Feature What game did you have to quit for your own well-being?

[PCG Chris]

Our Mid-Week Question is late getting underway this week because of reasons (I forgot to ask one).

I remember when The Sims first came out and I played it obsessively, sitting there long into the night making sure the virtual version of me paid his bills, washed his dishes, and got enough sleep. And then I realized I wasn't paying my bills, washing my dishes, or getting enough sleep. It suddenly seemed completely unhealthy for the virtual me to have a better quality of life than the real me, so I made myself quit! (For a while).

That's what we're asking everyone this week: what game did you have to quit for your own well-being? We publish these on Wednesdays, which it already almost is. We'll grab a few from the PCG staff and some from the forums, so if you've got an answer, let us know!

 

[Gvaedyn]

DOTA 2.

I'll hold my hands up; I used to have bad "gaming rage". I'd yell down the microphone a lot, and one time broke my headset in frustration. I had an unhealthy attitude towards and allowed my experiences with it to really get under my skin. Life happened and I ended up not playing for a while, and now-a-days I don't lose my temper with any game. I'd attribute the change to taking some time away, as well as refocusing efforts on other aspects of life.

 

[Hveðrungr]

The Witcher. It was so slow and so bad - cutscene after cutscene after cutscene - that I had to stop for the sake of my sanity.

 

[Dan]

I actually had to stop gaming entirely for a few years. This was probably early 2009, as Left 4 Dead 2 hasnt come out yet, but I remember I used to come home after school and just play video games, all weekend I would play video games. It was only when I played Left 4 Dead for 8-10 hours non-stop with a friend from school online, that I took a long hard look at myself.

It was after that session that I realised that even though gaming wasn't necessarily harming me, other aspects of my life were definitely being hurt because of it (like my social life). I stopped playing video games for 3 years after that.

When I eventually returned, I was able to better share my time between my activities and made sure that gaming wasn't the only thing in my life., and had better self control.

 

[Krud]

Morrowind. I remember reading as much as I could about it, going so far as to make Excel spreadsheets outlining the pros and cons of each race, class, skill, sign, etc. I was obsessed with making the "ideal" character, stats-wise, and scoured the internet for tips and tricks. I think it was the also the first game I ever modded. (Not counting hex editor fiddling in the 90's, or level editors.) It was to reduce the number and aggression of Cliff Racers. Once I beat the main game, however, I realized how much of the several months prior I had dumped into the game, and vowed never to let myself do that again. I didn't go back to play Bloodmoon or Tribunal, either, in case I got sucked in again.

Granted, when Oblivion came out a few years later, pretty much the same thing happened again for a while, until I walked away from that after beating the main questline and Knights of the Nine, never diving into Shivering Isles, which I've been told was a mistake.

Fortunately(?) when Skyrim came out, the lack of class or attributes made it so I never felt compelled to min-max my character progression, though mods came along to suck me in.

 

[Krud]

It suddenly seemed completely unhealthy for the virtual me to have a better quality of life than the real me, so I made myself quit! (For a while).

This has always been my biggest issue with The Sims series. In a matter of weeks or even days, they've bought a house, fallen in love, progressed in their job, bought a swimming pool, learned to paint, AND somehow managed to get enough sleep every night. Hard not to feel inadequate next to that!

 

[Apollo]

Probably Minecraft. When I was around 7-9, I was obsessed with Minecraft and would get home from school and just mine and build for hours on end. I've probably dumped around 1k hours in MC Java Edition from between 2011 - 2014. Still play Minecraft, just with more restraint.

 

[Zoid]

The Lion King for SNES. It begins with a pleasant jungle level. "This is nice," I thought, naively, "what a fun Disney kids game. It's colorful, charmingly animated, and accompanied by a great soundtrack. Just like the movie!" Oh, how short-lived was my happiness. How fleeting my sanity. The second level, "Can't Wait to be King" is a crazy difficulty spike. It broke me. I had to stop playing when I started having actual nightmares about it.

I was able to return some time later and beat the game, but, just like Simba's uncle, I was left forever scarred.

 

[spvtnik1]

Farmville. Yup. If I'm gonna pin quitting a game for my own well-being on one title, it's that one. I spent actual money on boosters, and it was taking my time away from games that I really enjoyed. Now I'm grateful that if I want to scratch that itch, I can just dive in to Stardew Valley.

 

[SWard]

Ok so I mentioned this in another thread but as a kid I was deathly afraid of Atmostfear (the VHS Interactive Board game) and I nearly buried it it the garden because I thought it was going to kill me...

 

[Dan]

Ok so I mentioned this in another thread but as a kid I was deathly afraid of Atmostfear (the VHS Interactive Board game) and I nearly buried it it the garden because I thought it was going to kill me...

I've still got that game somewhere. I remember getting it for christmas as a kid, but none of my family understood the rules and wanted to play Cludo and Trivial Pursuit instead.

 

[JackRabbit]

Quitting is for the weak.

 

[Frindis]

That would have to be World of Warcraft Classic. I was hyped being able to try it out again last year, so hyped I joined a raiding guild and started reading up on tons and tons of different guides. I wanted to level up fast and start clearing content. While getting to lvl 40 I started asking myself the question: What am I doing? Do I really want to be doing this type of grind again and use several hours each week preparing for raids and doing them over and over again? I uninstalled, cried a little nostalgia tear and decided never again to blow the dust off what once was one of the best MMO experiences I have ever had.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

DOTA 2.

I'll hold my hands up; I used to have bad "gaming rage". I'd yell down the microphone a lot, and one time broke my headset in frustration. I had an unhealthy attitude towards and allowed my experiences with it to really get under my skin. Life happened and I ended up not playing for a while, and now-a-days I don't lose my temper with any game. I'd attribute the change to taking some time away, as well as refocusing efforts on other aspects of life.

I should also quit with Dota2. Or maybe not. I quit a few times for a few weeks just to "calm down" when game got too frustrating. Nowadays I just play when I actually feel like it and I think I might enjoy it. As soon as I have a game I don't enjoy I might just not play for a week. I really cut down the amount of games I play a day / a week.

Another game I quit (and should have done much earlier) was this browsergame called "Tribal Wars". It's the kind of online game that keeps running even if you're not online so basically you end up playing it 24/7 or at least your account needs to be running 24/7. I never was crazy enough to set alarm clocks in the middle of the night just to check my account but still I've spent countless hours on it. Was pretty bad for my health

 

[July82]

A game that I had to quit because it gave me headaches at the time when was released (and me being too young 😊) was Quake. At that time the 3D engine of this game using OpenGL was so new and revolutionary in the game industry that gave me headaches and dizziness.
However, I had pick it up a year later when Quake 2 was released and now I am purely addicted to ID Software and their games.
Meanwhile Quake became my no1 all time favourite game - along with all its sequels - now not being able to put down Quake Champions.
There you go: what doesn't kill you make you addicted! 😉
Cheers guys!👍

 

[jpishgar]

That would have to be World of Warcraft Classic

Same. I'm not allowed to play World of Warcraft because I simply could not stop playing if I'm not careful. I jumped into WoW immediately following Shadowbane, which had consumed me. I only escaped Shadowbane by virtue of having the entirety of my empire collapse after a daring (and deeply mistaken) military campaign after which my 26 cities were scourged from the map. WoW took me, and it seemed likely it would not let go.

Fortunately, Shadowbane provided a kind of summonable catharsis. There are people who live in the same house all their lives, and can't imagine ever moving because they've grown so attached to the place. To leave would be to feel like something being torn away. Then you've got others who move apartments or houses every few years, and realize that it's all just stuff, there's no emotional attachment to something as changeable as location. It's a kind of recognition of value that can be mustered and provides more flexibility. Less attachment, more deeper understanding of what is a home anyway, after all.

I got a lifetime supply of the gaming version of that from being so utterly invested in Shadowbane that it ate my every waking hour, and having every last thing built up over the course of a couple years annihilated within a 72 hour period as the cities were sieged was as liberating as it was traumatizing.

Without that catharsis-on-tap, that burned-in crystal clear understanding of the great universal transaction of Achievement and World resources from the devs for the player resources of Time and Money, I probably would have never, ever been able to leave World of Warcraft. Because my goodness, the transaction is downright seamless for WoW, and it is an endless hole into which you can delightfully shovel both time and money.

 

[Round]

I feel kind of shallow contributing this experience due to all the sincerity in this thread, but once I had to stop streaming Outlast because I seriously felt I was going to have a fear-induced heart attack. I felt drinking a few beers would numb me from the experience, but it made everything 10x as intense, everything just came together in the wrong (right?) way - and I usually have a hard time playing horror games as it is. Didn't like that feeling, no sir, not one bit. Great game, though.

 

[Frindis]

@jpishgar That is quite the punch to take and you prospered from it. To have been a fly on the wall when that happened and to see how it unfolded emotionally, that could have been quite the education for a lot of people in a similar situation.

Game addiction is definitely no joke and unfortunately, it is not something being talked about that much. I definitely think the game industry should involve themselves more in this subject, not to mention school/parents. Another thing to reflect upon is that we live in an almost purely digitalized world. If you are not using a computer, you are using another type of screen to watch. Even in elementary schools, children are using screens to learn to write, thus almost removing the ability/technique to write on paper completely.

My point from this is that the youth will not be using less time at the screen as the screen has become both a leisure and an educational tool. While we know that looking at the screen for hours each day is not particularly good for you physically, we do not know enough about how future generations will be afflicted by this way of living. At best, we all end up looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame

 

[Johnway]

There was definitely one game that i had to stop playing and it was advanced warfighter. i was playing a level with the nightvision goggles turned on constantly and the bright green filter did my eyes in. When i looked away from the screen everything was in a different reddish color. I believe happens when you eyes become exhausted staring at a particular color that it can't see properly.

Why Advanced war fighter and say, splintercell got this to happen i never know. Maybe i was staring at the green for very long periods of time.




Edit:

For my anger issues, i think it was multiplayer pvp games in general. i hate it and detest it in all forms and stuff like k/D pisses me off. It just brought a very ugly side out of me and couldn't have been doing good things to my blood pressure. The highlight was when i was playing the dirty bomb beta. I should have rage quit to save my sanity but i didn't after the match i was so angry i broke a chair in rage.

 

[AGMoore]

Overwatch. I tried so hard to like it. I admittedly sucked. I didn't like the tutorials or the toxic community but I understand the appeal as I love Dota 2.

 

[firefly]

For me, it has to be ARK. With around 4,000 hours, the game was just life-consuming. Playing on custom high rate servers, that wipe every 3 weeks, waking up in the middle of the night to defend bases, or be around for a server wipe to get a good spot. The stress when you get raided offline, and you login to see hours of work just gone......horrible. It is a game with tremendous highs and horrible lows.

 

[McStabStab]

Rocket League. I got sick of the rollercoaster of emotions. At times the game would bring so much joy but it also fostered a bit of aggression and toxicity.

CALCULATED!
SAVAGE!
WHAT A SAVE!
WHAT A SAVE!
Chat disabled for 4 seconds

 

[bytetracker]

Battlefield V. The rampant CHEATING in almost all Asian servers made me rage quit most of the time. What's worse is that EA/DICE is not doing anything about it. I have to uninstall the damned game before my sanity would left me or I'll burst an artery in rage.

 

[Schelstv]

Dota 2

As it was already said before, Dota 2 community is very toxic and once you spend a lot of time there, you become one of them. This hurts not only to personal well-being but to relationships with family and close friends. Fortunately, I've managed to quit it and I will never come back (I hope ).

The only thing I regret is wasted time. I have over 2,500 hours on my main account and there were a couple of others. Although I've made some money by selling items, it still feels bad, I could achieve something meaningful over this time.

Another bad aspect which is hard to describe is willingness to play it when you don't feel like you want to. Sounds crazy, but I really was playing it as if it was my job.

 

[SWard]

Super Hot, because I kept saying SUPER. HOT. all the time