What is your level of gaming?

Potential-Monke

As in, how much do you game. I'll explain the poll options as i see them. If you're inbetween 2 categories, pick the lower of the two.

Interest
A general interest in gaming, you'll read about games and play the odd free online game or on someone elses computer/console, but you don't spend money on gaming.

Past-time
It's something you do to pass a bit of spare time. Like an interest, buy you'll spend a small bit of money on it.

Hobby
A good interest, and you spend money on it. You don't dedicate all time to your hobby though.

Passion
A level up from hobby, you spend most of your spare money on gaming or building a gaming rig, surround sound systems, tv's, etc, buy plenty of games/consoles and/or go to gaming conventions.

Addiction
You need gaming. You have to game every day, if you don't it puts you in a bad mood. You spend money on games, consoles, systems, tv's and everything else to have the best possible experience money can buy. You must have all the latest gaming tech. You possibly pick gaming over other social/work aspects.

Life consuming
You can't do without gaming. It encompases your life and everything about it. It's and addiction and then some. You choose gaming over everything else, including food. You've burned bridges with friends and ended relationships because of the restrictions it puts on gaming. You're more than likely in debt to pay for the Ultimate Gaming Chair, or that 100' Cinema Screen you built out the back of your house. Gaming is #1, everything else pales in comparison.

chin_grin

Definitely hobby (I would like to be in the industry though, reviewing or even learn to code a game!).

I don't really like the way you coined the higher terms, they're very 'anti gaming' to me. I'd rather put something like 'enthusiast' or 'professional' in their place.

Kiith

Probably somewhere inbetween hobby and passion. Probably used to be passion/addiction, but i've not played as much over the last few years. Will still get caught up in certain games (Skyrim, ME3 etc...) and spend a huge amount of hours over a short period of time on them, but overall, it's a hobby these days.

Duggy747

Hobby for me. My interest in games ain't what it used to be though I still play some modern games and do check up the gaming news daily as where the industry goes always interests me.

Currently setting up frontend software to manage all my retro games and consoles for when I build my new machine. Even when I get sick of modern gaming I can always rely on those guys

Potential-Monke

chin_grin wrote: »

Definitely hobby (I would like to be in the industry though, reviewing or even learn to code a game!).

I don't really like the way you coined the higher terms, they're very 'anti gaming' to me. I'd rather put something like 'enthusiast' or 'professional' in their place.

I didn't want to include professional as it's a job, it's the spare time activity i'm interested (even though i would love a gaming related job!!!).

And i'm not trying to be anti-gaming, far from it, i promote gaming. I just wanted to see if people are at that level, which does exist, but mostly in China.

It's a passion for me, borderline Addiction!!

ionapaul

I selected hobby, probably game 6-8 hours a week, which to be honest is a fair amount of time to put into a single hobby! That said, poker would be a hobby of mine as well (and I work in that industry too) and I spend a few more hours a week playing poker than I do gaming.

Orim

Voted passion. I would be on the upper scale of it. Most of my spare cash, spare time etc. would go into gaming. I play in tournament and I went to vegas for a tournament.

So it's definitely a big part of my life but the other two just cut too many negatives on them.

Twilightning

Definitely a passion. I can go without the vidya for as long as I need to and don't get in a bad mood if I don't play, but I play pretty much every day as it is at this stage. Built a great €800 computer that maxes out everything in September after being stuck with a 360 for years and more recently got a great deal on a second-hand PS3 for some good exclusives. Quite fond of emulating and playing older games too.

Shiminay

Addiction - I play games every single day and would be upset if a day went by and I couldn't

Not nearly as much as I used to there was a time that I was out of work for a year and a bit that was silly though. Played a stupid amount of CS:S and other games..... I much rather it how I do now and enjoy it far more.

Potential-Monke

Orim wrote: »

So it's definitely a big part of my life but the other two just cut too many negatives on them.

They do come with negatives once you go over passion imo. That's why i have the negatives for the upper scale two, because imo after passion it usually does start to have negative effects.

As i said, i'm on the upper scale of passion, and a few decisions could potentially have me in addiction. But i don't think i'm quite there yet. I do reckon though, that if my plan plays through i could be an addict if i get to buy what i want to buy...

norrie rugger

Passion.

Currently only missing a 360, after building my game rig.
Good job that my missus is sympathetic to my gaming habits.

When I was single it would have been a level up

Somnus

I went for hobby. Unfortunately I don't have the time to devote to gaming like a used to. I also have a bit musical past time, so not all my free money goes into games.

That said, I love getting caught up in a good game, and I regularly read up on new games.

Magill

Options aren't great.

for the longest time i'd say i was addicted but i never got angry if i missed a day here and there. And i didn't really spend all my money on gaming... but i was playing insane amounts of cs and wow up until maybe 3/4 years ago. Now i'd fall into the hobby catagory, love playing games still, don't really have the time to play more than 10 hours a week now (Probably used to play 6 or 7 hours every night and sometimes a lot more) most of which is on a thursday/friday nights when im home from uni and have **** all else to do.

Funny enough.. i probably spend a lot more money now on gaming than i did when i was playing flatout. Never really played other games back then.. now i've a backlog of about 20 games on steam !

Potential-Monke

Magill wrote: »

Options aren't great.

I could have made loads of little ones, but i went with the main ones to keep it simple.

Helix

career

noodler

Passion falling to hobby.

Has to be juggled with the 9-5, soccer, gym and social life.

Lots of games don't interest me in terms of an hour here or there - so its difficult to really have a good session unless I have several hours free. If I only have an hour or so to spare after a tough day then I'd rather watch a TV episode.

CastorTroy

I would say hobby. While I don't play too frequently, when I do play I'm usually up until about 2 or 3. I also keep up to date with news. Though need to start playing more frequently to at least make a dent on my backlog.

Magill

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I could have made loads of little ones, but i went with the main ones to keep it simple.

Just meant the descriptions.

krudler

Passion, has been for years, along with movies would be my two main interests in life, keep up with industry stuff, try to play anything I'm interested in, do miss a bunch of big name games due to time or monies (or lack therof) but try catch up on them later.

Canis Lupus

Passion I'd say. I don't normally go a day without a game of something moving up to addiction when I'm going through a WoT or WoW phase.

However I'm not like I used to be.. I find nowadays my time is spent flitting from one game to the next. When I was younger I'd get a game and play till death now with more disposable income and access to torrents I find I play MOST games for 20 mins and switch (many get uninstalled never to be seen again). I still love games but nothing seems to catch my imagination anymore.

The main games I'll continually return to are CSS, DoD, TF2, LFD2, WoT and WoW.

Herrick

Scratch that vote for interest on the poll, I meant to vote past time.

I used play a lot in my teens, but it has dwindled drastically over the last few years and I'm only 22. Just not as into games as I used to be, there doesn't seem to be as many games holding my interest these days.

I go through phases, I may not play a game for months and then may be stuck into one or two for ages on end.

Over the last year I've only had about four games I think. MW3 & BF3, sunk only about 15-20 hrs into each, got bored of them and haven't touched either since.

Where as Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 have given me great value for money.

Krusader

Passion at the moment because I've plenty of free time and has taken over from tv, hardly ever watch tv now, nothing good ever on anyway. Starting to read more also.

richymcdermott

Hobby for myself , lately i have all the time in the world to play games but i only play games for bout 20 mins a day without switching the console off and doing something else..

folan

down to hobby from addiction for me over the last 3 years. life kinda got in the way and i started to loose the buzz. though i still get a 5 hour session in once in a while.

Orim

Herrick wrote: »

Over the last year I've only had about four games I think. MW3 & BF3, sunk only about 15-20 hrs into each, got bored of them and haven't touched either since.

Where as Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 have given me great value for money.

Sorry for the derail but 15-20 hours is an only? and doesn't constitute value for money, considering the games probably cost max €50.

Potential-Monke wrote: »

They do come with negatives once you go over passion imo. That's why i have the negatives for the upper scale two, because imo after passion it usually does start to have negative effects.

As i said, i'm on the upper scale of passion, and a few decisions could potentially have me in addiction. But i don't think i'm quite there yet. I do reckon though, that if my plan plays through i could be an addict if i get to buy what i want to buy...

I agree. I phrased myself badly but I meant that in terms of time and money spent I'd probably be up with the addication/life-consuming levels but I don't see myself as having the negatives.

NiallFH

OVER 9000!! (2 pages in and nobody has done that yet, im disappointed)

On a serious note going off your descriptions its probably a past time now and probably fading, I dont get that urge to play a new game or get sucked into them like I used to. Shame because I used to love gaming.

Built my own rig back when I used to play and was thoroughly addicted to warcraft, avoided seeing GFs so I could raid, wouldnt really ever see any mates. At max I probably put in 2 hours a week now, some weeks nothing.

Magill

Orim wrote: »

Sorry for the derail but 15-20 hours is an only? and doesn't constitute value for money, considering the games probably cost max €50.

Of course its an "only"... multiplayer based games should expect to see 100's of hours, in some cases 1000's. I really would love to see the amount of hours i've put into cs over the years.. actually... i wouldn't, probably quite scary

Chemistry Ftw

Was an addiction for me for a long time, on and off. For the last 6 months, I have rarely picked up a controller, I've just got bored of them and more important things have come into my life

Herrick

Orim wrote: »

Sorry for the derail but 15-20 hours is an only? and doesn't constitute value for money, considering the games probably cost max €50

Your post wording is a little confusing?

Yes for MW3 & BF3, 15-20 only, on multiplayer. I got bored of them. When I say value for money I mean I didn't play them half enough to warrant having bought them in the first place.

Where as I couldn't put ME3 and Skyrim down, so they were worth the purchase.

Orim

Magill wrote: »

Of course its an "only"... multiplayer based games should expect to see 100's of hours, in some cases 1000's. I really would love to see the amount of hours i've put into cs over the years.. actually... i wouldn't, probably quite scary

We don't know that he was playing them for the multiplayer and it still seems crazy in the context of value for money considering it works out at ~€2 - €2.50.

And anyway it's just a pet peeve with fairly decent lenghts of time being blasted as not enough and it leads to all sorts of filler being used to pad out games to reach an "acceptable" lenght.

ShadowHearth

Passion since i was 5.

Harps

Somewhere between hobby and past time at the moment for me, I'm in my final year at college so getting very little time to play anything recently, haven't touched my xbox since Christmas and only get an hour or two a week on the laptop at most. If I had the time I'd probably put about 8-10 hours a week into it so overall still a hobby

Clover

A passion for the last 25 years.

penev10

I ticked passion before reading that it involved spending all my free cash on it! It's more than a hobby though. A Hobby, to me, is soemthing you do the odd weekend and maybe buy the odd magazine for. IMO if you're checking games sites, posting on forums and playing daily then it's more of a passion.

CORaven

A good hobby with my family and friends since I was 9.
Although I do read a lot more industry news than they would, I would not put the monetary passion into it as others do.

Overheal

Past time. Some games I'll go bananas for but at the end of the day it might be a week sometimes where I don't play anything. Got too much life going on.

I suppose I could have also ticked hobby, granted I've refurbished a working SNES, and rooted an Acer Tablet with a PS3 controller to play every cartridge game that ever was.

Agricola

Id say passion. Games sites are take up most of my bookmarks, they are what I check everyday after my email. Love to read about upcoming titles, industry news and especially tech and retrospective features.

I have lost interest in other hobbies that I once thought would be with me for life, but gaming is still something I love. I spend a huge wedge of cash on an annual basis, or at least every 2 years, on the components for a new gaming PC.

Retr0gamer

If you don't own a Neo Geo then it's only a hobby :P

ShadowHearth

Retr0gamer wrote: »

If you don't own a Neo Geo then it's only a hobby :P

not everyone is stuck in 80s!!!!


...so ill take my coat and hit that dusty trail so

Mikeyt086

Hobby.

Used to be a passion when I was 16-19 and playing competitive FIFA, but have since slowed down. Still buy games I want on release and would guess I play at least an hour a day.

Potential-Monke

Helix wrote: »

career

If you were to vote on your level after/outside of work, what would you be?

Magill wrote: »

Just meant the descriptions.

Fair enough. I tried to keep it to the perception of each level, passion being the healthiest high level, and addictive having the negatives that are in any addiction (there's no such thing as an addiction that doesn't have negatives).

Magill

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Fair enough. I tried to keep it to the perception of each level, passion being the healthiest high level, and addictive having the negatives that are in any addiction (there's no such thing as an addiction that doesn't have negatives).

Indeed.

danthefan

It would be hobby for me now. I spent a fairly significant amount of money on a gaming PC which was well worth it for me.

To my great shame I was a full blown WoW addict for a while, gave up just before the first expansion.

tonydude

just a hobby for me

Helix

Potential-Monke wrote: »

If you were to vote on your level after/outside of work, what would you be?

at this stage, it would be completely non existent im afraid. it's very much just a job nowadays, and i think it's that way BECAUSE it's a job

Potential-Monke

Helix wrote: »

at this stage, it would be completely non existent im afraid. it's very much just a job nowadays, and i think it's that way BECAUSE it's a job

That'd be my fear about working in the gaming industry, especially one that reviews as many games as possible. You reckon it may turn you off gaming at some stage? Or are you still enjoying every minute of work?

McGrath5

Hobby - Used to put in a silly amount of hours up until a few years ago, but a full time job, social life etc does get in the way.

Helix

Potential-Monke wrote: »

That'd be my fear about working in the gaming industry, especially one that reviews as many games as possible. You reckon it may turn you off gaming at some stage? Or are you still enjoying every minute of work?

i dont think itll necessarily turn me off it as such, but there are a billion things id rather do than play a game when im not working

sarumite

Was a passion, now a definite hobby and I can see it veering towards past-time. Generally it comes down to more and more responsibilities as I get older taking precedence over gaming and as such gaming just slips down the list of importance in my world.