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[CAB_Life]

Set a time limit for your online games.

Like 1 hour per day or something.

Respect your schedule and eventually you will be able to balance what you enjoy and what you want to play.

I am also an E7 player, in this one in particularly, just use the normal stamina, ignore everything else, don't go after whales and "the meta", farm while you do other activities (like reading or even working if possible), just enjoy the game casually.

E7 is a great game for casuals and hell for hardcore gamers (I was one and I regret it).

Haha E7 truly is punishing to whales. I have a friend of mine who’s been playing/ whaling (like mega-whaling) since launch, and I started about three months in and just buy the cheapie 30 day packs—so like $15/ month, the same as an online sub to WoW or whatever.

I’ve been #1 in Legend arena and have over a dozen ML heroes including Avil—almost as big a roster as my friend. There is absolutely little reward in overspending in this game as so much shit is just RNG dependent (especially gear and rolls). It is very F2P friendly. Almost too much so. The events are super generous and once you figure out to spend all your skystones on the bartender, you’ll never want for resources.

 

[jakinov]

One strategy would be instead of saying you can only play 1 or 2 or whatever hours of gaming a day is to instead find something to dedicate X hours on. So it's not like you can only play Y hours of games a day, it's that you also do XYZ and have the remaining hours for games. For example, 1 hour of exercise a day which you already more or less need for good heart health and will make your mind and body feel better (ideally) which will result in more comfortable gaming for the rest of your life and maybe even less visits to the doctor interrupting your gaming time. It can be speed walks with Harry Potter, Game of Thrones or Witcher, non fiction etc. audiobooks or stationary bike while watching TV (anime, comedies, dramas, YouTube videos on MMOs, whatever). You do other things to like cook, garden, sports, yoga, martial arts, etc. You spend a lot of time playing games, but other people just spend a lot of time on social media or watching TV. So it's not that bad that you have a high amount of hours in something leisure but maybe you can reduce it to maybe 5-7 instead of 8. Some people here are saying go cold-turkey, but for a lot of people that's easier said than done. Do what makes you happy but also it's good to do things that improve your quality of life. Consider also if you'd be happier if you devoted time towards your career and you ended up making more money that you could afford more MMO games, DLC, MTX, a faster computer, a better desk, better computer chair, could afford Discord Nitro, could buy any game at full price or whatever. I don't know what your career is, but if there's some sort of certification, license, diploma, etc. that you can get that can open more doors and result in more money for you (ideally) for the rest of your life, it may be something worth pursuing by sacrificing a bit of game time for more enjoyable game time later on.

 

[Roman Empire]

We had this covered a few days ago. Afair the term/thread was 'FOMO' = Fear of Missig Out. Check it out.
My Pro-Tip: Stop doing shit which makes you feel shitty.

Destiny 2 thrives on using FOMO as its main tool to retain player interaction. Seriously, the moment I stepped out of it as my main game of this generation (I actually left the game in af few occasions where it was in its lowest, the only thing that you can't really deny is that the gameplay, music, art direction and Lore are top notch) is the moment I saw that my backlog was just growing and I wasn't enjoying gaming as I used to.

Athreous
Just stop playing those games and go play something else or entirely different/new, and you might get your answer about not enjoying gaming or wasting your time with such games (funnily enough, because games are time wasters hehe. But they can bring awesome and unique experiences compared to other activities. In other words, it has its strong points).

Only you can decide for yourself Op. I hope my little rant gives you the push needed to try something different and change your perspective or help to find out what you are missing.

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Play Azur Lane.

 

[Moogle11]

There are just a ton of offline games that I bought and barely touched... But if I play them, I won't progress in the online ones hehehe.

Sell them off if you aren't going to play them and stop buying games unless you are going to start it immediately and plan to play it until completion.

If you're satisfied just playing whatever online games, there's no need to feel any pressure or obligation to play single player games that people are talking about, that are winning awards etc. The purpose of gaming is to have fun, not to try and play everything hyped or have an informed game of the year vote or whatever. I know as I fell into that trap in my younger and dumber days and played way too many things I didn't end up really enjoying and was getting soured on gaming as a result. Now I just play what I want be it new releases, older games etc. and enjoy gaming a ton more.

Hell, if you just enjoy playing a few online games, there's no reason to really keep up on gaming news. Just play those games, have fun and enjoy spending a lot less money on your hobby than people buying multiple single player games every month to fill their gaming time.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Thank you so much for all the replies!
I don't think that I'm addicted, because I can stop playing online games without any problem at all. I just don't know if I should.
Meeting people online encouraged me learning English, Korean, Japanese, german as well as learning more about their culture, so I'm glad I started playing online.
The grind in these games that make me feel a bit bad sometimes, but it's something needed in the game in order to reach high level skills and areas...
I read a lot too, watch movies, learn new recipes to cook for my family and friends, etc.
There are just a ton of offline games that I bought and barely touched... But if I play them, I won't progress in the online ones hehehe.

If you wish, i could try suggesting some games with online component that are easier on your time, assuming you've decided to stop with the grindy ones that is

 

[Danjin44]

Maybe play a game you love with same minded people and you might start to enjoy certain online games.
i would advise you to start with coop games. They are way less toxic.

you like rpg's? if loot does anything to you and character building&tuning maybe diablo 3 is fun for you

Even then I have to pay to even play online......for me it just not worth paying for it when I barely touch online gaming, with PS3 era it would have been easier because the online was free.

 

[synchronicity]

For me gaming, or any other hobby is simple. I just do what I enjoy. If I'm enjoying an online experience, I stick with it until the fun is drained or I just want to play something else. I don't ever have the feeling of I "ought" to be doing something else. Just do what's fun for you - isn't that the point of the hobby?

 

[Spukc]

Even then I have to pay to even play online......for me it just not worth paying for it when I barely touch online gaming, with PS3 era it would have been easier because the online was free.

i could suggest switch! you can "pay" like 4 bucks for 1 year if you join a family. And you get access to 50 ish retro games!

 

[Danjin44]

i could suggest switch! you can "pay" like 4 bucks for 1 year if you join a family. And you get access to 50 ish retro games!

I might do that one day but for now I have crazy amount of single player games I have to play.

 

[Shifty1897]

I mean, if you feel you are wasting your time playing online games, playing offline games probably won't help. I think the solution is to do something productive with part of your free time. You can still play online games, the grind will just take a little longer, and you'll be okay with it because you are spending the other part of your free time being productive. Learn a new skill, work out, garden, became a badass at your job, start a side hustle, whatever.

 

[Tarin02543]

All these hours into online games but can you finish super mario bros?

 

[Handy Fake]

I don't think it's a zero sum thing.
Set yourself a time for gaming, and a time for study or your own thing.
Or use gaming as a reward for doing studying or your own thing.

 

[Daymos]

I think mmorpgs are interesting. If you're really into one it's better than reality, you're there adventuring with friends in a virtual world, leaving your body and your boring life behind. The problem is someday that MMO will end or it'll just get old and empty, and when that happens you'll realize you've wasted 5 years or whatever years of your life doing nothing but sitting in a chair.

I was addicted to final fantasy xi for like 7 years and the only thing that got me to finally quit for good was that every time I logged on I was alone. I always wanted to quit before that, but every time I did no other game could compare and I'd come crawling back months (or even a year+) later. Luckily I have no interest in modern MMORPGs, I just play single player rpgs and try to find something as much like FFXI as possible.

 

[John Day]

Having fun?

 

[Athreous]

MMOs are really great! You meet a lot of people, from all over thr world... And the content to explore can be really huge and fun!

Thinking about it, if I stop playing online games to keep my attention in offline ones, I'll be just changing the way that I play, but I'll still be playing games... So yeah, maybe there's no need to stop playing at all, but maybe just the time with both genres.

 

[Breakage]

Disconnect your advanced computer and donate it to a POC on a low income.

 

[Humdinger]

Online gaming doesn't affect me negatively. I still work, go out on weekends with my friends, family, etc... it's this grind that sometimes makes me feel bad.

If it's true that it doesn't affect you negatively, you've got nothing to worry about. But think about it carefully. Is that really true, that it isn't affecting you negatively?

Think about what's called "opportunity costs." That's the cost of not being able to do all other things you could do with that 8 hours a day. What else matters to you in life? Is it just working and then hanging out with friends and family on the weekends? Or is there something more that you want out of life?

I don't know you, so I don't know what the answer is. Maybe work + hanging out with friends and family is enough for you. If so, that's cool. But if there's more you want out of life, think about the fact that you are spending half your waking time playing a game that likely has no real, earthly benefit to you. You could be taking all of that time -- which is a massive amount, when you add it up -- and putting it toward something else, something potentially more satisfying or enriching.

Think about your health, too. Sitting there playing a game for 8 hours a day isn't good for your body.

I think that amount of online gaming does affect you negatively, but you'll have to be the judge of it.

 

[SleepDoctor]

I hear that. I just started playing Horizon ZeroDawn(which I've had since around launch) now. But when i my friends get on, we all jump on Warzone, apex, or something.

It doesn't help that i try doing absolutely every single thing i come across on Horizon so imma probably be playing it awhile lol.

 

[Tesseract]

you'll know if you have to rip that venom suit off, trust your gut