So, You've Decided to Quit Gaming - Now What?

[face_head_mouth]

Please keep in mind that this is not a question of whether
or not you should or shouldn't continue to play video
games or the pros and cons of doing so. Instead, I want
you to answer this question as if you have already made
up your mind on the matter.

Pretend that you have reevaluated every aspect of your
life. In the process of doing so, you have come to the
conclusion that video games are no longer worth playing.
You either sell or give away your systems and games, or
you only keep them in case of a visiting nephew or cousin.

You now have access to time, money and mental resources
that were previously occupied. Now what? What do you
do with this newly created potential?

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Get off my lazy butt and start drawing. Without video games to distract me, I wouldn't have an excuse anymore.

Basically replace one time using activity with a different time using activity.

 

[Bertylicious]

First you quit da gaming, den you get da money, den you fuck da bitches, den you get da mortgage, den you get dem chilluns, den you get fucked by da bitches, den you lose the chilluns, den you get da bottle an den you get da grave.

So really it's much better to just shut yourself in a dank hole playing games and eating cheetos because the worst thing they can do is tell you you've got diabetes and cut off your feet.

 

[face_head_mouth]

First you quit da gaming, den you get da money, den you fuck da bitches, den you get da mortgage, den you get dem chilluns, den you get fucked by da bitches, den you lose the chilluns, den you get da bottle an den you get da grave.

So really it's much better to just shut yourself in a dank hole playing games and eating cheetos because the worst thing they can do is tell you you've got diabetes and cut off your feet.

Funny enough, that's pretty much the response I would expect from
Roast Beef, even if you used Little Nephew's language to give it.

 

[Bertylicious]

First you quit da gaming, den you get da money, den you fuck da bitches, den you get da mortgage, den you get dem chilluns, den you get fucked by da bitches, den you lose the chilluns, den you get da bottle an den you get da grave.

So really it's much better to just shut yourself in a dank hole playing games and eating cheetos because the worst thing they can do is tell you you've got diabetes and cut off your feet.

Funny enough, that's pretty much the response I would expect from
Roast Beef, even if you used Little Nephew's language to give it.

Just cause I've used low language doesn't mean it ain't true.

If I threw out all the things in my life I enjoy (or just some of them) in an attempt to reject my current self and rebuild in a new form then it would lead to inevitable disaster/misery. Things do not work if you try them.

 

[GangstaGeek]

I like this topic:

Honestly everyone says we would do something more with our time. I would probably be studying more but also spend more time watching movies, messing around on the web, reading more books. As for anything supremely life changing, probably not.

 

[face_head_mouth]

snip

snip

Just cause I've used low language doesn't mean it ain't true.

If I threw out all the things in my life I enjoy (or just some of them) in an attempt to reject my current self and rebuild in a new form then it would lead to inevitable disaster/misery. Things do not work if you try them.

The very first paragraph of my post answers this. I'm not suggesting
that anyone give up what they like to do; instead, you're asking
yourself the question from the point-of-view of someone who has
come to the conclusion that whatever enjoyment they've received
from playing video games wasn't enough to make it worthwhile
anymore. This person isn't trying to 'reject their true self',
they're trying to maximize their true self by rejecting something
that no longer brings them joy.

I mean, you're not suggesting that people don't grow and change as
they move through life, right? I quit watching anime 5 years ago
because I had become bored with it over the previous year or so,
and it was an entirely satisfying decision that I don't regret
in the slightest. If I had quit because of, say, peer pressure,
I'm sure I would feel regret and a sense of emptiness because
I wouldn't be following my true self.

If you're saying that you're not willing to pretend, or to pose
a hypothetical question to yourself, then I'm not sure what else
to tell you.

 

[Bertylicious]

I like this topic:

Honestly everyone says we would do something more with our time. I would probably be studying more but also spend more time watching movies, messing around on the web, reading more books. As for anything supremely life changing, probably not.

A mate of mine once said:

"Regret is a stupid emotion. You did what you thought was best at the time based on the information that you had. If you wanted to do something better then you'd have done it."

Great wisdom there I reckon. Also it is worth bearing in mind that people who are driven to achieve are a lot like security guards in that they are all odd.

Are you odd? Are you some kind of weirdo? Are you riddled with anxiety unless all of your friends are failing or their success is at least indirectly related to you?

If the answer to any of those questions is "no" then you'll probably never own a Maserati and you probably shouldn't worry about it.

 

[Zhukov]

I would spend more time reading, drawing and writing lousy fiction.

 

[Doclector]

Honestly? I'd probably just read more. Not like I'm improving myself, I'm more literate than most people in the first place. I'd watch more films, maybe I'd do a little more work, but it's not like I'm really the type to slack off to play videogames. The only time I slack off is when I genuinely don't have the fucking energy or I feel depressed, and then, it's back to reading or watching movies.

Maybe, just maybe, I'd write. Actually attempt a story, a fanfic, a book, but that could only truly be called productive if I got anywhere, and although the chances are there, possibly now more than ever with the internet, it's still a damn long shot.

I guess the point is, everyone does something when they're not working. I don't know why, in many people's eyes, videogaming is the ultimate slackers past time. I'd say it's because it's not athletic, but neither is watching TV, building models, or any of the other multitudes of inactive leisure activities that people do without anyone really complaining. Hell, reading's inactive, and look at the fucking lengths we go to in order to make our kids do that.

 

[Bertylicious]

I quit watching anime 5 years ago because I had become bored with it over the previous year or so, and it was an entirely satisfying decision that I don't regret in the slightest.

You monster!

No doubt you'll be burning it around in a Maserati and telling anyone who will listen; "I earned all of this money", in a few years. All setting and achieving goals for yourself like some kind of freak.

As for me in a hypothetical sense, well...

I'd probably bullshit my way into a position of authority and spend my life shifting blame onto other people then going home to watch TV whilst using a pad to argue about continuity errors on forums.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I would probably spend a lot more time reading and watching movies and TV shows. Really, very little in my life would change as a result.

 

[sneakypenguin]

I'd probably ride more, I hit 10k miles on my Honda 599 this summer so just more of that. Or resume snowboarding, or pick up skiing again. Do some more reading, pick up extra hours at work. Hang with the fiance, go to basketball games. Basically just more of what I do now.

 

[krazykidd]

I'd be bored to death . I'd probably spend all my time sleeping . Either that i's get off my lazy fat ass and do something with my life . Maybe become a doctor . I'll stick with my vidya game thank you very much .

 

[Johny64]

I would finally have the time to make that Skyrim mod so I could finally.... oh yeah...

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Get my doctorate, learn to play guitar, join a group of foreign missionaries and help rebuild an African village.

Seriously though I'd just find some other sedentary recreational activity to occupy my time. If not gaming, then reading, or watching television, or perhaps just percolating on the internet.

I'm not lazy and introverted and stay-at-home because I'm a gamer. I'm a gamer because I'm lazy, introverted and stay-at-home.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I'd probably just spend more time sat on my arse wondering what to do. I guess with the extra time I might play my bass a little more often, or work out a bit more, but probably nothing drastic. Gaming doesn't tend to take up a huge chunk of my life any more (although I'm pretty sure I spent at least a quarter of 2008 in Cyrodiil). The only game I tend to play for great lengths of time now is Minecraft, and I'm taking a small break from playing that at the moment anyway.

 

[scorptatious]

Oh jeez it's the whole drowning thread fad all over again...

OT: I'd probably do more reading. That is another form of escapism I suppose. (Pun not intended)

 

[The Wykydtron]

CALLED IT! FUCKING CALLED IT!

New fad, right here. Very odd for a gaming site but hell, it's The Escapist... Nothing is too odd for The Escapist.

OT: I would just move all the time onto anime and manga. Y'know, the other thing I love to do?

 

[fix-the-spade]

You now have access to time, money and mental resources
that were previously occupied. Now what? What do you
do with this newly created potential?

Take up 40k?