Post-gaming depression.

[Meemaimoh]

I get sad when I play a great game to the end and then it's over with little replay value.

Case in point: Assassin's Creed 2 and Arkham Asylum are recent ones.

This! I have WoW characters that I've sunk thousands of hours into, but it's never bothered me one bit. I get sad, though, when I reach the end of a game I've really loved playing. Even games with good replay value; knowing that I have reached the end of Mass Effect 2's value, for instance, really depresses me and makes me wish that I could just explore that universe forever, with new and exciting developments at every turn. Damn games for being so finite.

 

[Woodsey]

I felt a tad ashamed of myself when I finished AC2 in a weekend - starting the Friday night and finishing Sunday night. My time was close to 30 hours in 2 days...

It's very rare for me to do that though. Normally I game in the first place because I'm bored, it's very rare that I actively quit going out to stay in and play.

I will be doing that for as long as it takes me to finish Mafia 2 though.

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

Time you enjoy wasting is time well spent.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

I felt a tad ashamed of myself when I finished AC2 in a weekend - starting the Friday night and finishing Sunday night. My time was close to 30 hours in 2 days...

It's very rare for me to do that though. Normally I game in the first place because I'm bored, it's very rare that I actively quit going out to stay in and play.

I will be doing that for as long as it takes me to finish Mafia 2 though.

I'm almost exactly the same, minus the feeling bad part. I game when I am bored because it's a boredom cure, apart from the rare occasion when I discover a game I consider to be brilliant and addictive in which case I will put other things off in order to play it. I also played Assassin's Creed 2 for hours on end when I first got it, and I will most definitely be playing Mafia 2 almost religiously when it comes out next month since Mafia 1 is one of my favorite games of all time and I have been waiting for this sequel for years.

But yeah on average I game for something like 1-2 hours a day (if I actually have something I want to play), and often I don't feel like gaming at all. I'm not even a hardcore gamer, so I have nothing to feel bad about. (not that hardcore gamers should feel bad or something.)

 

[Woodsey]

I felt a tad ashamed of myself when I finished AC2 in a weekend - starting the Friday night and finishing Sunday night. My time was close to 30 hours in 2 days...

It's very rare for me to do that though. Normally I game in the first place because I'm bored, it's very rare that I actively quit going out to stay in and play.

I will be doing that for as long as it takes me to finish Mafia 2 though.

I'm almost exactly the same, minus the feeling bad part. I game when I am bored because it's a boredom cure, apart from the rare occasion when I discover a game I consider to be brilliant and addictive in which case I will put other things off in order to play it. I also played Assassin's Creed 2 for hours on end when I first got it, and I will most definitely be playing Mafia 2 almost religiously when it comes out next month since Mafia 1 is one of my favorite games of all time and I have been waiting for this sequel for years.

But yeah on average I game for something like 1-2 hours a day (if I actually have something I want to play), and often I don't feel like gaming at all. I'm not even a hardcore gamer, so I have nothing to feel bad about. (not that hardcore gamers should feel bad or something.)

Ultimately I think it's down to games not being socially accepted until now.

If you were reading a book for hours on end instead of gaming, no one would criticise you. If you were fishing, no one would criticise you. That's just how it is right now.

 

[Eladar1]

It's about your attitude, I think. I sdee my gaming as keeping me sane. If I'm happy, then it's a good thng. There are so many other worse things I could do to myself.

I sometimes think about my sedentary lifestyle, and worry about my health, but, as I said, sanity wins over physical trimness for me. In an ideal world, I'd do both to the perfect extent, but, hey, compromises have to be made.

By ideal world you mean "when i can get a wii/kinect/move (whichever is your system of choice)"??

 

[Kalabrikan]

If the music is kind of retrospective and sad, sometimes. It makes me wonder why I'm not reading. Then I do read some greatest novels ever, go "eh", and go back to games.

I guess it's just this thing with enjoying a game and feeling depressed because I'm enjoying something.

 

[ultimateownage]

I don't have after depression, 'cause I'm always depressed.

*edit*

Am I the only one who gets a really terrible, soul-crushing sense of nihilism and self-disgust after a gaming session? You know, the 'I have just spent three hours of my life pretending to be an elf, what the hell am I doing with my life' revelation? Oddly enough, this doesn't happen after I finish a book, or even sleep through half the best part of a day.

I'm seriously considering giving up the hobby, because it really seems to be messing with my head and turning me irrational. And it's not as if I play excessively [2-3 hours a day is about average, but it's probably less than that].

For instance, are there any seasoned WoW players here who have sunk hundreds of hours into a character? I have a friend who is a recovered WoW-junkie, and he said he never really felt anything along these lines.

Your thoughts? Also, excuse my terrible writing.

I've spent almost 200 hours on TF2. Time well spent in my opinion.

 

[hazabaza1]

Nope. After playing Mass Effect 2 for six hours, I don't think 'god, I just spent 6 hours playing as a space commander, developing a relationship with my crew.' I think 'Christ, that was awesome. I think I'll go play some Dragon Age.'

 

[Guffe]

Gaming is a part of my life but it goes in sessions, when I find a great game I play it to the end while I can have long "dry periods" with no gaming if nothing that seems fun comes out. I never get the "played too much feeling" you are talking about but I play less than the average gamer so that might be one of the things. I also think gaming is good in the way that you might actually learn stuff, for example my English is this good thanks to gaming and movies, of course books and school get a thank you as well but they couldn't bring me anywhere near the level I am at now. And I think a healthy amount of gaming is good to get you away from reality and have a small amount of fantasy/fiction world to have that part of your brain in action too.

 

[Engarde]

I tend not to regret it, I have encountered so many interesting experiences. I just tend to think that all this time has contributed to make me who I am. And I do not hate who I am! I just do not like my physical self. If you get what I mean.

 

[Circleseer]

Do some weightlifting, or sports. Play games when know you've got nothing better to do.
That'll deal with the nihilism.

Once you're sticking up your friends and cancelling parties / not doing homework because you feel you should play a game, that's when you're wasting time.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

I do get the odd feeling ever once in a while, but nothing major. Gaming is my life, its all i'v know since I was a kid grwoing up.

 

[urbanbushmonkey]

I felt a tad ashamed of myself when I finished AC2 in a weekend - starting the Friday night and finishing Sunday night. My time was close to 30 hours in 2 days...

Christmas day 2007 I started playing Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the cursed king, I only intended to play for an hour or so to see what it was like... I ended up clocking up 13 hours that day on it, another 14 on boxing day and another 12 the next day bringing my total over 3 days to 39 hours. I don't regret it for a single moment.

Another example is Eternal Sonata, every spare moment I had i'd be on it, my girlfriend would be sat next to me watching the story unfold.

 

[aubreym]

i know exactly what you mean. i dont know what it is but for me its to do with conflicting realities, similar to "being an elf" to quote you. i feel like "maybe i should go out" or whatever and "live" to reaffirm my existence in this reality than that of an illusion we call a videogame. i makes me feel empty inside.

sad part, i love video games, they are an extension and simulation of reality that i cant have.
this is why i am even use this website.

even sadder part, it depresses me after playing!

 

[LonelySheep]

I was incredibly depressed when I first finished Conkers Bad Fur Day on the N64. It was such a sad ending.

 

[Jaxtor]

It's actually a fairly interesting topic.
Until just a few years ago I felt very much the same way as you. But I think it wasn't as much about feeling that it was wasted time as it was that nagging feeling that playing videogames ate the time I should be spending on other activities.
Eventually it balanced out and I can play while still getting other things done. So now that nagging self loathing feeling is gone.
What I find when people compare gaming to other hobbies, like learning to play in instrument for example, is that it can take you somewhere, whereas gaming cannot, but according to my best guesstimate, you need to make your hobby into your full time occupation to have a chance with either.

My point is that if you play because you like to play, and don't have other stuff you should be doing at the time, the feeling is likely to go away.

And of course playing with friends helps a ton as well.