I think i'm getting too old for video games...

[Unoriginal]

I'm 20 years old now and I don't want really want to bother with gaming anymore..I started getting into fitness months ago, I just picked up a fulltime job.
I plan to start college next semester and get a career going...am I done?

I used to be a depressed sedentary drop out, who until last year was sitting in his cave playing all day and all night, at certain points i'd wake up somewhere past noon. I started getting my shit together though, i lost over 70 pounds..i got my license..i got a car...started paying bills and started to look at my self, who I was, who I am, and who I want to be.....

Was this just a phase?

[foxHeart]

Had this not had a question at the end, I don't know if it would've had a point. Actually, scratch that.

[Maalus]

You can do all of those "cool grown up things you decided to start doing" and play video games. It looks like you just want attention and thought posting about "growing up" was a good place to start?

[Lastlivingsoul]

I'm 20 years old now and I don't want really want to bother with gaming anymore..I started getting into fitness months ago, I just picked up a fulltime job.
I plan to start college next semester and get a career going...am I done?

I used to be a depressed sedentary drop out, who until last year was sitting in his cave playing all day and all night, at certain points i'd wake up somewhere past noon. I started getting my shit together though, i lost over 70 pounds..i got my license..i got a car...started paying bills and started to look at my self, who I was, who I am, and who I want to be.....

Was this just a phase?

Video games for many are an escape. When given to excess then yes they can be a crutch.

I'm glad you found your way but don't confuse what is to some a recreational hobby as a constant phase of adolescence.

[Deleted]

I personally found that my real life sort of sucked and was either boring, mostly pointless or both and decided to play moar videogames after almost a 2 year break \o/

[Deleted]

Good job I manage to squeeze in an hour of gaming here and there during the summer. Thats enough for me.

[Tydrane]

I go in and out of phases with video games, but the one thing I make sure never to do, is to give video games priority over real life. You might find later on that your interest in video games picks up, but not as strongly as it did before because you're better able to prioritise now that you're older.

[dejec1989]

Do the "grown up" thing for a few years and you will come running back to video games with tears in your eyes, but nothing wrong with that.

[Deleted]

bull crap.
You can never be too old for video games, you just dont enjoy them anymore. simple.

[Xomniuri]

I'm 29, work full time, in a relationship for over 2 years, the only difference between now and when i was your age was instead of raiding 4-5 nights a week, i raid 2. I'm still playing games on average 3hrs a day 7 days a week but then i don't sit on the couch watching tv, when i do watch tv shows it's on my pc and i'm normally playing a game at the same time.

Just reduce your commitment to raids to a manageable amount while still having time to do the other things you like.
There are alot of guilds out there that like to raid and like to have a life

p.s. i do however have a stack of 4-5 other video games in the yet-to-be-played pile, but it just means your never bored out of your mind when there's a long wait till the next good games are released

p.p.s. Do what makes you happy

[Bigbazz]

Do what I do, when you dont wanna play games just shut them out and dont bother with them. At some point you will get the urge to play some game again and you will enjoy it more than ever, then you can put it down again when you feel you have had enough and move on again.

Right now I'm going through a gaming phase where I'm really enjoying it, but not so long ago (just a few weeks) I wasn't playing any games at all for quite a good while and was enjoying just getting on with other things in life. I think it's pretty normal to be honest, when you have other (better) things happening in life you don't often have the desire to spend all your time playing games.

[KCguy]

I will always play video games, always. It's cool you got your life on track, but don't disregard video games as this horrible thing or something that non busy people do.

BTW, 20 is not old at all. You're just a young guy! Take a break, go out, live your life. If you feel you want to come back to video games though, go for it! You obviously have a lot starting to build up on your plate and it's called being an adult. Take care of those things because in the end, video games are just a hobby. You can come back down the road.

[Gags]

As others have said do what makes you happy. But associating video games with your past state isn't an accurate way of looking at it. I am almost 32, have a decent career, keep fit, play sport and still maintain a fair amount of gaming. I raid lead my wow team 4 days a week, as well I coach a school basketball team from my old high school. Playing video games does not = no life.

[MoanaLisa]

Moved to Video Games Discussion forum since this really has nothing specifically to do with World of Warcraft.

[Aventhos]

have to agree with most people cant ever be too old for games. Sounds like you dont like it anymore because you associate it with a sounds like a bad spell in life, which is normal. I went though that in Vanilla and "got my self out of the gutter". I still play but no where near the hours I used to. Somewhere between 6 and 24 hours a week (rare to have 24 and a break from reality). During wow I got a masters degree worked for 5 years in asia and now reside in Switzerland holding down a damn good job living with the long term French girlfriend, drive a 100k car and still have time to play a little wow. Dont let wow make you a slave as it as, (and to me too). I did my dungeon dwelling 72+ weeks of wow but like most things, everything in moderation.

[vizzle]

OP you're not alone. I don't game anymore (I'm 21, though I stopped when I was 20); used to game 24/7, did that for several years. There's just too many things I want/have to do in life that I can't/don't want to dedicate those hours to gaming.

Not that I'm deriding people who do game, I'm just saying that I got tired of it.

[Zenotetsuken]

And yet you still hang out on videogame forums looking for some sort of approbation? Perhaps you should put all of those things you have going for you to use, and break away completely.

[CarlingBlackLabel]

Nope, not too old! I'm 34, married, have two children and a full time job and I still love playing video games. It's my way to unwind after work when the kids are in bed and the wife settled

[Deleted]

A bit of a sensationalist title isn't it? At 20 you're not too old for anything, you're just getting started with your life :P

Hell, no one is ever "too old" for something when it comes to entertainment. What you do for entertainment is up to you. Now if you as a person have moved on from gaming fair enough, it sounds like your life is a lot busier now and you have different priorities - but everyone still needs to chill out and relax. Whether you do that from listening to music, watching a movie or TV, reading a book, playing a game, going to the pub, playing a sport, going hiking, whatever... we all have our different ways of having fun and relaxing, there's no need to justify to yourself, or anyone else, why you do or don't do something anymore.

Was this just a phase?

You make it sound like gaming is a lifestyle choice or something that you can't stop doing for a while.. it's entertainment, it's fun, it's relaxation, it's a way to relieve stress or pass the time or do something with friends, just like a million other things. Don't over think it. If you don't enjoy it, don't do it, but don't worry about it either. One day you may feel like picking it back up, you might not.

[Zhira]

36 (almost 37) year old here, full time job but single and no kids.

Playing games for me is my hobby, but not alone. I play within a gaming community with 15 people and we meet every other week AFK and have fun.

I've been playing since 1984, sometimes too much and sometimes too little. Key here is that gaming never trumphs AFK for me.

Fun fact! The average game player is 30 years old and has been playing games for 12 years and the average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 35 years old.

Z.