Meet Laney:

[Laney]

Hi guys. SoCal born and raised and computer major. I really respect everyone on here and the community has made me feel like this whole journey is possible. But firstly I want to be honest and say I'm not 100% quitting games. I'm here to quit what I'm addicted to--online games.

I'm 22 and I've played online games since I was 12. The way I played it was unhealthy, my father would have to unplug the computer to get me to go to bed some nights. Then I took a computer major in university to prove to him and myself that my interest in games had been a healthy good thing in my life, I really showed him! It's not healthy, it is addicting, it makes me bored of everything else and it keeps me from family, friends and lovers. (not to mention school and work).  What started this--I hadn't played an mmo in four months--was opening Aion to get extra winter event items for a friend. Immediately it was more than just logging on for the daily gift, I played six hours that night. More the next day. It freaked me out how fast this response kicked in. I actually googled "game addiction" during work because I couldn't stop thinking about the game. I found this community and amazing team leader Cam and it immediately resonated and inspired me to try and make a change--for good.

While I don't think I'm ready to give up story RPG's, I am definitely ready to give up the never ending story of online games. RPG's are easy for me to set aside for friends family and work. I don't feel like I'll fall behind if I don't play, lose the opportunity for gear if I log off, or let down others by leaving. Basically, I don't feel like I'm addicted to story based games with an ending, just online games. I'm unsure about the whole quitting all RPG's as "gamer girl" is something I have always defined myself by (since I was young enough to use a controller). But my RPG usage is very few and far in between.

I am going to be aware of my RPG gaming from now on, space it out a lot more, and include those in the daily journal section to observe/notice any signs of addiction.

 

Thank you for reading,

Laney

Edited December 16, 2015 by Laney

[Django]

Hello Laney and welcome. I'm new here too.

 

I also thought that I could set aside MMO's and keep playing single player games that you could easily pause. When I was playing mmo's, when in group or raid, I couldn't be disturbed! I had to finish what I was doing. While a solo game, if something needed to be done, I could easily pause the game or resume the next day.

But that was not true in my case. It just meant that I played a LOT more of these games in the long run. It's just the same amount of hours wasted. Maybe it isn't the same for you and it works, but if you can, just ban all games from your life.

I was even playing management browser games, only 2 games / races a week. Hell, when I think about it, I was surfing on my team's forum without aim, trying to invest myself in the community .... for what in the end? Nothing.

Good luck

[Laney]

Thanks Django, I know that I probably should remove them as well but the damage a few RPG's a year does to my life compared to just one MMO is almost negligible (Although I know my eyes are clouded and biased since I haven't done the 90 day detox, which is why I'll track my RPG gaming in the daily journal).  

I'm glad you responded saying that it didn't work just cutting out the online ones. You replaced that with different games and reached the same spot you were before. I guess I can see myself doing the same, we'll see how it goes.

[Cam Adair]

Hey Laney! Awesome to have you join us here. Start with your strategy and adjust it as you need to. If you find you're still playing a lot and you don't want to anymore, than it's an opportunity for you to take another step, but only you will know this for yourself.

One thing to think about is what kind of activities you can do that are similar to the games you enjoyed playing. So for example if you like RPG type games, than you enjoy playing a character, and having a story unfold, so theatre/acting/improv can all be good ways to experience that, without gaming.

[Tom]

Hi Laney, and welcome to the forum!

Good luck with quitting online games. The years when I was playing a MUD were definitely the lowest point I reached. Good thing they are so far behind me.

Quitting online games didn't work for me. Single-player games took their spot. Then it was just a matter of thinking "online or offline, what difference does it make..." and I picked up online games beside offline games. When stress levels rose so did my need for more frequent and longer gaming sessions. Until I had a good look at myself and shook out of it.

That said, may you have a better experience! I'll be following your progress!