If it wasn’t for my enforced recent break from playing video games, this poll question would never have occured to me.
I didn’t count exactly but it was about 6 weeks. Six weeks without killing one headcrab. Can you imagine? Maybe you can, in which can I empathise.
Since I started gaming seriously (that’s a relative term!) I don’t think I have gone more than a day or two without actually playing. It’s such an intersting topic and I can’t do it justice in this quick post but gaming has become so embeded in some of our lives that it seems essential – more so than other forms of entertainment; TV, reading etc. Alhough if I had to choose, it would be reading any day.
It raises the question “is the time well spent?”. Of course, you could ask that of anything and just because the time could be used in a more productive way doesn’t mean we should stop or that it’s bad. Doing soemthing that we enjoy but also “improves” us as individuals is even better.
It also makes me wonder: How has gaming changed me?
I must say this experience has been interesting. I might even set aside a couple of weeks a year where I completely disconnect from gaming, maybe even the site (shock, horror!).
Maybe we all should – just to begin to appreciate how amazing gaming is.
Just a quick note: I wasn’t actually an in-patient. I just used the image of hospital beds as the featured image to make the point of a forced break.
Only real time off is for vacation. Phillip, you play games on your usual holidays? I thought that was a 3-week break you take every year or so.
Yes, that’s true but I always have my laptop on longer trips and there’s always my Gameboy and phone.
1. When I’m sleeping
2. When I’m shopping
3. When I’m going to garage sales here in Minnesota
What the hey I’m retired, when I’m not working on computers, I game!!
When my BD comes up in Feb(I’ll be 70) my GF is going to buy me a Titan X ! 😉
Excusez moi, how old is your grand father(GF)?
Tee! Hee!
How old are you?? You don’t know what GF means!
Oh come AI, it was funny.
Titan X when GTX 980 Ti performs better and costs less?
I love garage sales. I wish we had them here in Spain.
Well, I actually didn’t take a break from Half Life games since I could still play them (for the most part) during one period of my life not so long ago. But my favorite game at the time, City of Heroes, was denied to me for around 6 months or so, because as it was an MMO and I lacked internet, I couldn’t get on and play. (Actually I did have to take a break from some steam games, since I couldn’t get to off line mode, since… y’know. Steam = online mode to tell it to go offline, which is the single stupidest thing ever.) I played on my laptop and did a lot of Half Life 1 and offline games then.
It was hell. 🙂 Mostly, because my only source of socialization came from City, and since I had to take care of my mother at home, I didn’t really get the chance to go out or do other things. It was a pretty awful time. Games are a solace.
Actually, that’s quite insightful. I get most of my personal interaction through my websites. Yes, I interact with people at work and a little bit in shops etc. I don’t really have any “friends” here in Spain – so I think gaming repalces or compenstate for that in a way.
i clicked between a week and a month but although its true its also false.
after a long game i still keep a few days worth of hiatus (and spend my time grinding tv shows eg and fuguring out what the next game will be) but i dont think i had a break more than 3 days in the last 10 years and even then only on a bit lenghtier vacation. oh wait, does playing solitaire on my asus pda counts? 8) then no more than 3-4 days in the last 20 years i think.
You sound addicated. I don’t mean that in a rude way. We all are really. Perhaps I should start each comment with “Hi, I’m Phillip and I am a Gameaholic/Half-Lifeaholic”.
1. On vacation – 2 weeks no smartphone no lap top no pc.
2. During work 8 to 12 hours no pc – smartphone though but only world news or whatsapp and only during 30min to 1 hour breaks.
3. During sleep 5 to 10 hours at random
4. When I’m outside between 1 to 8 hours at random
@Phillip: Now that you’re back feel free to add pictures to my mod and also writing a proper review. I would definitely love hearing your opinion about it. Welcome back.
I’m not really back properly yet. I had to stop playing Station60Ville 4 times yesterday as my wrist hurt. It’s okay for shor maps but for great long mods like yours it’s better to play in much longer sittings.
I don’t think I’ve ever gone more than a week without playing something.
I dunno. I’m always playing something, even if it’s not a HL mod. Though probably I feel recently I haven’t been playing too much mods, or maps…
Yeah sometimes I don’t play like in maximum 5 days, but after that I play something again…
I go for quite long periods without playing anything, months in some cases, but then I’ll binge after that. Mostly it’s to do with either (a) lack of motivation because there is nothing new I want to play or that looks any good to me, (b) I don’t have any internet (depending on where I am, a dongle doesn’t cut it for gaming) and the alternative is to play old DOS based games, but done them to death mostly so I tend not to.
I get bored easily so really I just sit and wait for ‘not to be missed mods/games’…but to be honest they are few and far between. Apart from that, I’m so busy with work here in Bulgaria (house renovations/general building work) by the time I get to sit at the ‘puter, it’s just check emails and look at crap on Fb…a beer then crash out. Fair shout to Al…not too far behind you.