So I am giving up my gaming addiction.

[The Joker]

I have been a hardcore gamer for as long as I can remember..Since age 13...so roughly 14 years
Kinda shocking to know that I have spent half my life gaming. Anyway the addiction stops today.
I'll be focusing my time and effort on my new online enthusiast gaming rig shop

Its actually scary when you look back at you're life and realize you're half way through it and you haven't exactly accomplished much

Gaming is awesome, and I have very fond memories of lanning with mates, get drunk with mates and then trying to lan xD lol and to be honest I am not sorry for spending half my life as a gamer, I just think the time has come now to focus on life and living, For sure gaming will still be a part of my life, I'll still play games, and most likely go to a lan every now and then, but gaming will now be for those rainy days, those days that all my work is done, those days when I am bored, and there really is nothing else to do.

I think this will be great for my wallet as well, seeing as the prices of games these days are becoming more and more outrages, So now I might buy a single title a month instead of the usual 4-10 titles, and I actually might end up appreciating games a lot more, spending less time gaming on multiple titles instead just focusing on 1 title every now and then.

I can't balance gaming and life, I almost always find myself giving up a braai or a party or even just spending time with family and non gaming friends to sit and play MW3 or Skyrim.

Just to put that into context.

When you open Call of Duty MW3 and you click on barracks, it gives you all you're stats. All my stats are really impressive, K/D ratio of 1.8, 1000+ Headshots and so on and so forth...then right at the bottom, there is a tab that says Time played..Mine reads: 4D 18H 6M..that's 4 Days 18 Hours 6 Minutes or in plain English.. 155 Hours spent on shooting pixels at pixels That scared me..the game is not even 2 months old and I have spent so much time playing it. Yeah I do enjoy it but seriously pretty much 5 days of my life..that's gone.


If you guys haven't read this, I suggest you do so..Its an eye opener even for the most hardcore gaming addicts.
http://mygaming.co.za/news/columns/1...ng-gaming.html


Happy new year.

[Lycanthrope]

According to Raptr, I've spent 10 days playing Old Republic (granted, this includes beta).

However, I don't feel as though ten days of my life are simply "gone." If I felt that way about something I enjoyed, yeesh... Imagine collating all the time you've spent sleeping

[Solitude]

Good on you The Joker. If you feel that gaming is taking up too much of your time then it's great that you will be giving up the addiction.

I've got a different addiction: The Internet. I find myself just browsing and reading for hours on end. Like I'm doing now. I wish I can spend it playing games to be honest.

You are an inspiration. I will set a limit to web browsing for myself every day. I actually want more time to play games and chess. In the evenings I come home tired from work and for some reason the browsing relaxes me but it's so pointless. I'm sure that playing games will relax me too.... except if the controller stops working during Dark Souls then it just makes me angry haha.

But yes, well done The Joker and I hope your online shop does well. I'll try and support you in the future.

[czc]

Good Luck, Joker. You do seem to enjoy hardware a lot also, so hope you do well in your venture.

[Necuno]

Anything can become an addiction, in the end you need to find a balance in what makes you happy and what you do with your life you deem as time well spent and so on.

[MOnk]

Anything can become an addiction, in the end you need to find a balance in what makes you happy and what you do with your life you deem as time well spent and so on.

Aye, life is about balance.

[TheAvenged87]

As long as you don't ditch this place. Lekker mate, do what you want to do, that is all that matters.

[fabrulana]

Heh heh been there done that. I think I have "quit" the addiction at least 6 times now during my lifetime. But don't be disheartened - the quitting actually does help you each time to achieve more focus in your life for other things. This allows you to construct your life in a better manner and you start doing well in other areas especially financially. Soon you find yourself in that better financial position ... and you start feeding the addiction again. Currently I am not only feeding my own but my kids' as well.

[The Joker]

It'll be different for me though, I am giving up a well paying Job to start my online business this year and I seriously can't afford to mess it up. I don't blame gaming at all, I blame my lack of balancing gaming with life and It wasn't really possible..work from 8 till 5 everyday, get home..then its family and cooking and doing the things you do when you get home..by the time that's done, its usually close to 9pm...then I usually played for 3 hours and so the cycle would continue, I always found myself being pissed because I couldn't do the amount of gaming I wanted...So all my free time I spent on gaming.

This Enthusiast gaming rig business I am starting is pretty much gonna be my future Here's to a bright new future

[fabrulana]

That is quite a risk ... but a wise move to do, especially if you are between 20 and 35 and don't have kids yet. Even if the business don't work out you'll gain a lot of experience which will bring great kudos to a CV if things don't work out. I have put my all into a small business with other guys (9 years), but the business lacked the proper marketing and was mismanaged in the end of the day. Now I am not willing to take that risk again - unless I know the people really well (who I am going to take the risk with).

It's a lot more work than a 9-5 job though ...

All the best and hope you make it into a stellar business in this new year. Apparently it is one of the best years to start a business in (from what I have read)