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by maydup-nem 1541 days ago
> Is it possible to have a "healthy" amount of playing? Let's say just a couple of hours in the weekends?

There's a certain online 2d pubg clone, which I won't name, with an average session length of just around 3 minutes (depending on how fast you die, ~10m if you win). Pure skill, no ladder progression. Let me tell you, even after hitting my skill ceiling, I think I would still find it very hard to play "just a few hours on the weekend." When I start playing it, I keep playing it. When I have a free minute, I have an urge to play it. If a game is addicting, it is simply that: addicting. You either play it or you don't. And I will say it again: there's no ladder, no meaningful reward system, no resource grind, just a simple top-down shooter. And it's still hard to just limit my time playing it: after you die, you just click join again. A fresh start. I have gone cold turkey out on it, it was too time consuming.

Not saying it couldn't be possible, though, but I surely have a preference for campaign-oriented games for this reason. When you finish it, you are just done. It takes a continous, possibly long, chunk of time, but at least you know there's an end. And there's more you can experience. There's a many of games beatable in under a 50-hour timeframe, and when you are done, you feel like you have had a meaningful experience, gained fond memories with no regret. There isn't a shit-ton, but there are surely some.

Maybe something like a strategy game against AI could be different, I don't really know. Or, hey, an occasional lan party with friends? The lan-party interaction is much more fun, in my experience, though it rarely happens. And not like you wanna keep playing the game against bots after that.

But I do think the choice of a game makes a big difference.

1 comments

Funny thing, I don't consider myself to be a "gamer" I had not touched video games since high school and I'm now mid 30s.

It was just this particular game that hooked me up. And yes the problem is the ladder system which makes it never-ending. There is always another human of about your same level range to play with, available with just a click.

Yeah, it is was the same with the game I played: no waiting time, just click away and play. There's no way to break the loop.

Well, gaming is for everyone, that's what I think. Given a person, you can find or build an appealing enough game for her to enjoy it. Well, barring stigma-aversion, prejudice, etc.

Seriously, though, try some single-player games. Max Payne 2, Machinarium, Fallout 1/2/3/New Vegas, Planescape Torment. My view on this is: deversify your experiences; there's a certain limit on how much you should play a single game for your own good, because at some point the experience becomes more miserable than positive.