Just a regular Robert.

[Regular Robert]

Hello guys,

my name is Robert and I am new. *Tries to adjust his name tag* I am currently 30 years old and on day 3 of my gaming detox. I will try to keep it short, which probably wont work anyway. So, apologies in advance:

My first PC was a Commodore 64, so I have been playing video games for quite some time. The first problems, in hindsight, showed when I was in pre-school. Every day, after pre-school, I would go to my dad's work place, which was a hospital. Since this is not the best place for kids to play around, he sat me in front of one of the work computers and opened "winter games". Later, I made friends with a guy and I would visit him before the school day started. And of course, we would play games on his NES. I was a bright kid but to be honest, I feel like I was introduced to video games way to early. From then, playing video games only manifested in my personal life. As a kid, I would often say that my PC is my only "real friend". That is easily explained: My parents kind of hated each other and the atmosphere at home was like ... well, living in an emotional fridge. So the PC was a great way to dive into a different world, filled with bright colors and adventures to experience. Though, playing video games was not bad per sé. For example, I was one of the first kids to be able to read and write english in school, because many of the games I played were brought to me by a friend of my dad, who worked for IBM and these games were usually in english. So, it was rather easy for me to learn english because I had images to the words.

However, my "only real friend" developed into my full time life at some point. From playing Warcraft 3 during the LAN parties we had, I turned to World Of Warcraft when it came out. When it initially launched, I took my first day off of school. That was the first day I missed school for video games. I just went to a friend who was home alone and while he went to school, I played in his room. From there on, I would take days off on a regular base. I would go to the shopping mall to test and buy games and all that stuff. Due to the atmosphere at home, I had to struggle with depression alot and I almost were incapable of finishing school. Like many others, I would be online to play mmos and such. Before flatrated high speed internet, it was not so easy to be distracted by playing games. But with the possibility to download and play literally anything, I would be distracted all the time.

 

Everything changed 3 years ago when I had to undergo surgery. Unfortunately, I had a serious sickness ever since I was a kid but the doctors were unable to diagnose it which led to people thinking of me as a "mentally disturbed kid", not knowing that I was truly sick. As said, 3 years ago I was about to die but somehow, I survived and this event was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Because, afterwards, I was too weak to play video games. So instead, I picked up a note block and a pencil and would write a few sentences a day, which turned into a few paragraphs, which turned into a few pages. I lost my job, due to my sickness, but writing helped me alot and I figured that this was probably the biggest dream I ever had. To write. Sadly, over time I was able to play again and would of course do so. So the writing got less and the playing alot more. It did not help that my only two real life friends died in two accidents. So I was left with my online friends and my games.

The downward spiral got worse and gaming became everything to me. Ingame upgrades felt like actually achieving something in real life. Beating enemies would make me feel strong and so on. You guys probably know the drill. I felt like I was making progress, which I did not. A few months ago, I told my girlfriend that I do not really like to play games with my online friends and that I do not even like most of them. But at the same time, I did not understand why I could not stop. This thought grew inside my head. A week ago, I cut my hair off. I do that every now and then when something is about to happen in my life. I was not sure what it was, but after a while of thinking, the image cleared up. Two friends and me were playing an online match and we made some basic rules of engagement. But they ended the match with breaking these rules and destroying me. I felt betrayed and I felt treated like crap. The night after that event, I was unable to sleep, which is not unusual for me since I can rarely sleep, but this time it was different. I was angry because I was treated disrespectful. That time, I realized that gaming meant too much to me. That it filled my entire day, week and life and I knew, something had to change. I knew having 23 browser tabs opened all the time is not a cool thing. I knew that mindlessly scrolling down the YouTube recommendations is not a cool thing. I knew that going to bed, thinking about what to do next in a game is not a cool thing.

So, three days ago, I stayed up half of the night, searching for an efficient way to stop all this behaviour. And I found Cam's YouTube channel. I knew, this was what I needed. I knew it immediatly. And that is how I got here. As said, I am on day three and it is great and horrible at the same time.

 

Sorry again for that huge wall of text. What I really wanted to say is: Hi, nice to meet you all.

[WorkInProgress]

Welcome. It is nice to have you here!

[Streuselsturm]

Damn thats quite a story to read. Like you I also love to write and my gaming was always an kind of an excuse to get "inspiration".

You will not regret this step And dont be hard on yourself. You made this decision with your heart and this is going to be a very strong reason to stay true.

[Cam Adair]

Welcome Robert!

[Tatu92]

welcome robert sir! 
congrats on making it to day 3.

[Nancy S.]

Hello Robert!

[Reno F]

Welcome, Robert! I like your profile picture. Badass!

[Regular Robert]

Thank you, everybody!

And thank you @Reno F
Though, I cannot take credit for the picture. It is just a photographed poster. But I assume you have seen the movie? Or did you just like the mustache?

[Guest]

You already take the first step my friend which is being here at GameQuitters.

Now all you have to do is battle to leave all this stuff behind like I did, the sensation of getting rid of video games (at least for me) was one of the best in my entire life,pure freedom.Stay strong and positive