Ok, so I'm hardly an Insomniac, but it's currently 4:04AM and I can not sleep for the life of me. No matter how much I try I've got this burning sensation of guilt at the back of my mind that I just can't purge.

The reason?  I think it's time to give up on gaming.

Now, I know this sounds rash, and it sounds harsh but I havent really been properly enjoying my gaming for at least a good year now. I've mostly put it down to an increasingly poor quality of games being released nowadays combined with my increased jadedness towards gaming/life/well, everything.

I'm a student, (of games design funnily enough) so I have a lot of time on my hands to kill and only today did I sit down and work out that I play on average around 60 hours a week, which is the equivilent of a job! I remember I used to game for fun, but now I only really seem to bother for trophies and achievements. I know this is stupid, and it's a habit I should be able to break but I can't. For example,  I'd love to go back and play some more fallout 3, but with 100% of the trophies to be earned on there earned, I really don't see it as an option worthy of my time. Instead I'm forcing myself through all kinds of crap, just to increase a small digital number that no one but me really cares about.

Congratulations me, I offically have an E-Penis equivilant to Level 11 on PSN and Almost 40,000 Achievement points on Xbox live, but at the end of the day what is the point in it all? As time goes by I'm beginning to find myself becoming more short tempered, and not just games but also with my family and friends, I've put on weight for the first time in my life, weighing 15 stone at 6 foot 1, making me according to my BMI at least, overweight. It's also an expensive habit, I haven't actually gone into the figures, but in the last year alone I wouldn't be suprised if I had spent well over £1000 on gaming, which is an expensive habit for a student with no job.

I could be doing such more productive things with my time, learning how to cook properly, how to look after myself better physically and also increasing my skills as an artist and 3d Designer, something which should be my main focus in life if I want to get ahead in this career.

Now I'm not saying I should give up forever, but I should maybe cut down to about 6 or 7 hours a week at the very tops and at least have the self respect to play games purely for the fun of it. Fuck the figures, Screw the trophies and achievements, I'm going rouge.


I'd like to apoligize if this doesn't make much sense, or even read very well but a lot of what is written is all just pouring out of my brain at once, and it's pretty tough to get it all down, let alone in any kind of readable english (plus it being 4am probably doesn't help lol).

Anyway, thanks for reading this, if anyone has any advice on what I should do, or any words of encouragement I'd be more than happy to hear them.


Soap

I suggest you take a break from it for a week or 2, it could be tiring you out when you don't even realise it. I had to stop for a couple of weeks one time and I actually felt pretty good about gaming again after that.

I'm not being patronising but if you're up at 4 in the morning anyway, you might as well be in a bar listening to bad music and drinking overpriced drinks. May not sound like fun but my best nights usually start out in placed I really, really don't fancy going to. If anything a change of scene might be refreshing.

60 hours a week is definitely a little excessive. You should take a break for a while and pick up some hobbies that you'd consider more productive.

don't feel like playing, don't play. Who are you trying to convice here? If i don't feel like listening to music anymore you won't see me on a music board to tell others about it.

Wow, it was scarey how similar I am to you.

I was in the same boat as you about 6 months back, and I took a month off.  veto all gaming, do some other stuff like you said. 

Playing 60 hours of games a week is an insanely large amount for anyone.  Even if you weren't a student that's a nuts amount.  I couldn't stand playing that much games, but I could probably do it if ya paid me...

It sounds like you're obsessed or something, it'd probably be best not to try quitting because you'd probably fail.  Just do your best to scale down your total game time.  Do some other stuff.  You'll enjoy games more that way too.  I too would be incredibly bored and fed up if I was playing that much.

You have to learn to put the control down or you'll overdose on games. Seriously, you'll bore yourself.
I find that playing last generation's or older games keeps me busy while waiting for new games to drop down in price.

Thanks for all your comments guys, it's good to know I'm not the only person in this situation lol, I was half expecting no comments at all, either that or a torrent of facepalms and general internet dickness so thanks for being pretty cool with it :P

I definitly need to cut back, mostly as I'm about to start my final year and I'd really dont want to look back on this year and think I wasted it on other things, but also so I can pick back up some of my other hobbies that I have let slip by the way side.

Thanks again :)

I get bored of games rather quick that's why I have so many, I rotate them and go back saves them getting old.
I can't relate on the achievement front though.

You do probably need a cut back, just have a break for a week or so then go back and play less, though you'll have to find something else to do with your time, learn to cook maybe, that's always useful.

Wow TC you are an achievement whore and you are a very sad person indeed to be complaining about such a petty problem. Think of all the worse off people in the world that are out there and here you are whining about how you have so much spare time that you get to play video games all day. Boo Hoo.

Oh, and jeez lose some weight you sound obese.

" Wow TC you are an achievement whore and you are a very sad person indeed to be complaining about such a petty problem. Think of all the worse off people in the world that are out there and here you are whining about how you have so much spare time that you get to play video games all day. Boo Hoo.Oh, and jeez lose some weight you sound obese. "

Well Soap, I recognize some of myself in your story, mainly the part about games feeling like a chore (and a pointless one at that) but not being able to stop. I had a period like that, and sometimes they flare up again when I'm upset about something or when life gets complicated (as it tends to do! ;)). The worst time for me was when I was deep into World of Warcraft...now there's a game you can never finish!

Anyway, glad to hear you're gonna give it a break. You'll probably appreciate playing games more when you've been away from them for a while, and you'll have more time to do what you want to do with your life outside of playing games.

Best of luck to you!

" @nail1080 said:

" Wow TC you are an achievement whore and you are a very sad person indeed to be complaining about such a petty problem. Think of all the worse off people in the world that are out there and here you are whining about how you have so much spare time that you get to play video games all day. Boo Hoo.Oh, and jeez lose some weight you sound obese. "

If you've got nothing constructive to add, you should shut the fuck up and say nothing, it benifits you in the long run, for example before this you were just a tool, now the whole net knows your a tool. Grats ;) "