wreon
Warrior
Plays with his COC & Former BP Leader
Iridescent Prince of the Future
Posts: 2,565
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Post by wreon on Jul 25, 2013 7:53:17 GMT
Hey everyone,
My name is Wreon, and I struggle with game compulsion. Seeing that all of you here are gamers in one extent or another, I would like to hear from all of you, your personal demons/issues which you have experienced with regards to gaming addiction/compulsion.
I would like to add that this is for a study I'm conducting for my thesis, but I will also write a confession (not immediately as I don't want to set the tone) where I will talk about my own battle with gaming addiction. If the posts get very personal, I don't mind moving this thread up one layer as well. If you require more privacy, I would not mind it come in the form of a personal message as well.
Thank you guys so much.
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Post by Master_Savage on Jul 25, 2013 8:16:26 GMT
Yu-Gi-Oh! Call of Duty Shadow Era Netflix Girlfriend
My life revolves around these 5 things lol.
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wreon
Warrior
Plays with his COC & Former BP Leader
Iridescent Prince of the Future
Posts: 2,565
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Post by wreon on Jul 25, 2013 8:43:57 GMT
Yu-Gi-Oh! Call of Duty Shadow Era Netflix Girlfriend My life revolves around these 5 things lol. Is that in priority order too? rofl.
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Skurai
Knight
back from the shadowReaLm
Posts: 1,685
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Post by Skurai on Jul 25, 2013 8:49:04 GMT
Yu-Gi-Oh! Call of Duty Shadow Era Netflix Girlfriend My life revolves around these 5 things lol. Is that in priority order too? rofl. LOL
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Sailas
Inactive
Sleep deprived!
Posts: 836
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Post by Sailas on Jul 25, 2013 12:08:04 GMT
There have definitely been moments in my life where I had to quit a game because it was beginning to negatively affect parts of my life. WoW, Diablo III would be the most recent in that list. Before I was married I used to chose to stay in and raid instead of going out to the bar with the guys. Somehow my friends didn't disown me ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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Raphael Majere
Warrior
Ancient Man & Winner of Termania I
Posts: 10,728
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Post by Raphael Majere on Jul 25, 2013 12:11:15 GMT
Before I was married I used to chose to stay in and raid instead of going out to the bar with the guys. Somehow my friends didn't disown me ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) The story goes on: finally one day, I decided to leave my game for 1 night and went out to the bar with my friends and it was the best decision of my life cos I met a great gal who is now my wife.
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Jo3yb0i
Inactive
Knight of Dark and Light
Posts: 2,394
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Post by Jo3yb0i on Jul 25, 2013 12:42:50 GMT
Lol I failed a class because I was playing maplestory non stop and I had to wait one year to take the class again. I also played like 24 hours straight just to finish game,
I developed multiple bed sores due to watching TV shows on Netflix like How I met your mother, Lost, prison break, 30 rock, walking dead, dexter, breaking bad.
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Jo3yb0i
Inactive
Knight of Dark and Light
Posts: 2,394
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Post by Jo3yb0i on Jul 25, 2013 12:44:32 GMT
The story goes on: finally one day, I decided to leave my game for 1 night and went out to the bar with my friends and it was the best decision of my life cos I met a great gal who is now my wife. Awwwwwwwwwwww...
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Post by Ras Alhague on Jul 25, 2013 14:16:36 GMT
It started with Baldur's Gate. When I first played that game, I was in college and I didn't go to classes for 3 or 4 days straight. I barely slept. There was a certain Gregorian chant type music that used to play in the Library at Candlekeep. I would loop that track to fall asleep to. I'd wake up and the music would immediately draw me back to the game. My dorm room window was situated directly above the main dorm entrance and my friends got worried seeing me always sitting there. They assumed I was studying but they still came up to my room to tell me to take a break. The Chem final will not be THAT hard they told me. I went along with the lie.
Then there was Oblivion. I lost weeks to that. Thankfully I was unemployed at the time so it didn't matter as much. Without the pressure of a daily routine I usually become nocturnal. During the Oblivion Crisis (hehe) I did not see the sun for weeks.
This pattern has repeated itself, but to a lesser extent, with BG2 + all expansions, Neverwinter Nights + all expansions, Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 3 was a special case. That game owned me completely. I basically told my girlfriend I would not be available for "anything" while the game lasted. I don't know how long it took but it couldn't have been that long since I was glued to it everyday till my neck and back hurt. I developed calluses on my hands. Sometimes my eyes hurt not from the strain but because ME3 made me cry so many times. It happened with Skyrim too, but again to a lesser extent. There were days I hated what was happening to me, but then the roar of an Ancient Dragon passing overhead would unleash a river of adrenaline and wash the guilt away.
Strangely, over the long term I have never regretted any of it. The way these games made me feel, I would do anything for that feeling, which I suppose is an obvious sign of a junkie. I lived in those worlds to the exclusion of anything real. Mass Effect 3 is, to date, the most intense gaming experience I have ever had. When I got to that ludicrous debacle of an ending, I literally trembled with helpless rage as I saw all my beautiful choices reduced to a ridiculous, color-coded, Deus Ex Machina travesty. I wish it had been different. But it was just the last 15 minutes and I wouldn't trade my experience of playing that game for anything in the world as I know it so far. Not food, not sleep, not sex, not travel, not friends, not money, not my job, nothing.
It's like having a hopeless crush on your summer fling, an abusive, alcoholic, foul-mouthed biker chick who insists you shoot up with her. You know the relationship is bad for you and there's no way you're coming out of it in one piece. You know you're setting yourself up for heartbreak. Your rational mind screams at you not to repeat the pattern. It begs you to save yourself the inevitable misery that summer's end will bring, when she straddles her bike one last time and leaves you, in search of new conquests. But the need in your heart trumps everything and you let yourself fall, happily and irretrievably into that fatal first embrace.
So it is what it is. Can't really explain it better than that.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2013 14:37:24 GMT
I had a big problem with the Final Fantasy series. Starting with FF7 until FF 12, i use to play all day to find all the secrets and side quests. I'm not proud to say that i even lost a GF for FF9's fault (well it was really my fault). I also lost a semester in college because of FF 10. One day i decided to leave my room and go outside and since then, i dont play any video games (except SE ofc). With SE was different, i didnt have to play all the time like with FF because SE is pretty simple. No side quests, no secrets or hidden new heroes to unlock ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) Today i can say that i enjoy more the SE community than the game itself so i can do all i want in my life without being addicted to this TCG.
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Raphael Majere
Warrior
Ancient Man & Winner of Termania I
Posts: 10,728
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Post by Raphael Majere on Jul 25, 2013 14:47:46 GMT
Wow. These stories. I thought I was in dire straits. Thanks for sharing. Really.
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Conquestadore
Inactive
BP's Teamaster and Swiss Tourney Champion
Warden of the Phoenix Causeway
Posts: 3,776
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Post by Conquestadore on Jul 25, 2013 15:45:05 GMT
I was a compulsive gamer. WAS.
I played League of Legends, that turned me into a really moody and easily agitated person. Losing kills me, and winning makes me cocky. Vulgarities were everywhere from me that time. You won't tell that I'm a Christian.
I played Maplestory. I spent hours and hours a day doing the same thing over and over again. People paid me to play. I paid people for stuff. In the end, I quit along with 800+ SGD earned from it. Profit in finance and irl.
I played DCUO. I was obsessed with improving my in-game character, it was a stats fight, a time challenge. It was a struggle to keep-up, and when you lose in PVP, it becomes like LoL.
These 3 were few of the major games I've played long-term throughout my life. But I have quit all of them, because they bring me harm and no good. I quit December 2012. I decided to quit online-gaming if it brings harm to myself and my life. 2013 started, and I felt that there is a lot of free time unused instead. I decided to continue playing games, but in a healthy way. From January 2013, I started touching Shadow Era. I grinded some AI, read some builds. But I never really got into anything. I barely understood I needed draw, barely read anything other than OMG ITS 300+ RATING DECKLIST. But February, I played more, studied more, and I met BP. Things gone great since then, BP is a place to grow and learn. It is not just a gaming community. I also started playing Warframe, which is a PVE game. This saves myself from scolding vulgarities, since I wasn't playing against any other players.
End of the line, play in a healthy way and be pogi and drink tea like me.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2013 16:43:46 GMT
Let's see... I've mostly played Civ 4, Counter-Strike (not Global Offensive), Halo, the Assassin's Creed series, the Hearts of Iron series, recently re-picked up Shadow Era, play the Trese Brothers games (look them up on Google Play Store; literally the most satisfying purchase I ever made, including the time I spent $50 on SC), and that's really it.
Outside of Halo and AC, I mostly play strategy games and all these games save for SE have over 1000+ hours on them. Se I think has 130+.
My belief...video games are what make me happy. You can spend your 5 hours of free time watching soaps; I'm gonna stab, shoot, and outsmart my 5 hours.
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Unruler
Public
Warrior of the blue Aardvark!
Posts: 1,869
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Post by Unruler on Jul 25, 2013 17:19:37 GMT
I played a lot of TF2 (Team Fortress 2) and WoW.
TF2 is kinda addicting and funny (I liked taunts and sound clips in this game very much).
In WoW I liked aesthetics of the graphics, it instantly appealed to me, but everything takes so much time, game's very slow, but I still feel nostalgia about it and about some zones they've changed. Like still can't forgive them for drowning Thousand Needles.
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Unruler
Public
Warrior of the blue Aardvark!
Posts: 1,869
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Post by Unruler on Jul 25, 2013 17:23:39 GMT
Reserved for mine...but its still ongoing. I bet none of those people even touched Civ 5. Also, nice to see you again, Aby ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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nerull7
Inactive
Iron Throne Champion
Posts: 2,263
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Post by nerull7 on Jul 25, 2013 18:35:12 GMT
Reserved for mine...but its still ongoing. That is Raph in the end? I didnt know he was bald
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Sailas
Inactive
Sleep deprived!
Posts: 836
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Post by Sailas on Jul 25, 2013 23:19:10 GMT
Before I was married I used to chose to stay in and raid instead of going out to the bar with the guys. Somehow my friends didn't disown me ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) The story goes on: finally one day, I decided to leave my game for 1 night and went out to the bar with my friends and it was the best decision of my life cos I met a great gal who is now my wife. Actually my wife knew me during all of this, but she was dating my friend :x
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tcsnider
Inactive
BP's Resident Guild War Juggernaut
Posts: 2,165
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Post by tcsnider on Jul 26, 2013 0:11:50 GMT
Ok so for me I'm not a big gamer. I used to play some video games when younger like halo but they got old very fast. When I was younger though I played YuGiOh with my bro. We both were pretty good at it to win local tournaments a lot and go to big ones and I would have been better but I was only 15 or so. Then my bro went off to college and I didn't want to play by myself so I stopped, also I was starting to get into high school and just hung out with a different crowd. So their was a long time I didn't play any games. But during this time I got into drugs a lot and became a heroin addict for 5 years, along with every other drug i could get. For last couple years iv been struggling to stay clean but now I finally think I got it. I have a year and 3 months clean which before this I would only get a month or 2 in a row. Having SE actually really helps me out to kill time, but also isn't great because I'm not out making a bunch of friends like I should be, because I'm content hanging at home and playing SE. The reason I do mention drugs though is because their is a bit of a similarity. IMO addicts are addicts and what iv learned is to have to did a substitute when getting clean, whether you substitute is good or bad you still have to find one. So SE and my gf is kind of like my substitute for now. Playing a lot of SE can not be directly correlated to using a lot of drugs obviously, but for me since I'm an addict i can feel the same types of addicted behaviors happening along with parts of my life it effects. Not saying SE is bad. It definetly has helped me out a lot, but it gets to a point where you have to find a steady balance I think.
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Zhou
Inactive
BP's Ex-Janitor
Posts: 9,235
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Post by Zhou on Jul 26, 2013 5:04:25 GMT
Ok, for me. It was World of Warcraft. And it was during my Year 3 of my Engineering Degree. Every single day of that semester, I rushed to the cyber cafe after class to level up, grind, dungeons etc, for 6 hours a day at least. And on weekends, the cafe offers a 10hour package from 12midnight to 10am, and I did it for most weekends. My studies rocked, I feel tired everyday, my health suffers abit, my place, crib, table, is a mess. I did not eat well, unbalanced diet, I can't sleep some days thinking of strategies, sacrificed sleep to research for the next potential item. And got surrounded by a bunch of WoW mates everyday only made it worse. I hardly go to church, hardly mix around with Christian friends because of this. It was tough, but I made it to the max level, and thought things would is better. But it was worse. Raiding sucks out even more from me, 5-6hours raiding a day is normal. And the fact I had to chase for items and constantly upgrading my character if not I would be dropped from the raiding team plunged me even deeper. I did take a break when I head over to Melbourne to further my studies, but I picked it up again few months later. Once again I slacked on my studies but at least I don't have to travel to the Cyber Cafe for raids/games. And I managed to control it slightly better. But finally I decided to stop it once and for all, and the best way to do it is to sell my WoW Account, and I did it once there is a person who was interested in buying my character. I still miss those times and have the itch once in a while, but I couldn't go back because I don't have my account anymore. So that was it. After that, I shifted to PS3 single-player games. Initially it was better because I can choose to play anytime I want, pause etc. But it slowly got worse too, because I would subtlely choose to play alone in the room than to hang out with my friends/family. Then I found my girlfriend, my first love. I decided to make a huge decision to sell away my PS3 because I know it will affect my relationship if I keep the PS3. So I sold it, and it was good...Until I found Shadow Era. It seems like a never-ending cycle. There were times I had to play 5-6 tournament matches a week, sacrifice sleep, late for dates, making her very pissed off at times. And in the midst of it all, I have to play QM matches. And if I lose them, I would be very frustrated, and it would appear on dates, and my gf will be very unhappy. That is why I decided to stop climbing the ladder this season and I think it was a good decision. Then came the forums! *IT NEVER ENDS!* There were times my gf would laugh and amused by our threads and my geekiness on the forums, but there are times she will express her disappointment because like now, at work, I am typing this. I have a bad self-control. Forums made me sacrifice sleep, distracted me from what is more important, but my self-discipline is really bad. So I think I have to admit this, I am currently addicted to forums. That is how I get my 4000 posts on the BP forums and almost 5000 posts on the main forums. I think its quite unhealthy for my RL. Not that I would stop going and posting on forums. I think whats more important is that I post only what is relevant and not every single damn thread. And also to visit only on proper times, like now which is my lunch break. Wow that was long, and I am not sure whether anything I typed is of help to your thesis, but at least I have a good release. Let me know if you need anything else Wreon. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Conquestadore
Inactive
BP's Teamaster and Swiss Tourney Champion
Warden of the Phoenix Causeway
Posts: 3,776
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Post by Conquestadore on Jul 26, 2013 5:16:20 GMT
I'm kinda waiting for Index to TL;DR ..
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