Ever thought of quitting games due to not enough time?

Cryomatrix

Hey guys, 

I have been playing games forever. I made a post about 15 months ago ago about how people find the time to play games when they work and have a wife and toddler. So now, 15 months later, I work about 11-13 hours a day and have been doing so for 44 straight days now. My wife and son were out of town for 2 weeks. In the first week I played darkfall: rise of agon every night but then stopped after a week. I tried a few other games, i bought dark souls 3. Even 15 months ago, i had started to play mortal online and I kind of liked it. 

I was playing Path of Exile in hardcore mode only and was playing that a ton but quit until new patch when my latest char died to lag. But I find myself saying, should I even bother with video games as I am so bloody busy. If I am not working 11-13 hours a day, I come home and I can't play if my toddler is awake, so I can really only play an hour a day at most. Which I guess is why casual MMO's were made. But I know myself, if I play a game daily and get addicted to it. If i stop for a week or so, I will usually lose the addiction to it. I don't think playing a game an hour a day would be enough for me. I think that may be the reason why, I stopped playing anything even when my wife and kid were away. I was too lazy to even turn on my computer to play a game or hook up the xbox again. Perhaps, I am getting beaten down from working too hard even though I like working as much as I do. 

On another note, every time I want to pick up a new MMO, I feel like i've played the game before . I guess we all have as they are mostly all re-skins on the same concept. I am now trying other genres, but to no avail. I

I wonder if I should just go cold turkey on games, boycott them until my kid gets older to play with me. Any thoughts? Thanks for listening. 

Sincerely, 

Cryomatrix

p.s. I've had some busy times in life where I went through professional graduate school playing games like crazy and 80 hour work weeks doing the same and still always had a craving for games. But I did realize that the more stress I was under, the more I wanted to play games. When I am not stressed, I don't want to play games at all. So after big huge tests, I didn't want to play video games even though i'd play a ton while trying to study for the exam. Go figure. 

Kyleran

The good news is yorlu are young so if you have to set games aside for awhile they'll still be here when you return, perhaps better than ever.

I'm at the age where if I wait 5 years for better games I might not be around to enjoy them.

One piece of advice, enjoy your children as much as you can when they are young, gaming and even too much work are not great reasons to ignore them.

The time at which they no longer want or need you comes far sooner than you would ever think.

Naryath

Games are a time sink no matter how you look at it. i hope you understand what I'm trying to say... I don't want to be a smartass. Congratulations by the way, and good luck!

epoq

lol im at the point where my backlog is huge, time is scarce, but i still see new games that im like "omg i want to play this", buy it, added to backlog.  i'll never get caught up.

Wizardry

NOPE..never and i am struggling for time all the time.I often multitask,doing several things at once.

The thing about games is there is no time restriction other than say a dungeon instance that might boot you out if not completed.I have never liked nor endorsed designs like that anyhow,i feel games that boot you anywhere from servers or zones is very lame.

For some it might be difficult because they seem to think 90% of the games are good and go about buying anything and everything,then realize they can't play them all.

I have a very distinct need from the genres and if they do not deliver, i do not bother with them at all.So i only have 1-3 games ever on the go and if i can't login,no big deal,i catch it another day.

The REAL problem is 99% gamer's keep playing these games like a race,even the single player games are  like a who can finish it first,VERY shallow people and reasons for playing a game.

I guarantee you if you get max level in 2 days i am not going to high five you or even care,gaming is not a race to me,it is SUPPOSE to be fun and if a mmo,a place to hangout with real people.There is no TIME restrictions for me to play a game.

Sovrath

No not really, my life is sort of engineered so that I have time for the things I want to do. What I do have to do at times is to pick one game if I'm going to finish it in a timely manner.

For example I was playing Black Desert but now I'm focusing on Elder Scrolls online. Once I finish some main quests there, including the Morrowind expansion I will go back to Black Desert.

Not sure why you are working so many hours for so long. If possible try to get a better job. That type of work load is not going to be sustainable for long.

WalkinGlenn

Bored completely with fantasy mmos. Playing EvE only when my corp pings for home defence. Completely over any kind of shooter be it PC or console. I've been reacquainted with an old friend... board games.

Moirae

You must be exhausted. I have times when I play constantly and times when I barely touch them if at all. That's life. Its not a big deal and the games are always waiting when or if you come back. 

Kyleran

Back when my children were young I learned how little sleep I could live on, managed to play games by limiting sleep to about 4 hours a night.

Don't try this at home, not recommended.

Cryomatrix

Hey DMKano, 

The funny part is, I can play at work. I work at 3 different work locations and one of them, I can completely play in but it is uncomfortable, the other I can play too, and one I cannot play at all. 

The thing about work though, is that I normally work 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, but now that i'm the director of our a little group and people are leaving, I am now working every day. However, I actually love what I do for work, so it does not feel like work . I love my job, just lamenting why I can't get into games at this point, is it no time or am i fundamentally changing, or the fact that I think I have no time, makes me not want to get into anything. 

Also, Sorvath, back in 2003 to 2012 I lived probably within an hour of you in Boston Metropolitan area, now I'm in california . 

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, I wanted to hear other perspectives and I got some good thoughts, so thanks a million. 

Cryomatrix

Theocritus

I've stopped raiding and doing long dungeons in games because of time issues but usually don't quit an entire game because of it.

ConstantineMerus

Kyleran said:

I'm at the age where if I wait 5 years for better games I might not be around to enjoy them.

I never thought I would cry on these forums.

ConstantineMerus

I had to quit EVE because I couldn't put enough time into it. It was hard to let go of my 27 accounts after 12 years. 

Right now I'm not playing any other MMOs. I wanted to jump back to DAoC and play with @Kyleran, but we ain't sure how long he's going to be around so don't wanna really invest in that game. 

I have a list of singleplayer games I need to finish. And I just don't finish them, I have to get the Platinum trophy, uncured OCD does that to you. The other day I did an estimate and realized that'll take about 2500 hours. That's if no new singleplayer games will be released that I'll like, and God forbid in case of a new MMO like EVE, I'll be completely fucked. 

I don't have much gaming time neither. Besides the family, I'm running a few businesses and one has to read and watch movies as well. 

But all this doesn't make me feel like I need to quit gaming. On the contrary, I have so much to look forward to. That gives me hope. 

And yes, like Kano I also play a bit at work. Nothing provides gaming time better than "Honey, we have an urgent meeting with ze Germans." 

13thBen

You just can't quit playing that easily, since you have been playing games "forever" just find time and play

cheyane

I have given up games that take over my  life like Black Desert Online. It got scary the amount of time I spent playing. I used to not do that and it was very bad like in Everquest but I learnt to moderate so I don't neglect my family.

Tintagil

coretex666 said:

I am not thinking about quitting my hobbies to get more time. 

Instead, I have been thinking about changing my corporate job for something else that will not require such a huge time investment. All I want to do is to surf and play pc games in the evening.

It is all about priorities

This is pretty much what I was going to say. Sometimes hobbies take a back seat to certain life events (e.g., work, school, family ect), but it is still important to maintain some sort of way to disconnect from your day to day stressors. 

Also, nothing has to be necessarily final. Sometimes life and work get really hectic and you might need a break from gaming. For instance, when I was in the military, I spent a a lot of time deployed and gaming was largely out of the question. Fast forward ten years, and I am no longer in the military and have the space in my life to game, so I happily do.

postlarval

I spent my 20's, 30's, and part of my 40's working my ass off. Retired at 42 and only work occasionally helping past co-workers get their startups off the ground.

I could play 24/7 if I wanted to, but wouldn't have that opportunity if I had squandered my early years playing games instead of building a strategy for early retirement.

Focus on your life and by the time you're in a position to play more, maybe there will be games worth playing.

Anireth

I'd suggest playing games where you feel like making progress no matter how much (or little) time you put into it. And where you can easily pick up and don't have to remember decision you made in the game 3 months ago. I

Many people complain that you can solo most MMOs anyways, so they are not completely off the table. And there's singleplayer games, in most you can save at any time.

Maybe also set aside one day per week for gaming. Maybe after your son is already in the bed. If he's still a toddler, that should be no later than like 20:00 (and thats already late). If your wife e.g. prefers some movies or series you don't like, she'd probably be happy to have the TV all for herself every now and then, too, so you can easily play 2-4 hours straight on one day, and still be up early next day.

Other people do sports, have training 2-3 times per week and matches on weekend, depending on league it can easily take up the whole day with travel. So using a few hours for your hobby is perfectly fine. And depending what you play, you can still take a quick break when something's up (e.g. your kid doesn't sleep).

Of course, most important is if you actually want to. Nobody forces you to play. Why don't you just stop if you don't feel like it and you don't find the time? From the sound of it, it's not like you sit around bored all day not knowing what to do.

ZionBane

I love playing games, and as time goes, I find I don't have large windows of time to play anymore, those days of playing EQ for 16 hours straight, are long gone. I am seeing the attraction to MOBA's now, fast 15 - 30 min matches... and no long range issues/stories to keep up on.. no gear treadmills.. no falling behind... and, they are social, I can always find other people to play with, no matter what time I log in... all in all, as an Idea goes, I can see why they are so popular.

Beyond that.. I also am at the point that most MMO's feel the same right now, I am glad I had that time when EQ first came out, to feel that real ground breaking thrill of the Dawn of MMO's.. when tings were so amazing.. to be a part of that history, I still get together with some of my old EQ (even tho most of them stopped playing MMO's due to life) friends, and laugh at the things we had done.

I guess it's all about what you feel is important. Some people golf, some people paint, some people go to the gym, or drink, or read, or whatever... people like us... we play games. it's a hobby that we enjoy. 

Cryomatrix

My toddler goes to sleep at 10-11 pm at night. My wife is a night owl, plus I think she does it on purpose on the days I come back home from a 14 hour day and he'll still be awake . 

These responses are awesome. To the person that retired at 42 what type of work do you do and what type of business, I love business, but I like the idea of having a steady paycheck too and don't mind working as hard as I do. I've got massive ADD. 

Cryomatrix

Aethaeryn

I have the same 'been there, done that' thing happening.  I remember when I quit WoW.  I thought of all the hours and what it got me. . .nothing in the end.  BUT I did enjoy it while I was playing and it was fairly social at the time.

Now I do enjoy games that have offline progression or "stamina" types of things where I feel when I come back I have saved something up that helped etc.  I remember when UO started doing the faster progression for the first hour of the day or whatever.  I felt then that I was actually "saving" time by playing just that hour.  I was being more efficient in a sense.  People always say play to have fun. . for me progression is fun.  It is a mixed bag for sure.  I also liked Dark fall because I could mine while I was working.   I also played Eve on a second monitor (while I had free play time).

It is for all of those reasons that Free to Play has been good for me when the non-sub isn't crippling.  I will never go back and be a top crafter etc.  I was in a top guild in DAoC, UO, ran a guild in the Realm and a few other games.  I look back fondly and wish I could do it again, but I never will.  I turned some of that into real life progression  Turns out that sucked. . more responsibility and time spent for not much more income.  I  guess I reached level cap in my current employment and need to move along - turns out that end-game sucks

Mostly, I know how much time I spent on other games that I really enjoyed and can't bring myself to commit to that amount of time. . so I don't get caught up in the game. . and as a result it doesn't interest me in the same way.

postlarval

Cryomatrix said:

To the person that retired at 42 what type of work do you do and what type of business, I love business, but I like the idea of having a steady paycheck too and don't mind working as hard as I do. I've got massive ADD.

Apple --> IBM --> Microsoft --> Amazon

I collected a few stock options along the way... ;-)

ianicus

once upon a time I played MMO's every waking hour, but those days are long gone. With a family, a real career and property to take care of, who's got the time.

Sovrath

Cryomatrix said:

Also, Sorvath, back in 2003 to 2012 I lived probably within an hour of you in Boston Metropolitan area, now I'm in california . 


Cryomatrix

Awww so you left our mercurial weather patterns and unseasonable death storms for sun and fun?

Well, this is what you are missing! EAT YOUR HEART OUT YOU SUN KISSED HIPPY!

 

itsover

its call real life, have bill to pay, have responsible , I dont quit play game, i just play less or play when i have time or feel like it, i dont take game serious any more, or let it control me, i dont care if my friend is way ahead level of me, those thing in game dont mean nothing. But I still enjoy game, get off the game and pick up where ever i left off without any hard feeling.

YashaX

Yes I quit games all the time for that reason. Its bad when I get so tired I don't even have the drive to play.