speak of, that’s sad but many people will deem the entertainment worth that cost.
But in the case of Folding@home there isn’t much entertainment involved; rather, people run the Folding@home client because they think they’re thereby doing something useful. So if in fact they’re doing a little harm and no good to speak of, that’s a problem.