I used to be a Guild Wars addict. I would play for 8-hour stretches and sometimes longer. I'd sleep at 4:30am just so I could finish one more dungeon. I was a hardcore gamer all the way through school, university and graduate studies.
Times change.
After graduating, I felt free, but at the same time no longer certain of my direction in life. Knowing what comes next is easy when you are in school because you don't have to make any real choices. What am I doing next year? Going to school again of course! Once you graduate though, things are different. There is no longer a clear path for you to follow on your travels through life, particularly if you are someone who was spoon-fed the mantra of "follow your passion and do what you love!" Obviously, at some point, the hard reality is that you will need to support yourself. I wasn't sure how to do that, nor was I sure what I loved to do in the first place in terms of work. I graduated with a degree in economics. I love economics, but wasn't entirely sure I wanted to be a desk-monkey for the rest of my life. I was paralyzed by my uncertainty and the seemingly unlimited potential avenues and pitfalls in front of me. I retreated - deeply - into the comfort of gaming. Let's be clear: on some level, I have always been and will continue to be in love with gaming. However, I used gaming as an excuse to avoid making hard choices and taking responsibility for my life.
After nearly a year of procrastinating on a job search and moving out of my parents' house, I got angry with myself and decided to do something radical to jolt myself back on track. I found a job at a university to teach business and marketing in China and moved there for the next four years. Then I got married. Then I had a son. Since my son was born four years ago, my gaming life has never been the same. To be a good husband and father, I have had to cut down. I am sure there are tons of you out there who have had a similar experience to mine. It's really disheartening when you can no longer do the things you love to the extent that you would like. That's not to say it would be good to ignore the needs of my family. I'm well-aware that some people don't take their family responsibilities seriously enough (see: Gamer Widows).
This means that I have to use my time for gaming more carefully and wisely as time has become a very precious commodity. That's why I play Guild Wars 2 and Hearthstone. Guild Wars 2 and Hearthstone share two very important things in common: 1) they are games of incredibly high quality and value, and 2) you can get many fun things, complete quests and accomplish tasks in 15 minutes or less.
There are times when I have more than 15 minutes to play, but I am definitely precluded from playing anything that demands 100% of my attention (as I often have to drop everything for my wife and son). This means I can't play any competitive games that take longer than 15 minutes or take part in group dungeons or raids in MMOs.
Thus, gaming has gone from being the equivalent of a job to being a fleeting pastime. And boy do I ever crave more!
Have you had experiences like mine? Let me know what you think in the comments.
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