LebGeeks

potato

Member

Gaming and other useless addictions

Well this is a hard topic that it might be hard to swallow for some of us. But i ditched gaming 2 years ago and i feel awesome. I replaced with sports, chess, ping pong, basketball, swimming, hiking, watching documentaries/animal shows.
You name it i joined clans, played in competitive clan wars, hosted servers, started a gaming website. Everything all about gaming.
From my point of view gaming is not the problem since we all seek that pleasure of having fun however it lacks positive vibes that you will never get as having to physically achieve your victory or try to.

I guess have some advantages since it lets the user learn some new things depending on the game but still after all these years as a geek and as a human gaming was only me trying to waste time thinking this is what fun is supposed to be.

nuclearcat

Member

Re: Gaming and other useless addictions

Many people don't realize how much time they are wasting opening news and social networking websites.
I did noticed when installed StayFocusd plugin.

Jerome

Member

Re: Gaming and other useless addictions

Gaming is an inexpensive means of entertainment. It also opens up the world of computers for you, you can learn so much there. Of course, too much of anything is bad.. Plus it is hard to play basketball alone eddem l bineye : p

rolf

Member

Re: Gaming and other useless addictions

My experience with gaming is that it's fun for some time but then it becomes repetitive and there is like an addiction phase where you just do it because you have nothing better and you find it hard to stop.

WIth physical sports it's a bit different because you can see your progress and that's motivation.

But I don't know maybe after a while it does become boring and addictive as well.

Anyway to each their own. But me I think I'm blessed with a healthy body, and I think I need to use it a bit, it makes me happy on a deeper level.

silo_m8

Member

Re: Gaming and other useless addictions

Well this is a hard topic that it might be hard to swallow for some of us. But i ditched gaming 2 years ago and i feel awesome. I replaced with sports, chess, ping pong, basketball, swimming, hiking, watching documentaries/animal shows.
You name it i joined clans, played in competitive clan wars, hosted servers, started a gaming website. Everything all about gaming.
From my point of view gaming is not the problem since we all seek that pleasure of having fun however it lacks positive vibes that you will never get as having to physically achieve your victory or try to.

I guess have some advantages since it lets the user learn some new things depending on the game but still after all these years as a geek and as a human gaming was only me trying to waste time thinking this is what fun is supposed to be.

Let me first say congratulations on being able to change your life habits into something you feel is more beneficial to you.
However, I disagree with your outlook on gaming itself.

I am 28 y/o industrial engineer, with a good career, a lovely fiancé, and a gaming hobby.
I had the same situation you had, same feelings, but instead of demonizing gaming itself, I looked at the core issue and realized that my problem was why the online component of gaming.

Online based treadmill games that drip feed you tiny hits of dopamine are the problem.

If you consider single player games, they compete with the best consumer media out there (movies, TV shows, books, music)

If you treat your games as consumable piece of media and not an endless dopamine drip, you can easily find value in your time spent.

I don't watch TV, I don't browse social media and don't follow the news. I instead play single video games.

The best tool to managing a video game hobby is the pause button, and I value that pause button immensely.

potato

Member

Re: Gaming and other useless addictions

I really do enjoy gaming. Im not against it since i learned few things that i benefited from.

The issue is not from gaming but it is the concept behind it. You play a few minutes it is fun and all but these minutes that you wasted in a virtual dopamin is less enjoyable as humans when you play a pickup game or crossfit or any physical activity that makes your body moves  and it challenges you. I sometimes workout 3 hours in the morning or during the day. I used to game 3 hours a day i enjoyed these 3 hours all the time but the missing part that gaming wasnt made to be that enjoyable whatever the game is. If you have a lot of free time go out learn a new thing, meet new people, read about other religions. Get things going in your life visit your family etcc.. see where im going. After all that time gaming and having fun i just regret it and i changed it.

Surely ill buy games for my kids someday however ill make sure to teach them that gaming is not the way to have fun there alot more enjoyable things that you can enjoy and do than gaming and sitting in your room.

Last edited by potato (September 7 2018)

Papusan2

Member

Re: Gaming and other useless addictions

I think the fine line between gaming and gaming addiction is much wider than many think. Either way, I've lost my interest in "virtual" skills gaming as I felt they're useless and lost if the game dies as most skill-based or eSports are online only anyways and moved to something that can be somewhat transferable to real life skills like sim racing with proper setup (Asetto Corsa/iRacing etc) and Paradiddle VR (virtual drumming)
Most gaming addiction falls in the mmo/online type category afaik.

Last edited by Papusan2 (September 7 2018)