Delphic

@Getz: @Raven10: @SomeDeliCook: Okay, Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm just going to skip the demo and keep on playing ME2 because I'm really enjoying it so far. Actually can't wait till I get done with work today so I can go play a little more of it.

Oh and as for the multiplayer portions I've never really cared about anything consisting of multiplayer, because I rarely have a strong enough connection to support it without dropping me out of the in game lobby. I would personally fix it myself, but since I'm not paying the bill, it's not my router.

@Getz: Is the Demo worth playing or should I just wait?

In order to get ready for the big release I'm trying to hoof my way through ME2, but earlier today I saw some clips for the ME3 Demo and I really want to play it, but I don't want it to spoil my experience with ME2. Can I still play the demo and enjoy ME2 or should I just Play ME2 and wait for the ME3 release?

@cstrang: That has really been the point the entire time. I'm only talking about my personal struggles and how I deal with them and then sharing them with others. I'm not intending to point out that others have the same problems, but maybe there might be those who have similar issues and might be able to take something away from my experience. Also as you say anything can become an obsession if you let it, and like you say it's a matter of personal control. Every once in a while though, some like myself tend to let obsession take control instead of actually being in control of the activities we enjoy doing. In my case I had let gaming take away from my writing and time with my family. So I'm not really complaining, because I've already taken steps into fixing the issue. Since that day my blog count has increased and I've returned to working on fiction. I also read more now, as many writers suggest doing. I'm sometimes still late for family gatherings, but that's another issue. I still make time for games though, but I prioritize my time and pick and choose what is more important to me in the long run. So like you said, the entire blog is about me, but who knows maybe there are others who can relate.

@McGhee: Thanks I'll be sure to keep that in mind in the future.

@IkariNoTekken: That's good logic to have, and I technically think that is also part of my problem, because when you have the "just finish this" going on you tend to loose track of time which I do. It also sort of comes down to prioritizing your activities.

(Note to GB users: I'm sure after reading my blogs most of you all probably hate me by now. Let me just make it clear that I am not intending to troll GB or the gaming community itself. I only wish to share some self realizations I had with everyone. I hope in the future I will be able to write some blogs that don't make me seem like an anti-video game conservative.)

A few months ago I wrote a blog called: A Virtual Lie and in this blog I discussed the dangers of becoming obsessed with video games. Many took the blog as I was attacking Video Games and people who play them in general. Though it may have came across this way it really was not my intention, and I had only wished to share a self realization that I had about myself. The main point though is that I still believe that obsession is a very dangerous thing, even if what you're obsessed with is video games. Don't get me wrong though, I love video games and I'm not saying that people should not play them, but I don't think that no one thing should take away from other parts of your life that you would like to use for something. There were times where I would become so obsessed with a particular game that I would forget about certain things.

One of my biggest aspirations in life is to achieve the ultimate potential I can as a writer. As long as I can remember I've wanted to write stories that made games like Knights of the Old Republic or Fable amazing games to play and experience. As with any craft though, if I don't practice my writing I will not get any better at it, so any thing to distract me from bettering what I really want takes away from me. In the case of Video Games, this is rather tricky for me because there have been many times that I have thought up ideas after coming across a certain event in the game. I reached a point in my gaming career though, where instead of pausing the game and writing the idea down like I once did I would just think about the idea for a moment and keep on playing and eventually I would forget the idea. I kept on going like this, and eventually the ideas quit coming, and it became hard as hell to write the fiction that I once enjoyed.

The final wake up call occurred though when I was late for two thanksgiving dinners because I was too busy trying to buy a house in Skyrim. I was already thirty minutes late for the second thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents when I finally managed to purchase Breezehome in Whiterun. I bought the house and I went to check it out. Now as all who have played the game know, when you first purchase Breezehome it is dark, dirty, and most important of all empty. It might sound cliche to say, but at that moment I discovered how empty what I had been doing was and how I was letting an obsession take away some of the more important things away from me.

I'm not calling video games an obsession though, and I'm not telling anyone to stop playing. If people stopped playing then story would loose another format for telling amazing tales, and that is just the opposite of what I wish for. I would be thrilled to one day know that a narrative I had written for a video game brought hours of enjoyment for people all over the world just like Halo did for me a long time ago. If I let myself become completely obsessed though and only played video games for the rest of my life during all of my free time then I would never get to write that story that I want to write for the next big title.

So the point of: A Virtual Lie and this blog is simply to say don't get locked down into doing just one thing when there is something else you want to do. I'm sure there have been others like me who say you are just going to play for a little while, and then next thing you know seven hours have passed, the day is completely gone, and you don't have time for anything or anyone else. The reason I think this happens though is because at some point we all get locked into the "Just let me finish this one level" mentality, and we get scared we are going to miss something or mess something up. Thing is that time passes during the time it takes us to level up just one time, and we can't really get those moments back. So my resolution to this problem of becoming obsessed with something is that I'm not going to be afraid to hit the pause button and come back to the game later, when there is something else I really want to do.

@FluxWaveZ: Your free to make your own choices. As far as comparing game alchemy to pharmaceuticals or real life arcane arts to game magic, the ideas of the concepts in the game came from somewhere. Alchemy is a form of Chemistry where you take compounds and mix them together to create something new. In Pharmaceuticals you do the same thing except typically with medicine. You use different chemical compounds to create another chemical compound.

Real life Arcane arts and Game magic are only similar in idea. Granted in real life you can't shoot lighting out you finger tips, but there is such a thing as spell tomes. Most are in the form of a ritual in order to cast the spell, but they do exist. In game magic was taken from the concept of these tomes and other fantastical ideas.

@Commisar123: Of course you can. Just remember "Everything in Moderation" and don't let yourself be consumed by obsession as I have in the past. I don't intend to give up video games myself, but I'm no longer going to let them outweigh their value as a source of entertainment.

@Cloudenvy: Because I was one of those people who would play a game for hours on end and let things slip. I have met several people just like me as well, just locally. My hometown is small enough that one of the biggest hang out spots is a Game Stop. I've seen several people do exactly the same thing I do just locally. I've met people who had spent all their money on gaming and not have enough money to buy food. This is just local though. I sometimes watch Youtube vlogs and I've seen people in the vlogs do the exact same thing, so that suggest to me that I'm not the only one and that there are actually more than likely several others like myself who have had a problem with self control. Does the entire gaming populace have this problem though? The answer to that question is most obviously no.