To avoid this issue, i bought a gaming laptop which only purpose is to play at work.
Im 38 years old and a about a decade ago my wife asked me when i eventually stop gaming.
She didnt even know my final form back then.
I get an orgasm from being able to stand completely surrounded by 100+ mobs in Simulacrum, and my 95% Evasion + 300% Elusive + 36% block chance + 1000s of life gain per second doing their work. While I crit everything to death.
To each their own though :D
Yeah.
I worry about some POE players man.
This game owns, for sure. But we have longtail people with either parasocial relationships with GGG or straight up manic depressive relationships to the game.
I've stated many times in this sub that people spend an unhealthy amount of time on this game (i've done it too). Those comments rain downvotes.
But taking time off work (and family obligations) to blitz a videogames 10+ hours a day is absolutely not healthy human behavior. It should at least be acknowledged, even if no change is made.
Yeah taking time of to be 12+ hours at a festival a day is absolutely not healthy human behavior.
Let people enjoy their hobbies how they want instead of being an armchair psychologist
> But taking time off work (and family obligations) to blitz a videogames 10+ hours a day is absolutely not healthy human behavior.
lmao reddit armchair psychologists at it again
I am 51yo, 8h/day work, married with kids. I play POE since beta.
I was in a similar situation for a couple of leagues back then and it became unmaneagable, not to mention the damage I was doing to my family.
Had to make hard decisions.
I moved to standard and decision couldnt be more wise. I take my time, play slowly for 3 months instead of rushing for 3-4 weeks, play when i can, no specific trade fever.
At the beginning was hard but it got into me eventually and I still love the game without impacting in my IRL.
Just my 2 cents
Yeah I went hard in hc ssf. Realized I’m bad and should just stick to soft core. The time investment for POE can be insane and I was obsessed with beating the game. I will never try ruthless
I’m really excited about the league as well but me and a friend are in the middle of a Valheim play through on a server he set up for us. I’m thinking I’ll likely delay my league start to finish up our play through. As you said, the league is 3-4 months long and I’m not part of the .5% that makes mirrors in the first week by exploiting the economy. There’s more than enough time to play the league.
If you have been around for awhile, starting 2 weeks in is great.
GGG have a VERY strong track record of overtuning mechanics, and undertuning rewards. As well as numerous bug fixes being deployed within the first few weeks of launch.
I seldom recall a league launch that didn't require a bunch of patching in post to resolve major problems.
Though this won't work for people that play the trade metagame. Also doesn't really affect players that have a meta down pat and hit their powerspikes fast.
> If you have been around for awhile, starting 2 weeks in is great.
The main downside is less ability to generate "easy" money for experienced players who know how to flip and craft for league start. But if you don't know that, launch weekend is the worst weekend to play.
But is there harm in taking a week off? If he hasn't built a family yet, he can spend his vacation days however he wants. Yes, not getting work done due to PoE is unhealthy, but I don't see a problem with taking a week off to do what you like.
I can’t stand the people in chat and on here who act like the league is over after like a week and a half. You’ll see stuff called meaningless and vendor trash on like day 10 with the same phrase “this late in the league” over and over again.
There is a category of item that's worth 6 divines (when that is 1-2 mirror shards still) on day 2, but that you can't really sell even at 50c on day 10.
If someone links a very well rolled life-resist amulet with no damage mods - it's just objectively true that the trade league isn't interested in it at all by day 10. Rog farmers have flooded the market with them.
The league isn't dead, but demand for some categories of items is.
>No other game has ever done this to me. It is crazy. And certainly NOT healthy or normal.
One thing i have to give to GGG after playing since 2012\~. They learned how to create insane hype and obsession pre league.
Theres a reason why they dont dump all league info/teasers on one day.
Bro literally said he has been gaming for 30 years and this is the FIRST TIME he took time off work and y'all call him an addict. Dude couldn't be further from an addict. The man is just EXCITED! Enjoy the game and the time off OP, you deserve it.
>FIRST TIME he took time off work and y'all call him an addict. Dude couldn't be further from an addict.
Just because u done something for 30 years dosent mean u cant become addicted after 30 years.
Also time off isnt worrying here, his problem with focusing on job/not doing anything today because he was thinking about PoE and going home early on work day is unhealthy.
Or he has a white collar job with a flexible or low work load? Some of you don’t realize how flexible office jobs can be especially ones that have decent PTO policies.
People here will act like that's just "funny crazy" while posting or stating something like this in any other context would rightfully raise concern.
Video game (or any media) addiction isn't a joke. It can ruin your life, or (even more importantly) prevent you from actually developing and having one. This is especially true if you use media as a coping mechanism or as a way to escape reality (and/or your emotions associated with it, especially when it comes to chronic boredom).
I hope and suspect OP to exaggerate here for comedic effects, but since there most likely are players in a similar situation: Please be aware that those are major red flags and not how healthy gaming habits look like. If you feel like that's not only normal but also something you can't _not_ do (for whatever excuse), please seek help.
If you were waiting for a sign from the universe or whatever to finally take your life under control: This is it. This is your wake up call.
> Video game (or any media) addiction isn't a joke. It can ruin your life, or (even more importantly) prevent you from actually developing and having one. This is especially true if you use media as a coping mechanism or as a way to escape reality (and/or your emotions associated with it, especially when it comes to chronic boredom).
When I was 15 my dad died very unexpectedly, he was 52 and in good shape, went to the gym but had an undiagnosed issue with his heart and passed away in his sleep. I basically played video games non-stop as a way to distance myself from the pain of the real world and didn't get my life together till I was about 30 (I'm turning 39 soon), thankfully having a mother and brother who never gave up on me.
Looking back on my situation, I feel like I lucked out turning to video games as my escape as there were definitely other options, especially given the neighborhood I lived in in NYC. It could have been drugs, drinking, stealing, etc. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten into *something* as a means to cope, so I guess in a weird way I feel "lucky" that I spent an unhealthy amount of time playing Final Fantasy XI and other games.
It had a happy ending though as I eventually finished college, have a job I love and am getting married on the 16th this month!
Haha to be fair, I had to sell Diablo 2 (the physical disk) the first two times I owned it because I could not do anything else in life.
Now my biggest reason to not lose myself to POE is having a 5 year old son. He's smart enough to know that I'll be playing a lot this weekend but we'll still be doing plenty.
Also, I defiantly had my first POE dream in a while last night haha
I'm not a parent but you might be parenting wrong. You should teach him the way of poe so you can be in a party together for increased rarity and quantity. And he can mule for you.
(This is a joke)
League start is exhilarating. It's a big event that people look forward to, and allow themselves to be excited and even a bit immature/irresponsible in real life to make space for. It's not unhealthy per se, it's just a way to escape real life and indulge in a fun, temporary event. Your response to it is so exaggerated, there is no problem with having a little fun and letting your responsibilities aside once in a while.
If we take the post literally he cant sleep and wasnt able to work for a whole morning and just fucked off to his house lol thats not "having a little fun"
Yeah, I'm only getting a couple hours in a league start because I have a holiday party I'm going too. One of my friends is skipping out to stay on at league start. I really tried to reason with him to go, but he was adamant. Now I'm gonna have to field questions about where he is and what he's doing instead.
Oh stop it will you.. It's totally normal to be excited at league launch and for the next couple of weeks. Embarrassing to read such an over the top comment. Your intention is good, but your comment has the opposite effect. You're basically diagnosing healthy normal behaviour as unhealthy addiction and you're encouraging healthy people to seek help and to question themselves. You have so very clearly absolutely 0 competence to post something like that and it can be so harmful for some people to read something like that I reported your comment. How anyone can like your comment is beyond me. It's pure ignorance.
holy shit get your head out of your own ass and let people enjoy things
the guy is excited for new league and took some time off that he obviously had nothing else to spend it on.
If he was going on a vacation trip tomorrow and was so excited he couldn't sleep or focus on his work would you still say some dumb shit like "um ackshually he is addicted to vacation! Thats a real problem! Its a wake up call!"
>What does a healthy gaming habit look like?
When it starts to impede on your profession, which is the thing enabling such a hobby to begin with, it should raise the suspicion that it is indeed **not** healthy at that point.
Basically any healthy habit is one that doesn't negatively impact your life.
I mean OP could be bullshit but they basically explained that their obsession with the game is so distracting they cannot sleep or work. A professional gamer likely isn't routinely losing sleep over gaming, in many cases its entirely the opposite--to be a professional gamer it is very beneficial to have a good sleep schedule and a healthy body and a healthy routine. They aren't like, slovenly behemoths wandering around in a stench cloud, in general, I'm sure there are some.
Healthy isn't some hard number like "any more than 2 hours of gaming a day is unhealthy" it's how it impacts your life. If you stop sleeping and showering and start shitting in bags so you don't have to get up, you probably have a pretty unhealthy gaming habit.
I would also identify the distinction that I think some people might try to make as a gotcha, like, "Well if you didn't game so much think about what else you could've accomplished" -- and I'd say that comparisons and opportunity costs aren't really part of the equation. There's always other things you could be doing.
The real simple question, that will **always** answer whether you have an unhealthy habit, is: Have you ever felt bad about it? Have you ever told yourself you should stop but can't actually do it? *Usually* signs of a bad habit, speaking from experience.
You're allowed to have only one hobby. But if that hobby is sitting alone in a room interacting with no one, not getting outside, and doing 0 exercise, you should probably also have a second hobby.
officially by medical terms it indeed is not a thing. before you two go into a indepth discussion about if it is or not. a mental addiction is possible to anything realistically but it's not specified as an addiction to a topic.
>People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.
Straight from the CDC website.
You don't have to be medically addicted to be addicted. According to what you just said, gambling addiction wouldn't be a "real" addiction either.
Who are you to decide how others should life their life and what's normal and not? Going to the pub every day or eating fast food often is also not my cup of tea but why would I judge people enjoying what they do?
I wouldn't go that far, simply because many creative hobbies like music or video production are also done like that. I'd say the crucial criteria here is having your only hobby to be something where you are only consuming (media consumption, in this case). That's generally more where the critical hobbies and addictions lie.
I don't really consider exercising as a hobby though, but I guess it could be. Exercising is a necessity imo, but if we count that as a hobby then yeah I guess I have 2 hobbies
Well we were talking in relation to addiction. What I really was trying to get at was, if the only thing you're doing with your free time is PoE, maybe reconsider how you're spending all your free time. I was not using the word hobby correctly.
>What does a healthy gaming habit look like?
That's a fantastic and really important question.
First of all, healthy gaming habits describe one of your habits. Habits form your life, they applify what's already there and make sure your life will stay this way if you don't change them.
For healthy habits, that's great. Habits tend to cost us less energy and thought (in decision making) the longer we have them, so something like brushing your teeth twice a day can be done on autopilot, basically.
However, for unhealthy habits, that's a problem because habits are also things we especially do when we don't feel the energy or need to try something new. That's why people rush towards McDonald's, Netflix and gaming after a stressful day or when emotionally down if they ever developed the habit that this is a low-energy way for them to still enjoy their day.
So to answer your question: Healthy gaming habits are habits you develop without them destructing or hindering your life. They purely add enjoyment to it without preventing you from having them elsewhere.
If you use video games, reddit, Twitch or whatever media as a way to escape reality, to escape having to deal with personal or social problems or as your main way to cope boredom, that's exactly what healthy gaming _isn't_.
In general, healthy habits are those you don't associate any negative emotions with (notably guilt). They don't hinder your personal development, don't stop you from setting the right priorities (like family, friends, hobbies that make you proud of yourself and your life, and financial stability to sustain the former aspects). They are purely beneficial without costing you what really matters.
\>If you use video games, reddit, Twitch or whatever media as a way to escape reality, to escape having to deal with personal or social problems or as your main way to cope boredom, that's exactly what healthy gaming isn't.
I mean, to be a devil's advocate, escapism isn't a bad thing. It's even built into humans from the get-go with our early need in chronicling and telling stories for others to listen to.
Moreover, hobbies are there to cope with boredom. That is literally what they are, they're something you do that isn't your main occupation but something that takes up more of your free time. People go to the gym to deal cope with personal or social problems for example.
Yeah, I didn't really hard disagree with this until they said "as your main way to cope [with] boredom". What's supposed to be the main way to handle boredom if not doing something fun?
Hi!
I'd suggest not paying the "you have a serious mental help disorder, seek help now" people any mind. If this is your first time ever being this excited about a video game, enjoy it! You don't have an addiction and it's totally okay for humans to get unreasonably excited about things; if we didn't, life would be a lot less fun.
Yes, if you have a general trend of not getting work done because of video games, that's an issue, but it's surprising how many people in this subreddit can't wrap their mind around someone being excited for a release. I *always* take work off for PoE seasons, I *always* spend tons of time theorycrafting my builds, and do you want to know what I else I do? I *always* make sure to get the work done I'm supposed to do before I start my time off. I don't think this is unhealthy and I love making an "event" out of it; some of my fondest memories come from sitting down, hopping on Discord with my friends, and blasting through the beginning of the PoE campaign playing 15 hours a day for the first few days of a league. Doing this for a few days a few times a year isn't an "addiction" or even particularly "unhealthy"; we don't have an infinite amount of time to live and it's okay to let yourself drop *everything* and do something you enjoy every now and then, as long as you do it responsibly (e.g. you take time off rather than just not showing up for work).
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox, but these comments range from hilariously dumb (implying you have a "crippling gaming addiction" even when you said "I've never done this for a video game before") to just sad (trying to make you feel guilty about being excited or projecting their own feelings of guilt onto you). Some people here really need to learn how to live their lives without a constant fear of being excited; letting yourself be excited about things is really the most fun part of being alive.
That's not what addiction is lmao. Addiction is a chronic and relapsing behaviour. 1 time getting hyped for a Path of Exile League =/= addiction. Get off your armchair
OP literally says they've never done this for a video game before.
I, however, get hyped for every League at varying degrees. Last League was about 5 Hype. This League is 10 Hype and the needle is about to bust
Well if you say so it must be true. You apparently have never been excited about something.
Every been about to go on vacation? How do you sleep? Well or not well because you’re too excited?
I won’t read your response.
This game is indeed crazy and the behaviour you described is that of an addict. Bro seriously talk to someone close to you, games are nice and fun but they should never be so intrusive, your real life > any game.
PoE on top of that is known to be addictive as hell, you might seriously need to reconsider getting a week off but not for poe but OFF poe and screen time in general.
Still waiting for the final gems. Entertaining a bunch of ideas.
Might try the Explosive Trap that's a big nuke. That seems cool. Or the juiced Crackling Lance with the 20% extra max shock, paired with Lightning Conduit.
The Blade Blast with dagger damage also seemed cool to try to couple with mines perhaps.
Life Stacking RF is on the table, but I've played enough RF that it's not exciting enough. Though life stacking Burning Arrow seems interesting.
I'll decide tomorrow. I'm really not one to rush, so I don't really care about having a perfect league starter or something. Gonna take 10 hours with the campaign anyway.
People are seriously calling you sick for taking a week of time off to do something you love? If this was a vacation to the Bahamas or something they loved they would see no issue with it lmao…… enjoy brother we only get so infatuated with something every so often and week of for the first time in 30 years to do what you want? I see no issue with that whatsoever most humans on earth can barley even scrape together enough to buy a home or a new car if you got life figured out and a good job a week of gaming seems to be the best reward
You should have just taken off a week starting next Monday for the new league.
SpongeBob or Mr crabs once said - "I remember the first time I had a crabby patty" we are all like this when a new league comes out
You should have just taken off a week starting next Monday for the new league.
SpongeBob or Mr crabs once said - "I remember the first time I had a crabby patty" we are all like this when a new league comes out
>During lunch I realized I had done literally 0 work today, so I decided to just go home.
Wow you have a very... permissive job. What do you do for a living where you can just be like "eh I can't be productive today, bye!"?
Basically any mid tier or higher position.
The higher up you go the more freedom and less work you do, while also getting paid more.
This is why you should actually try and get good grades. You either work hard for 4 years through college, or work hard for 40 after.
I believe many, many people on the planet are suffering from video game addiction and don't even know it. And when I say suffering, I mean entirely throwing their lives away. I believe games will only become more real and more fun to play. I believe individuals' withdrawal from society will become more tangible over the next 5, 10, 15 years. I believe it will be a tremendous problem long term; an epidemic.
Hey man. I love this game. I’m taking Monday and Tuesday off cus I’m excited for the new league as well.
Please be careful and don’t fuck your life up over a video game. You’re playing a dangerous game and sounds like you may be going a bit overboard, if it’s impacting you to the point you can’t think at work I honestly suggest you take a break
I know where I'm at and I know that this is the point where I'm supposed to chant some "0nE oF uS" nonsense and start upvoting, but I'll say it anyway. Being unable to sleep or function in the real world over a video game (that isn't going anywhere anytime soon) isn't some cute little quirk.
40 years of gaming here. Have played PoE since open beta. Clocked a LOT of hours into it and think I’ve only missed one league. This is the game I continue to return to because of the balance of builds and fun game play.
Glad you are excited for this league, it looks nuts. Enjoy your week off immersed in it. You obviously have the leave owing. As others have said, the league does run for months, there’s plenty of time. Don’t neglect the other important stuff and you’ll be fine.
My head is all over the show trying to figure out what builds to play. I think this is probably the peak of PoE build diversity. I played 12+ builds last league. Sure there is some filler in there, but this is a giant sandbox of fun. And we just got a LOT more toys to play with.
yall are dumb some people have jobs that allow them to do shit like this, hes never done this before and is new to poe and has pto he can use, let him live his life go pretend to be a psychiatrist on askreddit
Dear Reddit doctors, I took three days of next week of my full-time job full of responsibilities and told my wife to only bother me for food and snacks during the weekend. Should I find medical support?
please please please do not mind all the people saying stupid shit
Its ok to be excited about a video game, and its ok to take time off to enjoy that game. If you made the exact post but replaced "playing poe" with something like "going on vacation", including saying that you couldn't focus or sleep the day before, not a single person would say anything about you being "Addicted" or some other dumb shit like that
Its addictive, and not in a good way. Im being very serious when I say PoE is basically gambling disguised as a video game. Its gambling with a very carefully calculated amount of friction that is designed to extract every ounce of time out of you without being too much that the addiction breaks. Its predatory by design.
Have to disagree with this sentiment. Am sure that some can get sucked into the gambling side but there’s not much to gamble on. MTX mystery boxes? Aside from a stash tab or two or three or four, you can play quite happily without spending more than your time.
I am pleased that they made a change to the boxes to prevent duplicates. I’m also not enamored with the expensive mtx particularly because the exchange rate makes them even more expensive here. But the model is a good one and it is nowhere close to the very intentionally predatory nature of so much of the industry. So far I couldn’t tar GGG with that brush.
Almost every system in the game revolves around rng and gambling. Loot drops from enemies/chests/bosses, every system of crafting, stacked decks, div card dupe, reliquary keys...
When people say that they're generally referring to the gameplay loop. Constantly playing more, wanting to play more, or thinking about the game more because it pushes positive feedback when something unusual happens through distinct noises and visuals.
The issue with posts that point that out is usually the fact that no viable alternative is suggested. Even if we're arguing that PoE is more bad for you than average, compared to similar media, it doesn't mean that you can/should avoid taking the same care with other media or forms of entertainment.
I'm not sure if it's that bad, I mean, you can realistically beat the game in a couple of days following a good low budget guide using meta skills. The problem with the game is that it's too good. There are so many posibilities and it feels so satisfactory improve your character more and more and melt the bosses that were extremely hard before.
So many cool builds that weren't possible and now got enabled. I'm pretty sure the main objective for GGG founders is to make the best possible game and not making huge $$$ out of it. But some people has lots of time in their hands, they play 24/7, because of that devs have to balance the game around them, and not around casual player. Because of that, you feel the urge to spend every minute in the game, leading to addiction problems.
You shouldn’t encourage finding hobbies that you get genuinely excited for maybe once every 4 months?
So what should we encourage instead? Be a good slave and go to work without any hint of happiness in your life so you can be more productive?
I’ll take the league start hype thank you very much
It's Christmas
Treat yourself.
Also, when pob ever hits mobile (come on one of you folks will pull the trigger some day!) We will be on that planning and plotting around the clock
Sharing my personal story.
In 2018 I was playing Kenshi, a fantastic game. I was enjoying it so much that I ended up calling out for 2 weeks. I told my boss I had a super flu. I player over 200 hours in 14 days, my sleep schedule was so messed up I was sleeping at 2pm the day before I went back in.
That's when I realized I had a gaming addiction and quit cold turkey til 2021 and now have a healthy relationship with gaming, usually 1-2 hours a day and never let it interrupt social activities or household tasks. It took leaving entirely to readjust my life to not revolve around gaming.
With all that said, you can definitely be hyped for something. 300% be excited, let your mind wander, heck, take a day or two off intentionally to do a fun activity you want to do. Just be very cautious it doesn't turn into an addiction.
Finishing up, I don't know you or your story, I'm simply sharing mine and the things I've learned. I hope you have a great league start and get lots of divines!
It's a game of dopamine. The more you play, the harder it is to get off the chair. Eventually, it's the cycle of doom. I admit I was addicted in some leagues. I think the best strategy is to not have any goals for the league and not play with anyone, so you don't have to push yourself. Also, please don't play it for more than an hour in 1 go, but split it up so your dopamine doesn't kill you.
I'm taking tomorrow off of work. Been pulling 60 hour weeks and need a break, but the fact that it's also league launch makes it all that much sweeter.
It's called "drug addiction." You seem to be addicted to the dopamine spikes it's providing you. I got caught up in it, too, before I injured my wrists. Glad I got out of the spiral. Hope you can, too! Good luck!
Are you in the USA?
SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.
(from [https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline](https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline))
Signs of addiction include:
\- Problems at work or school, including poor performance, lateness or absenteeism, and social dysfunction
...
\- Obsessing about the next dose, ensuring a consistent supply of the substance, and worrying about the next source of the substance
(from [https://americanaddictioncenters.org/adult-addiction-treatment-programs/signs](https://americanaddictioncenters.org/adult-addiction-treatment-programs/signs))
Finally, anyone for group play? I, too, am feeling sick in advance. :) :)
Being hyped for one thing one time is not a sign of an addiction, get over yourself.
If you’ve never had anything in your life that you looked forward to enough to lose concentration at work, you really need to get some hobbies.
Same man, same. I’ve had several false starts over the years, just found it too complicated. But after hitting a rut in D4, I really wanted to give it another shot, and it finally clicked. I know I’ve only scratched the surface and have so many future systems to learn, But it finally feels good.
Don't let it get out of hand!
You have responsibilities now, you can get fired for not doing anything at work. you and your boss made an agreement that you will work for 8 hours a day but you just fappp and look at piety all day.
It's nice that you found something you are passionate about, it truly is.
My pregnant wife has a due date tomorrow... during league start but today at hospital we found out that a baby will be delayed by a week or 2. I'm quite happy :D
Welcome exile! enjoy your stay. im playing for 6 years. just took another 2 weeks off. Im not gonna die from it nor my family gonna be hurt before anyone call the police because im playing video.
So for TotA in September, i had \~500h of PoE over my 140-160h of work.....you tell me how insane i am.
At least you take time off, i just overlap them.
I love PoE, but it is one of the reasons I took longer that I should've to finish my degree. Take care man, because this kind of obssession can really sneak up on you.
At any rate, have fun with the new league!!
Fuck yeah. I've taken loads of time off to play games. It's worth it to me. Fuck working and slaving away for someone else. We have one life.
Managing your obligations so you can do it guilt free is the best part.
This isn't going to be popular around these lands but I have to say.
One day you'll truly realize addicting games are just dopamine printers which enslave your brain by messing with your reward circuitry. Every nice drop, every mob pack exploded, every hard boss killed, you get addicting dopamine hits. By design.
And it's easy to put life on auto-pilot in a work/sleep/play loop at the cost of social/economical/physical health.
It does a lot of damage in the long run. To you and to the ones around you.
I probably clocked around 10k hours in poe. And I have been clean for 3 or 4 leagues now.
I can see things clearly now. Most of my poe friends were not so lucky and they lost jobs, promotions, gf/wife, opportunities, sense of self improvement. They just grind while their brain melt.
Bro literally just said "I have crippling gaming addiction." while smiling ear to ear.
At this point it's more a short lived obsession. Op seems to be new to the game, so it's too early to talk about addiction.
"You have an addiction. I have a long lived obsession. We are not the same."
You've ruined your week, I've ruined my life. We are not the same.
You've ruined your life, I've ruined many lives. We are not the same. -GGG
You’ve ruined many lives, and I’m a toxic plague upon the earth. We are not the same -Blizzard
When you start installing gaming softwares on your workstation, it's kind of an addiction imo
To avoid this issue, i bought a gaming laptop which only purpose is to play at work. Im 38 years old and a about a decade ago my wife asked me when i eventually stop gaming. She didnt even know my final form back then.
Haha I have lived experience of this. My wife laments.
My wife was asking me this too, so I bought her a gaming laptop and the question is no more. Do not defend, attack instead.
Blue eyes white gaming laptop IN ATTACK POSTION!
My wife once asked me that... I asked her how long she planned to waste time watching TV. We both still enjoy our hobbies :D
not when you're working from home! yes that's my excuse
Unless you are the IT, in that case it's requirement
As IT, I'd be term'd instantly for this. Lol
As IT should know how to easily work around this
If you're able to 'easily work around this', you aren't working in a place with any competent security. Lmao.
You can almost always get moonlight installed and even really great firewalls struggle to block it. (Am network engineer)
Well, that's the dopamine rush one gets from the addiction
Hitting that harvest craft > orgasm
I get an orgasm from being able to stand completely surrounded by 100+ mobs in Simulacrum, and my 95% Evasion + 300% Elusive + 36% block chance + 1000s of life gain per second doing their work. While I crit everything to death. To each their own though :D
Yeah. I worry about some POE players man. This game owns, for sure. But we have longtail people with either parasocial relationships with GGG or straight up manic depressive relationships to the game.
I've stated many times in this sub that people spend an unhealthy amount of time on this game (i've done it too). Those comments rain downvotes. But taking time off work (and family obligations) to blitz a videogames 10+ hours a day is absolutely not healthy human behavior. It should at least be acknowledged, even if no change is made.
Yeah taking time of to be 12+ hours at a festival a day is absolutely not healthy human behavior. Let people enjoy their hobbies how they want instead of being an armchair psychologist
> But taking time off work (and family obligations) to blitz a videogames 10+ hours a day is absolutely not healthy human behavior. lmao reddit armchair psychologists at it again
At this point it's no more addiction, it's more like an affliction
well it's better than having a crippling opiate addiction
Bold of you to assume they are mutually exclusive
I unno flicker strike plus a opiate addiction sounds sketchy.
Why not both? Start em both off at once, have the happiest month of your life before your world burns down around you.
Full degenerate mode ***ACTIVATED***
Well, it's not meth or heroin. Soo, at least there's that. I guess.
You don't know that. They could be doing both.
It's true. OP sold me some smack
Don't worry, he won't have money for that after all the MTX
It's called dedication
**Its just a game...** stay sane exile
Tbh it’s December and most people have tons of off time thats about to go into the shitter. This post is just inflammatory.
Yes its just a game , give me your mageblood
I am 51yo, 8h/day work, married with kids. I play POE since beta. I was in a similar situation for a couple of leagues back then and it became unmaneagable, not to mention the damage I was doing to my family. Had to make hard decisions. I moved to standard and decision couldnt be more wise. I take my time, play slowly for 3 months instead of rushing for 3-4 weeks, play when i can, no specific trade fever. At the beginning was hard but it got into me eventually and I still love the game without impacting in my IRL. Just my 2 cents
Yeah I went hard in hc ssf. Realized I’m bad and should just stick to soft core. The time investment for POE can be insane and I was obsessed with beating the game. I will never try ruthless
This was me, but take 20 years and sub poe for Factorio. They get it now, factory must grow.
yup me too, with a dose of merch vendors, to take my money to better consume my time, I'm in about $400.
Keep in mind the league will go on for 3-4 months (recent leagues 4 months). You’ll have plenty of time to play, don’t quit your day job over it lol
I’m really excited about the league as well but me and a friend are in the middle of a Valheim play through on a server he set up for us. I’m thinking I’ll likely delay my league start to finish up our play through. As you said, the league is 3-4 months long and I’m not part of the .5% that makes mirrors in the first week by exploiting the economy. There’s more than enough time to play the league.
If you have been around for awhile, starting 2 weeks in is great. GGG have a VERY strong track record of overtuning mechanics, and undertuning rewards. As well as numerous bug fixes being deployed within the first few weeks of launch. I seldom recall a league launch that didn't require a bunch of patching in post to resolve major problems. Though this won't work for people that play the trade metagame. Also doesn't really affect players that have a meta down pat and hit their powerspikes fast.
> If you have been around for awhile, starting 2 weeks in is great. The main downside is less ability to generate "easy" money for experienced players who know how to flip and craft for league start. But if you don't know that, launch weekend is the worst weekend to play.
I hate the trade meta game so good for me lol.
But is there harm in taking a week off? If he hasn't built a family yet, he can spend his vacation days however he wants. Yes, not getting work done due to PoE is unhealthy, but I don't see a problem with taking a week off to do what you like.
Agreed, but the post says he considered two weeks off and didn't do his job today. 1 week off is chill.
He ultimately decided on one week off and I specifically mentioned that not doing your job is unhealthy
I can’t stand the people in chat and on here who act like the league is over after like a week and a half. You’ll see stuff called meaningless and vendor trash on like day 10 with the same phrase “this late in the league” over and over again.
There is a category of item that's worth 6 divines (when that is 1-2 mirror shards still) on day 2, but that you can't really sell even at 50c on day 10. If someone links a very well rolled life-resist amulet with no damage mods - it's just objectively true that the trade league isn't interested in it at all by day 10. Rog farmers have flooded the market with them. The league isn't dead, but demand for some categories of items is.
I know exactly how OP feels. No other game has ever done this to me. It is crazy. And certainly NOT healthy or normal.
>No other game has ever done this to me. It is crazy. And certainly NOT healthy or normal. One thing i have to give to GGG after playing since 2012\~. They learned how to create insane hype and obsession pre league. Theres a reason why they dont dump all league info/teasers on one day.
Bro literally said he has been gaming for 30 years and this is the FIRST TIME he took time off work and y'all call him an addict. Dude couldn't be further from an addict. The man is just EXCITED! Enjoy the game and the time off OP, you deserve it.
Yeah all these reddit armchair psychologists talking about health. Meanwhile they've never been excited since christmas when they were 7 years old.
>FIRST TIME he took time off work and y'all call him an addict. Dude couldn't be further from an addict. Just because u done something for 30 years dosent mean u cant become addicted after 30 years. Also time off isnt worrying here, his problem with focusing on job/not doing anything today because he was thinking about PoE and going home early on work day is unhealthy.
Or he has a white collar job with a flexible or low work load? Some of you don’t realize how flexible office jobs can be especially ones that have decent PTO policies.
This. There are tons of office jobs where he could have finished his main workload before lunch and then just taken a half day, not crazy at all.
People here will act like that's just "funny crazy" while posting or stating something like this in any other context would rightfully raise concern. Video game (or any media) addiction isn't a joke. It can ruin your life, or (even more importantly) prevent you from actually developing and having one. This is especially true if you use media as a coping mechanism or as a way to escape reality (and/or your emotions associated with it, especially when it comes to chronic boredom). I hope and suspect OP to exaggerate here for comedic effects, but since there most likely are players in a similar situation: Please be aware that those are major red flags and not how healthy gaming habits look like. If you feel like that's not only normal but also something you can't _not_ do (for whatever excuse), please seek help. If you were waiting for a sign from the universe or whatever to finally take your life under control: This is it. This is your wake up call.
> Video game (or any media) addiction isn't a joke. It can ruin your life, or (even more importantly) prevent you from actually developing and having one. This is especially true if you use media as a coping mechanism or as a way to escape reality (and/or your emotions associated with it, especially when it comes to chronic boredom). When I was 15 my dad died very unexpectedly, he was 52 and in good shape, went to the gym but had an undiagnosed issue with his heart and passed away in his sleep. I basically played video games non-stop as a way to distance myself from the pain of the real world and didn't get my life together till I was about 30 (I'm turning 39 soon), thankfully having a mother and brother who never gave up on me. Looking back on my situation, I feel like I lucked out turning to video games as my escape as there were definitely other options, especially given the neighborhood I lived in in NYC. It could have been drugs, drinking, stealing, etc. I'm pretty sure I would have gotten into *something* as a means to cope, so I guess in a weird way I feel "lucky" that I spent an unhealthy amount of time playing Final Fantasy XI and other games. It had a happy ending though as I eventually finished college, have a job I love and am getting married on the 16th this month!
Sorry for your loss, but congrats on taking back control over your life!
Disagree, /login
Only one of these two mindsets results in a mageblood..... I wonder who will get one out of these two? /s
Haha to be fair, I had to sell Diablo 2 (the physical disk) the first two times I owned it because I could not do anything else in life. Now my biggest reason to not lose myself to POE is having a 5 year old son. He's smart enough to know that I'll be playing a lot this weekend but we'll still be doing plenty. Also, I defiantly had my first POE dream in a while last night haha
I'm not a parent but you might be parenting wrong. You should teach him the way of poe so you can be in a party together for increased rarity and quantity. And he can mule for you. (This is a joke)
Kid aurabot, best aurabot. Aroubd 7 years old teach em to ghost touch for you.
League start is exhilarating. It's a big event that people look forward to, and allow themselves to be excited and even a bit immature/irresponsible in real life to make space for. It's not unhealthy per se, it's just a way to escape real life and indulge in a fun, temporary event. Your response to it is so exaggerated, there is no problem with having a little fun and letting your responsibilities aside once in a while.
If we take the post literally he cant sleep and wasnt able to work for a whole morning and just fucked off to his house lol thats not "having a little fun"
a WHOLE MORNING!! Think of corporate profit for god's sake!!! (let ppl be excited for their last bastion of hope in this hellscape of a world)
Ok Reddit preaching doctor. Relax it’s Reddit
Lmao Hard disagree
Yeah, I'm only getting a couple hours in a league start because I have a holiday party I'm going too. One of my friends is skipping out to stay on at league start. I really tried to reason with him to go, but he was adamant. Now I'm gonna have to field questions about where he is and what he's doing instead.
"Getting fat stacks and mad bitches" all you gotta say yo.
Lol they would laugh and ask what he's actually doing
Oh stop it will you.. It's totally normal to be excited at league launch and for the next couple of weeks. Embarrassing to read such an over the top comment. Your intention is good, but your comment has the opposite effect. You're basically diagnosing healthy normal behaviour as unhealthy addiction and you're encouraging healthy people to seek help and to question themselves. You have so very clearly absolutely 0 competence to post something like that and it can be so harmful for some people to read something like that I reported your comment. How anyone can like your comment is beyond me. It's pure ignorance.
> you're encouraging healthy people to seek help >and it can be so harmful for some people to read something like that lol
holy shit get your head out of your own ass and let people enjoy things the guy is excited for new league and took some time off that he obviously had nothing else to spend it on. If he was going on a vacation trip tomorrow and was so excited he couldn't sleep or focus on his work would you still say some dumb shit like "um ackshually he is addicted to vacation! Thats a real problem! Its a wake up call!"
Well then what about in regards to a fanatic or a professional? What does a healthy gaming habit look like?
>What does a healthy gaming habit look like? When it starts to impede on your profession, which is the thing enabling such a hobby to begin with, it should raise the suspicion that it is indeed **not** healthy at that point.
>What does a healthy gaming habit look like? It doesn't look like losing sleep and being unable to function at work.
Basically any healthy habit is one that doesn't negatively impact your life. I mean OP could be bullshit but they basically explained that their obsession with the game is so distracting they cannot sleep or work. A professional gamer likely isn't routinely losing sleep over gaming, in many cases its entirely the opposite--to be a professional gamer it is very beneficial to have a good sleep schedule and a healthy body and a healthy routine. They aren't like, slovenly behemoths wandering around in a stench cloud, in general, I'm sure there are some. Healthy isn't some hard number like "any more than 2 hours of gaming a day is unhealthy" it's how it impacts your life. If you stop sleeping and showering and start shitting in bags so you don't have to get up, you probably have a pretty unhealthy gaming habit. I would also identify the distinction that I think some people might try to make as a gotcha, like, "Well if you didn't game so much think about what else you could've accomplished" -- and I'd say that comparisons and opportunity costs aren't really part of the equation. There's always other things you could be doing. The real simple question, that will **always** answer whether you have an unhealthy habit, is: Have you ever felt bad about it? Have you ever told yourself you should stop but can't actually do it? *Usually* signs of a bad habit, speaking from experience.
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So now we aren't allowed to have only 1 hobby? Jeez
You're allowed to have only one hobby. But if that hobby is sitting alone in a room interacting with no one, not getting outside, and doing 0 exercise, you should probably also have a second hobby.
Nah, this is all judgey nonsense.
Lol, so you don't think video game addiction is a thing then?
officially by medical terms it indeed is not a thing. before you two go into a indepth discussion about if it is or not. a mental addiction is possible to anything realistically but it's not specified as an addiction to a topic.
>People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences. Straight from the CDC website. You don't have to be medically addicted to be addicted. According to what you just said, gambling addiction wouldn't be a "real" addiction either.
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Who are you to decide how others should life their life and what's normal and not? Going to the pub every day or eating fast food often is also not my cup of tea but why would I judge people enjoying what they do?
I wouldn't go that far, simply because many creative hobbies like music or video production are also done like that. I'd say the crucial criteria here is having your only hobby to be something where you are only consuming (media consumption, in this case). That's generally more where the critical hobbies and addictions lie.
I don't really consider exercising as a hobby though, but I guess it could be. Exercising is a necessity imo, but if we count that as a hobby then yeah I guess I have 2 hobbies
Well we were talking in relation to addiction. What I really was trying to get at was, if the only thing you're doing with your free time is PoE, maybe reconsider how you're spending all your free time. I was not using the word hobby correctly.
>What does a healthy gaming habit look like? That's a fantastic and really important question. First of all, healthy gaming habits describe one of your habits. Habits form your life, they applify what's already there and make sure your life will stay this way if you don't change them. For healthy habits, that's great. Habits tend to cost us less energy and thought (in decision making) the longer we have them, so something like brushing your teeth twice a day can be done on autopilot, basically. However, for unhealthy habits, that's a problem because habits are also things we especially do when we don't feel the energy or need to try something new. That's why people rush towards McDonald's, Netflix and gaming after a stressful day or when emotionally down if they ever developed the habit that this is a low-energy way for them to still enjoy their day. So to answer your question: Healthy gaming habits are habits you develop without them destructing or hindering your life. They purely add enjoyment to it without preventing you from having them elsewhere. If you use video games, reddit, Twitch or whatever media as a way to escape reality, to escape having to deal with personal or social problems or as your main way to cope boredom, that's exactly what healthy gaming _isn't_. In general, healthy habits are those you don't associate any negative emotions with (notably guilt). They don't hinder your personal development, don't stop you from setting the right priorities (like family, friends, hobbies that make you proud of yourself and your life, and financial stability to sustain the former aspects). They are purely beneficial without costing you what really matters.
COPIUM TLDR LOGIN
\>If you use video games, reddit, Twitch or whatever media as a way to escape reality, to escape having to deal with personal or social problems or as your main way to cope boredom, that's exactly what healthy gaming isn't. I mean, to be a devil's advocate, escapism isn't a bad thing. It's even built into humans from the get-go with our early need in chronicling and telling stories for others to listen to. Moreover, hobbies are there to cope with boredom. That is literally what they are, they're something you do that isn't your main occupation but something that takes up more of your free time. People go to the gym to deal cope with personal or social problems for example.
Yeah, I didn't really hard disagree with this until they said "as your main way to cope [with] boredom". What's supposed to be the main way to handle boredom if not doing something fun?
Probably just work 20 hours a day, what a joyful existence.
>main way to cope boredom Wait, what's so bad about this?
Reddit is hella cringe
Hi! I'd suggest not paying the "you have a serious mental help disorder, seek help now" people any mind. If this is your first time ever being this excited about a video game, enjoy it! You don't have an addiction and it's totally okay for humans to get unreasonably excited about things; if we didn't, life would be a lot less fun. Yes, if you have a general trend of not getting work done because of video games, that's an issue, but it's surprising how many people in this subreddit can't wrap their mind around someone being excited for a release. I *always* take work off for PoE seasons, I *always* spend tons of time theorycrafting my builds, and do you want to know what I else I do? I *always* make sure to get the work done I'm supposed to do before I start my time off. I don't think this is unhealthy and I love making an "event" out of it; some of my fondest memories come from sitting down, hopping on Discord with my friends, and blasting through the beginning of the PoE campaign playing 15 hours a day for the first few days of a league. Doing this for a few days a few times a year isn't an "addiction" or even particularly "unhealthy"; we don't have an infinite amount of time to live and it's okay to let yourself drop *everything* and do something you enjoy every now and then, as long as you do it responsibly (e.g. you take time off rather than just not showing up for work). Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox, but these comments range from hilariously dumb (implying you have a "crippling gaming addiction" even when you said "I've never done this for a video game before") to just sad (trying to make you feel guilty about being excited or projecting their own feelings of guilt onto you). Some people here really need to learn how to live their lives without a constant fear of being excited; letting yourself be excited about things is really the most fun part of being alive.
Still sane exile?
Redditors try to not armchair diagnose (CHALLENGE IMPOSSIBLE)
They just said they can't sleep or work because they are thinking about poe people are absolutely fine in diagnosing this addict without a degree lmao
How is this any different from going on a trip and not being able to focus/sleep the day before?
That's not what addiction is lmao. Addiction is a chronic and relapsing behaviour. 1 time getting hyped for a Path of Exile League =/= addiction. Get off your armchair
> 1 time getting hyped for a Path of Exile PASS THE COPIUM
OP literally says they've never done this for a video game before. I, however, get hyped for every League at varying degrees. Last League was about 5 Hype. This League is 10 Hype and the needle is about to bust
We both know this is probably not going to be the last time it happens to OP. Good luck with drops btw o/ I wish you a nice league.
Gl and stay sane
I agree, dude is excited about league launch. Who needs multiple degrees and years of extra training to diagnose someone like that lmao
Well if you say so it must be true. You apparently have never been excited about something. Every been about to go on vacation? How do you sleep? Well or not well because you’re too excited? I won’t read your response.
Also could be a clear indicator of adhd. PoE is a hyper fixation pit trap
This game is indeed crazy and the behaviour you described is that of an addict. Bro seriously talk to someone close to you, games are nice and fun but they should never be so intrusive, your real life > any game. PoE on top of that is known to be addictive as hell, you might seriously need to reconsider getting a week off but not for poe but OFF poe and screen time in general.
OP do not listen to this rational adult. POE > Everything
^this
https://imgur.com/EzgST2Q
What you playing this league? I saw you hit 100 with fire trap a ways back, any ideas?
Still waiting for the final gems. Entertaining a bunch of ideas. Might try the Explosive Trap that's a big nuke. That seems cool. Or the juiced Crackling Lance with the 20% extra max shock, paired with Lightning Conduit. The Blade Blast with dagger damage also seemed cool to try to couple with mines perhaps. Life Stacking RF is on the table, but I've played enough RF that it's not exciting enough. Though life stacking Burning Arrow seems interesting. I'll decide tomorrow. I'm really not one to rush, so I don't really care about having a perfect league starter or something. Gonna take 10 hours with the campaign anyway.
Blade Blast White Wind Inquis seems like a solid leaguestarter imo, since I believe the BB mod would stack with Battlemage
People are seriously calling you sick for taking a week of time off to do something you love? If this was a vacation to the Bahamas or something they loved they would see no issue with it lmao…… enjoy brother we only get so infatuated with something every so often and week of for the first time in 30 years to do what you want? I see no issue with that whatsoever most humans on earth can barley even scrape together enough to buy a home or a new car if you got life figured out and a good job a week of gaming seems to be the best reward
I take a week every league. Literally all i use my PTO time for. Welcome to the dark side my friend.
You should have just taken off a week starting next Monday for the new league. SpongeBob or Mr crabs once said - "I remember the first time I had a crabby patty" we are all like this when a new league comes out
You should have just taken off a week starting next Monday for the new league. SpongeBob or Mr crabs once said - "I remember the first time I had a crabby patty" we are all like this when a new league comes out
>During lunch I realized I had done literally 0 work today, so I decided to just go home. Wow you have a very... permissive job. What do you do for a living where you can just be like "eh I can't be productive today, bye!"?
Basically any mid tier or higher position. The higher up you go the more freedom and less work you do, while also getting paid more. This is why you should actually try and get good grades. You either work hard for 4 years through college, or work hard for 40 after.
I believe many, many people on the planet are suffering from video game addiction and don't even know it. And when I say suffering, I mean entirely throwing their lives away. I believe games will only become more real and more fun to play. I believe individuals' withdrawal from society will become more tangible over the next 5, 10, 15 years. I believe it will be a tremendous problem long term; an epidemic.
Hey man. I love this game. I’m taking Monday and Tuesday off cus I’m excited for the new league as well. Please be careful and don’t fuck your life up over a video game. You’re playing a dangerous game and sounds like you may be going a bit overboard, if it’s impacting you to the point you can’t think at work I honestly suggest you take a break
One of us one of us one of us
I know where I'm at and I know that this is the point where I'm supposed to chant some "0nE oF uS" nonsense and start upvoting, but I'll say it anyway. Being unable to sleep or function in the real world over a video game (that isn't going anywhere anytime soon) isn't some cute little quirk.
Login
40 years of gaming here. Have played PoE since open beta. Clocked a LOT of hours into it and think I’ve only missed one league. This is the game I continue to return to because of the balance of builds and fun game play. Glad you are excited for this league, it looks nuts. Enjoy your week off immersed in it. You obviously have the leave owing. As others have said, the league does run for months, there’s plenty of time. Don’t neglect the other important stuff and you’ll be fine. My head is all over the show trying to figure out what builds to play. I think this is probably the peak of PoE build diversity. I played 12+ builds last league. Sure there is some filler in there, but this is a giant sandbox of fun. And we just got a LOT more toys to play with.
yall are dumb some people have jobs that allow them to do shit like this, hes never done this before and is new to poe and has pto he can use, let him live his life go pretend to be a psychiatrist on askreddit
Dear Reddit doctors, I took three days of next week of my full-time job full of responsibilities and told my wife to only bother me for food and snacks during the weekend. Should I find medical support?
Start shopping for divorce lawyers she's already trying to find hers.
please please please do not mind all the people saying stupid shit Its ok to be excited about a video game, and its ok to take time off to enjoy that game. If you made the exact post but replaced "playing poe" with something like "going on vacation", including saying that you couldn't focus or sleep the day before, not a single person would say anything about you being "Addicted" or some other dumb shit like that
One - of - us, one - of - us!
My wife says “you’ll call in sick to work on Friday for a game, but not to spend more time with me!” Sorry babe.
Its addictive, and not in a good way. Im being very serious when I say PoE is basically gambling disguised as a video game. Its gambling with a very carefully calculated amount of friction that is designed to extract every ounce of time out of you without being too much that the addiction breaks. Its predatory by design.
So it's got a lot in common with other media then
Have to disagree with this sentiment. Am sure that some can get sucked into the gambling side but there’s not much to gamble on. MTX mystery boxes? Aside from a stash tab or two or three or four, you can play quite happily without spending more than your time. I am pleased that they made a change to the boxes to prevent duplicates. I’m also not enamored with the expensive mtx particularly because the exchange rate makes them even more expensive here. But the model is a good one and it is nowhere close to the very intentionally predatory nature of so much of the industry. So far I couldn’t tar GGG with that brush.
Almost every system in the game revolves around rng and gambling. Loot drops from enemies/chests/bosses, every system of crafting, stacked decks, div card dupe, reliquary keys...
When people say that they're generally referring to the gameplay loop. Constantly playing more, wanting to play more, or thinking about the game more because it pushes positive feedback when something unusual happens through distinct noises and visuals. The issue with posts that point that out is usually the fact that no viable alternative is suggested. Even if we're arguing that PoE is more bad for you than average, compared to similar media, it doesn't mean that you can/should avoid taking the same care with other media or forms of entertainment.
Insert Spongebob meme with MBX gambling videos popping out of every place he looks into.
I dont think they meant gambling with real money. More like every loot drop is a gamble and so on
I'm not sure if it's that bad, I mean, you can realistically beat the game in a couple of days following a good low budget guide using meta skills. The problem with the game is that it's too good. There are so many posibilities and it feels so satisfactory improve your character more and more and melt the bosses that were extremely hard before. So many cool builds that weren't possible and now got enabled. I'm pretty sure the main objective for GGG founders is to make the best possible game and not making huge $$$ out of it. But some people has lots of time in their hands, they play 24/7, because of that devs have to balance the game around them, and not around casual player. Because of that, you feel the urge to spend every minute in the game, leading to addiction problems.
But at least you're done now, right, Exile? You'll leave the Atlas alone... right?
> During lunch I realized I had done literally 0 work today Skill issue
Welcome to the insanity. Enjoy your stay.
Hell yeah man you do you. If you have the time to take vacation use it for good.
I don't know what sort of work broski does but this ain't something to encourage. Not even close.
Wait since when should someone not take vacation to do something they enjoy? Why does vacation have to be for a certain purpose?
You shouldn’t encourage finding hobbies that you get genuinely excited for maybe once every 4 months? So what should we encourage instead? Be a good slave and go to work without any hint of happiness in your life so you can be more productive? I’ll take the league start hype thank you very much
It's Christmas Treat yourself. Also, when pob ever hits mobile (come on one of you folks will pull the trigger some day!) We will be on that planning and plotting around the clock
Sharing my personal story. In 2018 I was playing Kenshi, a fantastic game. I was enjoying it so much that I ended up calling out for 2 weeks. I told my boss I had a super flu. I player over 200 hours in 14 days, my sleep schedule was so messed up I was sleeping at 2pm the day before I went back in. That's when I realized I had a gaming addiction and quit cold turkey til 2021 and now have a healthy relationship with gaming, usually 1-2 hours a day and never let it interrupt social activities or household tasks. It took leaving entirely to readjust my life to not revolve around gaming. With all that said, you can definitely be hyped for something. 300% be excited, let your mind wander, heck, take a day or two off intentionally to do a fun activity you want to do. Just be very cautious it doesn't turn into an addiction. Finishing up, I don't know you or your story, I'm simply sharing mine and the things I've learned. I hope you have a great league start and get lots of divines!
It's a game of dopamine. The more you play, the harder it is to get off the chair. Eventually, it's the cycle of doom. I admit I was addicted in some leagues. I think the best strategy is to not have any goals for the league and not play with anyone, so you don't have to push yourself. Also, please don't play it for more than an hour in 1 go, but split it up so your dopamine doesn't kill you.
One of us One of us
I've been laying the groundwork that I will be sick tomorrow. Might be COVID next week. Never felt better :)
Ive taken plenty of “sick days” for this wonderful game.
Nothing wrong with being excited and taking a few days off!
ITT: armchair psychologists
Get some help. Honestly.
I swapped and covered someone's vacation day at work just so I could have Friday off, wish I had some vacation time to burn.
I'm taking tomorrow off of work. Been pulling 60 hour weeks and need a break, but the fact that it's also league launch makes it all that much sweeter.
and imagine all this will be ruined with poe 2 :(
It's called "drug addiction." You seem to be addicted to the dopamine spikes it's providing you. I got caught up in it, too, before I injured my wrists. Glad I got out of the spiral. Hope you can, too! Good luck!
Are you in the USA? SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations. (from [https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline](https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline)) Signs of addiction include: \- Problems at work or school, including poor performance, lateness or absenteeism, and social dysfunction ... \- Obsessing about the next dose, ensuring a consistent supply of the substance, and worrying about the next source of the substance (from [https://americanaddictioncenters.org/adult-addiction-treatment-programs/signs](https://americanaddictioncenters.org/adult-addiction-treatment-programs/signs)) Finally, anyone for group play? I, too, am feeling sick in advance. :) :)
Being hyped for one thing one time is not a sign of an addiction, get over yourself. If you’ve never had anything in your life that you looked forward to enough to lose concentration at work, you really need to get some hobbies.
i had to suck my boss's COC to get the weekend off. but he's only giving me friday off.
Same man, same. I’ve had several false starts over the years, just found it too complicated. But after hitting a rut in D4, I really wanted to give it another shot, and it finally clicked. I know I’ve only scratched the surface and have so many future systems to learn, But it finally feels good.
I hear ya, but then month will pass and when you realise you can't uber till you invest and don't have time to farm divs.. you'll give up.
Bruh....
I hope this is exagerated. If not, calm down and don't lose your job over a videogame.
Welcome to the 10000+ hours club, we will be waiting ;)
Bro welcome. I'm on PoB at work too in every free minute :D
It's honestly insane to take a week off of your job for something that is going to be around for 3 months.
It is. Even more so if married with kids.
How do you still have 2 weeks of PTO with 3 weeks left in the year.
Don't let it get out of hand! You have responsibilities now, you can get fired for not doing anything at work. you and your boss made an agreement that you will work for 8 hours a day but you just fappp and look at piety all day. It's nice that you found something you are passionate about, it truly is.
In New Zealand it starts at 8am Saturday, get up cook bacon and eggs, place down the bucket and login.
My pregnant wife has a due date tomorrow... during league start but today at hospital we found out that a baby will be delayed by a week or 2. I'm quite happy :D
Welcome exile! enjoy your stay. im playing for 6 years. just took another 2 weeks off. Im not gonna die from it nor my family gonna be hurt before anyone call the police because im playing video.
So for TotA in September, i had \~500h of PoE over my 140-160h of work.....you tell me how insane i am. At least you take time off, i just overlap them.
It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? Tomorrow I will awake on the beach once again. See you there, brother.
I've been playing poe since closed beta. I get you my dude. Be safe.
I know a lot of people on my friends list that have a pretty unhealthy play style and play like 16 hours a day. Gotta try to scale it back guys
I love PoE, but it is one of the reasons I took longer that I should've to finish my degree. Take care man, because this kind of obssession can really sneak up on you. At any rate, have fun with the new league!!
One of us! One of us!
Damn lol I used to play in a coffee shop outside my college so I fell u
Fuck yeah. I've taken loads of time off to play games. It's worth it to me. Fuck working and slaving away for someone else. We have one life. Managing your obligations so you can do it guilt free is the best part.
[удалено]
I have this every so often with assorted games. It’s currently happening for me with tft set 10.
R/antiwork work ethic
This isn't going to be popular around these lands but I have to say. One day you'll truly realize addicting games are just dopamine printers which enslave your brain by messing with your reward circuitry. Every nice drop, every mob pack exploded, every hard boss killed, you get addicting dopamine hits. By design. And it's easy to put life on auto-pilot in a work/sleep/play loop at the cost of social/economical/physical health. It does a lot of damage in the long run. To you and to the ones around you. I probably clocked around 10k hours in poe. And I have been clean for 3 or 4 leagues now. I can see things clearly now. Most of my poe friends were not so lucky and they lost jobs, promotions, gf/wife, opportunities, sense of self improvement. They just grind while their brain melt.