SW: Do you get withdrawals when you're away from video games?

Just a stupid thread. Anyway. For the last week or thereabouts I've been out of the country, no internet, no video games. Usually it doesn't get to me, but for whatever reason (maybe because I was in a pretty f_cked up part of the world) this time I was getting the I-reeeeally-need-to-have-a-gaming-session shakes lol. Not really shaking, but, ya know. I guess I rely on this hobby we all share to de-stress a little more than I thought. What about you guys?

I get that way whenever I am away from building games too long. (Trove, Starbound, Dragon Quest Builders etc.) I'm a creative type so I need to be making something at all time. So yeah I cannot stop gaming for more than a few days.

No. That only happens to me with crack!!!

Not really. I was like that though when I was younger.

Never happened to me. For me it is always a nice break when I'm away from video games even for a few weeks.

It is the same for all my other hobbies, I need a break and sometimes being away and not have any mean to do my hobbies makes me realised I needed that break.

@Sam3231: Well I'm kinda young, but not THAT young. But yeah, back when I was a kid I'd get withdrawals sometimes too. It just never seemed to go away all these years.

No because I have a life, and i'm the complete opposite in that I lose my gaming mojo and can go without gaming for weeks (sometimes months) even with time on my hands i'd rather do anything other than gaming.

When I was younger maybe, back in the diablo 2 / WoW days.

Online gaming is so full of parentless dirtbags now and the communities are so toxic that online gaming is dead to me, and really no rush to stay “competitive” in single player games.

No, I get withdrawals from not being behind the wheel of my truck.

@reduc_ab_: Absolutely. Suddenly I get depressed when I see that I just eat, trade stocks, sleep and go to the bathroom and sometimes bath, not always but when I need to. I tend to vaccuum a lot more when I shut down my boxes plus I also start getting interested in booty and baking pies. For some reason I start telling everyone to call me Capn Peanut Butter. Things start happening but then I think of that moment in Yakuza Kiwami when Kiryu is in hostess club and he finally accepts that Majima actually is everywhere....suddenly the blue bar comes on in my head. *beep* Waaaaa. and then with some nice light background music that sounds like part of the Horizon Zero Dawn soundtrack.

@foxhound_fox: Are you a trucker?

Yes.

I wouldn't say withdrawals, but there are times when I've been so busy with work and haven't touched a game in a couple weeks that I have a big desire to anything that's put in front of me.

I got a bunch of handhelds so unless there isn’t electricity to charge them ....

No. Thankfully I was born before the internet, smartphones, social media, touchscreens and modern video games were invented.

You can take all of those away from me and I would be fine.

I feel sad for kids being raised now. They think EVERYTHING works like a touch screen. Kids are confused when they can’t get something to work by swiping it LOL

Nope, quite the opposite. My head clears and I can think clearly about what I'm going to do next. The only slight problem might be that sometimes I use that moment of clarity to think about what I'm going to do next in a video game.

When I was a kid yes, as an adult no.

Well withdrawal is maybe a strong word. As a kid I wanted to play a game real bad again, almost needed to. And that made sense too. Because of the situation I was in I would have wanted to make my brain stop thinking about reality. So maybe it was literally a need for escapism and not so much a withdrawal from an addiction, not sure.

Fortunately, I never seen gaming as an addictive drug so I never had any withdraws when I stopped gaming.

Nah, I can go long periods without gaming. If anything I get internet withdrawal symptoms.

I lose my shit when I don't have access to the internet.

I'm pretty much the opposite. I can go without internet, but if I can't play games, sometimes my brain starts to overload.

Nah, I actually enjoy taking breaks as I can get a lot of shit done, or catch up on other entertainment. Only thing that kinda bums me out about taking a break is how quickly I get rusty at fighting games. A month away feels like an eternity. Doesn't bug me when I'm not playing of course, but when I get back it's just ughh.

Can relate to QuadKnight though, I'm way too dependent on having internet access. It's become such a regular part of my day to day these past 5 years or so, feels weird when I don't have it.

I game because i'm bored. That's pretty much it.

However i'm bored a lot.

I do get this with sports tho. A few days no training = getting extremely uncomfortable.

Or you ask them some dumb question and they have to google it on there mobile.

Always makes me cringe so hard

@Gatygun: Best to stay away from Google. Wrecks the brain.

No, I don't think I ever have. I can be asked to go on a job, pretty much anywhere at the drop of a hat so I guess I'm used to not being able to game all the time. When I'm onsite it's nearly always a 70 or 80 hour week (10 or 12 hours a day 7 days a week) and on the rare occasion that we get a day off, there are usually far more interesting things to do in a foreign country than sitting in a hotel playing video games.

I definitely NEED my video games xD. It does actually relieve a ton of anxiety and stress.

@iatealltheham: I'm in the same boat. I can actually feel my stress evaporating when I play certain games. It's almost like therapy lol.

Happened to me when I was younger.

I'd definitely get withdrawals without the www.

When I got to my home country and I have to stay with the family on the sofa watching TV I definitely get them.

Starved? Nope. I'm so used to not having time or the want to game that it doesn't even bother me. When I was young and with out a full time job yeah it did alittle but even then it wasn't a huge deal to game to me.

No. The only time I got withdraw was from Final Fantasy XI. Those MMO RPG is like crack.. I’ll never play those again unless I’m retire and have absolutely nothing better to do.

Based on the family road trip last year? Nope. I don't miss games that much. I don't miss Internet that much either. In fact, I try to avoid all that stuff, including keeping in touch when I'm having fun. I don't even own a smartphone. A simple flip-up phone is fine. Even that one, I turn off whenever possible.

I'm the same way. I grow up in big cities in my whole life, I need Wi-Fi to stay connected to the internet and I can't even lay off my Mobile devices for long periods of time.

As for gaming, playing games is my hobby but I do have a life after all, I can go about 2/3 days of gaming but I like to play my games asap when I can.

For a week? Nah. For like 3 months? Definitely...

When my PS3 broke a few years ago I went like half a year without gaming. In the beggining I really didnt miss it much cause I was kinda tired of gaming but after 3 months I really started to crave a controller in my hands... I ended up buying another PS3 later on. Thats how I know the "I'm about to quit gaming" mentality is only temporary

I just feel slightly addicted like I need to be progressing in my video games or I feel a bit bad.

@reduc_ab_: Get off my lawn!

Yeah, I mean, I tend to game in like 10-15 minute sessions, with Tetris or something small like that just to get my mind off things here and there. I only have time for 1-2 bigger gaming sessions a week anymore, which sucks as I always want to use my PSVR, but have to cram my time with it. Even every time I post here I'm on call. Always on call. And then there's having to take a flight some place every three weeks or so...I wish I had more time.

Anyway, not complaining, really. Just venting. It's a good thing I can't play games all the time, I suppose. Or else I probably would. :/

Not much, I get urges to play certian games sometimes.

Not withdrawals, but I definitely like to get back to a game I'm enjoying when I'm done with work.