what do you get from any form of entertainment though? Its about fun, not everything in life is about "gaining" something. At the end of your life doing the things that made you happier will be what matters

Havent touched my PS3 in like 5 years.

As someone else pointed out. You achieve NOTHING playing video games. Would rather do a combat sport, soccer or something useful as my hobby. Only time I play video games is when I play FIFA with all my bros from time to time. I beat them even tho they play every day and I havent bought one since 2012 lol

aint quitting something i love and consider it an hobby. Aslong as it doesnt effect my life.

I always laugh at people who say video games are a waste of time. In that case you shouldn't be watching movies, tv, listening to music. It's all entertainment. I'll continue to play games (obviously not excessively) because they're fun.

Phuck no! I do take long breaks every now and then. Just need to have your priorities straight and you're g.u.c.c.i.

Yup. This. Sometimes playing a game is more satisfactory than aimlessly surfing the web or hanging out with the same friends for beers 4th day of the week in a row reharshing the same conversations in the same place.

never. at least I have something to do

21 yr old Comp Sci brah checking in. Been playing video games for many years. I go between phases of playing a MMO (Runescape or WoW primarily), or 1-3 dedicated online / single player games.

Got my first job ever about a year and a half ago at the college working anywhere from 25-40 hours a week (lately its been 30ish). Made some, admittedly, dumb decisions with excess money buying graphics cards, a new CPU, new monitors, peripherals, and even some games I've not really played (due to lack of time or even interest), etcetera. Chit adds up, if I never put money into a gaming PC I'd probably have somewhere around $3-4k extra in the bank, which would be especially useful for someone attempting to transition from "low-income college student" to "salaried full-time employee."

So money's a big factor in all this.

I entered my current Semester thinking I'd have it pretty easy, with a low quantity of course work and low difficulty, because I've finished all my "monster classes," but I've come to find out that the classes thus far have been high quantity of course work and medium difficulty.

Working 30 hours a week, plus going to classes 5 days a week, plus getting homework / projects done, plus getting exams studied for, sounds like a nightmare. Now throw in the recent career fairs I've been going to, and the interviews I've been attending, and I'm left with a stressful overload of information and tasks. The only way I've been getting through this semester with decent grades has been by looking at 1-2 weeks ahead to write out a battle plan giving me assignments to work on each and every day, and materials to study, around my upcoming schedules.

All last semester, and the first month or so of this Semester, I've been throwing Runescape into the mix. At work, in classes, while studying and doing homework, I'd always have Runescape open in the side on a laptop / desktop doing something "AFK" like chopping wood or fishing. Once I saw the career fairs coming up, and my need to get clothes / schedule interviews, I decided enough was enough and did something known as "staking" to essentially throw my in-game currency away. I did this, and immediately felt this weight that was constantly on my shoulders dissipate. Now when I'm on a computer, I'm no longer clicking on the game to ensure my dude's chopping away at a tree or doing something like fishing. It's as if a mental stressor had disappeared, and I can apply more focus to things in general.

I know all of this probably sounds dumb, but in order to stay remotely competitive or progressive in a MMORPG such as this, you've gotta put in the hours. Initially when you get into it, you realize it's not so bad to multi-task, but before you know it you're multi-tasking 10+ hours of the day, every day, and it becomes very taxing and disruptive with all activities, even when you're clever about it. An assignment that can take 1 hour with 100% focus may end up taking 1.5-2 hours when you're multi-tasking something like this.

Side note; one of my roommates plays League of Legends on a daily basis, and has been for years, and he has admitted to it getting in the way of school and studies, such that he'll end up "hoping for a C." Don't let this happen to you.

With all the above said, I'm not giving up video games, it's a fun hobby. In fact, lately I've been playing a bit of Killing Floor 2 with some co-workers, and I do intend on getting back into Civ 6, Gears of War 4, Battlefield 1, and I even have some games that I'm waiting to get (Mass Effect Andromeda, Resident Evil 7, Star Citizen).

You just gotta stay clear of those games that you'll find end up intruding into your life, or at the very least, enforce some discipline on yourself before things get out of hand.

tl;dr - Don't give up video games entirely, just find a balance. Don't let yourself get sucked into games such as MMORPGs that may end up intruding your life. Develop a priority system (I.E School > Work > Gym > Games)

I haven't played in years but I want to start again. What's a good free game for PC that isn't LoL?

I still play. I don't get into them as much though. Still play BF1 and NHL 17 on my xbone.

usually play before going to sleep to wind the day down a bit. nothing serious tho. good stress reliever.

I go through long phases where I just stop gaming. Once PS4 came out I pretty much stopped playing games, but recently picked a PS4 up and have been gaming again. Just finished the Mad Max game, was way better than I expected it would be. (Really fun game.) Just started Arkham Knight.

They're both time wasters, its just TV/movies are far more cheaper to experience and don't require committing a lot of time to enjoy, and the storytelling via movies/TV trumps games (I mean, how many awesome video game to TV/movie adaptations are there vs awesome TV/movie adaptations to video games? Right?)

So there is a difference, just what is the least waste of time, gnome saying?

I just went on a 2 month binge cuz I broke up with my GF and I moved to a new city where I don't know anyone


Im coming off it now when I realized I don't want to play the game anymore and its just been a coping mechanism, but I have so much free time and nothing to do man. Can't even walk outside in the city cuz its too cold for me

LOL

I don't play that game, so I didn't recognize the quote. Looks like that guy is "trying" to stop playing though, so maybe he's on the fence, even though he just called himself a **** by saying video games are for ****s. lol

Play video games when you don't have chit else to do, otherwise they're a complete waste of time unless you're making money from competitive gaming or streaming

beware of getting stuck into another addiction

What do you achieve from other forms of entertainment like tv, movies, fiction reading etc?

Why cant some things in your life be about fun

this this this

i make video games brah.

sure some people might prefer tv or movies or somethinng else, but the point is videogames ALWAYS get singled out as some kind of waste of time when they're supposed to be for fun and entertainment and nothing more like many other things in life

Should I get an XBOX ONE just for Halo? I was thinking about it

I play a lot less now compared to high school and college. Post college I got to 10th prestige in COD:BO2. Then COD:AW, I kind of started playing less. BO3, played a lot less, didn't even complete campaign mode. Now w/ Infinite Warfare I can't play more than 30 minutes.

I got bored of video games, or video games started sucking.

In reality you'll just find another way to waste time. Like miscing. Let's be real. It's not availability of time that's keeping you from doing chit.

I play about an hour a day. 2 if I'm cutting.

This

reading and video games are both froms of entertainment, that very often do nothing in either case but entertain

INB4 harry potter is somehow educational or whatever

Yeah, I've experienced a bit of increase in my test levels.

You gonna show us cars in your garage now, tai lopez?

sure it depends on what you read of course, but at least make that distinction.

I love reading and videogames, and I can say that I dont really gain much from either I do it because I enjoy it

I read mostly non fiction so I learn a bunch of random stuff, but it hasnt really benefited me at all.

Just sick and tired of videogames getting singled out for no reason.

Threw mine away when I got a car at 16