friendlytoad

Thanks man I really needed to hear that today. I was so close to installing some single player games like skyrim. But to be honest single player games bore the crap out of me anyways. It's the competition of online games I always enjoyed. Your completely right we only remember the good times. I've definitely had some rough days wasted gaming. One game turns into ten. Like o said my problem is when I'm gaming everything else comes second and just seems so damn boring. But when I'm not gaming I enjoy the little things in life 100% more. My struggle right now is to find something to do when it's night time. I'm not tired enough to go to bed but I'm too tired to read or exercise. I just lay there staring at the wall lol. During this time of usually hop on a game for a hour or two before bed

Hey guys, I just joined this website. So like most of you I played games since I was 14. Pretty much just mmorpg games. I've literally played them all. I would spend countless hours playing. Any and all free time I had went to gaming. I use to be so addicted I would come home at lunch from school to play for 15 mins and then go back. I'm 26 now and knew I needed a change. I decided to game in moderation to take control of my addiction. I would play for just 2 hours a day max. This shortly turned into 3 hours, then 4 ect.... The problem was even when I wasn't gaming I was thinking about it. I would still give up doing certain activities or look forward to my girlfriend to take a nap so I could play. As sad as it sounds the time I could game would fuel me and I didnt find much pleasure in the stuff I was doing to just waste time till I could play. Its that itch at the back of your mind that knows gaming is just at your finger tips anytime. I would then uninstall all my games for a week. Just to reinstall them again after finding reasons to justify it. I probably uninstalled LoL 35 times. That's when I realized things need to change. Obviously gaming in moderation wasn't working out. I figured if I enjoyed it what hurt to just play in moderation. That's the problem with addiction though. Moderation doesn't work because if you have even a little taste of that "drug" Its so easy to get pulled back in. Ya maybe someone with a healthy gaming routine could do moderation but for someone like me I realized it wont work. About 2 months ago I deleted all my games and haven't played since. My life has positively improved greatly. I now don't dread going to work because its actually something thats improving my life and occupies my day. Before I couldn't wait to get home just to game so work felt like such a long chore. Things I would ignore before like playing music or reading books are now fun. I think the problem before is why would I even bother doing this stuff if I can have way more fun gaming. So when I actually played my guitar it didn't fulfill me before. Now that I'm not getting the constant stimulate of games I can enjoy playing my guitar and not feel rushed to get it over with so I can game. Recently though even though I know my life is WAYYYY better when I'm not gaming, I still constantly think about it. It's the nostalgia of all the great times I had gaming growing up. I really did love playing and adventuring though an open sandbox world that I could change at my will. I feel almost like I will never fully be as happy as I was as a kid gaming. Iv'e been debating installing and playing ONLY single player games as those were never really a problem for me. By making these "RULES" I believe I'm just tricking myself into thinking I can get that taste again. I know though it will only turn into an addicting all over again. I think the fond memories I have so much not is necessarily due to the games but more so the time of my life. When i was a kid i had no worries. I went to school, hung out with friends and gamed. Now Im a adult I have to pay bills, work full time, do chores, buy groceries ect.. So maybe my nostalgia is more linked to a easier time than the actually games themselves. I would like to also add I suffered from crippling anxiety and depression growing up and still somewhat do on and off. It's not as bad as it use to be but I used games as a way to escape and distract myself. Some days I find myself worried that I don't have enough things to fill my spare time that I'm trapped with myself and don't have that same escape I did when I gamed. I know these are deeper issues I need to resolve instead of using gaming to cover them up. I'm sure many of you can relate. I can tell you though I've never felt as free before until that moment I deleted all my games 2 months ago, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my chest. It felt like I had so much time now to live life without this obligation to play everyday. This at the same time though opened up worry of filling this free time which I still havent full figured out yet. In the end I know the only way to truly be free is to play no games at all, please convince me single player games won't solve anything. I already know the answer but it would be nice to hear from some of you. Thanks for listening to my story and I know its a lot of text to read.