What would you do different if you were given the chance

wouldn't change a thing.
Although I wished I did pick up piano lessons I don't regret anything.
I'm not saying I learned anything important either but what does it matter anyways. I enjoyed the time I've spent and what is there left besides the hedonistic pleasures of life to enjoy

>>386207974
which I'd learn how to draw earlier instead of going to jewniversity and falling for the STEM degree meme. that's about it

>>386207974
Not really, no, I wouldn't say I'm anywhere near addicted nor has vidya impacted me in many negative ways. I could be less sedentary for sure but I still have a career I love and good relationships with people around me. I find vidya to be best when it's mixed with those things, not the only thing going on in my life.

>>386209409
Is there any reasonable argument at all to have ditched videogames for something else?
I mean who is there to judge.
I could argue about people taking ballet courses but I don't because I dont care.

On one hand I'd have my life in better order but on the other hand I would never have met the love of my life. Guess I'll stick with it and fix my shit the old fashioned way.

>Would you call yourself addicted nowadays?
That depends. People definitely watch more tv than I play videogames. In truth, 4chan is more of an addiction, and the internet in general.
>Imagine you'd start again with all your knowledge but with the option to eliminate all your video game experiences. Would you swap them for having picked up a different hobby?
What other hobbies can I do alone for entertainment that aren't media consumption?

I wouldn't change a thing because I am wealthy and I am doing fine.
I mean I still want to kill myself, but so does mostly everybody that has schizophrenia and depression which can't be fucking cured.

>>386209519
Keeping balance is key. Always.
>>386209706
People derive pleasure from all sorts of things
>>386209708
So which parts do. videogames play in your life

>>386210105
>Keeping balance is key. Always.
Absolutely. I enjoy vidya ten times more when it's in short bursts on the weeknights or for longer sessions on the weekends. One of the best feelings is working on my house in the morning on a weekend and then spending the afternoon and night playing vidya with some bros in Discord. I'm a teacher and despite my summer mostly open I still try to keep busy because oversaturating my day with vidya just doesn't do it for me.

>>386210105
I play video games a lot because of schizophrenia I am asocial as fuck.
I don't like to talk with people face to face, monitor is fine though.

>>386210329
Well that's funny. I'm currently studying education so (hopefully) I'll also become a teacher.
But I have to fully agree. When I get unlimited time I tend to just stare at my desktop doing nothing but once I'm given a schedule I spend my time both efficient and with more pleasure. Kind of ironic that complete free will inhibits my ability of enjoying myself

>>386210875
>Well that's funny. I'm currently studying education so (hopefully) I'll also become a teacher.
Hell yeah man, do it. Don't believe the memes, teachers get paid just fine if you live in a respectable state for it. And you can always further your education and climb the ladder as well. I just finished my masters and am due a $7k raise this upcoming school year. What content area are you considering?

I wouldn't say video games have negatively impacted me, but I would've liked to spend less time with it and picked up a side hobby like carpentry or something productive.

>>386207974

Nah. Not adicted but i don´t really like people either so if it wheren´t games it would be reading or watching movies or writing or masturbating or whatever.

I don´t see no problem with not participating on group activities like sport teams or going out drinking and dancing. You can´t pick the music and are stuck listening to the hits of the year, can´t really talk because the music is fucking loud and they charge you 3 times the cost of any drink.

So yeah... i was too old for that shit when i was 15. Fucking social constructs...

I'd choose not to be born.

You're destined to make all the same mistakes without your experiences. Haven't you watched Eternal Sunshine?

>>386210656
But isn't that a good thing then? I mean if you normally can't talk straight to people yet videogames give you the ability to do exactly that, id call that pretty beneficial for your life. Of course it's not really comparable to face to face but hey it's something.

>>386211037
Actually here in Germany it's still a well respected job. Wage -well for highschool teachers atleast- is terrific and we get 3 month off a year (paid of course).
I'm registered for ethics (actually it's more like philosophy), English and acting which is an own subject here.
It might sound rather useless compared to all the science stuff but schools are especially looking for drama class teachers since no one wants to do that apparently. So yeah I'm exited for what comes next

>>386211593
>It might sound rather useless compared to all the science stuff but schools are especially looking for drama class teachers since no one wants to do that apparently.
Doesn't sound that way at all, my man, I'm an English teacher myself. Best of luck and I'm glad to hear Germany is great for teaching. I have family teaching over there in international schools and they love it.

I was addicted. Not anymore honestly.
Gaming was pretty much my life when i was young.
Games were better back then and there were still many games that you didnt play.
Im still very young with 23 but by now you usually form some type of taste for games. And most games nowadays are far away from my taste. Im more on the pc because im at home with nothing else to do and simply browse the web.
Super pumped for divinity 2 though. Gonna playing with cousin.

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>>386211593
I mostly play single player

>>386211680
Thank you very much! It's partly because after a certain time schools can give you contracts which are almost irrevocable. You're then officially indirectly working for the government and receive a lot of benefits like almost free private health care (in Germany you're either insured by the government or by private companies and since doctors earn a LOT more from people with private insurance you're kinda treated "very special" which is quite frankly a bit unfair but hey I don't really care) I'm glad you're doing fine and I wish you the best for your future man.

>>386211747
So what? You're enjoying yourself after all. Most of the time you're not missing out on anything important. I'd highly suggest you to avoid league of legends and any other mobas, the community seriously is as bad as its reputation.
However I do suggest World of Warcraft or ARMA. Nicest people I've ever met with a lot of patience for newbies. But keep your head up man, you'll do it

No to both.

It's not addiction because that's not how it works. There's no withdrawal symptoms from not playing vidya for a few weeks or some shit. At most there's excessive behaviour where you practically can't stop vidyan, and even that's a no since I don't actually play that much vidya. I play plenty because vidya is a timesink, and one that I enjoy and have nothing else to do.

And no I woudn't change anything because I've gone through many possibilities through my head and none of them feel right. My father tried to make me pick up music when I was young even before I got into vidya, and shit just never worked out. Never got too interested in sport other than running and cycling, and that's not big enough a timesink to consider dropping vidya over. At most I wish I learned more languages since I already grew up bilingual, and could probably have learned so much more when I was still receptive to learning languages the way little kids seem to be able to do with ease, but now everything's too difficult. I used to draw a lot, and could probably have gone more into that to do proper art, but I lost interest in that some time ago. I don't think I was any good at it, really.

I could have possibly done a number of other things, but I doubt I would have done much different had I never started paying vidya. That's just not the kind of person I am, I guess.

>>386212318
Well I am actually quite wealthy and don't even need to work anymore. I keep myself busy with vidya and helping random anons with some money for vidya sometimes.
I know what it is to be poor.

I wouldn't buy Ratchet and Clank remastered on my PSTV. The store suggested it to me to buy and now I downloaded it, only to see it isn't supported. Sony took my fucking money.

>>386212467
That's actually pretty sweet.
I don't know what I can do but I hope you'll get along eventually

>>386212410
I feel you..
I'm now so used to it that i (Austic as it is) i kind of identify myself with what my passion now and I don't see anything wrong with it

>>386212661
Nothing to do, my illness has no cure.

>>386207974
If I went back to being a kid with my current knowledge I would go mad or kill myself, knowing there's 10+ years of abuse ahead of me. Vidya helped me escape when alcohol and drugs were not only available, but encouraged (by close family, alcoholics). Sure, I'd prefer to spend those years reading and socializing, but realistically I was too burried in shit to be able to properly develop. The cacoon of vidya helped me survive those times I believe.

Worth mentoning that pondering past choices, although enlightening, doesn't make much sense - you were someone completelly different 10 years ago, keeping the ilusion of consistancy solely because of being locked in a relatively unchanging body / persona available for others to see

>>386213084
That sparked an idea.
Would you guys differentiate between addictions?
Like would you say booze or drugs can be more destructive than being addicted to videogames?

Or is the addiction to videogames easier to cure and the symptoms and reason for the addiction are more obvious

I would have never played video games as they did nothing good for me.

>>386212750
I wouldn't go quite that far, but I see what you mean. Videogames are sort of the only thing that I'm really interested in and know some stuff about. At least you can sort of turn it around and do a little bit with it since people seem to underestimate the possibilities, so there's stuff you can do with it that very few others are doing. Currently trying to sort of build an academic career by writing scientific papers on the vidya, and while that shit sounds autismo as fuck (we have recurring threads every now and then where we remember That Kid who held presentations on videogames in highschool, and that's me now at uni), it's actually a surprisingly rich subject and there's a good amount of interest and enthusiasm among my peers around the topic, so it's easy papers, easy grades, and no competition.

The only other thing I'm particularly interested in is animals, but I'm not motivated enough to do anything with that like becoming a vet or dog trainer or something like that. I wish I could go a little more into dog training because my doggo deserves it, though.

But no, there's nothing wrong with it. You're right about that.

>>386207974
I would kick my drummer out of the band so he wouldn't drag it down with his unwillingness to practice, his priority of pussy over music, and his refusal to take the band seriously.

Things might not change, but we'd have kept going instead of slowly quitting practice, getting depressed, smoking weed, and playing video games for 4 years.

>strict parents, but somehow bought a family computer when I was like 5 yrs old
>those that only let you play after doing homework/chores and only on weekends
>2 hours max a day
>family pc is password protected, everyone knows the password except for me so they can limit my usage
>urge of playing building up while growing up to the point it became an addiction
I know I should not blame others for it but I can't stop wondering if they just let me play freely and satiate my vidya cravings before, I could have a different hobby and doesn't have a severe case of addiction of vidya.

>>386207974
Consideried im a neet and all i see in my future is an heroing. Probably everything, video games and being retarded ruined my life

>>386213602
Right! I always see those threads and think to myself "well actually there is a lot that can be talked about" take ludonarraritive dissonance for example. Or the video game branch's influence on business educational topics.
I think it's a very very rich subject and I really don't get the hate for something appearing to be more "in depth" or "scientific".
For me personally it is Art after all.
Movies are art
Literature is art
So why the fuck aren't games then?

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>>386207974
I hardly ever play video games now so I can't say I'm addicted to them. /v/ on the other hand...

>>386207974

The majority of the time I am conflicted with this dillema it's usually

>Fuck I should've done this shit sooner

Like right now, I'm angry at myself for not starting from July or even June on making my game and instead doing it now

no im not a nonce who lets games ruin his life

>>386207974
I wouldn't change anything
I enjoy video games and doing any different would just be for the sake of other people, who I don't give a shit about

>>386207974
Wouldn't change anything, maybe skate and play guitar a bit more but that's about it. I really did like video games for a time, and I still do like them sometimes.

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>>386207974
I'm not addicted and would not change a thing.
Vidya is a really fun hobby for me and it has given me many fun experiences.

>>386207974
Im definitely addicted. I would rather I had picked up an instrument but alas

What >>386209706 said. The internet is more of an addiction than gaming, in the same sense as the pokies. It's impossible to lock your phone and laptop in a cupboard for a few weeks for 95% of jobs.

>>386207974
video games are a pasttime, not a hobby. a hobby implies you contributing and actually creating something.

>>386215612
That is most definetly not true.
What do you contribute when you're playing football, reading a book or playing golf. I'd argue both virtually and physically nothing. Per definition videogames are indeed a hobby

>>386209409
But stemfags usually do ok, what happened?