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This fall I started my master studies (Urban and regional development) and just last week I finished my bachelor thesis (The video game industry as a creative industry).
The last 3-4 weeks I was in hardcore writing mode. Didn’t play at all and only barely kept up with results in both SC and Dota. Pulled some all-nighters but now I am finally finished. I guess at the end of a paper no one feels like it was the best he could do, but my laziness over the summer forced me to churn out 30+ pages in 2 weeks. I still have the feeling I did okay, nothing special but not like it's gonna be a bad grade either.
The sad thing is, even now with this huge mountain of a workload gone, I don’t see any free time for this semester and after that as well. Lots of papers are due in a short amount of time and of course I have some exams, a field trip and internships.
It’s not like university life was never tough before, but the expectations on a master student are really high. It really is a whole other level. You can't just skim through some texts and then go discuss or write about them.
So I guess I just had to complain to someone. Or you could give me your strategy how you cope with a busy life and demanding schedule while still finding enough time to keep up with the scene and get your share of playing. The often-advised ‘first work – then pleasure’ feels wrong, because there is always another thing you have to read, prepare for etc.
Gaming is a time consuming hobby and the return gets bigger the more time you invest. I always thought at some point when private and work life get more demanding I have to give it up. But around here I see a lot of busy people, so maybe someone has a good advice.
In short: Is there a satisfying way to keep up gaming if you only have time periodically or is it best to cut community stuff and focus on the playing part? Can you go back to just playing and feel the same level of enjoyment like you did, when you actually engaged int he community?
 
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You're making me reconsider really hard about taking masters haha
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I did essentially no gaming at all for the first two years of my Ph.D. Now that I am in my fourth year, I watch only a few tournaments a year. I don't even have SC2 installed.
I need to work, I need to spend time with my wife- therefore gaming goes away. It's the way things work.
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United States24752 Posts
I think you can do almost whatever you want, even with a busy schedule. You just need to prioritize it.
If you want to play sc2 you can... just be prepared to bend over backwards. It might simply not be worth it for you.
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On November 11 2012 00:31 nutgirdle wrote:
I did essentially no gaming at all for the first two years of my Ph.D. Now that I am in my fourth year, I watch only a few tournaments a year. I don't even have SC2 installed.
I need to work, I need to spend time with my wife- therefore gaming goes away. It's the way things work.
Same here, on all counts. I don't know what it's like in your field, but getting a post graduate degree is NOT like going back to undergrad with harder classes. Not even close. Undergrad life is easy. However, I won't say that it's impossible to find time for other stuff, even in a hard science program where you're essentially expected to spend all of your waking hours on research.
For a few months, forget about everything that isn't work obligations, but focus on trying to be as efficient and productive as humanly possible. Structure your time for everything, don't slack off at all, and try to optimize how much you can get done every day. Once you get into a rhythm like this, you'll find places in the day where you can sit back and relax without losing productivity. Not a lot of places, you'll never be able to sit on your ass all day one Saturday, but enough places. It's more or less impossible to actually be a productive person 16 hours a day 7 days a week, so get as close as you can and take a break when you're otherwise feeling burnt out. Start mixing the fun stuff back in, but do not, do not lose that work-as-hard-as-possible-all-the-time attitude when you're working. Also, reach out to the other people in your program, especially the older students. They a lot know more than we do about how to thrive in your program.
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United States5223 Posts
On November 11 2012 00:31 nutgirdle wrote:
I did essentially no gaming at all for the first two years of my Ph.D. Now that I am in my fourth year, I watch only a few tournaments a year. I don't even have SC2 installed.
I need to work, I need to spend time with my wife- therefore gaming goes away. It's the way things work.
I'm in a similar position and couldn't agree more. Finishing up my second year of my Ph.D next month. I started playing BW about a decade ago and played it quite often. Towards the end of my masters, ~3ish years ago, I've probably played about 15 games in that timespan. Once you grow up and leave that undergraduate lifestyle, you realize you don't have the time you used to and you need to prioritize. There's a reason why you don't see adults playing; gaming is at the bottom of the list.
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Yeah once you get going in the real world you really don't have much time for these things... I either watch a few matches a week or play a few games, that's it.
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EPT
