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Comment by Kaze404 | Hacker News Reader

This is something I realized after trying to quit League of Legends, a game I played for over a decade, years ago.

I could only truly stop playing it when I completely internalized the fact that the game didn't bring me anything except misery after every match, win or lose, and the short term satisfaction of the ding you hear when you kill a creep or make a fancy play were not worth it.

Sometimes when I remember it exists I still feel a pull towards it, but now I know that if I play it, in 45 minutes I'll wish I did something else instead. This is more than enough to stop me, fortunately.

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Even then it's hard to stop, mainly because it's a habit. I went through the same experience and for about 2 months I had the habit of trying to open League whenever I had free time (it wasn't installed anymore, but the brain wiring would still "think" of opening it). Every single time, I would need to tell myself that there are activities that make me happier. I would slip a couple of times, re-install and then immediately de-install. Luckily I broke the habit eventually.

After going through that, I no longer play games at all and would probably be fine with some degree of regulation in the industry. Many kids are growing up as addicts and it's a bit worrying.

Yep, my experience was the exact same. I still play video games however, but as I said in another comment, I'm more conscious of what the game I'm currently playing does to my body and mental health. This mostly translates into a healthy obsession with Final Fantasy XIV, a game I get to share with people as it's online, but not in a competitive environment meaning I get to enjoy it at my own pace.

> I could only truly stop playing it when I completely internalized the fact that the game didn't bring me anything except misery

Being cognizant of this was among the first steps to curbing addiction for me, but I found that I would quickly forget when my mind was in pursuit mode. Anticipation creates a large spike in dopamine - I've shaken in anticipation, you've got blinders on at that point. I needed the discipline to avoid entertaining the thought of cravings and take myself out of situations, offer alternatives even. When I was stressed or sleepless is when this was hardest. Eventually your baseline dopamine levels improve, and you find more motivation and focus for everyday life. It can get better with most other things remaining equal, which in my experience was beyond my imagination until I lived it.

I was like that on games. A half and a decade ago I switched over nes/snes/md/genesis/pce classics, roguelikes and text adventures. No bullshit mechanics, no addictions, no DLC. The 8/16 bit games are short enough to be enjoyed fully, roguelikes add random mechanics and calmness, and IF is like a good book but with far more interaction and rewarding puzzless.

Yeah, I find there are some games like CS:GO that feel a bit more like a brain-numbing, slightly soothing activity that chews up time. And then there are roguelikes like FTL that involve interesting decision making and feel far more satisfying.

These days I play more of the latter than the former, but less often, and the decision to play them feels more intentional.

More than CS:GO I'd choose Assault Cube as it's free as in freedom. It's simplish, ok. But those matches are fast and you can be happy by just playing half an hour instead of a highly consuming MMORPG over a night. AC has more simplistic graphics and mechanics than CS, so it will "fill" you faster. You just play several matches (~10) against friends/bots and that's it.

On roguelikes, as the actions are literal instant based, yoou can play and finish a gameplay under a week with just 20 minutes at every afternoon.

FTL is not a roguelike to me, but Slashem is, and the dungeon rooms never exceed 80x24 chars except for some concrete areas I think. Thus, the gameplay can be paradoxically both fast paced at the beginning and slowish on the deepest rooms.

Haha, coincidentally, I clicked on this thread because I plan to uninstall Dota in a couple months.

I cannot imagine being so addicted to a game that I plan on quitting it "in a couple months."

Thank God I never started dota. Just reading the steam reviews are enough to convince anyone that gaming is a serious public health issue and detriment to society.

It's winter now, so social life is quieter. shrug

Curious why you feel that way, I've been playing league of legends for about that long and although i don't spend nearly as much time as I used to on it, it still does mostly bring me joy whenever I get to play. Is the disappointment you feel linked to winning vs losing or are you always unhappy regardless of the outcome of the game?

For me, it was about ranking up. I'm harsh on myself when ranking up, these are the possible scenarios:

1. You play well, but your teammates play poorly. You lose the game, you feel bad.

2. You play poorly, but your teammates play well. Whether you win or lose, you feel bad.

3. You play poorly, your teammates play poorly. You feel bad.

4. You play well, your teammates play well. You win - the only happy scenario -, but even then there's going to be complaining and whining by everyone in the game.

If your win rate is something like 55%, you're going to experience a lot of the bad scenarios, even though you're ranking up in the long term. Once it's an addiction, you start the game already in a bad state of mind, as you hate that you're wasting your time on a pointless game anyway.

ARAMs were fun though, I actually enjoyed ARAM.

I've wished for years that mobas and other competitive-ranked games simply let you completely hide your rank from yourself. I'm sure the psychological addiction aspect has something to do with why this is never an option, but playing unranked games isn't really a replacement because those players have a different mindset. Just let me play competitive modes and be blind to my ranking :(

In my experience, Dota unranked games are basically taken just as seriously as ranked games. But most games either don't have proper unranked matchmaking or it goes as you say - people take it more casually.

My best guess is I played it so much that I don't get any satisfaction from a match ending, regardless of outcome, which turns into disappointment considering it's a PvP game where you're supposed to get satisfaction from winning. That would lead me into immediately queueing again, looking for the next rush, and next thing I notice it's 8 hours later and I feel like I wasted an entire day.

I still play video games of course, but nowadays I'm more conscious of what each of them bring to my life, and avoid the ones that don't leave me feeling good after a long session.

> it still does mostly bring me joy whenever I get to play

I think you are def in the minority of people who regularly play LoL or Dota haha

relevant: https://clips.twitch.tv/SplendidAliveQueleaFeelsBadMan-QxQq2...

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