Ah, the eternal dilemma faced by gamers who grow up, get a job and get married.
The games from the 80s and 90s which came with 300-page manuals and keyboard overlays clearly wasn't created for young people. Going back even earlier, to the massive Avalon Hill wargames which took days just to set up, I think it's pretty clear: Modern society is slowly eroding our leisure time.
EDIT: Hrrrmmm... this may be a sensitive thing, but one thing just struck me: What woman would play a game with a 300-page manual (those games were mainly military simulations of various sorts) or a massive war depicting boardgame with several hundred pieces... did... the women's rights movement... reduce men's gaming time...? (Covering my ass: Equalizing free time between the sexes is the main point, of course.) :P
EDIT: I'm tired and I couldn't figure out a good way to write the above, so I just slapped a smiley on the end... better slap another here as well: ;-)
eobet on
Heard the proposition that RIAA and MPAA should join forces and form "Music And Film Industry Association"?
I graduated from college in June of last year. For a while I was un-employed, and man did I have a lot of time to game. But I started getting depressed because I no longer had the social circle/support for my real passions (art and learning), nor many friends since I moved away from my college town. I had to find a job, thankfully I did find one, so my primary concern of not relying on my parents has been going pretty well, but then I certainly had less time. And with less time and no circle of people to work with on my passions I started loosing my ability to game. A lot of stuff has been happening in my life the past month but when I sit down and think 'I could play some BC2 now' or Eve or Wow, I'm just not able to go past the opening screen. Sometimes there are times where we have to figure out the larger structures of our lives, and this certainly is one of them for me. It's just different in that usually they are decisions made over the course of days or weeks, not months. So yeah, I can definitely relate to an estrangement from gaming, even though I know that whenever I get a little more settled in my path it'll be something I'll enjoy and value just as much as ever.
tl;dr: I don't! But things change very dramatically, and I look forward to more great gaming in the future.
Another important thing to remember is you do not NEED achievements / collectibles / unlock screen art crap.
Ever since getting a real job and married, this has been my primary goal: slapping down my OCD that tells me I must spend hours in each level trying to find every single secret, unlock, and extra health potion.
Lorek on
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BloodshedI smoke my friendsDown to the FilterRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
My commute to work is roughly 8 miles, I work Wed-Sun, 4pm-Midnight EST.
I have roommates but I almost never see or interact with them, since they work between 6am and 3pm.
By the time I head out the door at 3:30 for work, they usually arrive home within the next 30 minutes.
When I get home after Midnight, they're both asleep, so I go to my room and game til 3 or 4am.
I'm also 30 years old, so I guess it really depends what you're life is like.
If you have kids, a wife, a social life.....these things can really get in the way of your gaming =P
In 3 years of working this current schedule, I've had exactly One weekend off, otherwise I work Every Single Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
A surprising number of my friends never want to go out drinking with me on a Monday night. Weird, huh? =P
I have no no close friends who live within an hour drive, the number of people who's political views don't include "Obama isn't actually American" within immediate driving distance is probably fewer than 10, so when I'm not going to class there's all the time in the world for games. Really kind of depressing
override367 on
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Gennenalyse RuebenThe Prettiest Boy is Ridiculously PrettyRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
I'm unemployed, celibate, and an introvert. The only of those three I want to change is the "unemployed" part, and I'd still have plenty of gaming time at the end of the day if I found a job.
My wife and I really don't watch much TV anymore so most nights from 8:30ish when the kid (he's 6) goes to bed to 11ish I get some solid game time in. Of course, family games, like Kinect or Mario Kart, we might play after dinner as well so I find time. Weekends I can usually get a few hours in during afternoons as well depending on what we have for plans.
My son and I have been trying to play through Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver recently so I've been able to game a lot more as my wife has been very tolerant of our addiction.
I play a lot fewer games. You have to pick and choose and only play that which you truly want to play. I'm also late to major releases by a good deal. That and tranq darts.
"Yeah, you just fell asleep honey"
My commute to work is roughly 8 miles, I work Wed-Sun, 4pm-Midnight EST.
I have roommates but I almost never see or interact with them, since they work between 6am and 3pm.
By the time I head out the door at 3:30 for work, they usually arrive home within the next 30 minutes.
When I get home after Midnight, they're both asleep, so I go to my room and game til 3 or 4am.
I'm also 30 years old, so I guess it really depends what you're life is like.
If you have kids, a wife, a social life.....these things can really get in the way of your gaming =P
In 3 years of working this current schedule, I've had exactly One weekend off, otherwise I work Every Single Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
A surprising number of my friends never want to go out drinking with me on a Monday night. Weird, huh? =P
I worked a second shift like this for about four years after college (a daily newspaper), and I feel your pain. It's sheer hell on your social life, but man, you can rip through a lot of games!
I literally just turned 28 yesterday... and I definitely game far less now than I did in highschool. A full time job + 45 minute commute alone eats into my free time more than I could have ever realized.
If it weren't my iPhone I wouldn't get to game as much as I do. iOS4 with it's multitasking has been a godsend. It's really great to be able to game for 15 minutes then just close my phone and pick it up later. I typically get a couple hours of console gaming a night, unless I go and see my lady friend.
I should admit that I get more gaming time in because I ignore certain responsibilities and sleep less than I should (I hate cleaning, it gets ignored. I got such a stack of coke cans you wouldn't believe). Luckily my social circle is largely composed of gamers, so a "night out with the boys" usually involves us hunkering around a TV and playing games. If I didn't have a social circle composed of gamers, I imagine I would probably game less than 5-10 hours a week.
I have no idea how I'll manage my gaming hobby when I have children. Props to all you that do.
Finally... a horror story. When I was with my previous girlfriend, I never had any time to myself. She always had to be with me. We played a lot of Soul Calibur IV together and that was about all I got. I didn't really get to play any single player games. If I wanted "me time" to play RDR, ME2, Nier, etc. a fight would almost certainly ensue. It actually got to the point where I wanted to end the relationship because I basically was "not allowed" to have alone time. The moral of the story? Don't get into a relationship with someone who doesn't game. Failing that, be sure your SO truly understands your hobby and gives you the time you need.
I don't really get how some people manage to have so little free time for gaming. My daily scheule goes something like:
7am: Get up, breakfast etc
8am: Go to work
9am-5:30pm: Work
7pm: Arrive home
7pm-8:30ish: Cook dinner, wash dishes etc, eat while watching tv
8:30-11ish: Game
Weekends involve shopping, cleaning etc, but still leave many more potential free hours for gaming. Some mornings we will go to the gym, but that normally means we just get up at 6 rather than 7. What are people doing that they don't have any free time at all?
I don't really get how some people manage to have so little free time for gaming. My daily scheule goes something like:
7am: Get up, breakfast etc
8am: Go to work
9am-5:30pm: Work
7pm: Arrive home
7pm-8:30ish: Cook dinner, wash dishes etc, eat while watching tv
8:30-11ish: Game
Weekends involve shopping, cleaning etc, but still leave many more potential free hours for gaming. Some mornings we will go to the gym, but that normally means we just get up at 6 rather than 7. What are people doing that they don't have any free time at all?
Well. I do admit I prioritize socialization over gaming. I'm not married or even in a relationship right now. I'm not opposed to them, and in fact that is probably why I go out a lot.
Considering my commute, I never go home and then go out, I always go out right after work. But not every night.
Still - you've identified that you have 2.5 free hours to game per night. Same for me, usually. So when you're playing a 50 hour game, it can take you almost half a month, no? That's kind of long, and only of you are totally focused on that one game.
Well. I do admit I prioritize socialization over gaming. I'm not married or even in a relationship right now. I'm not opposed to them, and in fact that is probably why I go out a lot.
Considering my commute, I never go home and then go out, I always go out right after work. But not every night.
Still - you've identified that you have 2.5 free hours to game per night. Same for me, usually. So when you're playing a 50 hour game, it can take you almost half a month, no? That's kind of long, and only of you are totally focused on that one game.
10-12 hours of gameplay during the working week is pretty decent progress, and if my weekend isn't booked up with social events I can usually get in a couple marathon gaming sessions. I wouldn't classify having 20+ hours a week available for gaming to be a shortage of time.
I don't really get how some people manage to have so little free time for gaming. My daily scheule goes something like:
7am: Get up, breakfast etc
8am: Go to work
9am-5:30pm: Work
7pm: Arrive home
7pm-8:30ish: Cook dinner, wash dishes etc, eat while watching tv
8:30-11ish: Game
Weekends involve shopping, cleaning etc, but still leave many more potential free hours for gaming. Some mornings we will go to the gym, but that normally means we just get up at 6 rather than 7. What are people doing that they don't have any free time at all?
Longer commutes, girlfriends/wives, social life, kids, pets, etc.
Basically, if you don't want to worry about having free time for gaming, stay single and don't have kids. :P
I'm not single, and we have two dogs. Feeding the dogs is included in the morning ritual. No kids I will admit frees up some time, but I don't get how not being single is time consuming. Me and my partner eat dinner and watch tv together each evening, then go off to do our separate things (usually on separate computers in the same room), and we'll talk back and forth periodically as we do so, as something happens or we read something on the net. If anything, being in a relationship frees up time as you can divide the labour in cooking cleaning etc.
Zedar on
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BloodshedI smoke my friendsDown to the FilterRegistered Userregular
I don't really get how some people manage to have so little free time for gaming. My daily scheule goes something like:
7am: Get up, breakfast etc
8am: Go to work
9am-5:30pm: Work
7pm: Arrive home
7pm-8:30ish: Cook dinner, wash dishes etc, eat while watching tv
8:30-11ish: Game
Weekends involve shopping, cleaning etc, but still leave many more potential free hours for gaming. Some mornings we will go to the gym, but that normally means we just get up at 6 rather than 7. What are people doing that they don't have any free time at all?
Longer commutes, girlfriends/wives, social life, kids, pets, etc.
Basically, if you don't want to worry about having free time for gaming, stay single and don't have kids. :P
Exactly! Also, without a wife and/or kids to spend your money for you, you can afford to keep yourself stocked in games!
LCDXXA flask of wood and glassTerre Haute, INRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited January 2011
Married for 12 years... Just hit age 32 this past Tuesday on the 11th. I'm a logistician and an engineering change coordinator for an auto company based in Europe which means all the interesting shit in my work day gets rolling around 8:00 AM Central Euro Time (or 2:00 AM EST). I work between 64 and 80 hours a week. I have a 6-year old son who is essentially my clone and therefore hogs all the good entertainment equipment in the house.
My typical work day (if such a thing were to exist):
4:30 AM - rise and shine
6:00 AM - coffee and SAP
6:00 PM - "shit, should really think about getting home I'm going to miss dinner. again."
6:30 PM - "shit, I missed dinner again"
7:00 PM - "doh! wife's pissed" "yes dear, I'm shutting down now - be home in 10 minutes"
8:00 PM - "Hi Honey, I'm home!"
8:05 PM - reheat dinner in the microwave, chat with the wife, talk about the kid's day at school
8:30 PM - check the forums, read the latest PA comic
9:00 PM - fire-up game of choice
10:30ish - ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(rinse, repeat)
On occasion I make it a point to bail from work early to come home and basically zombify my brain. For me, escapism used to be a interesting side effect of gaming. Now it's a way to de-stress. It's therapeutic.
I don't actually get to play games but maybe 2 or 3 times per week. To compensate, I usually try daily to follow game-related news blogs and read the PA forums to sort of keep up with what's going on in gaming.
I don't work with any like-minded personalities in my business nor does anyone really share in my hobbies, so usually the PA microcosm is the only social release for my games enthusiast lifestyle. Though my opportunities to play and enjoy games at any great length are much fewer these days, I like to feel that I keep the passion alive by reading other people's exploits in video gaming and occasionally participating in this community.
I'm not single, and we have two dogs. Feeding the dogs is included in the morning ritual. No kids I will admit frees up some time, but I don't get how not being single is time consuming. Me and my partner eat dinner and watch tv together each evening, then go off to do our separate things (usually on separate computers in the same room), and we'll talk back and forth periodically as we do so, as something happens or we read something on the net. If anything, being in a relationship frees up time as you can divide the labour in cooking cleaning etc.
This is somewhat of a lifestyle choice that happens to give you the free time you need. It sounds like a sweet deal though.
You're in that phase where you live with your SO, have no kids and are comfortable enough to just do your own thing every night. I don't think this is typical of most couples.
Whereas someone not living with their SO would lose time travelling and unless they're also a gamer, you're probably not going to spend the time together gaming. The time spent with them is straight lost gaming time.
If I'm going to see my girlfriend, then no gaming gets done that day whatsoever (unless it's before or after, which is much less time). I typically only see her once a week. If I saw her more often, I'd get significantly less gaming done, that's for sure.
I'm not single, and we have two dogs. Feeding the dogs is included in the morning ritual. No kids I will admit frees up some time, but I don't get how not being single is time consuming. Me and my partner eat dinner and watch tv together each evening, then go off to do our separate things (usually on separate computers in the same room), and we'll talk back and forth periodically as we do so, as something happens or we read something on the net. If anything, being in a relationship frees up time as you can divide the labour in cooking cleaning etc.
This is somewhat of a lifestyle choice that happens to give you the free time you need. It sounds like a sweet deal though.
This is what it comes down to in the end I think, a lifestyle choice. I mean pretty much everyone has to write off 10-12 hours a day to work, and how you prioritize the rest of your time is up to you. If you want to spend more time dating / going out with friends / doing yoga / climbing mountains, then you have to accept that the trade off is less time for gaming. These are the kinds of decisions we have to make as adults. It would be nice to have the kind of free time for this stuff we had in school / uni, but unless you are very lucky, most peoples' timetables just won't accommodate 6 hours of gaming a day, and never will.
I don't really get a lot of time. I share an XBox 360 with my twin brother, and we play in an unheated loft behind our house because everyone else in the house is asleep by 10pm and any noise at all past that time is unacceptable. We have some quality small heaters, but most of the time, even if he is not playing Gears of War like he does every night, it's kind of a pain in the ass to go back out there. Most of my gaming is portable because of that.
Even then, I have a job, a girlfriend, lots of friends (I generally prefer single-player games though), and a writing hobby. This is why I appreciate games like Cthulu Saves the World that cut the bullshit. I am really interested in picking up Super Meat Boy too. It sucks, because RPGs are my favorite genre but I don't have too much time for them.
Jurg on
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FreiA French Prometheus UnboundDeadwoodRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
It's pretty easy for me because I have nothing but free time. I'm disabled... not disabled as in, crippled, and I have a wife. She works, I clean up around the house, get food occasionally. Other than that all of my time is just literally whatever I want to do. having crippling agoraphobia pays!
Sounds like me, but instead of agoraphobia it's panic and paranoia!
harvest on
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DunxcoShould get a suitNever skips breakfastRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
My commute to and from work is about an hour each way on Saturdays. During this time on the bus I'll usually grab my DS and play some Pokémon or Sonic Colours, but more often than not I'm reading. I get a lift in and home on Sundays. Weekdays are pretty much free, although I have cut down a lot to help in my search for a new job. Really, all that I have on in the background is WoW, and that's just to talk with people. It's the evening where things take off, usually after dinner - Some Gear 2 Horde mode with my brother, or SSF4 with my friends on Live, or levelling a pair of Druids with the missus on WoW.
UV's Guide to Having a Lot of Free Time to Play Games and Also Talk on the PA Forums
1) Work. You need some sort of place to stay, and rent ain't free.
2) Eat. Humans require food of some sort. Supposedly they need water but I can neither confirm nor deny this, I have sustained for years on Pepsi with the only water I drink being the water I accidentally swallow in the shower.
3) Sleep. Don't waste too much time with this. Five hours is all you really need, eight or nine if you're feeling particularly lazy.
4) Play video games/talk on the PA forums. This part is self-explanatory.
The best part is, three days a week, #1 is removed and I only have a three-step routine.
I'm unemployed, celibate, and an introvert. The only of those three I want to change is the "unemployed" part, and I'd still have plenty of gaming time at the end of the day if I found a job.
Hi5, brother in arms.
Except you didn't follow my #1 step, but at least you're working on it.
Ironically and as many people here can probably attest, now that I earn enough money to buy all the games I might of wanted as a kid I have far less time to actually play them.
So yeah, I still play a fair amount but I can imagine having kids would reduce the amount of time drastically, especially if they were younger.
I'm 30 with wife and a new baby and it's still possible to get in game time. MMO's are just out of the fucking question cause you never know when you'l have to pause or stop a game. I realize now I wasted years playing EVE and you come away from a MMO like that with nothing gained.
Just give up on TV altogether, PVR something if you really need to see it. My wife plays Lego games on Wii or scrapbooks, so as soon as the baby is down we each do our own thing.
I play as much as I can in the winter months since cold and snow make me die and give it up altogether for the summer when I actually get things in the house done. Thus making the house a shithole all winter....
Your commute is fucking horrendous, I'm lucky I can walk to my work.
My work schedule is a bit different from the rest of you guys in that i'll work 8 to 10 days straight, usually somewhere between 12 to 14 hours a day. The plus side of that is I'll then get 6 days off and since I'm only in my early 20s and i have no real commitments apart from a mortgage ( admittedly a big commitment though not a time consuming one) I have a fair bit of time to get some gaming in. I honestly prefer my setup then working a regular 9-5, 5 days a week deal
FandaHang a shining starupon the highest boughRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
I took up polyphasic sleeping. Not specifically so I'd have more time to game, but gaming is a pleasant way to pass the wee morning hours between naps.
I'm also one of those dudes who uses Steam to keep in touch with friends who live half a continent away, so a lot of my socializing comes through gaming.
I guess the lesson here is that you should turn yourself into an unsleeping abomination and convince all your friends to move hundreds of miles away from you.
The games from the 80s and 90s which came with 300-page manuals and keyboard overlays clearly wasn't created for young people. Going back even earlier, to the massive Avalon Hill wargames which took days just to set up, I think it's pretty clear: Modern society is slowly eroding our leisure time.
EDIT: Hrrrmmm... this may be a sensitive thing, but one thing just struck me: What woman would play a game with a 300-page manual (those games were mainly military simulations of various sorts) or a massive war depicting boardgame with several hundred pieces... did... the women's rights movement... reduce men's gaming time...? (Covering my ass: Equalizing free time between the sexes is the main point, of course.) :P
EDIT: I'm tired and I couldn't figure out a good way to write the above, so I just slapped a smiley on the end... better slap another here as well: ;-)
PROTIP: Tossing a smiley on the end of something stupid and sexist doesn't make it any less stupid or sexist. Your point doesn't even make sense, since the main thing that eats into gaming time is an 8-5 (god I wish it was 9-5) job that goes into overtime whenever a project needs to get done. The job has existed since long before the women's right's movement, and the slow extension of hours is mostly about the declining strength of labour in the American workplace. I'll be charitable and assume you were trolling.
Anyway, I mostly get my gaming done on handhelds these days. I have a good 40 minute bus commute, so that's 80 minutes a day of gaming time. Add a bit before bed and any travel I have to do and I get in a decent amount of gaming. Of course, since I like long RPGs that still doesn't mean I beat many games. I've been trying to work in a couple of hours of non-handheld gaming in the evenings lately, even if it's just my Minecraft addiction. This only works if I have leftovers and no work to do, which means it only really happens on the weekends.
MarsDragon on
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Forever Zefirocloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
Thankfully my girlfriend is an avid gamer too, so she understands when I wanna just sit down and play a game for a few hours.
Forever Zefiro on
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
The games from the 80s and 90s which came with 300-page manuals and keyboard overlays clearly wasn't created for young people. Going back even earlier, to the massive Avalon Hill wargames which took days just to set up, I think it's pretty clear: Modern society is slowly eroding our leisure time.
EDIT: Hrrrmmm... this may be a sensitive thing, but one thing just struck me: What woman would play a game with a 300-page manual (those games were mainly military simulations of various sorts) or a massive war depicting boardgame with several hundred pieces... did... the women's rights movement... reduce men's gaming time...? (Covering my ass: Equalizing free time between the sexes is the main point, of course.) :P
EDIT: I'm tired and I couldn't figure out a good way to write the above, so I just slapped a smiley on the end... better slap another here as well: ;-)
PROTIP: Tossing a smiley on the end of something stupid and sexist doesn't make it any less stupid or sexist. Your point doesn't even make sense, since the main thing that eats into gaming time is an 8-5 (god I wish it was 9-5) job that goes into overtime whenever a project needs to get done. The job has existed since long before the women's right's movement, and the slow extension of hours is mostly about the declining strength of labour in the American workplace. I'll be charitable and assume you were trolling.
Sounds like it is that time of the month again [insert smiley face]
The games from the 80s and 90s which came with 300-page manuals and keyboard overlays clearly wasn't created for young people. Going back even earlier, to the massive Avalon Hill wargames which took days just to set up, I think it's pretty clear: Modern society is slowly eroding our leisure time.
EDIT: Hrrrmmm... this may be a sensitive thing, but one thing just struck me: What woman would play a game with a 300-page manual (those games were mainly military simulations of various sorts) or a massive war depicting boardgame with several hundred pieces... did... the women's rights movement... reduce men's gaming time...? (Covering my ass: Equalizing free time between the sexes is the main point, of course.) :P
EDIT: I'm tired and I couldn't figure out a good way to write the above, so I just slapped a smiley on the end... better slap another here as well: ;-)
PROTIP: Tossing a smiley on the end of something stupid and sexist doesn't make it any less stupid or sexist. Your point doesn't even make sense, since the main thing that eats into gaming time is an 8-5 (god I wish it was 9-5) job that goes into overtime whenever a project needs to get done. The job has existed since long before the women's right's movement, and the slow extension of hours is mostly about the declining strength of labour in the American workplace. I'll be charitable and assume you were trolling.
Sounds like it is that time of the month again [insert smiley face]
Also, the death of Avalon Hill-era wargaming was nothing to do with changing social standards and everything to do with TSR purposefully buying and killing the company off.
so once more on the subject of finding time, it is now 6 am here, i didn't sleep last night so i'm just not going to bother, bam, 8 more hours to fit in games, hurray for insomnia
I've a 2 to 3 hr commute every day. But it's on a train so it's iPad time. Which is lovely and why the iPad has improved my life immensely. TV, internet and wonderful games. Relaxing and nice.
Commute only needs to be a true slog if you're driving.
I basically play for an 1-2 at night before I go to sleep and then a bit during the afternoon on the weekends. Most games I play take around a month to beat, but to me that seems about right. Is there some kind of rush to finish one game and move on to the next?
Posts
I do this far too much.
The games from the 80s and 90s which came with 300-page manuals and keyboard overlays clearly wasn't created for young people. Going back even earlier, to the massive Avalon Hill wargames which took days just to set up, I think it's pretty clear: Modern society is slowly eroding our leisure time.
EDIT: Hrrrmmm... this may be a sensitive thing, but one thing just struck me: What woman would play a game with a 300-page manual (those games were mainly military simulations of various sorts) or a massive war depicting boardgame with several hundred pieces... did... the women's rights movement... reduce men's gaming time...? (Covering my ass: Equalizing free time between the sexes is the main point, of course.) :P
EDIT: I'm tired and I couldn't figure out a good way to write the above, so I just slapped a smiley on the end... better slap another here as well: ;-)
tl;dr: I don't! But things change very dramatically, and I look forward to more great gaming in the future.
Ever since getting a real job and married, this has been my primary goal: slapping down my OCD that tells me I must spend hours in each level trying to find every single secret, unlock, and extra health potion.
I have roommates but I almost never see or interact with them, since they work between 6am and 3pm.
By the time I head out the door at 3:30 for work, they usually arrive home within the next 30 minutes.
When I get home after Midnight, they're both asleep, so I go to my room and game til 3 or 4am.
I'm also 30 years old, so I guess it really depends what you're life is like.
If you have kids, a wife, a social life.....these things can really get in the way of your gaming =P
In 3 years of working this current schedule, I've had exactly One weekend off, otherwise I work Every Single Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
A surprising number of my friends never want to go out drinking with me on a Monday night. Weird, huh? =P
Battletag: Kain#1658
My son and I have been trying to play through Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver recently so I've been able to game a lot more as my wife has been very tolerant of our addiction.
"Yeah, you just fell asleep honey"
I worked a second shift like this for about four years after college (a daily newspaper), and I feel your pain. It's sheer hell on your social life, but man, you can rip through a lot of games!
If it weren't my iPhone I wouldn't get to game as much as I do. iOS4 with it's multitasking has been a godsend. It's really great to be able to game for 15 minutes then just close my phone and pick it up later. I typically get a couple hours of console gaming a night, unless I go and see my lady friend.
I should admit that I get more gaming time in because I ignore certain responsibilities and sleep less than I should (I hate cleaning, it gets ignored. I got such a stack of coke cans you wouldn't believe). Luckily my social circle is largely composed of gamers, so a "night out with the boys" usually involves us hunkering around a TV and playing games. If I didn't have a social circle composed of gamers, I imagine I would probably game less than 5-10 hours a week.
I have no idea how I'll manage my gaming hobby when I have children. Props to all you that do.
Finally... a horror story. When I was with my previous girlfriend, I never had any time to myself. She always had to be with me. We played a lot of Soul Calibur IV together and that was about all I got. I didn't really get to play any single player games. If I wanted "me time" to play RDR, ME2, Nier, etc. a fight would almost certainly ensue. It actually got to the point where I wanted to end the relationship because I basically was "not allowed" to have alone time. The moral of the story? Don't get into a relationship with someone who doesn't game. Failing that, be sure your SO truly understands your hobby and gives you the time you need.
Well, that and after being married so long to me she often likes to be left alone.
7am: Get up, breakfast etc
8am: Go to work
9am-5:30pm: Work
7pm: Arrive home
7pm-8:30ish: Cook dinner, wash dishes etc, eat while watching tv
8:30-11ish: Game
Weekends involve shopping, cleaning etc, but still leave many more potential free hours for gaming. Some mornings we will go to the gym, but that normally means we just get up at 6 rather than 7. What are people doing that they don't have any free time at all?
Well. I do admit I prioritize socialization over gaming. I'm not married or even in a relationship right now. I'm not opposed to them, and in fact that is probably why I go out a lot.
Considering my commute, I never go home and then go out, I always go out right after work. But not every night.
Still - you've identified that you have 2.5 free hours to game per night. Same for me, usually. So when you're playing a 50 hour game, it can take you almost half a month, no? That's kind of long, and only of you are totally focused on that one game.
10-12 hours of gameplay during the working week is pretty decent progress, and if my weekend isn't booked up with social events I can usually get in a couple marathon gaming sessions. I wouldn't classify having 20+ hours a week available for gaming to be a shortage of time.
Longer commutes, girlfriends/wives, social life, kids, pets, etc.
Basically, if you don't want to worry about having free time for gaming, stay single and don't have kids. :P
Exactly! Also, without a wife and/or kids to spend your money for you, you can afford to keep yourself stocked in games!
Battletag: Kain#1658
My typical work day (if such a thing were to exist):
6:00 AM - coffee and SAP
6:00 PM - "shit, should really think about getting home I'm going to miss dinner. again."
6:30 PM - "shit, I missed dinner again"
7:00 PM - "doh! wife's pissed" "yes dear, I'm shutting down now - be home in 10 minutes"
8:00 PM - "Hi Honey, I'm home!"
8:05 PM - reheat dinner in the microwave, chat with the wife, talk about the kid's day at school
8:30 PM - check the forums, read the latest PA comic
9:00 PM - fire-up game of choice
10:30ish - ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
(rinse, repeat)
I don't actually get to play games but maybe 2 or 3 times per week. To compensate, I usually try daily to follow game-related news blogs and read the PA forums to sort of keep up with what's going on in gaming.
I don't work with any like-minded personalities in my business nor does anyone really share in my hobbies, so usually the PA microcosm is the only social release for my games enthusiast lifestyle. Though my opportunities to play and enjoy games at any great length are much fewer these days, I like to feel that I keep the passion alive by reading other people's exploits in video gaming and occasionally participating in this community.
This is somewhat of a lifestyle choice that happens to give you the free time you need. It sounds like a sweet deal though.
You're in that phase where you live with your SO, have no kids and are comfortable enough to just do your own thing every night. I don't think this is typical of most couples.
Whereas someone not living with their SO would lose time travelling and unless they're also a gamer, you're probably not going to spend the time together gaming. The time spent with them is straight lost gaming time.
If I'm going to see my girlfriend, then no gaming gets done that day whatsoever (unless it's before or after, which is much less time). I typically only see her once a week. If I saw her more often, I'd get significantly less gaming done, that's for sure.
This is what it comes down to in the end I think, a lifestyle choice. I mean pretty much everyone has to write off 10-12 hours a day to work, and how you prioritize the rest of your time is up to you. If you want to spend more time dating / going out with friends / doing yoga / climbing mountains, then you have to accept that the trade off is less time for gaming. These are the kinds of decisions we have to make as adults. It would be nice to have the kind of free time for this stuff we had in school / uni, but unless you are very lucky, most peoples' timetables just won't accommodate 6 hours of gaming a day, and never will.
Even then, I have a job, a girlfriend, lots of friends (I generally prefer single-player games though), and a writing hobby. This is why I appreciate games like Cthulu Saves the World that cut the bullshit. I am really interested in picking up Super Meat Boy too. It sucks, because RPGs are my favorite genre but I don't have too much time for them.
1) Work. You need some sort of place to stay, and rent ain't free.
2) Eat. Humans require food of some sort. Supposedly they need water but I can neither confirm nor deny this, I have sustained for years on Pepsi with the only water I drink being the water I accidentally swallow in the shower.
3) Sleep. Don't waste too much time with this. Five hours is all you really need, eight or nine if you're feeling particularly lazy.
4) Play video games/talk on the PA forums. This part is self-explanatory.
The best part is, three days a week, #1 is removed and I only have a three-step routine.
EDIT:
Hi5, brother in arms.
Except you didn't follow my #1 step, but at least you're working on it.
First post, as limed by others.
Fucking killing me though, I can't function the next day like I used to.
XBLA / XBLIG / Rock Band 3 / Kinect games - all I get time for.
Retail? Dead to me. I have AC2, AC:B and Dante's Inferno all sitting here unopened.
Mass Effect 2? Red Dead Redemption? Not even bought them, no time.
Make sure I play my bass
Ironically and as many people here can probably attest, now that I earn enough money to buy all the games I might of wanted as a kid I have far less time to actually play them.
So yeah, I still play a fair amount but I can imagine having kids would reduce the amount of time drastically, especially if they were younger.
Just give up on TV altogether, PVR something if you really need to see it. My wife plays Lego games on Wii or scrapbooks, so as soon as the baby is down we each do our own thing.
I play as much as I can in the winter months since cold and snow make me die and give it up altogether for the summer when I actually get things in the house done. Thus making the house a shithole all winter....
Your commute is fucking horrendous, I'm lucky I can walk to my work.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better
bit.ly/2XQM1ke
I'm also one of those dudes who uses Steam to keep in touch with friends who live half a continent away, so a lot of my socializing comes through gaming.
I guess the lesson here is that you should turn yourself into an unsleeping abomination and convince all your friends to move hundreds of miles away from you.
PROTIP: Tossing a smiley on the end of something stupid and sexist doesn't make it any less stupid or sexist. Your point doesn't even make sense, since the main thing that eats into gaming time is an 8-5 (god I wish it was 9-5) job that goes into overtime whenever a project needs to get done. The job has existed since long before the women's right's movement, and the slow extension of hours is mostly about the declining strength of labour in the American workplace. I'll be charitable and assume you were trolling.
Anyway, I mostly get my gaming done on handhelds these days. I have a good 40 minute bus commute, so that's 80 minutes a day of gaming time. Add a bit before bed and any travel I have to do and I get in a decent amount of gaming. Of course, since I like long RPGs that still doesn't mean I beat many games. I've been trying to work in a couple of hours of non-handheld gaming in the evenings lately, even if it's just my Minecraft addiction. This only works if I have leftovers and no work to do, which means it only really happens on the weekends.
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Commute only needs to be a true slog if you're driving.
2009 is a year of Updates - one every Monday. Hopefully. xx