How would you feel if you could only play 2 hours of games a day?

But only every other day.
So that's 14 hours every two weeks.
Or 28 hours a month.

That's about as much as I play. Sometimes less. I'm lucky to get 10 hours a week. I really try to get more gaming time in, but there are usually other activities that pull me away.

Sounds like when I had two jobs. The two didn't schedule very well together, and let's just say I was far more worried about trying to get a few hours' sleep than playing the games that were packed away anyway.

Nowadays, though, I'd be a little sad, but sometimes you just get busy; it's how it works. Free time is always important to relax, even if it's an hour, and hopefully that free time is spent doing what I want (which 90% of the time is gaming), but sometimes you just don't have that. :(

Wouldn't bother me for some games, but it would suck for RPGs. 2 hours in an RPG is like nothing. Maybe just because I'm obsessive, but it takes me that long just to make my party in Icewind Dale. I spend who knows how many hours just organizing inventories...

Sometimes I have a bunch of free time, other times I go a month without touching a video game because I am just too busy.

I would be one sad panda. Video games are my way of relaxing and relieving stress so I would definitely need to find an alternative method for that.

As with many people games are my stress relief, my escape method. When work starts to stack up, most, if not all, my game time goes into a kind of stasis mode. Nothing gets played, I know the moment I pick up a game I'll feel guilty that there's more important work to be done counter acting any enjoyment I get. Plus most games just require dedicated time for pure immersion.

Less game time then tends to mean a more high strung and stressed me, but at that point it becomes about balance. You get long stints of free time on say holidays where you get to binge on gaming and that's good but it's not sustainable just like anything else. You begin to appreciate the moments of gaming you do get when you don't get the chance to play them often. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" I guess would be an applicable saying.

The difficult part is only in the transition, if you are used to long stints of gaming, going from that to nearly no time is like quitting drugs cold turkey (I mean it's all about breaking habits and ingrained routines, I don't mean games are like drugs or as hard to quit), but over time you'd just get used to it, again, like anything else, it's just human nature to adapt.

That's probably close to what I average during the week.

The weekend is a different story though!

I'd go crazy without the weekends to play games and recharge, so if I had to sustain that rate I think it would be doable albeit unpleasant.

Originally Posted by: pheria

That's probably close to what I average during the week.

The weekend is a different story though!

I'd go crazy without the weekends to play games and recharge, so if I had to sustain that rate I think it would be doable albeit unpleasant.

Yeah, that sounds like me now, which explains why I get more upset/stressed whenever my work decides I'm needed on the weekend or more than just five days for a week. Not only can I not sleep in, but that's a lot of gaming time eaten away for nothing! That and with never doing homework during the week, I'm never a happy camper when I work weekends. xD

Originally Posted by: Everdred

I would be one sad panda. Video games are my way of relaxing and relieving stress so I would definitely need to find an alternative method for that.

I hear that's what drugs are for.

Originally Posted by: Sneaktard

Originally Posted by: Everdred

I would be one sad panda. Video games are my way of relaxing and relieving stress so I would definitely need to find an alternative method for that.

I hear that's what drugs are for.

Except video games don't run the risk of inadvertently introducing a lot of additional stress into your life instead of relieving it.

Originally Posted by: pongsifu

Originally Posted by: Sneaktard

Originally Posted by: Everdred

I would be one sad panda. Video games are my way of relaxing and relieving stress so I would definitely need to find an alternative method for that.

I hear that's what drugs are for.

Except video games don't run the risk of inadvertently introducing a lot of additional stress into your life instead of relieving it.

Tell that to the kids whose parents pull the plug on their WoW addiction. :P

Used to over game a week average gamer plays 40 hours a week. I now play like 4-5 hours weekdays. Weekends to much. But if 2 hours a day that wouldn't be to bad.

Sometimes, that's more than I'm able to play in a week.

Every day? Fine, that's about what I play. Every other day? Pass. I'd just be spending that time mucking about on the internet anyway, might as well poke at the giant backlog of DOOOOOM.

How I would feel? ...Exactly how I'm feeling right now. Goddamn school :(

Originally Posted by: DeathCode

Used to over game a week average gamer plays 40 hours a week. I now play like 4-5 hours weekdays. Weekends to much. But if 2 hours a day that wouldn't be to bad.

According to the 2011 NPD, core gamers (ie, no casuals included to drag down the average) game for 18 hours a week. 40 hours a week is a full time job.

Originally Posted by: pongsifu

Originally Posted by: DeathCode

Used to over game a week average gamer plays 40 hours a week. I now play like 4-5 hours weekdays. Weekends to much. But if 2 hours a day that wouldn't be to bad.

According to the 2011 NPD, core gamers (ie, no casuals included to drag down the average) game for 18 hours a week. 40 hours a week is a full time job.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make gaming my full time job. ;)

Originally Posted by: zenicreverie

Originally Posted by: pongsifu

Originally Posted by: DeathCode

Used to over game a week average gamer plays 40 hours a week. I now play like 4-5 hours weekdays. Weekends to much. But if 2 hours a day that wouldn't be to bad.

According to the 2011 NPD, core gamers (ie, no casuals included to drag down the average) game for 18 hours a week. 40 hours a week is a full time job.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make gaming my full time job. ;)

Well you could go pro, but that actually takes a lot of work and research on top of playing the game every day. Including "playing", determining optimal paths and strategizing. If you're not *that* good, you could be a caster...but I hear that actually takes away a lot of your gaming time, even if it would be a fun job.

Or a gold farmer :P

I'm on summer break and I still only have that much time, so it will be more like 2 hours a week once I'm actually back in classes and working.

Originally Posted by: pongsifu

Well you could go pro, but that actually takes a lot of work and research on top of playing the game every day. Including "playing", determining optimal paths and strategizing. If you're not *that* good, you could be a caster...but I hear that actually takes away a lot of your gaming time, even if it would be a fun job.

Or a gold farmer :P

Geez, pro gaming scares me. Just like professional sports, it's just too intense... but I suppose that's what happens to recreational activities when money gets involved.

What's a caster, though? :o First I've heard of that term.

Originally Posted by: gaiages

Originally Posted by: pongsifu

Well you could go pro, but that actually takes a lot of work and research on top of playing the game every day. Including "playing", determining optimal paths and strategizing. If you're not *that* good, you could be a caster...but I hear that actually takes away a lot of your gaming time, even if it would be a fun job.

Or a gold farmer :P

Geez, pro gaming scares me. Just like professional sports, it's just too intense... but I suppose that's what happens to recreational activities when money gets involved.

What's a caster, though? :o First I've heard of that term.

I think they're referring to people who "cast" the game on a video stream, or to an audience (like a StarCraft match in real-time,etc). Like a sports caster.

Originally Posted by: pheria

Originally Posted by: gaiages

Originally Posted by: pongsifu

Well you could go pro, but that actually takes a lot of work and research on top of playing the game every day. Including "playing", determining optimal paths and strategizing. If you're not *that* good, you could be a caster...but I hear that actually takes away a lot of your gaming time, even if it would be a fun job.

Or a gold farmer :P

Geez, pro gaming scares me. Just like professional sports, it's just too intense... but I suppose that's what happens to recreational activities when money gets involved.

What's a caster, though? :o First I've heard of that term.

I think they're referring to people who "cast" the game on a video stream, or to an audience (like a StarCraft match in real-time,etc). Like a sports caster.

Oh, that makes sense! :D That does sound fun.

This will give you an idea what it is like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08ysYuuRMro

It sounds all professional and hard to get into there, but one of those two casters is Day[9].

Here is Day[9] in a nutshell:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWJvvRbJ4pM&feature=plcp

I stream my gaming sometimes, but don't have much of a following. I attribute it to my inconsistent streaming hours. I know of someone that streams and usually gets about 2k viewers, based on ad revenue he's able to get by without a full time job.

Casting isn't done live most of the time. Day[9] has a daily (for the most part) stream, but it is mostly about breaking down and teaching the game rather than casting. Most casters take a replay of the game, record themselves casting it, then upload. But that doesn't involve actually playing the game.

I suppose you could do Let's Plays, but there are just so many of them (I have a hard time finding games that don't already have one) that you're going to have a really hard time getting a following. Same with doing your own reviews, unless you are either really funny or have a great radio voice.