"Addict" or self-control?

Caporegime
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Saw this story on BBC Newsbeat. Full Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-49978427

Selected quotes below:

"I can be gaming for anything like six to 14 hours on any day."

"It's the priority of my life - I wake up and think about it, I go to bed and think about it," James Wisniewski, 28, tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.

He says gaming "consumes" him and stops him from dating anyone seriously.

"I don't want a relationship. Unless it's with someone who wants to sit and play video games with me the whole time, I just don't do it."

James says playing games is a mood influencer.

"When you put so much time and dedication into something - it massively affects your mood."

When he's winning he says he experiences "a right high" but when his luck turns then his mood drops and arguments become more likely.

"The other day I was playing with my mates and I absolutely snapped - I threw my controller across the room and broke the charging wire."

"I'll start playing at 6:30pm and go on until 1am in the morning."

"I don't sleep enough because of it."

James's job requires driving and when he gets home he starts playing games - meaning he is "constantly sat down".

He says his "back is in pieces" and causes him pain when he moves.

My person situation is that I am 37 and still play a lot of games at home (consoles and PC) but I don't play them if my Wife is around. I don't ever play mobile phone games either.

I imagine if I was single I would likely watch less TV series and spend more time playing games - But i'm not an angry person and though sometimes I find some sections of games can be frustrating, I never get rage and fling controllers around.

I assume considering the name of the Forum, that there are still a lot of gamers here? What are your thoughts on gaming addiction? Do you think at any point you've ever been truly addicted to games? Do you think it's worse now with paid loot boxes and things like FIFA Ultimate team?
 
Associate
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I was addicted to games when I was younger/immature because they were an escape from reality. It was an easy trap to fall into. If people are constantly bullying you in real life to the point you want to kill yourself, but then when you play a game you're good at, you get some praise and it feels good. The more I played them the less I had to think about things happening in real life so in a sense they got me through the day. A few years later my life situation changed and I didn't feel so much of a need for them. Now I'm pretty happy in real life and I might play once or twice a week just for a bit of fun.
 
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My son was addicted to World of Warcraft and I know of a chap in his 30's who lost his job and flat because he couldn't leave the damned thing alone.
 
Caporegime
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Sorry to hear that @mccarf , must have been hard to go through. Can I assume you are talking about your school years?

I was lucky that I wasn't ever bullied at school, despite being in to games back when it wasn't quite so mainstream (late 80's/early 90's). So you were saying you were addicted, but that actually helped you out in a dark time in your life? I suppose that's a positive in some way?

How did you break away from it? I'm assuming it's not like you went in to Rehab.

As for MMORPG's, I was quite keen on Everquest when it first came out but even then I would hesitate to call it an addiction.
 
Soldato
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I still game and if I'm really into something, then would play it once I'm back from work for a few hours maybe. If not in the middle of something, then a bit here and there. I'm into them enough to watch youtube videos about games etc, or read articles about them (like I imagine most people being into games would). Not to the point of picking it over going out for instance or that I would skip work or something over it.
 
Soldato
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My son was addicted to World of Warcraft and I know of a chap in his 30's who lost his job and flat because he couldn't leave the damned thing alone.

As for MMORPG's, I was quite keen on Everquest when it first came out but even then I would hesitate to call it an addiction.

My WoW playing was an addiction as I was doing about 100 hrs a week and didn't work for probably 3-4 years, but then I was the guild leader of a large raid guild with a membership from all over Europe, which took a lot of managing by myself and my officers as we used to raid 3-4 times a week and aimed for server firsts etc. so it just became my de facto job - even though I've never worked more than 35 hrs a week in an actual job :p

I quit in the end as it just got too much hassle running the guild and I had to go back to work and start earning again and even though I'd never do it again, I don't regret it for 1 second, it was the pinnacle of my game playing career (had been into gaming all my life) and have made some of my closest life long friends out of it.
 
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Sorry to hear that @mccarf , must have been hard to go through. Can I assume you are talking about your school years?

I was lucky that I wasn't ever bullied at school, despite being in to games back when it wasn't quite so mainstream (late 80's/early 90's). So you were saying you were addicted, but that actually helped you out in a dark time in your life? I suppose that's a positive in some way?

How did you break away from it? I'm assuming it's not like you went in to Rehab.

As for MMORPG's, I was quite keen on Everquest when it first came out but even then I would hesitate to call it an addiction.
Thanks. It was in college weirdly enough, when the people should have been a little more grown up. Never really had issues in school. Yeah it definitely helped me out in the long run and I eventually met my wife through the main game I used to play (Team Fortress Classic) about 10 years ago, so it actually turned my life around in a big way:).

I can see how it can be a negative problem at the same time though. When I was at my worst I would wake up and then play until I went to sleep. I would forget to eat or drink extremely often and then only realise when I felt light headed / occasionally blacking out. During one summer I lost about 2-3 stone just by sitting there and playing games which is obviously not a great way to lose weight!
 
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Like others here, World of Warcraft was the closest that I got to an addiction back in 2006. 6-7 hours at a time, 5 nights a week, so it was a full time job. Plus I was working a 42-hour/week in my day job too. We didn't need to put 100 hours/week into the game though. We managed BWL fine in the base game, followed by Sunwell in the 1st expansion. We did lose interest after that though.
 
Caporegime
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Like others here, World of Warcraft was the closest that I got to an addiction back in 2006. 6-7 hours at a time, 5 nights a week, so it was a full time job. Plus I was working a 42-hour/week in my day job too. We didn't need to put 100 hours/week into the game though. We managed BWL fine in the base game, followed by Sunwell in the 1st expansion. We did lose interest after that though.

I purposedly never got into WoW on purpose when it was massive, same with EVE.

I was in this other web base MMO game which I was part of a clan here on OCUK which eventually we had our own private forum for. I was so into that I set alarm to take up to make moves. I got as far as 3rd ranking in my particular universe because I had to let it go as it was work and real life takes priority.
 
Soldato
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Gaming is a terrible addiction, I remember getting my first PC and playing Ultima and Team Fortress from 18:00 to 07:00, then had to get up and go and start my first day on a new job.

It's messed my sleep patterns up completely, I've wasted months of my life if not years gaming. If I'd spent the same time learning a trade/building boats/clocks etc that i'd spent gaming I'd be a master in the trade, but instead, have nothing to show for that time.

I realised this in my early 30's, I had a good job, earning a good wage, never effected my work life but I had kids and life's priorities change.

I still game, I've just finished the 3 batman games given away on Epic etc but family comes first. My kids are my new addiction, and I make sure they limit their time playing games and we read, draw, go out etc instead. I'm back on my meds so I can be more active as well which is great.

I never got angry at games and threw things, but I used to get snappy when I had to stop playing, yet people don't really see gaming as a bad thing, which generally it's not, but I'm watching my youngest brother approaching his mid 20's and all he does it play games. Doesn't work as he's 'looking after mum', but she's a prison guard in a men's prison so she really doesn't need looking after.

In all honesty, I'd happily move into a yurt in the woods/country and have much less technology in my life if I could.
 
Caporegime
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Total addiction.
The online mmo community is full of freaks and societies misfits.
All the real people succeed in life, not becoming grandmaster weaponsmiths and potion brewers and succeeding in a virtual waste of time.

I speak from experience.
 
Soldato
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I was also addicted to Wow for around 2 years after I split up from an ex. It was just "something to do" but it ended up consuming a huge amount of my time.

I thought of Wow again after watching this. Main bit to listen to is from 5 mins (to give it some context) and then is discussed at 9:30 onwards. Made a lot of sense to me at the time.

https://youtu.be/m3aIQuMWJCA
 
Associate
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I was addicted to WoW a good decade ago but only so much as I would use all my free time playing it. I would still get up and go places so it wasn't debilitating.

Now a days I play the odd game of Team Fight Tactics but it takes so long for each match that I play maybe 5 a week at the most. I probably watch far more on Youtube than I play.
 
Man of Honour
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Personally I don't consider myself addicted. These days I don't play that much but I used to put 1000s of hours into games but I could easily put a game aside, wasn't waiting for the next "fix" when I was at work or otherwise out the house, etc. I've always found it easy to balance between playing a game to a high level but not to that level of having to get every achievement and master every aspect, etc. while still having a successful life away from games.

There was the odd game where I couldn't wait to get back to playing it and would jump straight on when I got back from work, etc. on release for the first couple of weeks (usually until I'd completed it in the case of single player) but that was only short periods.
 
Soldato
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I love games, been playing them since I've been a kid, own over 40 consoles, handhelds, purchased every major console release since the original Xbox in 2001 when I got my first job in college. But I have never been addicted, I knew when to put down the controller, go out, socialize (drink alcohol and have fun with women) and study for exams.

Now I only have time to play games on a Sunday, I'm single, don't have any kids but I have more important tasks in my life than playing games.

My best friend, who isn't an addict but uses it as an escape from reality. The sort of person in his mid 30's, who still has time to max out the timer in FF7 so it's in the red, can't go any higher and has completed it multiple times.

He's overweight, lives with his parents, doesn't have a very good job and moans about not having a girlfriend but can't pull himself away from wasting time in front of a screen.
 
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