Game Addiction

[Puce Moment]

Two days I uninstalled a game from my Steam account as I started to feel like I was becoming addicted to playing it. It started to occupy my thoughts and my drifting off to sleep consciousness, and started to take up a huge amount of my time. I am diagnosed OCD (yes, not self-diagnosed like every person who keeps their records in alphabetical order) and it is a serious issue in my life. I have spoken to my Doctor about it, and I lurk on an excellent OCD forum. Someone posted about gaming, and it rang so true it frankly shocked me.

I started playing this particular game about 4-years ago, and in time I became very good at it. The thing is, I do not really game at all. I have played both Portal games, and CoD, but have never really been that passionate or even very good at gaming. In fact, I would consider myself to be supremely untalented at gaming. My only superpower when it comes to gaming is my serious Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This means I am terrible at any open ended games, or games that seem to have numerous outcomes. I gave up on Fall Out at the point where I had the opportunity to blow up the town with the huge bomb. I can't take those divergences. Instead, I need short term goals that are offered by server games, with 15mins maps in which I can get top of the table, before a new round begins. There are no real long-term goals, just short maps that offer immediate satisfaction.

At first I was awful - I could not even really do the whole wasd key thing, and would always be at the bottom of tables. In the course of a year I became good, then very good, then excellent, to then being the top ten player. I was offered the job of admin on the most popular game server, and before I knew, I was kicking players, promoting players, banning players and controlling maps and votes. It actually became quite a chore, took up a lot of my time, and at the time of Trump-mania, I started to realise that most other people on the server were redneck arseholes. So I withdrew and changed my name, and went back in to play as an outsider. I enjoyed it a lot, but recently I started a new job and I am under a lot of pressure with lots of long-term projects that take many weeks or months, and the lure of the game started to be very powerful. I started putting in too many hours.

So I uninstalled as a way to go cold turkey and it has already been wonderful. I have got a shitload of work done, I am playing my mandolin and I am reading a novel, something I haven't done for a while.

Has anyone had a similar experience, or become problematically addicted to a game?

[Space ghost]

what game is it?

[Puce Moment]

what game is it?

Why do you want to know?

[Space ghost]

because it's 3 am and i'm on the internet searching for distraction.

[Puce Moment]

because it's 3 am and i'm on the internet searching for distraction.

Shaq Fu

[Space ghost]

Developed a liking for that juicy Shaq meat eh.

[Puce Moment]

Sure thing. Absolutely.

Whatever you like.

[Zetetic]

One more turn, in Civilization. I'm not sure that's quite 'addiction', but it's in the same family of things where the urge to continue doing something is no longer connected with any experience of pleasure.

[Glebe]

DC Universe Online for the past while. Every time I think I'm sick of it, I come back for more.

[NoSleep]

One more turn, in Civilization. I'm not sure that's quite 'addiction', but it's in the same family of things where the urge to continue doing something is no longer connected with any experience of pleasure.

I've had this with Civilisation (II & III). It becomes a chore, an administrative nightmare, and feels like being released from a prison when you've finally won, rather than any kind of victory.

[TheWoodenSpoon]

It's a very real thing, and I'm addicted to many games which take no effort to "have one more go" in. Such as World of Tanks.

WARNING: WORLD OF TANKS IS AN UNHEALTHY ADDICTION

[Space ghost]

bet it was rocket league

[colacentral]

Definitely been addicted to games, most recently Mario Kart and Zelda. The tough thing about it is that it really feels like a waste of time. If I was addicted to playing an instrument or reading a book I'd be getting something out of it, whereas playing games just feels like I'm blasting noises and colours into my brain.

[mobias]

Definitely been addicted to games, most recently Mario Kart and Zelda. The tough thing about it is that it really feels like a waste of time. If I was addicted to playing an instrument or reading a book I'd be getting something out of it, whereas playing games just feels like I'm blasting noises and colours into my brain.

Depends a lot on the game. When I was in the depths of my Witcher 3 playthrough in 2015 I thought it was just as engrossing and rewarding as a good book read. Not massively intellectually stimulating of course but still an all round really enjoyable experience. I would never say the same about getting addicted to playing some arcade shoot em up.

[Bazooka]

Superman 64, the rings, the RINGS!

[black_betty]

With me it's factorio - 0.15 just came out. I thought I had it bad with minecraft, but this addiction is in a different league.

[Shay Chaise]

Definitely been addicted to games, most recently Mario Kart and Zelda. The tough thing about it is that it really feels like a waste of time. If I was addicted to playing an instrument or reading a book I'd be getting something out of it, whereas playing games just feels like I'm blasting noises and colours into my brain.

You've mentioned this before, funnily enough, but I think - or rather, I'll suggest - that it speaks more about your own circumstances than the qualitative value of gaming. I think it's as valid as any hobby, even if you're just blasting away mindlessly, depending on what else you do with your life.

Personally, I work around eleven or twelve hours a day and feel that I am 'productive', and make some sort of contribution to a number of people's lives. I do my best, anyway, most of the time. In that context, I don't feel the pressure to be as 'productive' or do something as 'valuable' in my free time. I'm happy to just be happy, either with company or on my own. That can mean sitting in the bath with a good book, or doing some exercise/playing sports with mates, or listening to music/watching a good film but quite often, of a weekday evening, it means playing some games to unwind.

Maybe when I was younger and less certain about what I wanted from a career or relationship or self-perception or whatever, I would have felt this was a waste of time but I know myself a bit better now and I think it's great for me to just have something to enjoy, without guilt, whether it's emotionally involving like TLOU or if it's just a mechanical blast, like Titanfall 2.

I do have certain creative ideas which I would like to realise but on the other hand, I put so much of my imagination, effort and creativity into my job, and I'm fortunate to observe the direct benefits, that I don't really need to have a blog or amass an audience to validate my 'output'. I do whatever I do largely because I enjoy it, not because of some oppressive psychological framework.

My stance is create meaning through your work, not your leisure.

[Phil_A]

The problem I tend to have is more to do with acquiring games rather than playing them. It was worst during the PS1 era, I must've had around 50 or 60 games most of which I had barely even touched(and on top I was also accumulating a huge pile of Dreamcast, PC, PS2 and Gamecube stuff). Eventually I flogged them all for what seems in retrospect like an absurdly small amount of cash, but actually I was just relieved I no longer had the burden of guilt of having spent all this money on games that I would never have time to play.

I buy very few physical copies of games these days as thankfully Steam and GOG.com sales satisfy that need for new shiny things, without the associated guilt of having to look at all the piles of unplayed discs lying around.

I find it hard to really addicted to games as such as my attention span is short enough that if I've played a game for more than an couple of hours I feel the need to stop and do something else. Morrowind is an exception though, I would happily just lose whole days playing that. That was what made me understand how people could just lose themselves completely playing MMOs, it's that same feeling of total absorption in an imaginary world.

[Bazooka]

The problem I tend to have is more to do with acquiring games rather than playing them

This is me, but not with that intention. I simply buy them and then never have time to play them. I find people addicted to games like Second Life just way too out there, you can't even kill people.

[colacentral]

You've mentioned this before, funnily enough, but I think - or rather, I'll suggest - that it speaks more about your own circumstances than the qualitative value of gaming. I think it's as valid as any hobby, even if you're just blasting away mindlessly, depending on what else you do with your life.

Personally, I work around eleven or twelve hours a day and feel that I am 'productive', and make some sort of contribution to a number of people's lives. I do my best, anyway, most of the time. In that context, I don't feel the pressure to be as 'productive' or do something as 'valuable' in my free time. I'm happy to just be happy, either with company or on my own. That can mean sitting in the bath with a good book, or doing some exercise/playing sports with mates, or listening to music/watching a good film but quite often, of a weekday evening, it means playing some games to unwind.

Maybe when I was younger and less certain about what I wanted from a career or relationship or self-perception or whatever, I would have felt this was a waste of time but I know myself a bit better now and I think it's great for me to just have something to enjoy, without guilt, whether it's emotionally involving like TLOU or if it's just a mechanical blast, like Titanfall 2.

I do have certain creative ideas which I would like to realise but on the other hand, I put so much of my imagination, effort and creativity into my job, and I'm fortunate to observe the direct benefits, that I don't really need to have a blog or amass an audience to validate my 'output'. I do whatever I do largely because I enjoy it, not because of some oppressive psychological framework.

My stance is create meaning through your work, not your leisure.

Sure, and I agree, but isn't it only addiction if you're doing something too much? There is a benefit to unwinding and putting all real life thoughts out of your head for a while (which I originally wrote in my first post but deleted as I felt I was rambling on), but I mean that as an addiction that intrudes on your free time when you don't want it to, eg when you need to get a hair cut, or take the dog for a walk, and you can't pull yourself away, it has a much smaller net benefit to your life than a hobby which improves a useful skill, makes you healthier, or otherwise improves your life away from the hobby.

I'm not judgemental about people who spend lots of time playing games, but I despair at say, people who are speed runners or people who 100% everything, regardless of whether they like the game. These people might get lucky and get big on Twitch or Youtube, but for the most part I have to wonder if they'll ever think "those thousands of hours could have been better spent."

Re: Phil.

I have the same problem with buying games I never play. Part of the problem for me is that starting new games is so often a chore, with cut scenes and tutorials, that it's something I actually dread doing. To link back to the above: my thought is always "in the two hours it will take me to actually start the game I could've watched a film." I obviously have alot of anxiety about spare time and dying having wasted it. I find long boring cut scenes extremely disrespectful of the players' time, who may only have 30 minutes before work to play something, and had to watch a dull, third rate anime instead of shooting things.

[TheWoodenSpoon]

Superman 64, the rings, the RINGS!

No joke, I once played this game on stream for two hours straight. The rings are indeed horrifically bad, sure, but there are so many other problems with Superman 64 that it simply defies belief.

[asids]

Sure, and I agree, but isn't it only addiction if you're doing something too much? There is a benefit to unwinding and putting all real life thoughts out of your head for a while (which I originally wrote in my first post but deleted as I felt I was rambling on), but I mean that as an addiction that intrudes on your free time when you don't want it to, eg when you need to get a hair cut, or take the dog for a walk, and you can't pull yourself away, it has a much smaller net benefit to your life than a hobby which improves a useful skill, makes you healthier, or otherwise improves your life away from the hobby.

I'm not judgemental about people who spend lots of time playing games, but I despair at say, people who are speed runners or people who 100% everything, regardless of whether they like the game. These people might get lucky and get big on Twitch or Youtube, but for the most part I have to wonder if they'll ever think "those thousands of hours could have been better spent."

Re: Phil.

I have the same problem with buying games I never play. Part of the problem for me is that starting new games is so often a chore, with cut scenes and tutorials, that it's something I actually dread doing. To link back to the above: my thought is always "in the two hours it will take me to actually start the game I could've watched a film." I obviously have alot of anxiety about spare time and dying having wasted it. I find long boring cut scenes extremely disrespectful of the players' time, who may only have 30 minutes before work to play something, and had to watch a dull, third rate anime instead of shooting things.

I think you're spot on with a lot of what you're saying here. Games in themselves are bloody brilliant, the way you can just unwind and focus on this thing for a little period of time. The best games are often the ones that don't require all of your attention all of the time, where things might be simple and you can maybe put some music on in the background and just relax and not get too stressed. I know some people get off on playing hard games which challenge them every step of the way, but that's just not for me. I like to destress when I'm playing, I don't need more stress and frustration in the game world.

In fact, this results in me dumping quite a few games when being stuck at the final boss or some level I can't get past or whatever. Because I just think, what's the point? Why spend possibly hours trying to do this over and over again until I eventually get it when I could spend my time having actual enjoyment playing other games rather than trying to get through some frustrating sequence to say "Well, at least I completed it". That doesn't really mean anything except when talking to other people and trying to prove your "gamer cred". Giving up on a game shouldn't be considered a bad thing, but there's a culture that seems to suggest that you don't really have any validity in talking about a game unless you've actually completed it. Fuck yer difficulty spike boss, developer cunts.

Speedrunners are a weird fascination for me. I do enjoy watching some of them, watching the speedruns of games I liked and seeing all the little tricks and glitches they use to rush through the game, but I could never do it myself. It's just way too much dedication, and for what? Perhaps some followers on Twitch and an appearance on AGDQ. Until it becomes a proper e-sport, count me out.

Tutorials and cut-scenes are also a pain. The best games are usually the ones that teach you as you go along, rather than shoehorning every single aspect of the gameplay into a 30+ minute tutorial. I have a pretty short attention span and can't usually play for much more than an hour or so (except for certain games), so for a game to spend almost an entire fucking hour just teaching me how the game and controls work...sorry, but that's just shit design. Cutscenes are also annoying, but luckily most seem to be skippable nowadays. There are few games that actually deserve to have their cutscenes watched, they're usually just padding that could easily be changed to integrate story in gameplay.

[Captain Poodle Basher]

Count me in as another person who hates starting a new game. Even games I'm already playing fill me with a sense of "Do I want to?" before I start a session yet, five minutes into the session, it's completely forgotten as I'm completely engrossed in the game. I'm pretty good at knowing when to stop though - I rarely go beyond 20-30 minutes more than I'd planned for that particular session. 3-4 hours would be a full session for me as I know I get tired/bored after that.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of games I've completed 100% - all of them Lego ones. It does concern me how many games seem to deliberately target players with OCD or similar by creating multiple choices which, in turn, lock out whole quest lines. I'm currently playing Dragon Age Inquisition and it's rather sad seeing so many comments on the dedicated sites from people desperately trying to cover all the angles to get every achievement going. Me? I just pick a persona and go with whatever I think fits best. I'm quite capable of dropping a game mid-play as well if it starts to annoy me - mostly due to "Extreme Workout" situations - extended periods of Quick Time Events and other such split-timed button mashing or else a (relatively) unbeatable boss situation blocking further progression with nothing else to occupy myself with levelling up wise.

[AllisonSays]

I go through little patches of playing Football Manager in a way that definitely corresponds to addiction. In the sense that I'm using it to turn my brain off, to avoid unpleasant thoughts about my work or my personal life, in the same way that I might sometimes use drink or drugs. Both of those mechanisms tend to come to the fore at times of personal and professional anxiety, too. And I fucking hate the new Football Managers, they're insanely focused on the most boring flimmeries of modern football like press conferences and player contracts, but the core mechanism still gives me that dopamine hit that allows me to avoid conscious thought. Without a hangover or a comedown, which arguably makes it more insidious than the others as it's easier to fit around a functional routine. Good thread!

[TheWoodenSpoon]

Command & Conquer: Red Alert was a game which would draw me in for hours at a time. Skirmish after skirmish after skirmish. I don't have so many skirmishes in succession these days, but I'll tweak the settings in such a way that any skirmish I do launch myself into can take hours itself, and I won't fuck off out of it until I win.