Patriot
Active Member
So I finally did it. . .I've been considering it for years but have taken till now to work up the nerve. I pulled the plug on my video games.
About a year ago, I cleaned out my old library of game CDs. I must have paid close to $500 over the years on these games. That made me stop and consider what I was spending my money on. At that point I determined that I would not purchase any more games. Of course, given the number already in my Steam collection in addition to the vast amount of free games available on the web it wasn't that drastic of a move. That being said, it was an important first step. With the monetary aspect of gaming no longer an issue, the time aspect began to weigh on me (not that it hadn't at this point, but that it became the primary issue).
[Brief Interlude]
I should take a moment to explain that I do not believe that games (well, the majority of them at least) are inherently evil. Nor do I feel that anyone playing them or the act of playing them is wrong. I am merely explaining my own personal experiences and justifications for my actions. Please don't give me 20 pages of dissertations on the merits of gaming. If you feel the overwhelming need to defend gaming, well, I'll leave you to ponder why. . .
[/Brief Interlude]
As I was saying, the time aspect of gaming became the primary issue. My wife, wisely, allowed me to game without giving me much flak for it. It was a stress reliever of sorts for myself, although I do believe it also created a fair amount of its own. We had discussions in the past about the amount of time I spent gaming and had reached a suitable compromise. That being said, it still gnawed on the back of my mind. Gaming took up the vast majority of my free time (i.e. time I could spend doing what interested me, not family time). I have an interest in 3D design using Blender and have multiple ideas for items to create. However, I always needed a considerable amount of motivation because it would have to overcome my desire to play games. Needless to say, I haven't created much in Blender. I have also always had an interest in drawing, but have never been motivated to take the time to get better. Both drawing and 3D graphics as a hobby produce a final product; something to validate the time I spent engaged in the activity. I realized that for all my endless hours of gaming (thank you steam for shaming me by recording my time wasted with each game...) I had nothing to really show for it. Oh sure, I could point and click my mouse slightly faster than some, but there would always be others who were better than me and that doesn't really qualify (in my mind) as enough to justify the time spent in the activity. I can claim to have beat certain games, but does anyone really care? The worst part was when I sat down at the computer and almost always opted for games over 3D graphics because it was quick and easy (bleh, I make it sound like a drug...).
Anyway, it finally reached a point where I kept thinking about how much time I was spending doing something that was fun, but not very productive and how I could be doing something else that was fun but also produced a result. I was up early with my boys before my wife woke last Saturday and uninstalled all of my games from my computer (probably near 40-50GB worth of games). It was oddly freeing in a way, almost like taking the first step away from an addiction. In some ways, it could almost be classified as an addiction with the amount of time I spent playing and thinking about playing. I hope to remain strong and refuse to reinstall the games (since they are still stored in my steam account). It will be easier than not uninstalling and just refusing to play because download times over my connection for most games takes a day or two.
Anyway, just thought I would share why I will not be joining any of you in game any more. Please don't feel as if I was judging any of you for your gaming time, this was a personal conviction and I would not dream to force it on anyone else.
Here's to more productive hobbies for myself!
About a year ago, I cleaned out my old library of game CDs. I must have paid close to $500 over the years on these games. That made me stop and consider what I was spending my money on. At that point I determined that I would not purchase any more games. Of course, given the number already in my Steam collection in addition to the vast amount of free games available on the web it wasn't that drastic of a move. That being said, it was an important first step. With the monetary aspect of gaming no longer an issue, the time aspect began to weigh on me (not that it hadn't at this point, but that it became the primary issue).
[Brief Interlude]
I should take a moment to explain that I do not believe that games (well, the majority of them at least) are inherently evil. Nor do I feel that anyone playing them or the act of playing them is wrong. I am merely explaining my own personal experiences and justifications for my actions. Please don't give me 20 pages of dissertations on the merits of gaming. If you feel the overwhelming need to defend gaming, well, I'll leave you to ponder why. . .
[/Brief Interlude]
As I was saying, the time aspect of gaming became the primary issue. My wife, wisely, allowed me to game without giving me much flak for it. It was a stress reliever of sorts for myself, although I do believe it also created a fair amount of its own. We had discussions in the past about the amount of time I spent gaming and had reached a suitable compromise. That being said, it still gnawed on the back of my mind. Gaming took up the vast majority of my free time (i.e. time I could spend doing what interested me, not family time). I have an interest in 3D design using Blender and have multiple ideas for items to create. However, I always needed a considerable amount of motivation because it would have to overcome my desire to play games. Needless to say, I haven't created much in Blender. I have also always had an interest in drawing, but have never been motivated to take the time to get better. Both drawing and 3D graphics as a hobby produce a final product; something to validate the time I spent engaged in the activity. I realized that for all my endless hours of gaming (thank you steam for shaming me by recording my time wasted with each game...) I had nothing to really show for it. Oh sure, I could point and click my mouse slightly faster than some, but there would always be others who were better than me and that doesn't really qualify (in my mind) as enough to justify the time spent in the activity. I can claim to have beat certain games, but does anyone really care? The worst part was when I sat down at the computer and almost always opted for games over 3D graphics because it was quick and easy (bleh, I make it sound like a drug...).
Anyway, it finally reached a point where I kept thinking about how much time I was spending doing something that was fun, but not very productive and how I could be doing something else that was fun but also produced a result. I was up early with my boys before my wife woke last Saturday and uninstalled all of my games from my computer (probably near 40-50GB worth of games). It was oddly freeing in a way, almost like taking the first step away from an addiction. In some ways, it could almost be classified as an addiction with the amount of time I spent playing and thinking about playing. I hope to remain strong and refuse to reinstall the games (since they are still stored in my steam account). It will be easier than not uninstalling and just refusing to play because download times over my connection for most games takes a day or two.
Anyway, just thought I would share why I will not be joining any of you in game any more. Please don't feel as if I was judging any of you for your gaming time, this was a personal conviction and I would not dream to force it on anyone else.
Here's to more productive hobbies for myself!