Video Game Addiction

You're probably right. I wanted to visit a doctor too (I don't say I have depression, maybe it's neurosis or I am insanely retarded) but I live in a small town where everyone knows each other and would have to come to bigger city to feel comfortably. Things get hard to do if you are on the border of shyness and some kind of social phobia. I already visited a doctor (not mental) this summer after 1-2 years of thinking about it and mentally preparing, and it was a tragedy.

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Iangyratu wrote:

Spoiler

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robertredberry wrote:

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Iangyratu wrote:

I play much, there was a time I used to spend even 15 hours a day on playing but I don't consider it addiction nor regret it. It's not that if I didn't play, I would do anything better. I'd probably just visit useless websites for days or just stare at screen, or would lay in the bed and watch ceiling. I'm agressive and jealous but again - it's not because of games. It came earlier.

I checked the reddit thread and even if I was addicted, it wouldn't change anything. This kind of motivation (?) would simply not work with me. It's like someone in comments there said: "It's not that games are the problem it's that games are masking the problem, an escape, just like any addiction". However, it reminded me there are some small things I would like to do besides playing and eternally forget to do.

It doesn't have to just be video games. It is about escapism, not wanting to face real life for whatever reason. I recently started going to a therapist because my depression got pretty bad - I sounded like you do in your above paragraphs. Just going and talking to someone, maybe getting some temporary medication, can help. The problem is taking the steps necessary to start this process - It's the catch 22 of depression.

This still might not apply to you. I'm just projecting.

You're probably right. I wanted to visit a doctor too (I don't say I have depression, maybe it's neurosis or I am insanely retarded) but I live in a small town where everyone knows each other and would have to come to bigger city to feel comfortably. Things get hard to do if you are on the border of shyness and some kind of social phobia. I already visited a doctor (not mental) this summer after 1-2 years of thinking about it and mentally preparing, and it was a tragedy.

I avoided it as well, for years. Just find a way to do it. Go to a therapist and a prescribing doctor or PA at the same time. Worrying about what other people think is natural, but fuck their opinions. Easier said than done, I know. Just find a way. Try to force yourself to start the process tomorrow.

Ah, the right term is compulsion, not addiction.

That being said, a mix of questionable design decisions (that a lot of developers do on purpose this days) and a shitty life can lead to that. The only escape is to design games properly, and to support people that end having those troubles.

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NeroNoah wrote:

Ah, the right term is compulsion, not addiction.

That being said, a mix of questionable design decisions (that a lot of developers do on purpose this days) and a shitty life can lead to that. The only escape is to design games properly, and to support people that end having those troubles.

I guess the word for it might vary for each person. It is starting to sound like this isn't as common as I thought.

The incoming VR era will be a hell of a drug to addictive people. I tried the HTC Vive and that shit is real, you can't even imagine the level of immersion if you haven't tried it yet. Often enough your brain literally thinks that the game world is real, you feel a sort of presence in the virtual world. And this technology will only become better over the next few years. If you tend to get addicted to vidya, stay away from VR.

I lost my best fried I had known since first grade to video games. World sucks. Real life conversation over. Back to video games.

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PrinceOfPuddles wrote:

I lost my best fried I had known since first grade to video games. World sucks. Real life conversation over. Back to video games.

Wait, he died because of video games? What the fuck?

I found his writing style incredibly annoying. I know he said he's not a writer, but putting a period every 3-5 words that often really irked me.

In any case, I tried what he did. The summer after I turned 15, I started going outside riding on my bike a lot. Got into decent shape, and started eating normal portions of real, not frozen, food. That winter, I started going to hockey festivals in the nearby towns, went out to parties, made friends and talked with the ladies. It was alright, but I got tired of it after a year. It was way too draining.

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Xavderion wrote:

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PrinceOfPuddles wrote:

I lost my best fried I had known since first grade to video games. World sucks. Real life conversation over. Back to video games.

Wait, he died because of video games? What the fuck?

He had a terminal illness for basically forever. Still hung out with him a lot, a few years back there was a feud over a girl we met in Dota 2, Childish, but have not spoken to him in a few years, don't actually know if he is still around.

Also I feel compelled to edit this and say I played Dota 2 back in closed beta back when invite keys went for 50$ each, Not what ever garbled mess it is now. Did a lot of beta back then, thats how I found path.

I think this is a problem with online games. Online games have one goal: Longevity, so they try their best to make you an addict. They usually lack the components that could make them clasify as an "art" product, meaning really great aesthetics, atmosphere and story.

I 've seen this happen to me to an extent with PoE. PoE is the only dedicated online multiplayer game i have ever really played. Before that (and now) i only played single player RPGs, and something like 1-4 max games per year. So about 7-8 months or more per year i was not playing anything.

For the one year that i was playing PoE (march 2013-late may 2014) i realised that i was becoming addicted. I was spending many more hours than i should in the game, and for many consecutive months, and the worst was that i was not really enjoying myself. I knew i only played due to being addicted. And within one year i played something like 1200 hours, including several that i was afk and just had the client open. I cannot imagine how people who have played this game (or any other for that matter) for 3, 4, 5 thousands hours, feel. 1200 hours in over one year might not sound like much, but trust me, it did have a negative effect on me. I did cut back on many things i normally did.

So i quit and went back to my old schedule. Currently i have not touched a video game since july. Not conciously. I am just too bored to play. I go for long periods that i am actually very bored in playing video games. I have not even played the expansion of The Witcher 3, that i have already bought, and TW3 is one of my favourite games of all time.