I just gave away all my games but 1.

BlitzKrieg

It has become painfully clear that I play too many video games this month as I came closer and closer to becoming one of those kotaku articles about someone who plays too many video games needing to get off their ass to work or even live.

With the exception of a few titles all my games on my pc were either disc based or via steam, so I packed up all my game discs, deleted the installations on my computer and sent a cd wallet of games back to my family home in tipperary (which everyone knows the popular phrase about that.)

Which leaves Steam which I just gave away (deleted my card details first of course) with all 145 games on it to a friend.

Huh.


strange new world.

MitchKoobski

Get out

Retr0gamer

I'll be buried with my games!

Lucutus

What was the one you held onto? Arma2? That's plenty

richymcdermott

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFZ7bBaYpcw

i feel it is appropriate to play this while reading your comment

Lets just hope you wont regret your decision

BlitzKrieg

Lucutus wrote: »

What was the one you held onto? Arma2? That's plenty

Yeah Arma 2 (dayz/wasteland) started this mess when I became away I was up at 6am for the 4th day running playing zombie survival/lone gunman on a hill so I had to force myself not to choose that as my only game.

Skerries

I bet you it's Snake on his Nokia

It's so easy to get access to games these days what with smart phones, tablets, PC/laptop, even sky have games up on their service
so as a service and out of the goodness of my heart I would be willing to take all your electronic devices off your hands so as you don't relapse

Andy!!

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

It has become painfully clear that I play too many video games this month as I came closer and closer to becoming one of those kotaku articles about someone who plays too many video games needing to get off their ass to work or even live.

With the exception of a few titles all my games on my pc were either disc based or via steam, so I packed up all my game discs, deleted the installations on my computer and sent a cd wallet of games back to my family home in tipperary (which everyone knows the popular phrase about that.)

Which leaves Steam which I just gave away (deleted my card details first of course) with all 145 games on it to a friend.

Huh.


strange new world.

You seem to be swinging between two excesses of behaviour; I don't think your problem is the amount of games that you have.

And the only game you didn't give away is the one that keeps you awake all night; am I reading that right? :pac:

Big Knox

This is basically like saying I have a drug problem and I will fix it by giving away all of my drugs apart from Heroin!

Headshot

wow you have away a steam account with 145 games, bloody hell. Out of interest how much do you think you could of gotten for it?

Elmidena

I was not the friend that got 145 free games
But kudos, took a lot of guts to do that and hope you don't wind up regretting your decision!

BlitzKrieg

Andy!! wrote: »

You seem to be swinging between two excesses of behaviour; I don't think your problem is the amount of games that you have.

And the only game you didn't give away is the one that keeps you awake all night; am I reading that right? :pac:

no I gave arma 2 away too.

this applies to the heroin comment too, the game I held on to was not because its the one I played the most or anything but simply because I hadnt finished it yet.

And no its not some endless epic like civ 5 or skyrim (both of which were on my steam and now with my friend)


As for value, I wouldnt think its too high, I got a lot of indie or classic games.

Varik

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

no I gave arma 2 away too.

What was the game then?

BlitzKrieg

Varik wrote: »

What was the game then?

splinter cell conviction, picked it up last week for £4 at hmv and am about 2/3rds of the way through (I guess I'd heard it was only a six or so hour game and i've been chipping away at it for about 4 hours now) so thought I'd finish it before I delete it.

Canis Lupus

I give you a month max before you're writing a new post bitching about having to download everything again.

cherryghost

Bit rash IMO.

Do you think it will be something you regret down the line? You can't change by suddenly giving everything away. You're still a gamer at the core of it. Gaming in moderation is the key. Live a perfectly balanced life, it's possible.

Instead you've just turned your world upside down and gave up something you are quite obviously passionate about.

Sephiroth_dude

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

splinter cell conviction, picked it up last week for £4 at hmv and am about 2/3rds of the way through (I guess I'd heard it was only a six or so hour game and i've been chipping away at it for about 4 hours now) so thought I'd finish it before I delete it.

You won't be buying anymore games then?

BlitzKrieg

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I give you a month max before you're writing a new post bitching about having to download everything again.

actually probably six months, the person who I gave my steam account to offered if I regret this I can take it back off him in six months (he caculates it'll take him that long to play all the games on the account)

cherryghost wrote: »

Bit rash IMO.

Yeah but I needed rash, I just finished a major project and right now I should be out capitalizing on it and working towards my future but every day when I wake up and declare I must get that letter done today or post that application or any such things I say *after a quick game of X* next its almost 4am and I've done nothing.

Do you think it will be something you regret down the line? You can't change by suddenly giving everything away. You're still a gamer at the core of it. Gaming in moderation is the key. Live a perfectly balanced life, it's possible.

Instead you've just turned your world upside down and gave up something you are quite obviously passionate about.

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

You won't be buying anymore games then?

I intend to bring it back in slowly when I am more sure of my control so if I am employed and somewhat back to a healthy lifestyle in six months I'll probably start buying the odd title. It just got ridiculous the last few months. I had a good balance a few years a go when I was living in dublin, but something just went wrong the last year and my video consumption went through the roof. Funny thing when I first planned to move over to London I had originally intended to leave my pc and games console at home and take just my old mac for work so I could focus on it more, and I was told in much the same way not to be so rash. Wasnt rash last time, so lets be rash this time.

Also as stated in the original post

All cd based games are not sold or thrown away, I sent them away to my family home, obviously I can get them back when I decide the time is right, though at the same time I cant just pop over the Irish sea and pick em up on a whim.

Canis Lupus

Fair play. Whilst it's safe to say there's lots of us that love gaming I do have moments where Monday rolls around and I think to myself, I could really have done something better than play X for the entire weekend, like go out with the GF etc.

I hope you enjoy all your spare time

Andy!!

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I give you a month max before you're writing a new post bitching about having to download everything again.

What I was thinking.

Kiith

I'll be taking a pretty long break from gaming myself soon enough, as i'll be travelling and am not going to get a laptop to even play some games. Will be the first time in a long time that i've not had access to a gaming pc, and i'm already looking forward to going back and playing all the games that i will miss in 2013

Don't think i could give all my games away though. Especially not my pc games.

Myrddin

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

strange new world.

Great, now your free to pump your body full of poisons like nicotine & alcohol and live a normal life. Congrats man

Andy!!

Maybe try reading to fill that gap? Plenty of amazing stories out there not told through the medium of games. Maybe some airsoft for the gameplay? ;P Lots of things to do that don't involve booze and smoking crack. :P

biko

Well done OP. I gave up gaming when it started to interfere with my life too much, then I found boards to waste my time on instead .

Gotham

OP, this is not exactly directed at you, but I want to post an opinion.
I see people posting online about how they have had a realisation that they have wasted their life playing games. They then continue to preach to people about how they waste their time playing games.
Playing games might be wasting time for some, but its a way of life for many. If I weren't able to play games, I'd probably have nothing to live for and off myself. That's not pathetic, it's passionate.

When I see a post like this complaining that someones 150 games are destroying their life it makes me feel "angry" for a few reasons.
A). It's not the games, it's their attitude to non-game facets of life that are "destroying" their life - addictive personality disorder.
. Many times it insults people who dedicate their life to games. Without those passionate people, you would be left with only shi­tty EA titles.

I understand you need to get some work done, but don't blame the games.
OP, if you feel this is what you need to do then I wish you good luck, it's not easy to stop having so much fun.

Canis Lupus

Kiith wrote: »

I'll be taking a pretty long break from gaming myself soon enough, as i'll be travelling and am not going to get a laptop to even play some games. Will be the first time in a long time that i've not had access to a gaming pc, and i'm already looking forward to going back and playing all the games that i will miss in 2013

Don't think i could give all my games away though. Especially not my pc games.

When I went travelling I brought a netbook and loaded it with oldschool games. Was great, you'd be surprised what a netbook can actually run as well.

Another thing is here in Australia (seeing as I know your destination) we're geographically screwed pingwise for internet gaming... It's not fun

Andy!!

biko wrote: »

Well done OP. I gave up gaming when it started to interfere with my life too much, then I found boards to waste my time on instead .

You jest but I spend far too much time scrollin' scrollin' scrollin' on sites like this. I have made it my mission this year to game MORE as it's more pro-active than this!! :eek:

ShadowHearth

It rings me the episode of family guy where Peter learns about his drinking problem.

If you keep drinking like that you will become an asshole who terrorises his family and gives cigar marks.
If you drop alcohol completely, you will become complete douche and boring bastard.

So what do you need? Moderation. You need to keep a balance between two. Same is with gaming.

To make this situation even more crazy, gaming is not as bad as other addictions. OP, do you have already a plan what will you do in free time? Drink in pub? Waste time in front of TV?

I wish you best of luck with your celibacy, but I don't support it.

BlitzKrieg

OP, this is not exactly directed at you, but I want to post an opinion.
I see people posting online about how they have had a realisation that they have wasted their life playing games. They then continue to preach to people about how they waste their time playing games.

I know its not aimed at me, but I need to stress I never considered gaming a waste of time, my reasons for doing this is as stated I found gaming was interfering with my life as a whole.

I mean look at the times I've been posting at, my sleep schedule is really messed up at the moment from long sessions into the night and I need for the immediate future not have this interference.

Great, now your free to pump your body full of poisons like nicotine & alcohol and live a normal life. Congrats man

OP, do you have already a plan what will you do in free time? Drink in pub? Waste time in front of TV?

don't smoke, not a heavy drinker or even a binge drinker and I haven't done drugs since I left college, I do eat a lot so I also started a new diet this week and am trying to resume my exercise schedule I was doing last year but seriously let it slip. New social commitments such as a london based boardgaming group and oddly enough a friends bowling team (yes I laughed too, but he really wants to give it a go)

Not to mention actually getting some work done that I keep putting off and playing video games instead.

runawaybishop

Gotham wrote: »

If I weren't able to play games, I'd probably have nothing to live for and off myself. That's not pathetic, it's passionate.

No, that shows you have serious issues.

Sephiroth_dude

I hope it works out for ya

Gotham

runawaybishop wrote: »

No, that shows you have serious issues.

Think about the amount of singers, actors, comedians and entertainers who would be in the same position. Sure, they have issues but isint it more understandable when you apply what I said to them? Like them, I have devoted my life to my career, and I'm happy with that.

degrassinoel

So, if you are removing the games from your life why are posting about it here?

not being a smartarse, i'm just curious why you'd go to the trouble of getting rid of all but one, then post about it on the games forum.

Myrddin

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

don't smoke, not a heavy drinker or even a binge drinker and I haven't done drugs since I left college, I do eat a lot so I also started a new diet this week and am trying to resume my exercise schedule I was doing last year but seriously let it slip. New social commitments such as a london based boardgaming group and oddly enough a friends bowling team (yes I laughed too, but he really wants to give it a go)

I'm simply making the point that a normal life to a lot of people is to spend a lot of money poisoning yourself, drinking until you vomit all over a taxi at the weekend, give out how your never doing it again & then repeat it all again the next Friday night.

Playing games, especially if you enjoy it, seems as good a hobby as any to me. It certainly should in no way be considered odd, given the utter bollox most people spend their time doing

FutureGuy

I'll box away all my consoles for a month now and again.

grizzly

degrassinoel wrote: »

So, if you are removing the games from your life why are posting about it here?

not being a smartarse, i'm just curious why you'd go to the trouble of getting rid of all but one, then post about it on the games forum.

If it's a very big part of his life and he feels is getting out of hand, he's probably looking for a bit of support/encouragement. Can't be easy going cold turkey!

Andy!!

runawaybishop wrote: »

No, that shows you have serious issues.

Agreed... nothing to live for, seriously. That would want to be a pretty big exaggeration Gotham or you can lump yourself in with the OP and go and find more to life.

monkeysnapper

degrassinoel wrote: »

So, if you are removing the games from your life why are posting about it here?

not being a smartarse, i'm just curious why you'd go to the trouble of getting rid of all but one, then post about it on the games forum.

Jeez give the poor feller a break , who stoll your biscuit this morning

I do think getting rid of all games was a bit drastic , you should have just toned it down gradually . Make yourself a rota every week and stick to it .

Icyseanfitz

Seriously bad year to be trying to just cold turkey gaming though isnt it, i mean gta 5 will probably be out in a few months, new consoles should be out this year , a metric **** ton of great games coming as well (particularly on pc which is what your after giving up), just seems like you've set yourself up for failure to me but never the less best of luck with it

ShadowHearth

Queue blitz closing his account on boards.ie in a few months and mysterious new poster joining games community!

i71jskz5xu42pb

EnterNow wrote: »

I'm simply making the point that a normal life to a lot of people is to spend a lot of money poisoning yourself, drinking until you vomit all over a taxi at the weekend, give out how your never doing it again & then repeat it all again the next Friday night.

You should get out more.

degrassinoel

grizzly wrote: »

If it's a very big part of his life and he feels is getting out of hand, he's probably looking for a bit of support/encouragement. Can't be easy going cold turkey!

Surely if he felt the need for support in giving up gaming he'd have used a forum that wouldnt cater to previous "addiction".

I'm looking at this from the point of view of somebody giving up drinking and telling a bunch of alcho's about it. Seems pointless to me to announce in that fashion, or even announce at all.

degrassinoel

monkeysnapper wrote: »

Jeez give the poor feller a break , who stoll your biscuit this morning

you stole my biscuits, i know it was you!

Skerries

I stole your sweet roll

ShooterSF

degrassinoel wrote: »

Surely if he felt the need for support in giving up gaming he'd have used a forum that wouldnt cater to previous "addiction".

I'm looking at this from the point of view of somebody giving up drinking and telling a bunch of alcho's about it. Seems pointless to me to announce in that fashion, or even announce at all.

Not really. It would be like someone who posts on the drinks forum regularly finding themselves being consumed by the hobby and at risk of becoming an alcoholic announcing that they felt the need to stop for a while to their peers, until they get their life in order. Often becoming addicted to something is to help escape your problems and maybe others are in a similar situation as the OP.

Best of luck OP, hopefully you get yourself sorted soon!

witnessmenow

Let the lad give up games if he wants to give up games! If you end up doing something more productive with your time fair play to you.

I sometimes after playing games, while I enjoy it at the time, I feel it was time not very well spent (especially time sinky games, like pro evolution, Dayz, minecraft etc) and I wish I had done something more productive like write an app or something. I most of the time wouldn't enjoy writing apps more than gaming (unless im working on something meaty) but the enjoyment I get out of it is much longer lasting.

So I repeat myself, good luck to you, but make sure you spend your now extra free time doing something worthwhile!

degrassinoel

ShooterSF wrote: »

Not really. It would be like someone who posts on the drinks forum regularly finding themselves being consumed by the hobby and at risk of becoming an alcoholic announcing that they felt the need to stop for a while to their peers, until they get their life in order. Often becoming addicted to something is to help escape your problems and maybe others are in a similar situation as the OP.

Best of luck OP, hopefully you get yourself sorted soon!

If you say so.. i still think it's a pat on the back he's looking for, but that's probably me being a cynical cnut on a monday afternoon too

jumbobreakfast

Well done and best of luck with it. Dayz made me think about doing something similar myself so now I try to play other more rewarding "quick fix" games on work nights. Playing with friends on teamspeak makes it feel a bit more healthy (in a Norm from Cheers kind of way )

Calhoun

Very interesting idea, i think allot of us are so use to the steam sales era we have been overly spoiled. I have so many games to play its crazy , however i wouldnt be as extreme as to get rid of them all but its quite interesting to see.

I would point out though that this might not have the impact you want, if you picked a single player game i could understand the point of what you have done but an MMO is traditionally a time sync. I personally find that its not the quantity of games i have at times but the MMO type games that take up my time.

Please keep us updated OP i am interested to see how you get on.

Agricola

Seems very extreme but Im not judging. Luckily Im too lazy to even go overboard on the things I love in life. I love games, but manys the evening I will say to myself "Ah fúck it, I cant be arsed with that tonight, Ill just browse the web or watch tv"
I imagine if I was very motivated to play tonnes of games and the hobby was eating into the rest of my life, I would probably go cold turkey too. Im an all or nothing sort of person when it comes to giving up things.

mrm

When our first child arrived I gave up gaming for about 6 to 7 years to devote my attention to shared parenthood. When the second child arrived I informed herself that I have taught her all she needs to know to raise our children without my assistance and to just get on with it:D, allowing me to return to gaming.

So months later, after I regained consciousness, I purchased a next gen console. Switching it on made me feel like a kid starting gaming for the first time again. I probably play more now than previously, but in a controlled manner. Looking back it was the right decision. There is no loss leaving gaming aside for a while, games do not go off. It is easy to return to and you can still continue buying games in the Steam sales and not play them - same as any active gamer:D.

Gaming is a geat pastime, but unlike something like listening to music it requires all your attention, prohibiting you from doing other activities simultaneously. It can also be a serious time sink.

OP, it sounds like you are making a good decision at this stage in your life. If circumstances change you can easily return to gaming, maybe with a more controlled approach. Best of luck OP.

On a related note, reading some of the ridiculous responses on this thread there a certainly a few others who could possibly benefit from a similar approach as the OP, maybe just to acquire a little bit of perspective in life!