Taking a break from gaming?

[chasely]

Anybody here (that regularly plays) take a break from gaming at some point?

I believe that what you spend your time doing dictates what's important to you. The things that I think are important to me (doing well in grad school and laying the foundation for my career), and the things I do (a lot of gaming) conflict. I would guess that I play about 25-30 hours of games a week.

When I look back at what I'm doing thirty years from now, I doubt my gaming is going to have much of an impact on my life then, but the thing I could be doing instead of gaming (studying and doing research) could have a much greater impact.

I do enjoy playing games, it gives me a competitive outlet, especially while I'm unable to play sports due to an injury.

So, to those that have taken a break, how long did you do it for/how did you do it?

[azsf]

usually, i let gaming releases dictate my 'breaks' - if there's nothing that i want to play coming out for a while i probably wont be doing a whole lot of gaming. the only exception to that is world of warcraft, which i took a massive break from after BC and then again after WotLK (back again for MoP!). The first break was for roughly 4-6 months, the second was from pre-cata till just last month (so a year plus? not sure how long its actually been). i did it by letting my subscription slide and then focusing on other aspects of my life, namely fitness, and finding new ways to spend my free time in a way that was both productive and enjoyable.

one thing i found with online gaming is that it quickly becomes a social crutch; rather than going out to see your friends you all just jump online and play a few rounds of whatever. this is great if youre on different sides of the country, but when you're only on the other side of town it's pretty lame. making the effort to hang out with friends in person and do stuff together (go to the beach/movies/pub, work out, go rock climbing) really helped keep me off the computer in the first few months. after that it just becomes natural.

also if you live in a fairly social share house, put your computer in a tiny room where only you could use it. i used to share with 3 other hardcore wow players, and we had an epic setup in our living room where we'd spend hours on end playing, because once again it was how we "hung out". by putting my computer away in my room (in my next house) i was more keen to sit out in our garden and actually hang out with my housemates, as opposed to sitting up in my room alone playing games.

[Kevin Awesom]

I disagree with your statement that thirty years from now your gaming now won't have much of an impact in your life. That's like saying that literature or films you are enjoying now won't have that much of an impact on your life then. The media we consume is quite important to the entire human experience, in my opinion. Anyone who was alive to see it remembers seeing Star Wars for the first time in the theater. Who can say that a certain song hasn't picked them up at their lowest point? Lord of the Rings, Ender's Game and Atlas Shrugged challenged and expanded my view of the world - even the short story I read for the first time today, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, raised some interesting questions in my mind. There's a certain amount of enrichment that comes to ones' mind and social life from the types of media they enjoy (or even merely experience, even if they don't enjoy it).

There's something to be said about balance in your life, though, which is why gaming should be seen as a reward activity for working hard, just as reading or movies should be. Also, opt for quality gaming time, rather than quantity. There's something to be said for gaming in a social context (especially with people in the same physical place as you), and playing games you know are really good and you know that you will remember for years to come. This is the way I ration my game time, and I really feel that a night of Doom II at a LAN party with friends or playing classic Nintendo with my girlfriend is worth more to me than spending 40+ hours of grinding through whatever the new fad game is.

I know I'm kind of all over the place with this, but hopefully you get what I mean. The happiest and most productive times of my life have been when I was a regular gamer, so don't discount the value of gaming. Work extremely hard, and play harder!

[shagy2303]

i had to take a break but in the same token even if it is a small amount every thing we do shapes who we are and who we will be

[concretecavewoman]

I like games, but I think regular breaks are a good thing, especially if games are acting as a proxy for a social life/relationship/job/sunlight/etc etc etc. While I used to take game breaks on the order of a month or two, since college I've inverted it and instead take life breaks where one weekend every few months I'll while away a couple days, long days, playing whatever new release it out. Kind of like a gaming stay-cation. I should add that I don't think getting rid of all recreation is a good idea. No, that would suck.

15 year old me would probably see this as sacrilege and accuse me of selling out to the man. Probably true ;P

[Lefeux]

Between Magic:The Gathering (playing on and off since 1994) and WoW (started in Dec of 04. On my second "long" hiatus - read 18 months in Afghanistan) I have played upwards of 40 hours a week while maintaining a full time job and been down to not playing much at all. I have made some great friends from WoW (introduced one of my best friends to his wife via our guild in WoW) that I have met and will continue to get together with IRL. Definitely what I would consider life long friendships. I may or may not pick up MoP when I get back home. It will just depend what is going on job wise (still looking for one when I get back stateside) and not letting it come inbetween my relationship with my wife and my workouts (and my job when I have one). So in short, balance is key. If you enjoy it, enjoy it. If it starts to feel like a job (last raiding guild I was in where I would farm gold and mats 3-4 days a week for 2 days of raiding....wasn't fun) then it might be time to take a break....unless you actually get paid for it, then it would be a job eh?

[Lefeux]

usually, i let gaming releases dictate my 'breaks' - if there's nothing that i want to play coming out for a while i probably wont be doing a whole lot of gaming. the only exception to that is world of warcraft, which i took a massive break from after BC and then again after WotLK (back again for MoP!). The first break was for roughly 4-6 months, the second was from pre-cata till just last month (so a year plus? not sure how long its actually been). i did it by letting my subscription slide and then focusing on other aspects of my life, namely fitness, and finding new ways to spend my free time in a way that was both productive and enjoyable.

Cataclysm was released in Sep 2010. Shhh its been 2 years!

p.s. after reading about the monk's in MoP, I might have to give it a try. I LOVED my monk in EQ1.

[UltimoJefe]

My break from gaming is coming to a close. I rarely play during the summer but my TV viewing and gaming steadily increases as the daylight hours dwindle.

[Waldo]

Kids kinda force the issue.

For me fitness and gaming are mutually exclusive. I can do one or the other, but not both. There just isn't the time. I gave up all online games while my wife was pregnant and all other games as I've gotten in shape (plus I no longer have babies nap time to play).

[Centurion]

I don't really take breaks per se but I do have a tendency to go for extended periods of time without playing anything and often think I could happily do away with my Xbox and just do other stuff to amuse myself. It's a similar situation with TV, for the last 2 years whilst I've been at uni I've been staying in a house without a TV and do fine without it except for the occasional craving for a night chilling out on the sofa watching whatever is on, then when I'm home with a TV it's nice to sit in the evening and put something on but it becomes all too easy to just spend all your time doing that. I think I'm similar to concretecavewoman in that I tend to play a little bit here and there and then once in a while have a day when I just splurge and have a long, guilt free session of gaming or just generally doing something unproductive but enjoyable

[bgvanbur]

Kids kinda force the issue.

For me fitness and gaming are mutually exclusive. I can do one or the other, but not both. There just isn't the time. I gave up all online games while my wife was pregnant and all other games as I've gotten in shape (plus I no longer have babies nap time to play).

I agree that kids definitely force the issue when they are infants and requires lots of time. But now that my kids are 3 and 6 years old, they love playing TMNT Turtles in Time and TMNT Hyperstone Heist. We also play games on the Wii including dancing games (which is a combination of fitness and gaming).

[Woodsrider]

The only reason kids cut into my gaming time is because they tie up the computer and xbox so much I don't get to play.

I took a permanent vacation from WoW and just try to play games that are quick and fun. I don't want to spend hours looking for stuff or waiting around for groups. Lately I've been playing DayZ, World of Tanks and BF3. I can hop on either for however long I want without getting stuck for extended periods. I found playing WoW or Eve Online that I would be tied up for hours trying to complete tasks.

I also try to take the summer off and limit myself to a set number of hours per week.

[chasely]

Thought I'd provide an update.

I basically removed all the "time-wasters" from my computer. That is, those games that are infinitely replayable or that I would plan to play for "only an hour" and spend all afternoon on. I basically haven't played since then. The only game left on my machine is Skyrim. I'll probably hop into that sometime soon, and I'll probably buy Assassin's Creed III on the release and play the crap out of it.

I like this more, as now I'm spending time playing games I get something out of instead of just playing because I have nothing better to do. Now I find myself having better things to do rather than playing those games

[Centurion]

Thought I'd provide an update.

I basically removed all the "time-wasters" from my computer. That is, those games that are infinitely replayable or that I would plan to play for "only an hour" and spend all afternoon on. I basically haven't played since then. The only game left on my machine is Skyrim. I'll probably hop into that sometime soon, and I'll probably buy Assassin's Creed III on the release and play the crap out of it.

I like this more, as now I'm spending time playing games I get something out of instead of just playing because I have nothing better to do. Now I find myself having better things to do rather than playing those games

Lol, I'd have said that Skyrim is the ultimate "I'll just play an hour, hey, what happened to the day?!?" game. I'm strongly considering getting ACIII on release. Usually I wait a couple of weeks/months depending on how much I want the game and get it cheaper used but I've been craving a bit of AC and the new one just looks so cool

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

For me fitness and gaming are mutually exclusive. I can do one or the other, but not both. There just isn't the time.

This is pretty much me. I have time to play games or workout, not both.

[Victoriaoke]

Oh my gosh I am such a huge gamer; started on the original NES and GAMEBOY when I was a kid, moved on to SEGA, grew into computer gaming and then got back into consoles in college; mostly just play PS3 and 360 now because DRM killed computer gaming for me (I don't have enough of an income to have a dedicated system, and I can't risk DRM crashing a computer I use for work again). I used to do some tourney gaming in college, but I quit because of tools getting all butthurt when I beat them and making it not fun anymore.

I played WoW from launch, and eventually quit because I realized it was costing me my real life friends (so not worth it); I haven't gone back since.

I've taken small breaks dictated by life; say I'm working on a show, I'll pretty much be so consumed by that project that it becomes a choice between sleep and gaming; I chose sleep.

Last summer I worked two full time jobs trying to save enough money to go back to school (didn't happen, but there's always next year), and again it was a choice between sleep and gaming.

In my experience, once you know what your priorities are (generally, life>entertainment), things work out pretty well when you just go with the flow. Save your gaming for when "life stuff" is slow (same thing applies to movies, books, concerts- sometimes you're just too busy, doesn't mean you don't still have stuff you want to see/do, it just has to be put on the back-burner for a while).

[chasely]

Lol, I'd have said that Skyrim is the ultimate "I'll just play an hour, hey, what happened to the day?!?" game. I'm strongly considering getting ACIII on release. Usually I wait a couple of weeks/months depending on how much I want the game and get it cheaper used but I've been craving a bit of AC and the new one just looks so cool

Ha, you're right. But I'll say that I was only that way for a few weeks with Skyrim. After I logged ~45 hours on the game I can stop playing it all day.

I have a day off today though. So maybe I'll try and remember where I left off with Skyrim . Gotta find a good pre-order for AC III too...

[Raikas]

In my experience, once you know what your priorities are (generally, life>entertainment), things work out pretty well when you just go with the flow.

True enough! Although I might argue that in an ideal world entertainment (in any form) should be an integral part of life rather than a "less than" thing, but that's just nitpicking.

Amusingly though, on the kids-and-jobs take over front, two of the most serious gamers I know are folks with multiple kids (a guy with 3: 18years, 8years and 6years and a woman with 2: 5years and 2years), and my most devoted game time was the year after I graduated university when I was holding down 3 jobs. Sometimes having less free time makes you seek out a little escapism all the more!

So, to those that have taken a break, how long did you do it for/how did you do it?

I went about 4 years with very little gaming aside from a few social games, not because I was intending to, but just because I'd moved cross-country, changed jobs, taken up a new sport and developed a new social circle. I had just as much free time, but the way I used it kept me away from almost all solitary entertainment - I still went to movies and concerts, but my consumption of games, comics, tv and books almost vanished. Then I moved again and I started making time for it again - not really consciously, it was just something that happened.