You know you've been playing ... too long when ...

[Sir Seagull]

Alright people.
When do you know you've been playing a certain game waaaayyy too long?
I'll kick us off shall I?
I was at work after playing TF2 for a while and I looked at the clock to see that there was about five minutes until the end of my shift. Seeing this I said (out loud mind you) *TF2 Announcer's voice* "Mission ends in five minutes."

So when do you know you have been playing a game for too long?

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I was surprised to find while walking around town, a few months ago, that I no longer had retractable wrist-blades or the ability to free-run.

Another time, while walking around I could have sworn I saw a Staraptor flying around a parking lot.

Every time I listen to the radio after playing GTA or Saint's Row, I am amazed by 2 things: There are more than 6 songs on all stations and, the DJs don't say 'shit' or, 'fuck'

Dammit! (I thought to myself one day) I put the subtitles on!! WTF!?

 

[Melian]

I was surprised to find while walking around town, a few months ago, that I no longer had retractable wrist-blades or the ability to free-run.

Another time, while walking around I could have sworn I saw a Staraptor flying around a parking lot.

Every time I listen to the radio after playing GTA or Saint's Row, I am amazed by 2 things: There are more than 6 songs on all stations and, the DJs don't say 'shit' or, 'fuck'

Dammit! (I thought to myself one day) I put the subtitles on!! WTF!?

I've done the last one several times. Also, after a very intense couple of days playing Oblivion for the first time, I walked around in a daze wondering why I couldn't quicksave...

 

[Milo Windby]

You know you have been playing to long when... you start dreaming about the game at night... Minecraft dreams... very odd. (Or as one dream was, Minecraft and Left 4 dead at the same time )

 

[icyneesan]

Eyes get twitchy, minor vision bluring, when you close your eyes you see the screen you've been staring at for hours.

Worst I've had is when I spent 3 days playing Pokemon FireRed (no breaks) and I said, 'Smell you later!' to my parents as they were going out.

 

[Mallefunction]

I notice I've played a game too long when I try to play a different one and assume that the controls for the other game work same for the one I was playing before (EX: I played AC: Brotherhood for well over 60 hours and then went to Okami, expecting to run faster by pressing R1 and X )

 

[Atlys]

I used to play a PS2 game called "Shadow of Destiny," in which the main part of gameplay is traveling through time to change certain events. After making dumb decisions in real life I would just say to myself that I can just go back in time and fix it.

Also, after a very intense couple of days playing Oblivion for the first time, I walked around in a daze wondering why I couldn't quicksave...

Same thing with Oblivion. I found myself trying to save all the time.

 

[ultrachicken]

I once looked at a tree after a Deus Ex binge and thought, "Wow, those are some stunning graphics!"

It took me a few minutes to realize my mistake. It should also be mentioned that I hadn't left the house in over a week, as I sat in my room playing the game all day for that entire time (I still ate, showered, and slept, though).

 

[darth.pixie]

You get the claw hand on the mouse, you get dizzy and hallucinating from lack of sleep and look around for a Print Screen button to capture the pretty lights, you keep trying to Google or CTRL-F books for hints or walkthroughs...I did all these.

 

[The Code]

...when you're walking around at night and you look for your Visibility Gem and instinctively stick to the shadows.

 

[BoredDragon]

You know how in every installment of Assassin's Creed you can kind of see a free running path as you play. I start to have that same effect in real life for a while, its weird o.o

Also, when I play guitar too much, any time I hear a song I immediately start imagining the fret button sequences coming down a non-existent highway. again, its really weird O.O

 

[BoredDragon]

...when you're walking around at night and you look for your Visibility Gem and instinctively stick to the shadows.

ha ha, I see what you did there

 

[walkingdead127]

I fell for the old Fallout 3 syndrome were you look at a bobby pin and think you need it for picking locks later.

 

[KeyMaster45]

When I first started playing WoW I soon found myself on a half mad hunt for herbalism mats. I went for a walk one day and saw a rather large weed. The moment I saw it there was this surreal moment where I mentally clicked on it to gather the mats. This caused me to stop mid step as if waiting on the cast time. I snapped out of it pretty quickly but suffice it be said I didn't log into to WoW for a few days after that.

Generally though I know I've been at a game for a little to long when I start having dreams, not necessarily dreams that involve characters or plot points from the game but I literally dream as if I'm playing the game interface and all. Again going back to WoW when I was deep into my 5 year stint playing it there were times where I would have dreams and hold very detailed conversations in guild chat as I would play the game. It actually got to the point where I found myself referring to conversations on vent that had never happened except for in a dream or looking for items in my bag I had farmed in a dream. That's how real they were.

So yeah, that's my bench mark for "okay time to take a few days off from this game". Of course I've experienced the same thing when I make the customary binge on a new game I've recently bought but it's usually only that first night where I spend way more time than I normally would on it.

 

[Abengoshis]

When your CPU is ~90 C...

 

[Nimzar]

I used to play a PS2 game called "Shadow of Destiny," in which the main part of gameplay is traveling through time to change certain events. After making dumb decisions in real life I would just say to myself that I can just go back in time and fix it.

Also, after a very intense couple of days playing Oblivion for the first time, I walked around in a daze wondering why I couldn't quicksave...

Same thing with Oblivion. I found myself trying to save all the time.

Other Oblivion one:

One day walking back to apartment from class I found myself walking off the sidewalk and toward a large fallen tree. The reason? A large shelf mushroom growing out on the side of the tree.

Without thinking I was trying to gather alchemy ingredients. I came to my senses when I realized I couldn't click on the mushroom.

I guess whatever you say or think about Oblivion it is one DAMN immersive game.

 

[Osaka117]

I find myself making the hand gestures that Jack makes when using plasmids in Bioshock. Sometimes I'll walk around the house like that and when my brother walks past me I hit him with imaginary Elecro Bolt.

Also, whenever I see a cardboard box I say "It's just a box...back to your positions."

 

[OldGus]

You know you've played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Skies too long when you consider corpses to be viable alternatives to large carts with wheels for transporting surplus goods.

 

[Drummodino]

When you look all around you as you leave your house checking for creepers...