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Hello everyone. I have a question for all of you out there. What is the biggest issue you’re dealing with when it comes to meeting new people? I know that this might be a sensitive topic, so feel free to shoot a DM if you feel like this is a more private matter, thanks.

Today i found out i played 4 months out of the last 2 years dota 2. Meaning on average i have probably around 5 hours a day gaming overall . Other than that i'm doing ok. I have social life, i go to the gym (sometimes), good health, had girlfriends, got part time job while in university. I am not feeling addiction problems, unless i play all night (rare), but the amount shocked me. Should I be concerned?

Hey guys, so I have been thinking a lot about self improvement recently. Since like a year or so I became very focussed on getting a very good grade for my bachelors degree. I have been planning a lot, I studied a lot and I also worked out a lot to achieve my fitness goals. But even though I have had great successes since then, I am not really sure if I am happier. Sometimes I even feel a little less happy than before because I am so focussed on achieving my goals that I find it hard to enjoy the small things in life like having a beer with a friend or something. I socialise a lot less in general because I want to get up early to study and in the evenings I usually work out. Has anyone else more experience with self improvement in the long run? I think I need to add that I am not depressed or anything but I am just not as happy as I want to be.

Hi y'all my name is Sid, I'm a young American school teacher who is addicted to video gaming. My video game experience started when I was 3 years old back in Cleveland, Ohio when I first played my first game; Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo. I was hooked and still remember that first play through. Since then I have had every game system beside the first Xbox. Oh yeah and Banjo-Tooiee (1999) on the N64 totally hooked me. Honestly video gaming didn't become a major problem until after I graduated from Kent State University and moved to Las Vegas. Becoming a teacher and being the best teacher takes a lot of your focus and attention. Video gaming became my escape from the pressures of my new career. Also weed and alcohol didn't help either. After getting sober I gamed even more. Now I have decided to quit gaming for good. I've spent thousands of hours of my life gaming and now I'm going to look at gaming like I do other harmful drugs. On a lighter note I have read more books in my first week without gaming than I have in three years. Gaming is such a waste of time and motivation. No longer will I spend $400 on fortnite skins and thousands on games in general. Wish me luck. Good luck to everyone else making this huge and positive life change.

I am ismail and i have been suffering from the addicting of games long time ago . my whole lifestyle is based on how to have the best result in the game(s) that i am playing . so once i wake up i immediately turn on my laptop ( and advance my progress in the game which is the most thing i take serious in my life and make real plans for it . any other things that i make plans for it like study always fail , which force me back to gaming again because it is the only thing i can progress (although i am a very amateur player and can never be compared to the other good players .. not to mention the professionals and the world champions !) gaming is killing me slowly , it make me losing my money , university , respect , and the true love , which leads me to be isolated and forced me somehow to pornography (i mean watching porn) my situation is getting even worse , these days i barley eat ! whenever i got hungry i just drink rather than eating ! my weight got worse . i am too lazy that i cant even go buy food ! or even order some !!! i have tried to quit gaming tons of times ! the longest one was once i sent my laptop to relatives in order to study , eat and live better , and after the day 40 i started to be like Psychiatric patient which we watch on TV ! . i have hit myself , insulted myself , , talked to myself , was depressed , couldn't sleep , cry into a pillow like childrens , my energy got worse (although i was eating better than before when i was gaming( . that's why i forced my relatives to sent my laptop back because of the depression . once i received the box of the laptop i started to open it like it was a potion of heroin for some1 who haven't took it for long time ! or some 1 who haven't eaten for 3 days ! and once i started to gaming again i felt like the same feeling that we feel when we ejaculate (from masturbation) ! but the difference was that this feeling lasted for couple hours rather than couple seconds ! gaming is my drugs . i have lost all my money and started to borrow money couple years ago , i cant even pay loan interests . if i don't stop this shit and continue my study or even work , i dont know what is gonna happen . so i must leave now . there still many things that i haven't mentioned yet .. but i wish that ucan solve my problem or just connect me me to some1 who is qulified to my case . best regards .

Hello everyone. I have been playing video games from a young age of 6 years old when i first got a computer in my household. My parents were limiting my play time to 1 hour a day, so i had a pretty good childhood and decent teen years, but as my age increased the limits set by my parents kind of disappeared and and i got myself completely into video games. Even though back then i had a group of very close friends and did hang outside fairly often. Another problem was that from a young age I was shy and had problems meeting new people and starting conversations with them. In highschool i started playing FPS games competitively and started hanging out with my friends a lot less. I was pretty much spending all my free time just sitting in front of my computer and playing without a care in the world. After school our group of friends split up to go to universities/colleges in different cities/countries, so I was left pretty much alone. What was i gonna do? I dedicated even more of my time on video games and web surfing in general in my university years. Out of the 30 people in my university group i made friends only with 2 of them and due to my addiction I did not even hang out with them outside of university, which resulted in me having no friends at all after university finished. Now I have been working for 3 years as a programmer without any social life outside of work. I feel like i don't even have the skills required to converse with people. One on one i can manage some talk, but in a group I can't muster a single word, because I don't feel like I can add anything to the conversation. Having wasted my teen years and university years doing pretty much nothing I don't have any stories to share, I don't even know the city I live in that well because I never went out to clubs or bars. Obviously my love life is non existent, I have had drunken sex a couple of times, but never made the effort, or knew how to make a connection with a female and date. I turned 25 this year and realized how much of a failure I am compared to the people I work with, who have many interests, have read many books, accumulated all kinds of knowledge from experiencing different things, created families and are leading active lives. With these heavy thoughts depressing me i tried quitting gaming and it kind of worked, since games for the past couple of years have been just a way to spend my free time, I don't actually enjoy them anymore. I have reduced my gaming time to a maximum of 1-4 hours a day as opposed to 5-8. But it is still not even close to being enough, since i replaced my gaming time with useless internet surfing time. With all of these thoughts in my head i started getting depressed and started to seriously consider suicide. I am having suicidal thoughts around 3 times a week, once a month I would cry to myself about my pathetic situation and what I have become. But before I depress myself even more with these thoughts of mine I decided to take action and completely remove gaming from my life, reduce pointless internet surfing time and add 2-4 hours of some kind of social/active activities. So my goal being here is to quit gaming completely and quit pointless internet surfing in general, find a new group of friends and hopefully create myself a healthy social life, where I could hopefully become more confident in my self and eventually create a family of my own. The biggest problem i will have to solve is how to open up myself to people more to befriend them, because socialization is definitely one of my weakest points at this moment. I wrote quite a lot, if you have read it all you have my thanks. I'll be sticking around this forum looking for tips and advices on where to go on from now and what kind of activities i could take up. So if you have any kind of starting advice, i would love to hear them, thanks ?

Hello GameQuitters forum. My name is Jaspar better known online as "JasparJam". I've been playing Overwatch almost every day since it launched back in May 2016, and have been playing on and off semi professionally for about 2 years, trying to make a mark on the Australian scene. I have been playing games since about 8 or 9 years old, and discovered a talent for fps games in my early teens. The reason I am here on this forum now (and have been procrastinating on making a post for a while) is because I'm confused about my future and know I am addicted to gaming. Overwatch has not been in a place that I enjoy much for a long time now. To many players myself included, it's felt like Blizzard have neglected the game state for far too long, something not needed to be discussed in detail here. Anyhow, the result of that is lost trust with the company that regulates the game and its Esports. The waning lack of enjoyment, money and uncertain future eventually made the pursuit too undesirable to continue, at least at this stage. However, what had happened was I was continuing to play in a sort of limbo state not knowing what to do next, and also being very addicted to the feelings that come from performing well in matches. I had to play more and perform increasingly well to feel something which lead to a numbness, and eventually uninstalling the game. That's still one of the hardest decisions I've made. It's been more than a month now since I've played Overwatch, and considered it might be best to do a full digital detox for at least 3 or 4 weeks. But I've been playing other games such as csgo as a coping mechanism. Wasting a lot of time on useless internet stuff and PMO too. I read into Dopamine fasting which looks interesting but very hard to do without being fully prepared. I'm currently 20 without a job although searching, and deferring uni atm. At home most of the time. To try and help move on from Overwatch I've been putting together a montage video which is taking a lot of time, but it's also created a bunch of urges to start playing the game again. I'm basically pretty lost right now, not knowing where to go from here. I've never been as good at something like this before in my life, finding something else seems impossible right now. Many things must fill the void as well, there can't be one solution I feel. Not sure if I should be taking a temporary digital detox/dopamine fast and coming back to Overwatch or a different title like the new COD or if I should be firmly moving away from those things and reassessing my life's trajectory moving forward. Thanks so much for actually reading this and all replies are appreciated.

I want to go back to WoW Classic, but don't know if it's worth it? I remember spending a lot of time on the PC. It was cool, but I'm not sure if I should do it because it takes away my privacy.

Hi fellow game quitters, After playing a large part of my childhood, I then quit video games in high school and throughout university cause I had some hard work ahead of me and some clear goals I wanted to achieve. But after I graduated and started my own businesses, I started playing, as a reward for making it this far and achieving my goals. But the more I played, the more I wanted to play, and the more I got better, the more time I would spend online learning tips and tricks and watching guides. All my free time (and sometimes even my work time when there was not much happening) , was engulfed by video games. The addict in me came back to the surface. I started playing less and less, and generally keeping track of how much I played (using the Habits app). 30 days ago I went cold turkey and I'm much better because of it. I just realised that games are made to keep me hooked in and I love playing them. So I'm just off gaming completely for at least 90 days and beyond. (I'm starting a new job next week so wish me luck) Has anyone here got addicted again even after long periods of staying off games?

Hello there,my name is Stepan and I am from the Czech Republic,I am 17 yrs old and I am addicted to videogames and I don't know what to do. I play around 6 to 8 hours per day and on Saturdays and Fridays its close to 10 to 13. Videogames have ruined my life I wish I could go back in time to just break my computer. I have spent over 500€ on videogames and it would help me if you could give me some tips. -Thank you, Stepan.

Hey guys I am 29 years old. My story begins a bit different to most, possibly not all I feel but ends up in disappointment, anger, and sadness as I assume most addictions do. I have been playing on and off for most of my life, I started playing hardcore when I moved to London 7 years ago. I was popular when I was in school and up until 7 years ago I fell hardcore into an addiction I did not know even existed, I tried justifying it every which way. I would smoke Marijuana all day every day, I lost my friends, I have been through countless jobs until about a month ago, I decided to turn my life around. I quit smoking cigarettes, I quit Marijuana, I started writing in a journal, I started meditating and... Today I start Cam's Respawn course to quit gaming for good. I feel like I have made a tonne of progress over this last month except for one area, my social side and I guess that is one of the reasons I am on the forum. Anyways, I have read a few intros' from a couple of ex gamers and I can appreciate the hardship some of you must have gone through, and I just want to say keep going, keep pushing. I have been lucky in regards to the support I have had from one very special person in my life... My Mother. Thanks, mom Buuuut... I would be doing a great disservice if I didn't mention Anthony Robbins. Read his books, or listen to them on Audible. My favorite is 'Awaken the Giant within'! I will keep you all updated and I hope to see some of you about. devunderdog

My child likes to play car games online https://www.topspeed.com/car-games/car-games/, and of course I decided to read about online games for children, and to my surprise, I found articles that recommend to allow children in online games, because to become a good player, a player needs to think well. In the same online strategies, a player needs to figure out his own moves and the actions of his enemies in order to win. And such games are equivalent to a chess game. What do you think about this?

Hey everyone, I am Dennis and I am a radtech student from Denmark. The reason I titled this post "addiction or" is because I have been very curious whether or not I was addicted. When I took the quiz I scored 5/9 or 10 and I dont see myself using gaming for social aspect since I play mostly singleplayer games and the ones I do play online like Cod BO4 is every man for himself basically. I also dont really feel like its and escape to me even though it properbly is somehow. But where it hits me, is for one the fear of missing out which means if I played resident evil 4 and I liked it, then I HAVE to play the others as well incl, all DLC so I pump alot of money into it, money that I dont even have at some times. The latest and worst fear of missing out example was with CoD BO4 where I have spend hundreds of dollars on the game to buy the tiers I couldnt get before they went away. Cause you know, I NEED THAT GUN at lvl 100 tier. Lately I also startet to feel angry and frustrating emotions whenever I lost i say CoD BO4, which is normal but to me it got really bad. The other thing is that since I have thousands of hours to plow through, (many games I bought but havent played) I feel so compelled to game, that I dont get any homework or preps done for the school and when I am in school, I often think about gaming somehow so I dont really listen that much to the teachers. I used to be very good in school and I want that back, and I want to loose the wheight that I have gained and start rockclimbing soon as possible. One last thing that helped tipping me over the edge was when I realized how anticonsumer the AAA games developers have become, especially bethasda and Treyarch/activision etc. All this boils down to games beings a parasite on my wallet, my focus and my selfesteem and this needs emidiate attention I feel, but would you still call it addiction even though it really hasn't become to such and extend that I use 5+ hours gaming and effecting my social/love life ? Or is the problem something els? Like "fear os missing out" in general? Looking forward to communicate with you all ? Dennis M.

GOAL: Fully Detox and Get Back what I lost. 4/9/19 "I break the people around me...Who did she date for a Year...Did I Ever Show her the real me for any considerable amount of time?" These are the questions I ask myself on the day I put gaming to an end...looking back on the damage I caused...the thick fog blurring my vision as I shot shots into the dark and shot the ones I loved the most. I lost the one who kissed me and made me feel human for the first time. I lost valuable friends as I ghosted and didn't make the effort to keep in touch. I lost valuable time that could've went to school. I lost a lot. But I still got chips in the game of life and I'm not giving them up. I'm going all in. I gave my PC Plug to my father and admitted I needed help. He was happy to acknowledge it but the reference to her reminds me of her...how our beautiful comforting fire of romance turned into a damn funeral pyre. But... Did I really have a relationship with her? Yes or No. It's Action Time. Quit or Bust. Day 1 Emotions: Bowling ball? Mourning... Depressed. Accomplished Hopeful. Actions Taken: Going to Afterschool for Academic Studies. PC Power Plug Removed. Apology sent to Ex. Joined GQ.

Hello there! So first I wanna say, that my school english isn't the best, but i'll try to make it understandable. About myself: I'm 18 years old, coming from Switzerland and have been gaming for over 6 years now. the reason why i started was very simple, but also sad. My dad püassed away when i was 12 and just two years later a got i diagnose of an incurable disease, which meant my muscles were getting weaker slowly but steady. So video games were the only place i could get rid of all these very big problems in my life. It was a very rough time since then. I have to mention that I'm super grateful that my marks never dropped and I'm still under the top three in my class. So that's a positive thing, same as my physical health. I managed to do 2x a week therapie and 4x a week fitness and it helps me alot to keep myself up not only that my muscle-strength doesn't fade, but also mentally. But beside that i also played so much video games. especially on weekends or in holidays. It came thati played like 13 hours a day and I got sick of it really! And i had a few tries getting over this adddiction as many would calll it, but failed and felt even worse after it. Had one year without my computer and smartphone but never found joy in other areas in my life. So I relapsed right at the end of 2018. Since then I sometimes hoped to be able to control my gaming behavior and itt was not even that bad. But just 3 weeks ago holidays started and it was horrible. So I decided to stop this once and forever. As my other tries didnt work out in the long run, I wanna make it public this time and join a forum to motivbate others and also get inspiration on my side. My goals are these: Quit video games completely reduce the amount of time i spend on youtube to basically zero (only music is allowed) find other hobbis/activities that bring me joy read alot about psychology and philosophy, because it fascinates me keep up the good work in health and school write this journal every day As this port goes online this experiment or rather this new life begins and I feel ready for whatever will encounter me. Peace out!

So this a question I asked in my journal and it something I believed for a long time too, if the game does not qualify with your definition of the game then it, not a game. For example, would visual novels be considered video games? Would social VR be video games? What really defines what a video game is? Cause for a long time I did not think visual novels as video games and thought they were good interactive books, but boy was I wrong. If you dig a little deeper its a video game but in a different genre of video games but still game and has the same elements of video games. Same for social VR is a video game or not? So let me know the comments below what defines a video game to you and what does not and why do think that is?

I would like know to know what are some withdrawals symptoms after giving up video games or how does your brain rationalize you? I’m having a withdrawal symptom of me wanting to return, it’s not that bad but I keep reminding myself it’s a withdrawal from this addiction. So what are some of you withdrawal symptoms and how you overcame them. Leave comment below.

I'm going strong at 17 days game-free! It has been surprisingly easy to not play and to fill most of my time with other activities like practicing my french horn, reading, hiking, and watching hockey (let's go Blue Jackets!). However, there have been a few times that I have felt the void that gaming has left. I have felt the void most when my wife is with her friends or at her own rehearsals or activities. Two years ago, I moved to her hometown for work. I was preparing for my career to take us to the west coast, so her hometown was a great option for both of us. Having anywhere between a three- to eight-hour drive separating me from my friends has been tougher than expected, especially since my wife has no such issue. Also, I was bullied a lot as a kid, and never had many friends, so I used to think that I enjoyed being alone. After being alone AND being without games, it feels like I am feeling what true loneliness is (or I am just not as used to it after living with my friends for grad school and being married). Even with my other activities, I still had an hour here and there that have been open. It has been exceptionally hard to not play some sort of "easy-to-put-down," single-player, noncompetitive game that I feel that I can easily pause and save and drop and not come back to until the next time I am alone. The other difficult time has been at work. There have been days that I have not been very busy at all, so I have turned to YouTube or ESPN/NHL. After watching non-gaming-related videos or listening to music for a while and still having open time, it has been hard to not look at gaming news or attempt to find games that I think will be less of a pull for me for when I try to get back into gaming. There have been several games that have caught my eye, especially since they are indie games that have great stories that deal with depression and anxiety. What I have determined from these trials is this: my addiction is less about playing the game itself, and more about filling the time with something social and/or "productive." I have felt hopeful and free since I dropped gaming and sold most of my games except for these times. Going forward, I am going to try to stay away entirely from anything related to games until my 90 days are up. As before, I still can't see myself without games, especially those that tell a good story or have good puzzles to solve. I am still going to be vigilant and not buy those that are competitive, online-only, weekly-exclusive-driven, or multiplayer because I know that those are where my problem started. Moderation and balance is key, and I am hoping that my 90 days will help me be able to take a step back and play without going down a slippery slope. Good luck everyone, and stay strong! Take back control of your life! -Erik (ydinpoika)

Good morning everyone, My wife and I went to couples' counseling Tuesday night, where the extent of my addiction was made painfully clear; I was meeting seven of the nine signs of addiction this site details. Most troubling among them were the escapism and the deception. I was hiding credit card bills and paying them from my personal savings so as not to alert my wife to the microtransactions and other purchases I was making. As with all lies, it was discovered, and I have never felt so horrible as I did that night, watching her cry and hearing her yell at me. She knew me better than I knew myself thankfully, and knew I was running to gaming to escape my past, to escape having to socialize in an uncontrollable environment. She has been incredible in her support of me, which I absolutely do not deserve given what I have done. Although she has not given me an ultimatum, she does see this habit like a drug, and has put her foot down to help me through this. This is the beginning of my third day without video games, and it has not been easy. It feels like how I would imagine a drug addict would feel without their fix (without the physical symptoms, thank goodness). Half of me is saying that I am in control, and that I can shorten my play time to several hours a week as opposed to 30-40. The other half sees just how much gaming has taken over my life, and how unhealthy it has been for me. Harder still, gaming is my connection to my friends. I moved to a new city for work after I dropped out of my PhD program (unrelated to gaming problems), and have had trouble meeting new people. All in all, even though it has only been three days, I have come to realize several important factors. Gaming is an important hobby for me and a connection to my friends and family. However, it had become more than a hobby. I was no longer having fun, and was using them to run from my problems and to substitute for actual progression in real life. I was playing them because I was afraid of missing out on that next reward or that next level of power, not to have fun with my friends like I used to. I was playing them as opposed to doing other activities that are fun for me like reading or playing music or hiking. I am planning on selling my PS4 and several of my Switch games in the next few days. I currently don't see myself being able to quit gaming completely, but I now recognize that certain games will hook me more than others. I need to have games that aren't online only or hyper-competitive. I need games that I can pick up and play for an hour or two, and put down without feeling like I am missing out. I look forward to being a part of this community, and getting my life back in balance! I have already been practicing my french horn more than I had been, and am seeing marked improvement in my skill and stamina. Good luck to all of us! -Erik (ydinpoika)

Hello everybody! This is my first journal update after my introduction post, and today, I put my money where my mouth is. I sold my PS4, my old X Box and all games I had for both systems. I also deleted my Reddit account and unsubscribed from every streamer and gaming news channel on YouTube I was following. My wife couldn't be happier, and we've already seen the results of my newfound "freedom." There are times where she will be busy where I am not, and these are the toughest times for me. It helps to know that she does not feel like she has won some battle, and wants me to be able to use that down time to relax and have my alone time. After some discussions, we are hopeful that I will still be able to use this time to game after my detox process, but maintaining an awareness of the draw of certain games that I will need to continue to avoid. I feel free, but I also feel sad. Not sure if I made too big a decision in too short a time. I still have my Switch, which is my brain's consolation prize; I still have a game system that will allow me to connect with my friends and family after my detox. However, it was really hard to get rid of my consoles that had been with me through some of the toughest moments in my life, that allowed me to connect with my friends, and had thousands of hours sunk into them. These make for great memories and, as per economics 101, sunk costs should not be considered in making a decision, but that does not make it easy to let go. It feels good to not have to worry about keeping up with other players online to maintain my competitive edge, though. I'm looking forward to seeing how gaming feels after the detox period, knowing that the style of game I will be limiting myself to will be able to fulfill my desire for games and keeping my brain active via puzzles and/or quick reactions, while still maintaining balance with my other activities. It is going to be a busy week at work this week because I'm traveling in addition to writing my reports and proposals, so I will hopefully continue to maintain a solid barrier to my cravings. Good luck everyone! Looking forward to sending out another update later this week as well as hearing your thoughts. -Erik (ydinpoika)

I m sort in another deimilama but a little bit different, you see I started a no animated detox while back where I said I would avoid cartoons and anime which I still plan to. The problem is I do animation and in order to grow my youtube channel I would need to venture out within the niche of faith based animations, the second is I m apart of two communities that are also into animations and I would like to be more active in them. This could be me rationzaiting things but when I elemiated everything I realzied It emliamted the interaction between these communities that helped inspire my own animation and I would still like to help them out just as they have helped me out as well fufuill a promise to one of them. The problem lies is this good idea make an expection to this or not because not sure what to do, am I rationzatling things because when I think cartoons I like cartoon network, nick, disney ect. and anime would all still be elemiated expect when I go to the movies theaters movies but I m wondering if its okay in the communities to do this?

For context, I’ve just had a relapse which I allowed to happen on the basis that cutting gaming (the symptoms) wasn’t going to fix my procrastination (the core issue). Answering someone else’s post has allowed me to debunk that argument in a sort of cathartic moment where I realises that the detox isn’t so much about cutting this or that but setting yourself up to have a clear mind to work on the rest. So I’m looking for this community’s help to assist me in debunking another major argument: the sunken cost argument. I view it in a bit of an extended manner. It’s not only about the sums of money invested into everything related to gaming for me (I’m fortunate enough that this isn’t a life threatening issue for now), but also about the emotional investment into gaming. 1. How can I ditch gaming when I have friends (no fallacy there, we get along online even outside of games) associated with it? I feel it might be a mind trick since I had no problem cutting ties during previous detoxes, maybe it’s the fear of a permanent end to that friendship? 2. I have an oculus rift gathering dust since I asked my parents to come over to my place and take my desktop with them. I’d like to be able to use it since the gf admits it was fun and she misses it, but then I’d have an even easier time getting back on to hardcore gaming with it. Should I sell it/have it hauled away along with the PC as proof of commitment to my detox? 3. Is anyone else holding on to tech because of the hope that one day they’ll be able to moderate? I’m at a point where I don’t know if I even enjoy gaming at its core anymore except a select few indie and PS4 games (I have no issues with gaming on PS4 somehow). There again I feel emotional investment may be a challenge to true commitment to a detox. 4. One of my alternative activities as part of my detox is game development. I’m naturally drawn by my peers and interested in indie/experimental games which I often managed to consume somewhat responsibly. I feel like a writer who doesn’t read if I cut them off too, but then where do I draw the line? How do I enforce it? Too risky I think. As I’m writing this I seem to realise how this is all a pathetic trick of my mind and I find myself desperately trying to explain arguments in favour of gaming that were solid in my mind but now feel grotesque on (virtual) paper. As you can see I understand the sunken cost fallacy (also called escalation of commitment) under an emotional standpoint as finances aren’t thankfully too much of an issue, but feel free to discuss that angle too. Cheers

Hi there, that sentence there is my mind now for a bit and I was thinking about it. Disclaimer: I am not a parent nor a father. I just would like to know if its always parents fault if kids are having a gaming addiction. Taking me here as an example. So, when I was young my stepfather limited the internet time. That means I could only play (or use the internet at all) for a specific amount of time per day. This pissed me off after a while, so I went out more often, went to friends (sometimes for a whole weekend) to play games there. When I was deeper into gaming and was at an amateur (ESL league - if someone still remembers it) at counter strike it pissed me even more off to go to friends to play. Then I was looking for ways to hack the internet (lol), after researching a lot of stuff (resources where so limited back then..) I finally found a way: Sniffing. But first I needed to figure out how my internet was limited, because it was for specific PC/Laptop and if its possible to block access on the 'hardware side', then I figured it can be limited in the router. Now the hardest part was to get the password. Sniffing alone didnt bring me anywhere, so I needed to 'Social Engineer' my stepfather to login into the router while I sniffed our whole local network. Voila - Router password sniffed. And there it was: A setting to limit the internet access for my MAC address. The problem: My stepfather wasnt an idiot (and still isnt - still love him though) so I needed to make it look original every evening, because he might check it now and then. So, yeah.. that was the time when my 'carrer' basically began ? . And he never noticed anything until I told him about it when I had my own apartment.. he was pretty shocked lol. But to get back to the "You suck at parenting": Is it always parents fault at all? We have 2018, the internet is full of resources, informations, tutorials, guides for basically ANY topic, then we have schools where kids talking about topics, etc. If kids are clever or smart, they might find a way. Is it still the parents fault? Yes, you don't need to buy your kid the new console (or any console at all), or buy them the new game.. but again, they might have friends with a console and we have piracy (which is a lot easier than like 17-18 years back..but also a lot riskier!). So, what is your opinion about it guys?

Hello everyone, this is a post I'm asking for life advice and moral advice about making major life decisions and choosing a career. I originally posted this on Reddit on the subreddit r/StopGaming but I'm posting it on Game Quitters to get another perspective and a second consensus. When I was around 17 years old, I fell into a state of hopelessness and depression and not knowing what to do with my life. At this time the prospects for the real world were looking bad for young people in general and I felt a lot of pressure to make major life decisions on what to do with my life video games were a form of escapism for me. Unlike the vast majority of people on Game QuittersI never actually even came close to ever being addicted to video games and even when I was very young (I started playing video games when I was 4 years old) it never became unhealthy. I did play a lot of video games but I still have a life, other hobbies, friends, went outside, and did many different things with my life. I learned many other different skills and had (and still have) many other interests, skills, passions and a life outside of video games and just electronics, distractions, and entertainment in general. But when I was 17 and 18 it was having a negative effect on me to a point where after procrastinating so much and playing video games not because they made me happy but to escape from my anxiety about my future and the many problems in my life I had to deal with I quit video games and uninstalled Steam, uninstalled all of my video games, and I just pulled the plug on it. I did many other things in my life but I needed to figure out my life and to find out what makes me happy. After eliminating so many of my options one thing I have as a special dream would be to at least work for Bioware on at least one Mass Effect game and feel as though I made something artistically significant and important. considered and know I could go through a program on CGMA or CG Spectrum where to go in order to become is to work in commercial art and work as a 3D modeller, animator, character design artist, or environmental artist. I know some genres such as multiplayer games tend to be more addictive but all video games to my knowledge can cause harm to innocent people (correct me if I'm wrong). The problem I have with potentially planning to make a future career change to work in video games is that I feel as though even though video games did have a negative impact on my life at one point even if I end up doing great in life my work in video games will ruin the lives of at least millions of other people (according to the World Health Organizaiton) such including what it once did to me. Not to mention that its' already negatively impacted or ruined the lives of the people on or ruined the lives of the people on r/StopGaming which is a subreddit on Reddit about game addiction and people who want to quit playing video games. Honestly, I wouldn't even consider working in video games if not for the fact that Bioware exists and I feel as though their video games are not just games but tell incredible stories and are very much art. If Bioware were to be shut down, I wouldn't even think about working in the video game industry. Regardless, I want to be fulfilled in my work and a creative endeavor is something I'm considering. It could also be another form of art or writing or I could become an economist instead but regardless I want to do work that will make me happy and have a positive impact on the world. I know the video game industry is not perfect and I read a book from a video game developer with more than 15 years of experience in the video game industry as a game developer and the truth about what it's really like but I feel as though even if I were to only work for like no more than 5 years if I worked on let's say a Mass Effect game or some video game that is artistically significant and pushes the boundaries of technology, art, philosophy, and pushes humanity forward than that to me is worth doing as long as if I do it on moral terms and don't cause unintended (or worse yet intended) harm to innocent people and cause them to become video game addicts. The fact is that video games have caused harm to many people as proven on Game Quitters and I worry that it would be immoral for me to work in video games and that I would just ruin innocent people's live and be responsible for the rampant video game addiction problem we're seeing now in the world. I understand that addictions can form from various other substances and are caused by other mental problems and external problems such as depression, anxiety, traumatic life experiences, and numerous other problems and causes but regardless I am a genuinely good person with a kind heart and if video games really are that bad then I will not become a video game developer. So I am here to ask for honest help and advice on what I should do with my life. Should I become a video game artist and work in video games? Is it morally wrong for me to get into a career in the video game industry as a video game artist? Is it worth it to become a video game artist or just to become a video game developer in general? Are video games bad for humans and unhealthy for everyone? Are video games objectively a waste of time and bad for you? How should I make my decision of whether or not to become a video game artist and work in the video game industry? To everyone here, please give me the best help and advice that you can. I want the truth, thank you! ? TL;DR I am a genuinely good person who once suffered from problems with video games having a negative impact on his life that is now considering becoming a video game artist and work in the video game industry. I feel as though it is morally wrong and that I would contribute to the video game addiction problem we're seeing now and ruin innocent people's lives. I want to be artistically fulfilled and that's why I'm considering doing this. I am looking for advice on whether or not I should become a video game artist and work in the video game industry and the ethics of making that career and major life decision.