Give me a reason to not quit gaming

[Bruce]

Okay, why game?

First, it is actually quite good for you. If you suffer from nightmares at all, gaming can work as a cure of sorts (though gamers suffer more violent nightmares, non-gamers suffer more intense ones), it can also improve your ability to perceive things, and a recent article in PloS One found that real time strategy games can improve your mental flexibility.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/scitech/2013/08/21/real-time-strategy-games-train-your-brain-research

It also gives an outlet for a lot of negative stuff that would otherwise start manifesting in your real life.

That said, I would suggest you go over to single player gaming for a while. It generally has fewer trolls.

I would also suggest getting away from your computer for a while. Get out into the country - maybe take in a game reserve or something. Sure the same old crap will be here when you get back, but sometimes we all need that break to put it all in perspective.

 

[INF1NIT3 D00M]

I really hate threads like this, I honestly couldn't care less if you quit gaming. If you leave the forum, there might be a couple people who are like "aww, bummer", but not playing any games ever again is no skin off anyone's nose.

That said, I'd suggest playing single player games. Stuff like Skyrim, Jedi Knight (series), X-Wing/TIE Fighter, Sleeping Dogs, Burnout (series), anything from TellTale's catalog, Half-Life (series and spinoffs), Hotline Miami...
I could go on all day.

Actually, just play Hotline Miami.
Hotline Miami 2 is the reason you shouldn't quit games just yet.

Multiplayer communities are TERRIBLE. That has to do mostly with the vast majority of people being terrible when given anonymity.

You might want to give Warframe another shot, just do NOT play with random people if you can help it. PM me if you can't find any other human beings to run missions with, I've got a few guys I play with most nights. Once you get a couple friends together, the game becomes a rather fun little dungeon runner. The only problem is that public players fall into one of two opposing categories:
-Guys who go too fast
-Guys who are in no particular rush
Because you need to farm certain missions a million times to get parts or resources, people tend to get upset when you're not moving at their pace. Either you're too slow, and you're costing them precious time, or you're too fast and you're forcing them to miss content or play outside of their comfort zone. The good thing is, not everyone has a microphone, so you won't hear people whining very often, aside from the occasional "Hurry Up!" in the chat box.
Like I said, having a small group of friendly people to play with allows you to communicate and coordinate a little better, and it ensures that everyone's playing toward the same goal. Nobody's rushing you unless you've all decided to rush the mission.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Four words: grand theft auto five

Need i say anymore?

No you don't but I will.

I've taken unintentional breaks from gaming when busy with other stuff but I've never said"I'm stepping away." At this point I don't have much time to play but I've also discovered that there's only about one game a year I feel is worth buying anyway; the aforementioned gtav being this years, last year it was Borderlands 2, which I am still playing.

Maybe it's because I'm not on xbl but I don't see/hear too much venom when I play online. And maybe its because this is the only sort of gaming site I visit online but I don't feel too much venom in the community either; 'cept when I watch Jimquisition, but he cracks me up.

I say sure, take a step back. Find other things to do and only pick up one or two games a year. Skip CoD for a year; I like CoD but I don't pick up every single release. Pick one gaming website and just visit that one. If you're still facepalming, then yea, maybe you're done with it. Just don't be surprised when a game comes along that you HAVE to play. Last break I took broke when I saw Katamari Damacy, Burnout 3, and GTA Vice City; had to get a ps2.

 

[FoolKiller]

Sounds like you're just playing too many competitive games. Try something more soothing like Mario, Journey or Bit Trip Runner or something and think it over again.

I like this. I was in that zone too after trying to love (and hating) The Last of Us, and what did I do but play 2 LEGO games (Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean) and TMNT and Asura's Wrath. Those 4 games put me back in the right space. Now I've been in a love affair with Splinter Cell: Blacklist for the last five days and I'm happier for it.

The only reason to give up gaming is if you don't enjoy it. But you should see if you are not enjoying it solely because of other people or because you don't feel like gaming anymore.

 

[Foolery]

Does anyone else find these kind of threads a tad childish? I know I do. Listen, dude. If you feel gaming is negatively affecting your health, then stop. I don't need to give you any reasons to keep playing. If it's the online community that bugs you, maybe choose another game or genre. Either that, or just play less.

 

[Kyber]

I suggest just taking a break from gaming. If it is not entertaining, then there is no point IMO. There have been a couple times where I just took a break from gaming. Couple years at a time. I always end up coming back, but I never decide to be a drama queen and ask random people on the internet why I should stay. Gaming is not a necessity, so do whatever you want to do when it comes to gaming.

Honestly, I suggest playing some Dark Souls. It is incredibly addicting, especially after you learn how to play it. Its a very frustrating game at times, but very satisfying at the same time.

Yes, tell the angry, frustrated guy to start DS, that will cheer him up!
OT: like everyone else said, play some good single- player games, no danger of toxic community there. Or if that doesn't sound fun, by all means take break from gaming and if after a while a spark is relit inside of you for gaming, return.

I take it you don't get enjoyment out of Dark Souls?
Seriously, as frustrating as that game is, it keeps you coming back for more, because IMO, it actually takes some amount of skill to play. Especially when trying to "reposte." It is so satisfying though, for me. Oh and I play it in offline mode, since GFWL doesn't really work with this game, for me.

Quite the contrary actually, I'm a big fan, and have played a lot of Dark Souls, but what I meant was Dark Souls isn't an enjoyable game to start, definitely if you start playing it without really knowing what you're doing. I mean the game has flaws, no denying it, most of them have to with the fact that the game tells you very little of the games main mechanics, for example, humanity. Once you get the feel of things it becomes a great game. Oh and btw, it's riposte, not reposte. EDIT: oh and one more thing, it doesn't take that much skill to play the game, once you get used to the feel of things, the game has some easily exploitable mechanics like backstabbing and more, which thank goodness they're going to fix for DS2.

 

[Sunrider]

OT: Honestly, if you need someone to convince you that you still like your hobby, you might not actually like your hobby that much.

 

[captainballsack]

Go retro, like I did. I played all the games that I was either too young or not born yet to play, and I now take a very different approach to video games.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

It's fairly stale at the moment alright. There's very little exciting happening at the moment, with all of the developers saving their big releases and new frontiers for the new consoles. Give it time, and avoid competitive games.
If you want to quit, who cares, go for it, but I really doubt you'll quit the thing for good. You just have nothing you want to play is all.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

I can't its getting worse by the year. Get out if you can I'm not moving to the new systems I'm going with if I can hack it with trainers,ect to adjust the crap gameplay to something slightly fun I will play it.

 

[floppylobster]

Take a break, come back and play Nintendo games for a while. Seriously.


If you can't enjoy something like Pikmin then chances are you never were really into gaming and you just liked the competitive aspect of it. And if you were playing a lot of multiplayer and competitive games then that further points to the aspect of gaming you probably actually enjoyed. So maybe go take up a sport instead?

 

[Signa]

Try playing games not from this console generation. That probably will help a lot. It's not a reason, but it's an option.

 

[loc978]

I'm going to jump on the "quitting is okay" bandwagon. If all you're interested in are multiplayer competitive shooters, and you no longer enjoy multiplayer competitive shooters, for the love of *insert deity here*, quit playing.

Or try co-op, or single-player puzzle games, or something.

 

[Do4600]

It actually just sounds like you'd be fine if you just muted everyone. It sounds like you have no problem with the game just the people in the game, so mute them...all of them.

 

[Eacaraxe_v1legacy]

Quit playing games online with "the general public", so to speak. That's for competitive, PvP titles as well as nominally more laid-back co-operative titles, since there's a significant proportion of the online gaming community who manage to turn even the most laid-back, co-operative environment into an unplayable cesspool of ill will and bad behavior. Stick to single-player, or multi-player games with folks you know.

 

[Brian Tams]

You should change the games you play. It sounds like what you're really sick of is gamers, not games. Play some soothing single player focused games. In fact, go further and play non violent single player games, like a Puzzle game or Platformer. Or Puzzle platformer.

EDIT-Also, you should quit playing with randoms. Find some people who have similar tastes and personalities to you and glue yourself to them (figuratively speaking). Randoms suck to play with.

 

[CountryMike]

Love the game, hate the players

Who cares about the "community" anyway. Fuck the haters.

 

[Racecarlock]

Yes, its ironic how I'm using a gaming forum to ask for advice. Deal with it. My head is full of rage and wanting to vent of steam at the time of writing this.

I feel that at this point playing video games is bad for my mental health. I used to like playing games and talking to people about games, but now things have changed. I always have an urge to play games every now and then, but after a short while I feel burnout and no longer want to play. This should be fine, as it is okay to take a break from gaming for a while, and this did happen to me a few times, but this time it really feels like if this time I'll quit for good.

The main problem is with the toxicity among other gamers. I don't play COD because from my personal experience there are alot of people online and off who are the stereotypical gamer: full of rage and hate. I might play the single player of COD 4 sometime if I can get back to gaming, but that is for another day. Every game I play I hear about X being OP and Y being broken. It feels like if discussing about those issues is like talking about religion or politics: we go nowhere and we all end up hating each other. I tried to play Warframe and TF2 thinking that the community would be different and there would be less of what I despise, but I was wrong.

So please, give me a reason not to quit gaming. If you think the time is right for me to quit, say so. Please don't do anything to increase my hatred towards my hobby. I will turn into one of "them" and become an enraged demon (maybe that's exaggeration)

Don't hate the game, hate the player. Also, it's okay to just play single player. Fox News won't track you down and use you as a stereotype, I promise.

Also, if you still want online, try toribash. It has the best community in gaming.

Seriously, all the players are nice and helpful and using "GG" for good game after every match has pretty much become a tradition.

But most of all remember, if the current game you're playing isn't satisfying you, there's always another game out there that will.

 

[KOMega]

Perhaps the competitive nature is biting into you too much right now.
Cool off with some light hearted enjoyable single player games maybe.

Like a long RPG or something.

After you feel you are ready for some more competitive gaming you can go back to that anytime, assuming you really enjoy whatever game you were playing before.

 

[Lennie Briscoe]

Not a huge fan of these "convince me not to quit" topics. Quitting is your prerogative. I'm not under the impression the opinions of a bunch of strangers are going to convince you to stay on the wagon.

Several of my friends have "retired" from gaming in the wake of new priorities, families, burnout, etc... They're all still completely happy, productive people. Truth be told, quitting games really isn't that big of a deal. If anything, it'll open up new opportunities and hobbies to you.

I'm not saying that you absolutely SHOULD quit, but should you choose to, just know that it won't be the end of the world. Especially if it's making you unhappy.