my only passion is video games...advice?

[LionOne]

Here's how to stop playing games (and how i did stop):

-understand that they don't have anything to give you, they have no value. You want to develop yourself as a person and video games can only mess up your head.

-commit yourself to quitting. it's not "i can reward myself with a game or two when i succeed in this and this". you have to stop it completely. no games for you anymore, adults don't play video games.

-delete them from your hard-drive, all of them and all your saved games and whatever related material you may have. if you own the games, just give them away or sell them.

-don't think about the games. if you are addicted to some game you will first think about it frequently but the KEY to quitting is not to think about them. when you start to think about some game, make some "access denied" sign in your head or anything which prevents you from starting to think it more.

-do gym, preferrably 3 times a week. eat well and keep your body toned. this itself involves much work and if you have no other hobby do this.

-do things that you like with your friends. go play pool, tennis, poker, clubbing, football or whatever.. learn some new skills by taking classes. think it like this: "the more i do these things, the more i have things to talk about" or "the purpose of life is to experience things, real value in real life comes from experiences and video games have nothing to offer you." you don't have to take some hobby to be super passionate about, just be passionate about everything. if you are asked to do something, just go, never stay home and watch tv instead.

-start talking to many girls and tell them all the cool things which has happened to you and what you have done. much more will happen now that you have quit playing. you don't have to do things just to impress girls but it is huge motivation to get yourself moving.

Essentially, quit playing, build real-life value and show that value to everyone. hope you succeed!

 

[dynamicallyidle]

Exactly, last year I got my non-games playing female flatmate borrowing my DS because she liked the look of one of the games (Nintendogs naturally ). In my new place we've got a PS2 set up and as i sepak we're having a big tourney on Bust A Move . As I say, games are only a handicap if you make them one.

Yeah. Well, this is not the way I'd like to experience life. I'm addicted, quite simply. If I could channel the determination and competitiveness I have when I play games into a real-life endeavor, I could get places.

But I'm so used to the instant gratification of games that I have kept coming back.

 

[itishe]

I had the same problem about a year or two ago. I wasted so many weekends playing video games, time I could of better spent socializing and partying with my friends actually enjoying life. One of the reasons I kept doing it though is because I displaced how bad it was ruining my life because I assured myself, "hey I go to the gym and play bass".

Video games to me now are boring when played alone. Get a few friends together on a boring night then it's fun, other than that I see it as a waste.

 

[xomel]

as long as youre not playing WoW youre fine.









ive seen many friends get sucked into videogames, I dont see them that often after they get into it.

but WoW...

WoW is another story. Ive had friends dissapear, we thought they died cause of this game, it wasn't just that I wouldn't see them that often, but that I never saw them at all.

WoW = spawn of satan

 

[I love Hyori Lee]

Oh, you don't have it half as bad as me.

None of you do.

I was such a loser, I used to review every game I've ever played. To this very day, my favorite games of all time are:

Planescape Torment
Fallout 1 and Fallout 2
Final Fantasy VII
System Shock 2 (The scariest game I've ever played..and a game that's still scarier than all the titles out there)
Thief 1 and Thief 2


Fallout 2 was an awesome game.

 

[ScrewIt]

I gave up full-time gaming by my last year of high school. To be frank I lost interest in gaming. Since then gaming is on and off, but off for the most part since i find games primarily boring. You'd practically have to point a gun to my head to make me play a game i have no interest in. Even now im completely oblivious to the thousands of fans camping on line waiting for the debut ps3/xbox360 to retail in stores...i dont see the hype or reason for this, or the harm in waiting a few days to buy it.

From a recreational standpoint it's fun once in awhile as long as you dont make it a habit to play it daily.

The way I see it, there are 2 types of gamers:
1) the type that's bored and plays to kill time constantly
2) the type that plays for fun (whether it's constant or sparingly)

More often than not the friends that I do have that play games constantly ARE 1's. They do it to kill time for the most part but the reason for that is they mostly stay at home to compensate for their lack of a social life/hobbies/interests outside of home.

As for your situation, IF games are TRULY your passion. how about finding a chick that digs games also. If that's hard, then i suggest finding hobbies/interests (like sports) outside of home that interest you.

 

[Mayfly]

Mario Kart is a good way to get girls to strip if you are pretty close to them already.

I used to play if you win you get to take a shot of Vodka, if you lose you gotta strip. I got plenty of girls naked doing it.

 

[Chosen1]

Hey dude you probably do have a passion you're not aware of. I love video games too but not as much as I used to. I beat metal gear 123. red faction the suffering ratchet and clank mdk2 armageddon and a few others. I used to say man playing video game is the only thing I'm good at. now I'm intrested in boxing :box: I would love to get in the ring. Just telling you you probably like something but said I won't be any good at it and gave up. don't give up.

 

[Jariel]

I can relate. Computer game addiction caused me to lose 5 years of my life and fall into a deep rut. I got shy and unsociable, incompetent, lazy, naive, fat and spotty, poorly groomed and dressed, I even developed phobias of going out, speaking to people. It affected me much like a drug addiction.

I was actually a very popular and gifted child, had lots of girlfriends, played a lot of sports and had so much going for me until I got hooked on games.

My advice is to read the tip in my signature on getting motivated where I suggest using computer games as an incentive to achieve great things. Don't allow yourself to play computer games, until you've been for a walk or read a few chapters of a book, for example, and then reward yourself with an hour+ of game playing.

 

[Jariel]

WoW is another story. Ive had friends dissapear, we thought they died cause of this game, it wasn't just that I wouldn't see them that often, but that I never saw them at all.

WoW = spawn of satan

I agree. I don't see the appeal myself; too many numbers and stats to make it enjoyable, and essentially it's just a case of attacking different monsters by having higher stats than it does. :yawn:

But I've had friends disappear to this game too. One of my best friends who I used to consider competition for women, has got so fat and bloated, so scruffy and unhygenic, has dropped out of university and is a real loser. I am not exaggerating either, and it's all due to WOW!

 

[md3sign]

There was a story in the news a while back about some kid in the east (Korea maybe) who killed himself because his parents wouldn't let him play WoW.

I think it sucks people in BECAUSE it's so complex and that's also why it takes forever to do anything.

 

[yoimjamie]

The problem with MMO's, wow in particular, is that it hijacks your brains work/reward system, as i said earlier. i think it is unique in the depth to which it snares you.

i quit yesterday. i'm not going to go back, i have a strong resolve, more than i've had in two years, and i feel happier than i have in a long time.

just quit, do it, find a reason to do it, you'll feel better straight away

 

[Zero Hero]

I used to play video games, but I quit almost 4 years ago. I was never really addicted though. I just played franchises in Madden and other sports titles, which I don't think are as addicting as WoW. I never got into those RPG battling games or whatever you call them. Perhaps you could switch over to sports titles first because they are easier to quit. Kinda like using the patch for smoking, take small steps.

 

[mrRuckus]

WTF stop blaming games on your all own inadequacies.

I play a lot of video games, get laid, work out, eat right, have a good job, make plenty of money, graduated with a 3.8 in computer science (omfg nerd!), play sports on a team, and post too much on sosuave.

And if you're going to play an MMORPG at least play one that isn't made for little kids. Fvck WOW.

 

[mrRuckus]

I agree. I don't see the appeal myself; too many numbers and stats to make it enjoyable, and essentially it's just a case of attacking different monsters by having higher stats than it does.

Yeah sounds like all sports.

Actually funny story. I lived with this girl I dated for about a year. I was into WoW back then. I remember one night I actually refused sex because I had to finish up a dungeon.

So what? You were busy with something else and didn't want to have sex with her. What's the difference what it was? Sex isn't the ultimate achievement for which you should drop everything like a puppy in heat whenever it's served up.

I play EQ2. I laugh my ass off all night talking to people and roleplaying my ratonga and generally having fun with people. What's wrong to be ashamed of that? Everyone else i know spends most weekday nights watching tv. At least i'm socially interacting, learning people skills, and how to work as a team.

 

[Skel]

stop playing video games :nono:

 

[md3sign]

So what? You were busy with something else and didn't want to have sex with her. What's the difference what it was? Sex isn't the ultimate achievement for which you should drop everything like a puppy in heat whenever it's served up.

I play EQ2. I laugh my ass off all night talking to people and roleplaying my ratonga and generally having fun with people. What's wrong to be ashamed of that? Everyone else i know spends most weekday nights watching tv. At least i'm socially interacting, learning people skills, and how to work as a team.

I think there is a difference in what it was. "Honey I'm busy playing a video game" isn't exactly the same thing as "honey I just had a 12 hour work shift and I can barely stand". If that were me in the same position I probably wouldn't be too happy - the implication is that video games are more important than sex. For some they are and that's personal choice. I just thought it was funny and she never let me live it down.

Nothing wrong with having fun playing video games, but as far as social interaction and people skills go, they are nowhere NEAR the same as talking to someone face to face and the "social skills" do not carry over. Never touched EQ but I played WoW on and off since beta up until a few months ago so I can personally relate. Last quarter's seminar class (I'm a digital design major) was on precisely this.

 

[penkitten]

turn off the video game. take the cord and send it to me.
i will never give it back.

 

[jack knife]

video games are amazing... they give lazy and weak people something to do to waste their lives.

video games along with its close friend masturbation are such gamekillers that it's not even funny. if you're only in it for the instant satisfaction, how can you ever achieve to build a meaningful relationship?


anyone ever watch the movie grandma's boy? it's all about this guy who plays video games... huge loser. and he's completely happy with himself. so as i said video games are great. they give losers something to feel happy about and keeps them out of the way of everyone else.

 

[cdoubled05]

Ahh yes video game addiction, been there done that. My xbox 360 just broke about two weeks ago! I honestly think it's a blessing in disguise! I have no intention of paying $139.99 to get it fixed either. I went and removed all my pc games as well shortly after this happened. I played games for a large chunk of my life and feel it is finally time to move on to bigger and better things. Games are great fun but they just suck up to much useful time. Time that could have been used doing something more worthwhile perhaps. Go read, workout, hangout, do whatever. If anything you should be getting out of the house more leading to more oppurtunities to meet new people...thats how I'm utilizing the moment. It's funny, this would normally be a great upset to me, with the recent changes I've made to my attitude like previously stated this is exactly what I needed.