Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.

[Manun]

Hi, my name is Manun. I'm form, well everywhere and nowhere.

Like many others here I decided to stop playing video games. Since I started playing games in my early teens, they have been my only constant in life, my escape. Something to look forward to after or before class, after or before work. Something to keep my occupied and to keep my mind of the real problems in life. Because who cares about the real world when there is a raid, or a quest, or an xp bonus to grind. There is always something to do in the game worlds.

This is not my first time trying to quit, first time was at the start of high school. I decided that enough is enough, it's time to start thinking about the future about college, so I donated all my games boxes and all the goodies to a nearby orphanage, it felt good, sort of like a weight and the pressure being lifted of my shoulders. I don't remember exactly how long it lasted, maybe a month maybe too, all it took was a release of a sequel of the game I loved.

Second time was when I started college. Different city, different country, hell different continent. I had to leave my rig behind, all I had is a shitty laptop. All I had was some old games, not enough to keep me entertained. So I ventured into the new world, all the excitement of being in a new place, meeting new people, was enough to keep me focused on what's important, my future. But then I started to have different trouble. Alcohol, drugs, sex the trifecta of studying abroad. I stared to miss class, sleep during the day and only go out at night. I knew I had to stop or I will be expelled. With the help of a councillor at the university I managed to get my life back on track, or so I thought. After I quit partying there was this emptiness just waiting to be filled. That was the time when I bought a new gaming laptop. Here I was, back when I started, clicking my life away, but damn if it didn't feel good. I had to start from scratch, new accounts, new things to grind. A new thing to keep my life full. So as you probably imagine I got expelled. But no worries I have tons of new quests to do, people to save. I'm the Dragonborn, The Warden, Shepard, I am the hero of Azeroth.

So there I was saving the digital world from certain doom, meanwhile I grew more and more attached to my laptop. It took over my life completely, I became the 440 pound world saving machine. I managed to lie my way out of nearly everything, and then one day I fainted in public. My family grew more and more concerned, we decided it was time to do something about my weight. I came clean about being expelled from university but I didn't blame the video games, I blamed my weight. That year I underwent stomach surgery and started to lose weight. I lost 220 pounds. I still gamed from time to time, but I managed to find the time to start my own business and get married. I entered the stage of a functional addict.

Now I'm here because I want to quit completely, I can feel that gaming is starting to take more and more of my time. I look forward to my wife leaving the house because that means I can get few hours of uninterrupted play time. I can always justify to myself the time spent playing. But enough is enough. I cannot fail again. Not just for me, it's also for the people closest to me.

Now unto module 2, dear friends.

[Cam Adair]

Welcome Manun! Great to have you join us here.