Think I might be done...

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Obsoleet

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2007
2,181
1
0
First person I ever met that didn't like TV and sports like me. Feels nice to know i'm not alone. Though i'm getting to the point where I pretty much despise TV and the people that can sit there for hours doing nothing. Among other things I grow to hate, it will probably make me like some cranky old man when i'm old but can't seem to help it.

I think there's a good handful of us out there.
TV sucks something terrible, it is despicable as you say.
Not that I'm lame enough to have cable in 2013.. but even the History Channel has mostly gone to the dogs.
The only station I'd care to turn on (and mostly for background noise while I eat a sandwich) is PBS. And the only reason PBS isn't completely brainless is because it's a non-profit institution and relies on donations/viewers like you. The 'profit incentive' seems to ruin a lot of good things in life.

I do have a Netflix subscription for her to watch whatever she wants, which is also occasional. She found once she moved in with me that life without cable isn't that big of a deal. You become more productive.

We're both working on 2 business plans at the moment, we have things to do in our life. She's finishing her teaching certification and I'm learning new programming skills.. for fun we enjoy good food and I play exorbitant amounts of League of Legends.

TV is just obsolete, sports I support in theory because it's better people focus on their meaningless team than nationalism/war/xenophobia/killing each other.
Oh, and Hexen was a great game (I'm 31 next month, longtime gamer like yourself).
 
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Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
13
81
www.markbetz.net
First person I ever met that didn't like TV and sports like me. Feels nice to know i'm not alone. Though i'm getting to the point where I pretty much despise TV and the people that can sit there for hours doing nothing. Among other things I grow to hate, it will probably make me like some cranky old man when i'm old but can't seem to help it.

I'm in the same camp. The only thing I watch is Netflix when I need to get off of the computer for awhile.
 

Carfax83

Diamond Member
Nov 1, 2010
6,841
1,536
136
I love PC gaming, and I'll never stop.....ever.

That said, I have a wife and four children so I have to be careful with my time. It's not difficult really. I never play online, because as one guy mentioned, that's the ultimate time sink. I also only play the games that really interest me, so I don't get back logged frequently with tons of games that I purchased on Steam or Origin but have not downloaded.

Of course, the end result is that it can take a long time for me to beat a game. In an extreme case, it took me 2 years to beat Dragon Age Origins. My son was born shortly after the game came out, and the game was a real grind fest at times so I lost interest frequently.

On average though, I usually take a month or so to complete most games.
 
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StinkyPinky

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2002
6,761
777
126
I'm married, have two kids, work full time, study part time, and still find time to game. Obviously nowhere near as much as I did when I was a teenager, but I probably still play 10 hours a week.
 

HydroSqueegee

Golden Member
Oct 27, 2005
1,709
2
71
Wife + 3 kids. My game time has actually had an uptick lately. I'll keep the 1 year old downstairs with me so my wife can get some undisturbed sleep. I'll get her to sleep then game for 2-4 hours. only problem with this is its usually from 10pm-2am, so im dead tired the next day. The older i get the more the day after a late night hurts, so i need a better system soon. When the baby is older it will be easier to game in the normal hours when i dont have to chase after her.
 

Chiefcrowe

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2008
5,043
174
116
I've found that the more stuff I have to do, the better I have been doing to prioritize stuff. I've been cramming in more reading, catching up on movies, etc. and some games now that i've become more hyper aware of time restrictions. I miss not having to do that but I feel like I get more productive stuff done as well as hobbies. I usually end up rotating different things so I can feel like I actually am making a dent in the backlog.

Love board games and card games too which is nice when getting together with family or friends. I think it kind of sucks having to "schedule" your entertainment as stuff gets busier but for me it's the only way to do it.

For a while I wasn't really gaming much at all but now I am back at it, albeit not that many hours per week. Maybe i'll have to train myself to sleep less too!
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,190
85
91
madgenius.com
The SO enjoys me having hobbies .. granted, I think I am maxed, because she said if I get another one, i'll have to drop one, LOL ... I love hobbies...but i'll admit gaming takes up 75% of that hobby time!

One thing I scarified was social time/friends, but I am generally not a social person as it is. I have a few close friends, and that's good enough for me.

Then I have my gamer friends, local and distant, and there's a shit ton of those, haha. They are mostly considered acquaintances who can help me not face roll into a bad solo queue into LoL.
 

jhbball

Platinum Member
Mar 20, 2002
2,917
23
81
I've dialed back my gaming habits alot. I turned in my WoW PVP legend card to play LoL for my multiplayer competitive fix.

My younger brother and I are very close (he's 25 and I'm 29), and we still use games as a way to bond.

But having a girlfriend and a career, I'm limited to ~5 hours a week these days.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,066
1,550
126
I used to play games "hardcore" from when I was 5 and my dad bought an Apple 2 E until up through grade school, middle school, high school, college, until my mid 20s. At which point, I was burned out from Wow Raiding (after they first added the naxx 40 man content before the 1st expansion for timeline, don't remember when that was on calander year),

Anyhow, I quit all games for about 6-12 months and felt like I had so much free time. I watched more movies, I biked more, I actually was a lot happier.

Since that time, I've grown a lot, and while I do sometimes get into phases where I play a LOT of games over 1 week, I don't value my game playing time over my time with the fiance, or traveling, or going outside, or being with friends.

It's gone from an obsession to simply a way to entertain myself.

It can be very difficult to find a balance, especially for people with an addictive personality.

I would say, yes, it's time to quit, and, if you are happier with no games in your life, then stay quit. Otherwise, after a few months with no games, maybe you'll learn to enjoy in moderation without sacrificing anything else you value in your life.
 

Obsoleet

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2007
2,181
1
0
I'd note that I've known 2 types of gamers. Those that seem to play games and sacrifice the rest of their lives, to their own detriment.. and those who play games and still manage to get through school/work ect.

I'm the latter, I have a relative that's the former. He has to QUIT gaming altogether to maintain productivity, it's a swing cycle between 100% gaming all the time and being 0% productive in life (on all counts).

I've always managed girlfriends, work, school and gaming from high school through college and beyond (today, I'm 30).

I think it's the gaming obsessed types who have a religious epiphany of sorts where they swear off gaming and that 'childish habit'. People in older generations always played cards, that's the OG version of PC gaming.. they never stopped.. smoked cigs and played some obscure (to me) card game all night on the weekend with other couples.
No reason that's any less childish than Serious Sam 3.
 

desura

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2013
4,627
129
101
I read these threads a lot too. I almost feel *pressure* from myself to beat the games if just to justify the purchases of the games. I'm smart enough to see through the game's walls and boundaries enough so that I don't enjoy them.

Honestly, I really can only enjoy video games after like 2 months of not playing ANY of them. Then you hop into one and am awed by like the fluidity of the graphics. But the sensation is pretty much gone in like 4-5 hours and then to enjoy you have to skip for the next few weeks.

Consoles might be better too because one bad habit of mine is to automatically go into settings with each new game I play and adjust the graphics. This makes gameplay too clinical.
 

slpnshot

Senior member
Dec 1, 2011
305
2
81
While I can't imagine quitting gaming altogether, I've noticed that a lot of games I used to like don't really retain my attention anymore. I've quit a lot of games half way through, and it's not because they're bad by any rate. But I just stop and don't pick it up for months at a time...

On the other end, I'm grinding a lot of hours on LoL right now...
 
D

Deleted member 4644

I have a ton of backlog, and even have some games Kickstarter'd, but I think it's just time to give up the PC gaming. I've always seen it as my main hobby and thing to do, but since getting married it's been cutting in a lot with spending time with my wife because for some reason I can't see it as a "small scale" hobby; probably because most of the games I play on it are competitive or MMORPGs.

I have my Vita, and my 3DS, which I have been loving and are great in just playing in bed before I go to sleep or sitting on the recliner while we're both just bumming around; playing on the PC I'm always playing with an old friend of mine and I can get caught up in hours before even realizing how much I've neglected everything else.

Growing up is nice, but also sucks; sometimes I wish I was still that goofy kid playing Diablo 2 until 5am with my best friend.

Meh, just felt like sharing. Anyone else have similar thoughts?

+1
 

blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
6,654
5
76
My wife doesn't mind me playing games at all (unless I start punching walls or smashing the keyboard while yelling fffuuuuuccccckkkk!!!!!!). She more or less says that 1) she likes to have a microscopic "break" from me and 2) she has time for herself then. Sometimes she even brings me food and wine to my room while I play :D I have to admit I hit a lottery ticket with that woman, though.

I might have you beat. :p My gf games too. She's also a good cook. We occasionally play multiplayer games together, but oftentimes we just play single-player games.
 

JoetheLion

Senior member
Nov 8, 2012
392
2
81
You don't have to give up your hobby. Just let it go for a while and return to it whenever you have some free time and you'd like to play. Usually I have huge gaps in playing games. For example, I've played a lot through February and March, but only a bit in April (max. 4 hours) and I haven't played at all in May. And for example, I haven't played anything from June 2012 till December 2012. You know, you don't have to bury your pc gaming. Just give it some rest, the games won't run anywhere.
 

Raduque

Lifer
Aug 22, 2004
13,141
138
106
. As soon as they stop playing games 12 hours a day, they view people that do still enjoy gaming as some kind of scummy losers. F people like that.

Honestly, if you do play PC games for 12 hours a day, that's kind of looser-ish, if you're an adult.
 

TidusZ

Golden Member
Nov 13, 2007
1,765
2
81
Honestly, if you do play PC games for 12 hours a day, that's kind of looser-ish, if you're an adult.

I agree, 12 hours a day isn't showing much commitment. What are you wasting your time on the other 12 hours?
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Honestly, if you do play PC games for 12 hours a day, that's kind of looser-ish, if you're an adult.

Um...well...here in FL it can rain for 12 hours straight. Can't go out and get stuff done around the house, TV sucks, everyone is lazy cause of the weather. So I sit down and sometimes yeah I do play that long. I've played longer too. On days off, for no other reason than that I enjoy it.

You don't call people losers who go fishing and spend 12 hours casting a line out and get no results do you?
 

desura

Diamond Member
Mar 22, 2013
4,627
129
101
Anyways,

one thing I've found is that when I pc game, the first thing I do is go to the settings and adjust the visuals.

This is actually kind of stupid when you think about it. It's better to just have gaming be something that's a mystery, and with you not knowing if like a texture is high or super high, or if anistropic filtering or whatever else is enabled.

translation: consoles are better.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
14,946
1,077
126
Anyways,

one thing I've found is that when I pc game, the first thing I do is go to the settings and adjust the visuals.

This is actually kind of stupid when you think about it. It's better to just have gaming be something that's a mystery, and with you not knowing if like a texture is high or super high, or if anistropic filtering or whatever else is enabled.

translation: consoles are better.

None of what you just said made any sense, considering today's console games hold your hand from the moment you start them up (and usually 2-3 hours in at least if not more).

If adjusting video options to suit a higher or lower end system is too dramatic, gaming probably isn't your thing. Those options are there for just that..options. Consoles really offer none of that (and I play consoles too so I'm not trashing them, just pointing out the error in your thought process).
 

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
13
81
www.markbetz.net
None of what you just said made any sense, considering today's console games hold your hand from the moment you start them up (and usually 2-3 hours in at least if not more).

Yes, and the same is now true for PC games, which are usually ports of console games.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
Yes, and the same is now true for PC games, which are usually ports of console games.

The last 4 Bethesda releases are this.

Oblivion, F3, New Vegas, and Skyrim all keep getting dumber and easier in order to appeal to a larger console market each time around.