How do you deal with gaming exposure in everyday life?

[Wildermyth]

I'm almost a month into my gaming free life now and so far it's been going really well. I haven't played any games at home and for the most part not thought about games at all. I do however recognize the challenge when it comes to avoiding games in everyday life; when visiting friends and family for instance or when I go to work where my collegues are gaming. In my case I also work at a youth center where gaming is a big part of what we specialize in, and since I have so much experience it has become my responsibility to look after all of our consoles and the games that we provide. I do however manage to approach games differently when it comes to these particular scenarios. I don't get any urges to start playing as it feels like I'm doing work rather than enjoying myself. The only time I do allow myself to be invested is when I play party games with my friends, but these games have no hold of me when I'm away from my friends; they are gone from my mind the minute I take my leave. All of this is still new to me of course and I'm approaching with some caution.

How do all of you approach this? Are you trying to stay away from anything game related as much as possible? If so, what kind of strategy do you use when dealing with friends and family?

[Faroe Islander]

Personally I struggle a lot with this and tend to favour eliminating them,

Some things that I have tried that work best are blockers on my pc and using a flip phone in my day to day life. This means that most of the time I can't play even if I want to,

But the ideal thing is to explicitly inform your friends and family about your problems with games, often times you will end up not only with less triggers in your life but also with more support and barriers to help you with games

[Shonnasen The Light]

On 9/16/2022 at 7:36 AM, Faroe Islander said:

Personally I struggle a lot with this and tend to favour eliminating them,

Some things that I have tried that work best are blockers on my pc and using a flip phone in my day to day life. This means that most of the time I can't play even if I want to,

But the ideal thing is to explicitly inform your friends and family about your problems with games, often times you will end up not only with less triggers in your life but also with more support and barriers to help you with games

flip phones are really cool. I like them. They are less distracting. Don't you think we are becoming slaves of technology ? not the master anymore~ Ever heard of the song "Hotel California" from Eagles ? - "we are prisoners of our own device"

less entertainment means more fulfilled life. That's a very hard thing to accomplish, for most average people, including me. Sometimes I think, "Oh, no freaking way ! I am going to give up my hard-earned, max -level monsters , or characters, or whatever ?!!"......In a few years, I might not be able to remember any of that, if I have a real life. That's where I belong..... looking at real faces, holding hands with a real beautiful girl, both physically and spiritually,feeling her warmth through the skin, appreciating the wonder of the universe ~~  

[D_Cozy]

+1 to informing your family and friends. In regards to friends, this is actually what really helped me identify who my real friends really were; the ones who were understanding of me quitting are the ones who I still talk and hang out with. Those are the friends who understood that I wanted to have a more balanced lifestyle, they joined me on different interests I had in life and even introduced me to new hobbies too; some which I ended up really liking (fishing is surprisingly fun!) and some which I clearly didn't enjoy much but still grateful to have tried (I'm a terrible car mechanic lol). Variety is the spice of life, and it can't hurt to try new activities 🙂

I did lose some online friends that just wanted me to join them for raids and alliance objectives, but it was necessary; because I couldn't keep talking with them about the game I was trying to avoid playing. It will suck, but you'll be grateful for the friends who do stick around, because you'll find you'll get to know them better beyond just gaming as a mutual interest.

Edited July 26 by D_Cozy

[SerinaGold]

I always have an issue with the app store on my phone when i want to update my apps, on the main screen they bombard you with game ads. It's horrible and I'm staying strong but it is highly irritating, why is gaming so prominently shown to everyone? 

[D_Cozy]

On 8/21/2023 at 12:19 PM, SerinaGold said:

I always have an issue with the app store on my phone when i want to update my apps, on the main screen they bombard you with game ads. It's horrible and I'm staying strong but it is highly irritating, why is gaming so prominently shown to everyone? 

Same. It is really irritating to see ads for games on both the Play Store and the Galaxy Store on my phone. Notice too how every single game in mobile is a copy of some other popular game too, because everyone wants a piece of that ad-revenue pie.

I got addicted to mobile gaming myself (live service and online multiplayer focused games in particular), and it's what I just absolutely stay away from now. It's just mindless distraction, quick and conveniently available highs, just so they can plug ads for identical games before and after each very short level or as a way to offer you rewards for watching one.

Understanding that helps me stay away from mobile games, even when I see ads for games that I think might be "fun." Maybe it can help you too.

Edited August 25 by D_Cozy

[WishINever]

I have friends who still play but for the most part I just let them do their thing. They respect that I've got other priorities like working and taking care of my family and touching the grass as the kids say these days. I also think it's okay for most of them to be playing but I know a few who have no work ethic and it's a problem for them. If you have a friend who comes home and gets right on Steam (or whatever the preferred platform is), they may have a problem with compulsive gaming. You'll know the difference once you start stepping away and observing. 

I think eventually you'll be so busy with other tuff that ads for games won't bother you. I still have FOMO about some of the games I won't be playing, especially the ones I was looking forward to before life got too busy, but my other priorities are more important. Maybe I'll play all those games when I'm retired. By then I'll be too old and disconnected to figure out or care about the new games anyway. 

 

[SerinaGold]

Just an update, I feel very confident that I won't get triggered or caught by gaming ads, even though they are everywhere when you think about it. I also saw a mobile game ad on TV! My main focus when I see a game and feel emotions to it I think to myself that I am game free now and life's better than when I used to game compulsively.