Giving up gaming

[Fargo]

Have the same feelings at times, gaming takes up a huge amount of my time and money, between owning all the current consoles and a PC I find that I have little time for other passions, music, reading, drawing, college etc. I think that I'll have to try and cut down infact over the next few months I only intend to get Resi 5 and Killzone, oh and Street Fighter 4 and that new Riddick game and the new Persona and FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCC

[dataDave]

Worst advice ever surely. I can't see the solution of playing games got the sake of it to play a game like Warcraft, which is in my eyes, the epitome of pointlessness.

FFS even to try and get good on the guitar I used to practice for 8-10hrs a night at a time. That's just as time wasting if you think you're not going to get anything rewarding out of it, whatever your aims may be - self-gratification, a pub/covers band, or a genre-defining millionaire rockstar.

Life is just one big waste of time whatever you do, this is why most high-profilers end up with depression and ask themselves what they're doing... count yourself lucky you're not dodging real rockets to get by from day to day, or less extreme: scraping around looking for a job.

WoW is probably the least pointless game I've ever played btw, me and my bud could have probably entered some PvP tourneys if we weren't seperated by a couple of thousand miles.

Even without that - it's by far the most fun I've ever had in a videogame, by hundreds of folds over.

[Pavey]

Take some time out and do other things,then take it from there..

Here's one -

UK dogging locations

Woof woof.

[ste]

For me, it's just another media. Can you imagine "giving up" watching movies or TV shows you like? There might be nothing out right now that you particularly want to play, or you might be busy with other things, or guilty about spending too much on them... but "giving up" is a bit harsh!

[dataDave]

Indeed, it's like trying to give up wanking.

Why stop enjoying yourself?

Which brings me back to my original point: the only time I'd give up is when I stop enjoying myself, because everything goes ****.

Or when I lose over two stones in weight and turn into a zombie (Warcraft).

[topper]

Indeed, it's like trying to give up wanking.

Why stop enjoying yourself?

I think the point here is that not everything stays at a constant level of enjoyment throughout life. I have certainly enjoyed different things at different times.

The problem with gaming to excess is that it's an /easy/ choice, and you don't get true satisfaction in life for "free". I generally find that you get out of life what you put in, and it's no wonder that people who spend too much time on the consoles / PC often feel guilty / empty / some other negative thing.

I will hold my hands up and admit that there have times in my life when I've had something better to do, or something more important, and I've opted to waste time playing a game, then felt bad.

Nothing wrong with it in moderation, and as Ady said, prioritization is important. If there are other things that are more important in life and you choose to game / drink / wank instead of doing them, the guilts /will/ kick in at some point, but don't blame the gaming / drinking / wanking.

[Darwock]

I maybe have a different perspective on this having gone into a situation where I didn't have any consoles for over a year. I left the UK at the end of the PS2 generation and didn't get set up with a TV and a PS3 until last February - it wasn't a plan of mine to abstain from games, I just had to.

Prior to leaving I was deep into FFXI and there are times I spent in that game that have become real fond memories, as if they happened in my own life! I don't think you can describe any of these things as a waste of time if the experience is rich enough. However I did neglect quite a lot of important things for the sake of games.

Despite getting back in the hobby, in recent times my gaming time has been limited by living with my girlfriend. There are times I would happily spend all my waking hours building a machine in LBP or whatever, but she keeps that in check. I like to get the most out of my games which is why I chose not to go back to FFXI. Dipping my toe in would not be enough.

My girlfriend has been in Canada for the past month studying, and no doubt thinks I have been improving my Japanese while she has been away - in reality I have been working extremely hard on 100%ing Lumines, Stardust & Wipeout, and getting my half built LBP levels finished before she comes back! I'm exhibiting signs of Fallows Syndrome.. occasionally I remember to eat some instant noodles and then the empty packet gets added to the growing collection on the floor.

Obviously that's not something to be proud of, but I have to say I'll be a little sad if I never get the opportunity to really sink my teeth into a game in future, anything else isn't much more than watching from the sidelines in my opinion. If only I could find a way to take the motivation I have for games and apply it to my language study/work...

edit - forgot the sharp bit on the end, the point - take a break as I did and you might realise how much you love it, and you also might stop seeing it as a waste of time. It's what you get out of it that counts.

[SUMIRE]

Women and gaming do not work.

[Ady]

Ultimately, everything is a waste of time.

[Spatial]

And on that cheery note I'm off to run a hot bath and end it all. Bye everybody!

[Charlie]

In my experience the key to enjoying gaming is moderation. When I spend too long playing videogames they invaraiably end up boring the **** out of me or pissing me off, and similarly when I've owned more than 1 console I've always ended up spending more time playing games than I really wanted to and that, again, only leads to negative feelings.

I mean gaming is a lot of fun but lots of other things in life are more fun, lots of other things are more rewarding, lots of other things are more wholesome and lots of other things are more important. Gaming should never impede on the time those other things take up.

[Asholay]

I've calmed my gaming down for the last few weeks and it's amazing what I've achieved in place of it.

Don't get me wrong - I love my games, and when Sacred 2 comes out I'll be straight back on for a few nights; but looking back, I've spent hours/days doing the most pointless things in games, just to get 'achievement points', and I'm now starting to realise that it was eating up far too much of my hobby time.

So I'm just finding a balance - which sounds like what you need to do Boris! There's no need to suddenly flog all your stuff, or you'll just get the burning desire to play - mainly because you no longer can (absence makes the heart... etc).

I've been making a game I've always wanted to, recording my piano-works album, learning guitar, practicing the drums more often, spent more time designing products and inventions (god how I love inventing stuff), I've even been helping around the house and cooking a touch more, so I have a (marginally) less grumpy wife!!

I'll never give up gaming, I totally love gaming, but when I was spending hours on the same level of a game, literally pulling my hair out just to get 10 points on a number, I realised it was time to just wind myself back a bit; it's nice to regain control of my time because I've noticed if I boot a game at 7pm, it's suddenly midnight when it only feels like an hour has passed?

Don't give up, just regain control of it

[abigsmurf]

Nothing wrong lightening up your gaming. My advice is to change your habbits.

Play fewer long RPGs, play more short but sweet games you play for 30mins-1hr. Play a DS more (play on the train, the loo, the bath, in bed). Since becoming a working man my DS gets far more gameplay than any other console, partly because the other consoles have a weaker line up but mostly because it's a great way to kill 'dead time'

[Dezm0nd]

Giving up gaming? dont give it up, just sort ya life out and put games around it.

Gaming isn't bad, mmkay. Play some bite sized games, no bull**** stories and epic 100 hour games.

Peggle, Burnout. Something which doesn't eat ya time away. And it's also self control, dont spend 5 hours on peggle :P

[SuperDanX]

Havnt read the whole thread yet, but id advise you to find a gaming niche your intrested in eg retro, schmups, handhelds or whatever rather than buying all the latest games and concentrate on that playing in very short 30 to 45mins sessions that leave you wanting more, thats helping me enjoy gaming again.