Quitting Video Games Cold Turkey

[chazus]

I said that they are a waste of my time if I have better things to do.

There are always 'better' things to do. That is not always an excuse to do them. I'd really like to go to europe. I can't just 'go do that'. I'd like to go hiking, but it's night time, and I work tomorrow. There are a lot of 'better' things to do, that I can't afford. It's not always the case for people to just go do stuff they want.

[Lyriok]

Not really, I basically play games instead of watching tv as theres never anything on tv that interests me besides TWD and Legend of Korra.

Besides games I socialize, work, go to the gym, help my family and im happy with that.

[Blockygame]

For some people it's easier to uninstall something rather than just give up and leave it on their system, if this is what it takes for someone to stop altogether then I say go for it. Most will defend their opinions by saying "It's a hobby" and they're right, but far too many seem to use it as a snide remark as though they're defending something without elaborating (why post to be honest) rather than saying "good on you".

Have fun with whatever you choose to do with your new found free time.

[Skelington]

Things to be done outside of gaming? Skelington already does those. His ambitions and interests aren't all that wide.

[Palmatum]

I'm sorry you lack the self-control to maintain an equal balance between games and other entertainment that isn't game related. Alas, not everyone is as weak.

[BatteredRose]

I wish you luck with breaking your video game addiction, OP.

[Callace]

I'm sorry you lack the self-control to maintain an equal balance between games and other entertainment that isn't game related. Alas, not everyone is as weak.

Thanks for disparaging me over sharing something! Fuck you too!

---------- Post added 2012-07-09 at 02:06 AM ----------

I wish you luck with breaking your video game addiction, OP.

Many thanks, monsieur pirate kitty.

[Evil Inside]

Not really. I play games in my spare time, when im sitting around the house doing jack all. Other than that I go to gym 4 times a week, I study at uni and have a fairly active social life.

[Lyriok]

Thanks for disparaging me over sharing something! Fuck you too! [COLOR="red"]

Try to ignore the trolls, Besides that good luck.

[PBitt]

I like doing a variety of things. If I have fun doing it, then to me, that is all that matters in terms of the way I spend my free time. But spending all your free time doing just one thing isn't necessarily good either, I suppose.

[Calzaeth]

I don't play when there's something I'd rather be doing. It's like magic.

^ Goes for me as well. When I need to get drunk, I get drunk. When I want to go fishing, I ask a friend to join. And when I want to play a dunmer priest with a two-handed mace, I smash faces.

Edit: I also know that some people find it more difficult to balance gaming with other things, so I wish you the best of luck, Callace =) I actually did a double-take when I saw who the OP was xP

[Edison]

tbh I'd love to study and be out exercising instead of gaming, probably wont happend for another year or two tho... :P

[MonsieuRoberts]

Are there things I would rather be doing?

I couldn't think of a single thing.

---------- Post added 2012-07-08 at 10:24 PM ----------

If you enjoy what you do in your free time it is not wasted time...

This.

Very rarely have I looked back at a chunk of free time and thought to myself "What the fuck, what a waste of time, I regret spending those 2 hours doing X." In fact, I've never thought that ever.

[Poppincaps]

Looking back at all the time I wasted. It's a little bit sad. But that isn't the motivation of this post.

Let me ask you something. Did you enjoy your time playing those games? If you did, then why are you sad? If you didn't... well that's kinda foolish to waste time on something you don't enjoy. Video games are meant as entertainment. If playing video games is a waste of time, then so is hanging out with friends, listening to music, and doing things you're passionate about. With that logic the only thing that isn't a waste of time are things that contribute to your survival.

I don't know about all of you, but when I want to do something instead of something else, then I go do it. If you don't enjoy playing games, then by all means, don't. Just don't act like video games are a waste of time.

[vizzle]

Good for you OP. I quit, "cold turkey", but after about 6 months of no games I installed LoL. I play about an hour of LoL a day, which is NOTHING compared to what I used to play on MMORPGs.

I have done so much in the past year since quitting games that I wouldn't have done if I hadn't quit.

Edit: And all the people telling the OP "it's not a waste of time if you enjoyed it!" really just seem to be getting offended by the "waste of time" remark. There are many things a person can enjoy, that doesn't mean he should do those things. We shouldn't all just be hedonists just because we can. There are responsibilities in life, and even if you can balance it with gaming, there's always something more you can do. Don't just settle for "just doing enough".

[Iamanerd]

Do what makes you happy in life! That's what I go by as my so called rules in life and that's my number one. But for me personally I enjoy gaming and I've had a lot of time this summer due to no job, but I'm actively looking for one! I go to the gym 5 days a week for about an hour or so depending on whether or not it's a cardio or weight day, but on my cardio day I bring my 3DS and ride the bike and play pokemon for an hour lol. Besides that I do electrical side jobs for quick cash and I'm currently advancing my C++ this summer and I'm playing with HTML/CSS/JavaScript/PHP and some jQuery from time to time. But mostly I do a lot of gaming as I have plenty of time and I'm cutting down my backlog of games that piled up from the past year at uni.

[Mashpotaters]

Are there things you would rather be doing than gaming?

No. If there were I would be doing them instead of gaming. I think that's the point of gaming. It's not a job. If there's something else you want to do, then you drop the game and go do it. It's why getting burnt out exists in gaming. You get burnt out, and then you go do that thing you'd rather be doing because of the fact that you are burnt out. Now if you ask me are there things I SHOULD be doing instead of gaming, then I'd probably say yes.

[Talorh]

LOL at the Otakus rushing to defend their sensibilities. Allow me to clarify again. I never said videogames were inherently bad. I said that they are a waste of my time if I have better things to do. And I do. I was playing these games compulsively, out of habit, not because I was having fun. I wasn't. That really is a problem. I deleted them from my harddrive in order to avoid playing them even more out of compulsion. Plenty of people play out of habit more than fun, if you don't recognize that, you're probably one of them.

---------- Post added 2012-07-09 at 12:43 AM ----------


I didn't. It was wasted.

You weren't enjoying video games and you quit them. That's good, doing things that you don't enjoy are quite counter productive for anyone's life, especially when there are other more important and enjoyable things.

But I do get a feeling you now looking down on otakus who do enjoy playing video game. Not all of us are playing out of some compulsion or habit.

[Yuanrang]

There is a massive difference between gaming as an obsessive hobby that consumes your life, and gaming as a hobby to unwind when you have the time. For most normal people, and certainly most adults, it is far more productive than detrimental. I do see the problem for teenagers and young adults though, or any other age group that has quite a lot of spare time to devote to gaming.

[Window]

Who would really want to play games in the first place id rather spend all my time on a forum to a site dedicated to mmos