I often converse with my dad the difference of tv and gaming (I'm mosly console gamer)because he says all I do is watch tv when in reality its gaming, anyway tv in my opinion is crap, espcialy over here in the US, there are some shows worth it like mentioned above mythbusters, though I doubt I could never give up gaming, tv on the other hand Ive given up its just usless
Hmm. I tried to quit hardcore gaming and I think I succeeded. I was addicted to MMOs, never to WoW though. One thing I did was to choose something else to do instead. I am now doing a website for the church youth group, and are learning a lot. Another thing is that I accepted that I really need to play games occasionally. And I still go to LANs sometimes. It is okay. But I don't play these long sessions anymore, getting home playing till I am half asleep. It is a bit like a real addiction - Sitting around and wondering what you could play now is the wrong thing, rather go ahead and actually play the game then. Do something with the time you gain. That's how it worked for me. ^^
I intend to still attend the LANs that happen about 5-8 times a year in my local city, mostly because I've been going for years, like the guys, and would feel bad about not going (numbers are low enough that every person counts) - still, so far on a day to day basis this is going well. I'm spending way more time just reading (a good thing for sure) and I've spent time playing around with linux on my EeePC which is also good. This rules
I don't play games when school is in session so I quit all the time and start back up when I can. Although, I play games mostly for the narrative so it's a bit like reading a book or watching a movie to me. I agree though if it negatively impacts your life it is probably a good idea to cut back a bit. If it helps maybe try supplementing your gaming time with something more productive but just as fun like learning an instrument. Anyway good luck to you.
Years ago i quit games since my computer wouldnt run them, now i'm back but still watin for a comptuer to play games got UT3 lyin right next to me (Won the bit tech comp) WOOT
Heathen. J/K good for you, please share your experiances and what you do to fill in the time. I am starting Uni next year so will have more spare time (Work overtime every day) and don't want it all to go on games but can't think of anything else to do really.
I haven't watched TV properly for several years now, and I was clearly numbing myself to a genuinely poisonous form of entertainment - I can't watch it for more than two minutes now without feeling blind rage and irritation. I constantly ask family members why they're "watching this crap". Gave up gaming after completing Morrowind (2 year addiction) and went back with an upgraded rig after a year. No biggie on either side, but I warn you: you'll be shockingly bad at games when you go back, esp. reaction-based FPS. I can't play any of the games I used to
Hmmm I think I'll give it a go, not a complete give-up of games, but I should really be spending more time studying/reading/etc so I think I can survive toning it down a bit, although internet browsing should also be cut down too, I spend far too much time looking around on the internet at rubbish.
I don't expect so boiled_elephant...I too had a morrowind addiction that lasted about 18 months to two years - and I've spent months at a time playing non-FPS games. While it takes a few days to get back into any game (days of frustration where I reside constantly at the bottom of the tables in CSS) soon after I resume my normal pwnyness. What concerns me more than the thought of reduced performance when I return to games, is the fact that I may never return to games The idea of giving them up for a year or so seems ok, but then if I'm spending too much time on them now I'll do that then, so it's a bad idea to return to them. So in theory I should never be a hardcore gamer again (at least, not for many years). Quite a disturbing prospect. Veles, if you're anything at all like me dude, take my advice and give up completely. I'm not saying you should neccesarily aim to never go back, but if I decided I'll play an RPG for an hour that means about 3 hours later I'll stop playing. "Just 1 more minute" will get you every time, and you'll always choose gaming in preference of reading/studying/whatever. It's only when I totaly removed the option that I started reading for hours a day (as I should be). Internet browsing's a toughie for me, I also waste tonnes of time on the net, but I can't ban myself from a world that has wikipedia in it, or amazon, or play, or bit-tech
I gave up TV and gaming while working on my master's degree. I honestly had no time for either. I didn't really miss tv, but I missed video games. As soon as I graduated I got a new pc so I could play more recent games (and also because my engineering programs could definitely stand to run faster). Productivity without games and tv skyrocketed, but so did my stress level.
Yeah that's pretty much the problem I have, once I start it's difficult to stop as I get really into it, unless I find the game boring or annoying. Some limits would probably help, like only gaming on weekends and stuff like that, that way, I can't get drawn into a game if I'm not on it, but I won't cut myself off completely. I thought of a system that I was about to use, where doing useful things like studying and housework gave me points, and then then I could use them to play games. Unfortunately Mass Effect arrived the next day, reducing that plan to rubble in favour of a week long ME binge.
Can't see how anyone can give up TV, there are some great stuff on TV, Spooks has just finished, Gordan Ramsey F Word etc. Even Eastenders is pretty good at the moment. Gaming I can give up if I really had to, I lived in Egypt for 5 months without any gaming, so It can be done if your forced.
Yeah there is some good TV on, but TBH, it's easier to download it and watch it in your own time than to keep to a schedule someone else decided.
When I was referring to giving up TV I wasn't even meaning not actually watching broadcasts, I havn't done that for a long time. More to the above sort of setup. What I meant was basicly, not watching anything but the occasional film. This pretty much worked for me back in the days of morrowind. I was getting absolutely nothing done because I was playing it like crazy, so I just put the CD away somewhere obscure from sunday night untill friday afternoon. Course, it still leaves you with the problem of having reduced weekend doing-stuff-ness because you're making up for lost time in whatever latest game you're playing.
I gave up on TV about 6-7 years ago. I do, however, watch the occassional movie and series, but I will not be dependent on the schedules of someone elses choosing. All the good series and movies are available on DVD and from ...ahem... various other sources, and then usually in far superior qualities. I am, on the other hand, quite addicted to documentaries - particularly of the science and technology persuasion, but these are normally not easily available up here in Norway without expanded cable-packages and such overpriced nonsense. So these I collect from torrents and watch whenever I'm in the mood for them. Games, on the other hand, I will probably never give up. I am soon to be 31 years old and I have played games all my life - ever since getting my first computer at age 7/8 (not 100% sure anymore). It was a used Mitac 4.5Mhz with (believe it or not) 1Mb RAM, a 10Mb HDD and a 10" hercules monitor. Games for the PC in those days were quite primitive as I'm sure most of you know, and I do remember this one game that revolved around you having to steer an arrow shaped object around labyrinthine corridors while avoiding other arrow shaped objects which were the baddies. (No, I am not referring to PacMan). Boy was I hooked! These days I have gotten older and the games that interest me have changed, but I am still an avid gamer. I do enjoy an all-out FPS romp to get my desire for fast-paced slaughter sated, however my main interest now revolves around RPGs and MMOs. I have always enjoyed these kinds of games, but my interest in them has gotten more hardcore over the years. WoW, though, does not interest me in the slightest, but I did quite recently buy the all-in-one boxed set of EverQuest 2 which hooked me quite unexpectedly. It might be the apparent lack of 13 year olds and continous 1337-sp34k and trash talk, or I might just not have played it long enough to notice. I find Crysis enjoyable, though a bit easy to beat. Haven't gotten around to playing EP1, EP2 or Portal yet, so I can't say about those. Bioshock was, whilst utterly beautiful and very atmospheric, boring and repetitive so I couldn't even bring myself to finish it. It was summarily uninstalled to give way for Crysis. Supreme Commander is, in a word, superb! And I find myself continously coming back for a quick all-out romp, though it was a little too easy to beat as well. And whilst I do own a good and fairly large HDTV set, it is mainly used by my GF. She is quite the slave to televised entertainment, though she too enjoys a bout of gaming now and then. And to be fair, she mostly insists on watching the news and EastEnders. I, on the other hand, read quite a lot and find this a far better way of spending time otherwise used for TV. But now I'm getting ahead of myself. Point is; I am a gamer, and I always will be a gamer.
i give up gaming as my wife was going to divorce me ..... that was about 3 years ago . today i am still playing and still married .... just
Well, it's been 13 days. Feels like longer really. So far so good, basicly. It might just be a side-effect of returning to my normal routine (not a fan of holidays) but I seem to be happier on a day to day basis. It sounds quite odd, and I'll be very interested to see if it lasts (I doubt it) - but if it does that'll be extremely interesting. I was always a grumpy sod, to an extent I still am, but my overall "happyiness" seems to be unusually high. I continue to read way way more. This is definitely a benefit. I've always wanted to get properly into both philosophy and proper literature, and never had time for either. Now I can manage both. I find myself not thinking when bored at college "this is crap, but at least I get to go home and play Crysis/UT3/*latest game*" anymore, for obvious reasons. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but certainly I get more distracted - I wander off to talk to people and stuff like that when I would otherwise be gaming and ignoring distractions. This is also a good thing I think. So, overall, very positive experience so far. And I really don't miss games at all tbh (I feel guilty for saying that, games have been my favourite form of entertainment for 17.5/20 years of my life). The only time I've come close was when discussing Deus Ex with someone (they were interested to know how I'd heard of Last and First Men) - but games that good are so incredibly rare that I'm be missing out on much. Blasphemy it may be, but I'd reccomend this as worth trying for most of you guys.
I know what you’re saying about not thinking about gaming. I've been gaming since my Dad brought a Commodore 116. But I tend to get obsessed by games for periods then turn my back on them for a while then come back. I got really into games like Akari Warriors, Opertation Thunderbolt, Wing Commander, Cannon Fodder, Mortal Kombat, Sonic, FIFA 98 (failed my A-levels but I’ll wipe the floor with you as Vanuatu!!), HL (spent more time on that than my final Uni piece), SOF, any Tony Hawks, COD and more recently TF2. But after a few months I tend it wane, try loads of others, but not too intensely, until my next addiction. Usually as I no long get the "buzz", but playing an online match gives me the challenge and unpredictability I loved when games/gaming was still new to me. But technology tends to slow me down every now and then. My PC is 4 (ish) years old and only had a cheap GFX upgrade last year, I’ve not got a next (read "current") gen console. But that’s something I obsess about now – hardware! I’ve been working away from home during the week since last April with no PC/PS2. But I have the Internet at work and (grown up) gaming and PC hardware mags to read. Months and months I spend reading on the lastest hardware, technical detail I don’t understand, recommended settings, asking forum questions even down to wondering around the supermarket comparing PS3 deals and forgetting the bread (it ain’t a fry up without!). It does seem silly and my GF defo thinks so (although she plays solitaire on her mob and spent £700 on a macbook which seems to be used for Facebook or online jigsaws, hmm). TV, well its all edited pants, I’ll watch what ever DVD was sent to me and a few docu’s but nothing to keep me hooked, I’d go cold turkey. Gaming, , I could quit, and have but its always there and inevitably I’ll get hooked again.
/Pictures Specofdust walking the Earth like Caine from Kung Fu, getting into adventures and solving peoples problems. The grass always seems greener on the otherside so to speak. You'll keep questioning yourself till you come full circle. You can't escape what you really are. A full blooded FPS. Joking aside, I went through something similar about 5 years ago. Took up golf, went to live (music) shows etc. After all that I still came back to gaming, and it's better than ever. I think gamings in the blood for some people. Will be interesting to see where your voyage of discovery takes you. Good luck and have fun.
I often give up gaming fora short spot while I'm busy then start again. Doesn't really bother me. TV I do watch, but it's usually old series like Doc Who or the prisoner or red dwarf. Don't often watch new stuff.
