Hey everyone

[Raelana]

Hey guys! I originally posted on the StopGaming subreddit, and I recently joined the Discord chat, but I never introduced myself here on the GameQuitters forums. A lot of this post will be similar to the introduction I made on reddit, if you saw it there. I'm on day 9 of my game quitting journey so far, and it's been an interesting experience for sure. For a little backstory, I'm 23 and in my 3rd year of my undergrad at the local university. Gaming was always a part of my life, and my family. I have older brothers that game, so growing up it'd be a fun bonding experience for us and all that. 

My problems with gaming didn't really start until I got to around 13-14 years old, and I started playing World of Warcraft with some school friends. I'd never seen anything like it, and the feeling of immersion, community and progress you could make quickly overwhelmed me and I started spending more and more time on it. I think it didn't help that as a girl that liked games, I felt more at home in the virtual world talking with other people who had similar interests, since most other girls I knew around my age were not into games. So pretty much from late middle school through high school, I'd be losing out on sleep and neglecting homework, studying and an outside social life more and more to make progress in the game. Eventually I started to get tired of it, since raiding and all that started to feel the same, but I'd still play it because it was familiar, until in around my senior year I learned about League of Legends through some of my WoW friends.

I'm a very competitive person, and I've never had an issue with single player games at all, but with something like League, I had so much fun learning about all the different champions, abilities, items, etc, and how each game could be something different and how much I could potentially improve. Seeing what professional players could do just fed my drive to do better and better. When I went off to university for my freshman year, I was assaulted and hadn't told anyone about it really, and then gaming became even more of an escape for me. I'd stop going to classes, I wouldn't eat enough, and my confidence was pretty much gone, but I'd try and tell myself that I had League friends and could keep progressing with the game and it'd be fine.

But then the more I improved and took the game seriously, the more upset I would get when things went wrong. I'd get bitter about the game and the people I was playing with, even my friends, and moreso myself when I did things wrong. After a certain point it wasn't even fun, it's just that I couldn't do anything else. I noticed it got harder and harder for me to concentrate, and I felt restless and couldn't sleep well. And when I did sleep, I'd be dreaming about the game. I ended up withdrawing from the university after that semester, went back home and took about a year off from school, and kept playing League, though not as much, but I kept using it as a crutch to not face reality. It took away my interests in pretty much everything. I used to draw all the time, sing, read and study Japanese but I dropped all that because I'd get bored if I wasn't playing. Eventually I did stop playing so much, but I'd still be thinking about it, browsing the subreddit, watching streams, etc, instead of doing more productive things for my future.

Fast forward to now and I'm back in school, and have about a year left until I get my BA. Even though my grades are good, I haven't been putting in as much effort as I should, I still barely have a social life, and I still haven't developed productive hobbies, and got back into watching things like League streams for half the day, even if I don't really play the game, and I've gotten tired of it.

I've always been shy, and since most of my old friends moved for University, it's been hard for me to connect with others, but I feel like part of that's excuses too. I want to get more out of my life. I love music and if I could do something with that I'd be so happy. I've cut out everything League and MMO related, and that's already made a difference this past week or so, but now I'm finding I have a lot more free time and that's a little overwhelming in its own way, trying to figure out what to spend time on, but it's definitely better than wasting all that time with the game. In the past few days I started taking a guitar class and a dance class. I felt pretty out of my comfort zone but it was really fun at the same time to push myself. Now I have to work on moderating my internet time though.  

 

Thank you for taking the time to read all this. Hope we'll all be able to make some good progress, guys. 

[Remigjus]

Welcome Raelana!

[Cam Adair]

Woot! Welcome Raelana. 

[Reno F]

Welcome to the forum and good luck in your journey, Raelana!

[Tatu92]

Welcome Raelana! Hope to see you post a lot here

[Raelana]

Thanks everyone, you're awesome! really appreciate it.

[AlexTheGrape]

Hi Raelana! What an inspiring story of yours. Going through tough times and going through a phase where you've gamed can teach you a lot about yourself and what types of things make you work hard (i.e. what parts of the game kept you up at night, can be applied in real life), so there is some positives to get out of it too.

All the best for your guitar lessons, spending time wisely and moving your life forward!

[Streuselsturm]

Welcome Raelana to the community

9 days done already thats great!

[Regular Robert]

Weeeehelcome to the forum! You have made some great progress so far!

[Simon E]

Welcome to the club! I've been struggling with league aswell, so I can relate your experience. Everyone that manages to quit that game should get a medal or something, honestly.

Great job quitting the game, but know that it doesn't end there. You need to free yourself from all streams and videos aswell, to completely move on. I believe you can do it though - after all, I managed to. 

Good luck with your journey! 

[Nancy S.]

Welcome, Raelana! I am an ex-league player and I am currently doing my undergrad, so we have a bit in common. It's awesome that you're cutting the game for good and finding a new hobby to enrich your life, I hope you're killing it at school also! Best wishes.

[Schwing]

Welcomewelcomewelcomewelcomewelcome!!!

In the past few days I started taking a guitar class and a dance class. I felt pretty out of my comfort zone but it was really fun at the same time to push myself

 I recently took up climbing with my school. I find that being in an environment where you are progress and there are other people to hold you accountable and be competitive with is really motivating. I'm glad you feel the same way.