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On January 10 2014 11:35 Birdie wrote:Sounds like you do have a problem. If you don't have any problem with compulsive gaming, then stop for a year. Stop cold turkey playing games for an entire year. If you can't, or won't, then there's a strong chance that you're a compulsive gamer. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9DBFBD4160A9EAA2 you may find these three videos useful.
This is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. Just because I won't abstain from a sip of beer for an entire year doesn't make me an alcoholic.
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I'm definitely a gaming addict. I know that and I still can't stop. Those who say that gaming can't be an addiction are wrong, it's the same as weed or booze. Some people say that those two aren't addictive, but in reality they are - mentally. They give you a high and you will want to experience it again. It's my escape mechanism, and it's damn effective.
Don't judge your dad and mom, because they're just trying to look out for you. When you eventually will have to move out, your MA or PhD in history won't guarantee you a job. Btw, if you're planning to get PhD, and be a teacher, you better start traveling now, because the best teachers are those, who have interesting stories to tell between teaching and mumbling.
I recently tried to quit gaming by uninstalling all games in an instant, but after few hours Dota 2 was back on my desktop. I'm disappointed in myself  That's when I realized that I'm an addict.
My advice to you is that candy is good.
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On January 10 2014 16:08 -Kaiser- wrote:Show nested quote +On January 10 2014 11:35 Birdie wrote:Sounds like you do have a problem. If you don't have any problem with compulsive gaming, then stop for a year. Stop cold turkey playing games for an entire year. If you can't, or won't, then there's a strong chance that you're a compulsive gamer. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9DBFBD4160A9EAA2 you may find these three videos useful. This is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. Just because I won't abstain from a sip of beer for an entire year doesn't make me an alcoholic.
He just said he spent well over 4 hours a day, every day, playing games. A better analogy would be "just because I won't stop drinking a case of beer every day doesn't make me an alcoholic". As I said, there's a *strong chance* that he's a compulsive gamer if he's gaming over 4 hours a day and is incapable of stopping, or thinks the idea itself is in some way repugnant.
The games will still be there after you get control of yourself. If you truly have that passion for gaming and don't want it out of your life forever, then learn to control it. But cutting it down bit by bit is much harder than quitting cold turkey for a decent amount of time, and then slowly bring it back in.
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I can definitely relate OP. I am currently very sick and spending time doing physical activity/socialising drains me very quickly. Therefore I have turned to gaming.
While I tell myself that I will give it up when I get better. I doubt it will be that simple. It will definitely be a struggle, and I will have to learn new ways of thinking and interacting. But it will be definitely be worth it. One thing I have noticed is that when I quit gaming for a small period of time and come back to it, playing games feels much more rewarding and I find myself enjoying them a lot more, rather then just wasting time on them.
GL
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It's all about moderation. It's fine to play games a ton, but you have to draw a line. Personally, I draw mine very simply: I can play as much and as long as I want, but I may never prioritize it over work, studies or social interaction. If my friends ask if I want to go to a party with them and I say no because I want to play a game, I know I'm fucked.
It obviously helps to work fulltime and just... being an adult.
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51431 Posts
Oh yeah this conversation so awesome. Im the same age as you 23, i have had a job since i was 16 though as my choice was either "Get a job, or go to college and get a part time job" I went to college for a year got a good half year score too in my sports course and was on course to be able to get into the best sports university in the country (Bath, where all the international sports team train :D) but i choose to leave that and try computer course because i thought there was no chance of me becoming a sports coach due to the course i was on was just a general sports sceince course. How i wish i stayed (kinda). Anyway random story of my life to date haha.
My point is that me, like you started my "hardcore" gaming lifestyle with WoW Raiding (and still do just less hardcore) is that i still have more than enough time to game now, i work from 8am and get home at 5pm. I then do a workout for 30minutes and then game for the rest of the evening, do that for monday-friday then i also game the whole weekend as well as watch sport on TV.
Socializing online and in person to me is the EXACT same thing, that's the main thing i get questioned about by my parents even though i still speak to my friend in person most of the time in the week, i also meet up with my mates from gaming like once a year. Just try and stand up for yourself a bit is what i would say. Defend your gaming but you have to show that your achieving in your other fields, it sounds like you are academically but it also seems like your disheartened on what you want to do at the end of your studies. You want to be a History lecturer at University or not is the big question i would ask you. If you do, go and grab yourself a PhD course! Your grades will surely get you into one! Then if you don't think you want that get your part time job and start looking for other careers. Also maybe a full time job whilst doing this after your studies finish so you can balance getting money and experience in a job to then progress further.
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On January 10 2014 16:08 -Kaiser- wrote:Show nested quote +On January 10 2014 11:35 Birdie wrote:Sounds like you do have a problem. If you don't have any problem with compulsive gaming, then stop for a year. Stop cold turkey playing games for an entire year. If you can't, or won't, then there's a strong chance that you're a compulsive gamer. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9DBFBD4160A9EAA2 you may find these three videos useful. This is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. Just because I won't abstain from a sip of beer for an entire year doesn't make me an alcoholic.
Except according to the OP, he doesn't just take a sip of gaming. He drinks a bathtub of it every week. That may or may not be a problem depending on his other obligations and time management skills, but he clearly games all the time.
I don't know about necessarily stopping cold turkey though, as it may be easier to limit one's self from, say, 6 hours a day, to 5 for a full week, and then try 4 hours per day the next week, etc.
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Blazinghand
United States25550 Posts
If you really want to prove to your parents you're not addicted, just play one hour a day or something for a couple of weeks. Use the free time to do something else fun like watch TV or read blogs or something. In any case they probably will stop caring once they realize that there are many ways to be lazy / relax and video games are just one of the most convenient
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Don't make promises you are not going to keep. Be honest about it. Some people who think it's harmful or whatnot to sit on computer all day seem to think it's no problem if you spend that time in front of TV. Difference is you can actually do productive things in front of computer. Also I think most people are constantly socializing with others through games, skype etc. Think for yourself and keep your head up bro!
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GrandInquisitor
New York City13113 Posts
Reading this article changed my life. Life is about being able to do things that are: a) valuable to society; b) hard for most people to do.
This is it. That is everything. It determines how much you are paid, your romantic success, your overall sense of self-fulfillment.
Video gaming is neither. It might be a temporary way to recharge and feel better, thus allowing you to accomplish those valuable/hard goals in life, but it is not the point of life itself.
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I read somewhere addiction is defined by:
A) wanting to do something in greater amounts the more you do it and
B) getting withdrawal symptoms when you aren't doing that something.
If that applies to your gaming habits then it very well could be a problem. I've been addicted to stuff before and I found the best way to quit was to convince myself that it was physically and mentally damaging. One thing you shouldn't do is quit gaming because your parents are nagging you; it should be something you choose to do for yourself. Or else it's really easy to just fall back into the habit the moment you have an argument or falling-out with them. It'll probably be the first thing you turn to out of spite.
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GrandInquisitor said what I wanted to say, better than I could have said it.
Here I'll try:
They say that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at anything. There are master carpenters, master doctors, master writers, master artists, master poker players, masters of business relationships, masters of foreign languages, master mathematicians, master physicists... you get the idea.
Inspiration is mostly the cause of people becoming masters at anything. Unfortunately, only a very very few play enough of a competitive eSport that they can call it their profession and make a living at it - for a few years. In the case of master musicians, well, you can travel the world, make a lot of money, be around ecstatic vibrations of sound, have fans, do interviews with people who want to be you, tell stories of your travels, inspire others, and make a contribution to the evolution of music. You could do the same with eSports, but eSports is not gaming. eSports is professional gaming, the willingness to play ONE game for the sake of having a few years of a lower-than-rockstar status lifestyle.
I'm sure you see the point of putting your time into something else. You might be a Shady Sands, Albert Einstein, James Hetfield... you might be a FlaSh, but you would have to choose SC/SC2 as your profession to be a FlaSh.
On another topic, there's something about flesh-relationships, where you actually are sitting / standing near your friends having a conversation or doing whatever, that is much stronger than internet relationships, even if you're on a video call. There's still a barrier between you. You can high five your friends when you meet in person, you can eat together, make actual eye contact... the impression it leaves on your mind is more powerful, at least to me, subjectively. You can talk about your surroundings, you can get up and go to the other place, you can get up and show your friend something cool in the city that you found.
Just because you're happy gaming, spending your valuable time across multiple games that could be spent on a single endeavour in the pursuit of mastery, doesn't mean that you wouldn't be happier doing something else.
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On January 11 2014 01:41 GrandInquisitor wrote:Reading this article changed my life. Life is about being able to do things that are: a) valuable to society; b) hard for most people to do. This is it. That is everything. It determines how much you are paid, your romantic success, your overall sense of self-fulfillment. Video gaming is neither. It might be a temporary way to recharge and feel better, thus allowing you to accomplish those valuable/hard goals in life, but it is not the point of life itself.
Your value to society and the difficulty of the task are not everything. That's what a capitalistic society would like you to believe. And yes, if you follow those precepts, you will usually do well in a capitalistic society.
But no, it will not determine how much you are paid, your romantic success, or your overall sense of self-fulfillment unless money is the only way you know how to feel fulfilled.
How much you are "paid" is affected by a number of things, some of which are not valuable to society or hard to do. Like being a trust fund baby that oversees a number of properties in Manhattan for his dear, old rich as fuck grandma.
Having a good job does not guarantee you romantic success. I could show you a long parade of doctors and lawyers and successful businessmen who have had fucking horrendous personal lives.
And fulfillment is an everyday thing. There are plenty of people with valuable, hard-to-do jobs who stop feeling fulfilled after a while and decide to go be kayak guides in the Colorado rapids. Not all that useful to society, not very good pay, but a great amount of fulfillment for some.
Sorry, but you should not base your life on philosophies espoused in cracked.com articles by 20-30 year old men who have barely lived half their lives yet but somehow think they already have it all figured out.
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GrandInquisitor
New York City13113 Posts
On January 11 2014 04:07 SongByungWewt wrote:Show nested quote +On January 11 2014 01:41 GrandInquisitor wrote:Reading this article changed my life. Life is about being able to do things that are: a) valuable to society; b) hard for most people to do. This is it. That is everything. It determines how much you are paid, your romantic success, your overall sense of self-fulfillment. Video gaming is neither. It might be a temporary way to recharge and feel better, thus allowing you to accomplish those valuable/hard goals in life, but it is not the point of life itself. Your value to society and the difficulty of the task are not everything. That's what a capitalistic society would like you to believe. And yes, if you follow those precepts, you will usually do well in a capitalistic society. But no, it will not determine how much you are paid, your romantic success, or your overall sense of self-fulfillment unless money is the only way you know how to feel fulfilled. How much you are "paid" is affected by a number of things, some of which are not valuable to society or hard to do. Like being a trust fund baby that oversees a number of properties in Manhattan for his dear, old rich as fuck grandma. Having a good job does not guarantee you romantic success. I could show you a long parade of doctors and lawyers and successful businessmen who have had fucking horrendous personal lives. And fulfillment is an everyday thing. There are plenty of people with valuable, hard-to-do jobs who stop feeling fulfilled after a while and decide to go be kayak guides in the Colorado rapids. Not all that useful to society, not very good pay, but a great amount of fulfillment for some. Sorry, but you should not base your life on philosophies espoused in cracked.com articles by 20-30 year old men who have barely lived half their lives yet but somehow think they already have it all figured out.
I assure you that you have misinterpreted everything I said. Please reconsider.
The point of life, and what will make you happy, is to contribute to society in a meaningful way. This is not limited by the size of your W-2, though it says a lot about you that you think I was implying that.
Of course, the two are often correlated, which is one reason why people push themselves in their career in search of fulfillment. Many self-fulfilled people do make a lot of money. It is often those trust-fund babies that you speak of that are the least fulfilled in life.
But the two are not the same. A stay-at-home mom that raises her children contributes to society. A Peace Corps volunteer contributes to society. Fuck, even someone that works out all the time is contributing something. He has something to offer the world. He is improving himself so that he can advertise himself to people: look at what I can do. This is something very difficult, very unique, and very prized.
Playing video games is: a) easy to do; b) not unique; c) not prized. It is leveling up a skill that you never use. It is sinking points into stats that aren't checked by any enemies. It is easy as fuck to do, which is why no one cares.
Think of the most fulfilling people you know. Are they a) people who have found ways to endlessly pleasure themselves; or b) people who have found a way to make a difference in other people's lives?
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I like the analogy of leveling up a skill that you never use. Sums up my argument quite well.
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after reading this i feel like you need to cut down the gaming son
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On January 11 2014 04:34 GrandInquisitor wrote:Show nested quote +On January 11 2014 04:07 SongByungWewt wrote:On January 11 2014 01:41 GrandInquisitor wrote:Reading this article changed my life. Life is about being able to do things that are: a) valuable to society; b) hard for most people to do. This is it. That is everything. It determines how much you are paid, your romantic success, your overall sense of self-fulfillment. Video gaming is neither. It might be a temporary way to recharge and feel better, thus allowing you to accomplish those valuable/hard goals in life, but it is not the point of life itself. Your value to society and the difficulty of the task are not everything. That's what a capitalistic society would like you to believe. And yes, if you follow those precepts, you will usually do well in a capitalistic society. But no, it will not determine how much you are paid, your romantic success, or your overall sense of self-fulfillment unless money is the only way you know how to feel fulfilled. How much you are "paid" is affected by a number of things, some of which are not valuable to society or hard to do. Like being a trust fund baby that oversees a number of properties in Manhattan for his dear, old rich as fuck grandma. Having a good job does not guarantee you romantic success. I could show you a long parade of doctors and lawyers and successful businessmen who have had fucking horrendous personal lives. And fulfillment is an everyday thing. There are plenty of people with valuable, hard-to-do jobs who stop feeling fulfilled after a while and decide to go be kayak guides in the Colorado rapids. Not all that useful to society, not very good pay, but a great amount of fulfillment for some. Sorry, but you should not base your life on philosophies espoused in cracked.com articles by 20-30 year old men who have barely lived half their lives yet but somehow think they already have it all figured out. I assure you that you have misinterpreted everything I said. Please reconsider. The point of life, and what will make you happy, is to contribute to society in a meaningful way. This is not limited by the size of your W-2, though it says a lot about you that you think I was implying that. Of course, the two are often correlated, which is one reason why people push themselves in their career in search of fulfillment. Many self-fulfilled people do make a lot of money. It is often those trust-fund babies that you speak of that are the least fulfilled in life. But the two are not the same. A stay-at-home mom that raises her children contributes to society. A Peace Corps volunteer contributes to society. Fuck, even someone that works out all the time is contributing something. He has something to offer the world. He is improving himself so that he can advertise himself to people: look at what I can do. This is something very difficult, very unique, and very prized. Playing video games is: a) easy to do; b) not unique; c) not prized. It is leveling up a skill that you never use. It is sinking points into stats that aren't checked by any enemies. It is easy as fuck to do, which is why no one cares. Think of the most fulfilling people you know. Are they a) people who have found ways to endlessly pleasure themselves; or b) people who have found a way to make a difference in other people's lives?
I was responding more to the link you posted which does make very specific mention about how much you get paid and how it affects your romantic life. And now that i look back you too made specific mention of getting paid.
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Life is too short to worry about what others think of you or expect from you. If you live to not disappoint others, you will propably end up disappointed yourself. Just go for what you really want be it anything!
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nvm, someone beat me to it
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GrandInquisitor
New York City13113 Posts
The people who get paid huge amounts, such as CEOs, lawyers and mass media 'journalists'
lulz
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EPT
