It's time

[Bujo]

Hey guys,

so I've been lurking the forums and reddit for months and it's finally time to become invested.

I am a 22 year old guy from germany and games were a part of me for as long as i can remember. 

It all started like it probably did for most people my age, with the Game Boy and Pokemon.

Everything was fine until i eventually got exposed to World of Warcraft. I remember creating new trial accounts every week just to play the starting zone of the gnomes. The freedom to walk wherever you want, exploring this huge world and getting rewarded by killing stuff was overwhelming for my young mind. One day i went shopping with my mother and my sister and got asked if i want anything - i didnt have anything in mind on the spot so i said no, when my sister asked about this game i play and if i didnt want that. I was hooked ever since and basically played as much as i could. I hated it if friends asked me to go somewhere because fuck, i wanna spend the time playing. Luckily i was always pretty good in school but i neglected going out whenever i could.

It all got worse in 2012 when Diablo 3 got released. It was the first ARPG i ever played and it hit right home. The hunt for loot was so addicting, especially with the real money auction house being a thing. 

And then there was Path of Exile. Oh my. It had everything. The hunt for loot, the gameplay, the economic part, and on top of all that, the freedom to create anything you want. With me finishing school in 2014 and not knowing what to do, i spent all day every day playing up to 16 hours a day. Play until 4 or 5 am, sleep until 3 pm, repeat. I signed for some random University course just so i had something on paper. I pushed myself to go for 1 month and then told myself thats not what im going to do, so i had 11 more month of nothing. Instead of looking for a job or writing applications for vocational training i played PoE. Sometimes my friends would ask me if i am still alive and if i wanted to do stuff, which obviously i didnt, but i lacked courage to say no so i went. And i usually enjoyed it. But as soon as i was home again all i did was playing. It was terrible. When you play all day like that its impossible to make a change. I mean, when you wake up at 3 pm the day is pretty much over, so might as well play games and change something tomorrow, right? 

The time went by and i was no longer officially studying. But i didnt get up and search for something, so i was unemployed. The thought of being unemployed after finishing school with a good Abitur was ridiculous. That pushed me to write some applications and lo and behold i got a place for vocational training - starting in another 8 month. So i continued to play games.

Fast forward to today: I am in my second year of the apprenticeship and love it, moved out from home into my own apartment, still dont go out as often as i would like to, and still play games on and off. I want to stop for good as binging is a huge problem especially at weekends. As long as i have stuff to do i dont feel the need to play, but weekends are rough.

Alright thats it for now, feels good to finally have it written down. Expect my Daily Journal to come later today :-)

 

Edited September 21, 2017 by Bujo

[Cam Adair]

Welcome Bujo! Always love when lurkers decide to get in the game and join the forums. No pun intended.

[SlackRamen]

Great to have you here @Bujo! 

[Bujo]

Welcome Bujo! Always love when lurkers decide to get in the game and join the forums. No pun intended.

Great to have you here @Bujo! 

Thanks guys :-)