Guest Posted September 19, 2017 Posted September 19, 2017 Sep 19, 2017WARNING: THIS POST MAY GIVE TEMPTATIONS TO THOSE STILL IN THE 90 DAY DETOX. PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION. So here's what happened: I relapsed at about day 50. That's quite an improvement than my first attempt, which lasted 20 days or so. For the past few weeks, I've been gaming in moderation. It has been a pretty good experience so far. The biggest change is that gaming is fun. Really, really fun. More fun than I ever had when I used to game a lot more. The first weekend after relapse, I binged, but for just a few hours, and that was the longest gaming session. You see, gaming does have benefits, but it has a very steeply decreasing marginal returns where the net gain quickly becomes negative. That's why gaming gives you the most bang for the buck in quick, innovative interactive experiences. Read: Portal good, WoW bad. I've completely changed my mindset about playing competitive online games. I don't give a single damn about my rank. If I'm having fun - had some spectacular moments with very close games or interesting decks - that's fine. I don't have to grind. I did the placements for Overwatch, and after that, there's no need to play more. Maybe I'll hop into a game of competitive Overwatch when I feel like it. No aim training, no MMR grinding, I'm a bottom 30% percentile of player and that's fine. I'll never reach legend in Hearthstone and that's fine. Single player games. I played a lot less single player games just before doing the detox. Because multiplayer online games are just so incredibly stimulating, it's hard to play calmer, less exciting singleplayer games when you're addicted to multiplayer. I've been spending the majority of my gaming time playing single player games. Nier: Automata was breathtakingly amazing. Replaying Limbo was more fun than I expected, given that it is a pretty slow-paced puzzle game. Portal - well, it's Portal. ---So, why am I here? Because I realize that I'm not 100% safe. So far, I have not played any games in excess. But I know very well that it's too easy to spiral down the rabbit hole, and the next thing you realize is that you've pulled an all-nighter playing a video game. This daily journal work as an insurance. It'll make it so that I have a nighttime routine (which is to journal, turn off my electronics, and sleep) so that I sleep regularly. It'll constantly remind myself that I need to double down on things that work. All the while having some fun in virtual universes as well, hopefully. It'll make it so that I can immediately start another detox if I find myself binging.
-n.g- Posted September 19, 2017 Posted September 19, 2017 nice job! keep it up!its a funny experience doing something again and being more mindful about it.
Guest Posted September 20, 2017 Posted September 20, 2017 (edited) @ n.g Yeah, it surely is a different experience. September 20, 2017Today I spent what free time I had binging otoyomegatari, a masterfully written and drawn manga. I'm glad to know that gaming has become more boring than a soundless, colorless visual narrative. Edited September 20, 2017 by Guest
HappyCat Posted September 20, 2017 Posted September 20, 2017 Nice job, although "good to have you back" would be just mean)
WorkInProgress Posted September 21, 2017 Posted September 21, 2017 (edited) Hey good job that you seem to make moderation work for you ( for me there was never a "moderation" it always developped to binging). May I ask why you stoped the detox after 50days instead of the 90 you aimed for? Edited September 21, 2017 by WorkInProgress
Guest Posted September 21, 2017 Posted September 21, 2017 @ WorkInProgress I gave in to cravings. While I was gaming, I thought I might give moderation just one more try. @HappyCat Nice to see you again!September 22, 2017Another day in the life of a Senior. Three tests - biology, Chinese and economics - in a single day! And I have a math essay due tomorrow! And a physics essay due next week! Oh, how lovely it is to be a senior. /s
Guest Posted September 22, 2017 Posted September 22, 2017 (edited) September 23, 2017Today relieved my busy schedule a bit. In the meantime, I did the daily quests for Hearthstone and spent the remaining time catching up on seasonal anime which I missed last week. Shoukoku no Altair is just my thing (a historical strategic drama), Princess Principal is AOTS, and Kakegurui is just pure entertainment. Fridays are cool, man. Edited September 22, 2017 by Guest
HappyCat Posted September 23, 2017 Posted September 23, 2017 So many titles I never heard of, thanks)
giblets Posted September 23, 2017 Posted September 23, 2017 Think how much you will enjoy other aspects of your life if you continue to live deliberately. Be wary that returning to gaming doesn't impact development of your self awareness.
Guest Posted September 24, 2017 Posted September 24, 2017 Sep 24, 2017@Giblets Yeah, I've got to be careful. So far I think I'm okay. Yesterday I fell asleep and forgot to journal (oops), but this weekend's free time was mostly spent consuming other forms of media, not gaming. I did the Hearthstone dailies, played an hour of Overwatch, got fed up of uncooperating teammates, and went back to reading Emma. Emma is a great romance manga btw. I also wrote an essay just for fun. I might start creating a regular series of content. Maybe. It's in the experimental stages for now, and I'll decide whether to publish it or not.
CG EYE Posted September 24, 2017 Posted September 24, 2017 It is useful to know that a detox can lead to change in some of your beliefs around your gaming. eg no having to be in the leader board, not having to grind.Do you find that other players trigger you to become more prestigious in the game?
Guest Posted September 25, 2017 Posted September 25, 2017 Sep 25, 2017@CG EYE: When I returned to moderation, I deleted my entire friends list in Steam, Discord, and Battle.net. So that helps out. When I get a quest that requires a friend, then I'll just add a random stranger that I recently played with. It makes it so that I don't talk about games with my friends as much, and they don't really invite me over to play in a party.
Guest Posted September 26, 2017 Posted September 26, 2017 Sep 26, 2017Today I got a Hearthstone daily quest that only required me to play one round (10 minutes), so I played an hour of Bioshock Infinite. It sure was fun to revisit my favorite video game of all time. Although my skills are a bit rusty, they aren't that bad; I stomped through the earlier section in hardcore mode with one death. Other than gaming, it's just all normal senior stuff. The TL;DR version is that there's a lot to do. Uggghhhhhhhh.
Guest Posted September 27, 2017 Posted September 27, 2017 (edited) @Andre 2807 I wouldn't say I'm "excited" about life per se...but it's doing okay. It's kind of hard to get energized about things when you're sleep deprived. (Read below.) Sep 27, 2017Today was pretty productive. There were two tests, both of which I prepared well for and did a satisfactory job. Then I worked out, ate my post-workout meal, did some homework, watched some anime. Sleeping at midnight had interrupted my sleeping patterns for a while. I've been sleeping 30 minutes earlier every day to revert to my normal sleeping hour of 9 PM. It's just before 10 PM now, and if I sleep at 10, I'll just be able to get the recommended 8 hours of sleep. It seems like, from my own experience, that 9 hours is optimal for me though. Edited September 27, 2017 by Guest
Guest Posted September 28, 2017 Posted September 28, 2017 Sep 28, 2017There is a form related to college admissions due tomorrow, so I had to do the bulk of the work today. I had three tests in the last few days, so today was the first "free" day to actually work on it. Since I slept at 10PM yesterday, today was the first time I felt awake during the whole school day in a week. Well, I'm sleeping at 10PM today as well since it took quite a while to get the college stuff done.
Guest Posted September 29, 2017 Posted September 29, 2017 Sep 29, 2017The October break, a Chinese holiday, is here! There's no school for a week, during which I can catch up on college admissions, my long-form essay, and some assignments. When I'm not working a full workday, I'll be cooking a lot since my parents are gone for a trip, leaving me behind alone. I'm excited to learn some new dishes to add to my arsenal.
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