Dilemna: Should I Quit RPGs?

This has made me wonder if I should in principle reconsider my ban on video games. However, that now has another element: when I quit I really meant it. I have not been perfect; I read game websites and watch game videos, but I have never played. I do not think it is a good idea to go back on such an oath, even if it was poorly made. Swearing not to do something has to mean something, so to speak.
 

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- was: I live in the country. There is a lot of fresh air and outdoors, but precious little of interest, and no people that share my interests, as far as I know. It is kind of vexxing, because as much as I need to go out and exercise more as well, there is nothing within my range that I can go to and enjoy.

Have you ever thought about taking up photography? The country is full of subjects just waiting to be photographed. Especially now that the season's changing. Try experimenting with the same shots in color and in black and white.
 

Kaodi,

If I can have a wife, seven kids, a job, my 20-acre hobby farm, AND run my Sunday night online game in which YOU are a player, you can learn to multi-task as well ;)

As for the out of doors, try playing hide-and-seek with the local fey population. The ones around here are very, very good at hiding! Aside from that, there are a handful of Audubon Society apps that I find useful on my iPhone, for identifying birds, bugs, mushrooms, and the like.

As for counseling, I have always sided with that scene in "Crocodile Dundee":
Sue Charlton: People go to a psychiatrist to talk about their problems. She just needed to unload them. You know, bring them out in the open.
Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee: Hasn't she got any mates?

If you want to vent, unload, or just shoot the breeze, on Wednesdays at 9pm I hang out in my IRC channel to catch up with offline friends who now live out of state... a word of caution, we tend to drink and quote Monty Python with regularity.
 

"Everything in moderation, including moderation." -Oscar Wilde

As has been said, you don't need to cut the things you love to do from your life, you need to find balance. You may need help finding that balance, but if you want it, it is acheivable. Cutting the things you like to do our of your life ito try and make things "better" might just make things worse.
 

There's more good advice in this thread than in some classes I've taken on topics like this.

I went through something very similar about a year after I joined this forum and did not start reposting until this year. After undergrad I could not find a job in my chosen field. I got a retail job and fully expected to go into a "real" job at any time. After four years it became obvious that wasn't going to happen. I blamed RPGs, novels, cycling, video games, and general socializing. I quit gaming and sold almost every leisure item I'd bought since the early 1990s.

My problem was I coasted through college and high school without working hard. I didn't have the kind of time management and research skills people even half my age did. I had to retrain my brain in my late 20s. I'm still not doing what I want with my life but I now have a much better job.

My rule of thumb is that I do not spend more time preparing for the game than I do running it. So if we're playing a four hour game I spend no more than four hours doing prep.

I currently run an AD&D 2nd Mystara/FR mash-up and a Pathfidner Rise of the Runelords game. So I'm playing more than I did when I was having problems.
 

I am a procrastinator as well and I find that a jump start is often a good way to change your behaviors. I say drop RPGs and really commit yourself to whatever it is you've been procrastinating on. Simultaneously, you'll learn how much RPGs add (or don't add) to your life. You'll be much better situated to answer the question in your OP after a month or two away from the game.
 

Learn to use escapism as a reward. Require yourself to do a set amount of work each day and then allow yourself one hour to fiddle woth rpgs. List your real life priorities and make sure those get done before you can have fun.
 

yes. Except one horrible meeting in Jan of this year, I have not played table top rpgs since at least 2004. If you have a search function, you can search my name and see how I dropped this site for years before coming back and putting my 2 cents in.
edit and as others have said get pro help.
 
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Very few decisions are permanent. Take a vacation from RPGs for a few months or so. You can always come back.

However, I'm not sure that simply giving up everything in your life, leaving only the stuff you have to do will work. You might want to seek professional help. A good counselor could help a lot.

Hey, this is the best answer, hits all the points, and is concise. Most people avoid counseling b/c of the feared cost. You can find it cheap, and for many, even a few visits can help set you on the path that you need - that you obviously want based on the OP.

I'll also 2nd that giving up everything you love also escapes the real problem. Often giving up distractions are needed and important in whatever plan/path you end up following, but the things you love are not the problem. And thus, temporary break sounds like a safe, doable approach. The community - this community - will be here welcoming when you return.

May the Force be with you.
 

This has made me wonder if I should in principle reconsider my ban on video games. However, that now has another element: when I quit I really meant it. I have not been perfect; I read game websites and watch game videos, but I have never played. I do not think it is a good idea to go back on such an oath, even if it was poorly made. Swearing not to do something has to mean something, so to speak.

First, don't listen to friends who mock counseling and trivialize your problems. I, like others in the thread, suffer from similar issues and many of my friends simply don't understand. I had trouble putting in the necessary hours at a very flexible part-time job . . . and a friend just looked at me funny and said, "Well, why don't you just do it?" Mental issues like depression (which I suspect, in some form, is at the heart of your problem) are not well understood by most folks who haven't suffered from them.

I've struggled with depression all my life, with terrible procrastination being a symptom that has killed more than a few good opportunities for me and ruined my finances. Counseling isn't a magic bullet . . . there are good and bad counselors, using various forms of therapies that might or might not mesh well with your personality . . . but I highly recommend it. If, after seeing a counselor and perhaps getting a diagnosis, you might consider medication . . . also not a magic bullet, but can be helpful under the right circumstances.

Don't quite video games or RPGs unless you're exhibiting addictive behavior with them. If that's the case, try and drop them stone cold . . . it'll be hard. But do find something you enjoy to fill the gap, something that won't come to rule over your life, and best yet, something that has a tangible result . . . like photography or some other craft. Something you can be proud of. I'm an actor, and my work in plays (albeit ephemeral) has been one of the things in my life that has kept me sane (despite all the crazy theatre chicks I end up dating).

I've almost completey dropped RPGS. I sold ALL my books (and I had a LOT) except for the 3rd Ed Player's Handbook and the 4th Ed Rules Compendium. I kept my dice and a few "props" (card decks, mostly) out of nostalgia. I only play with existing, good friends, and rarely at that. I've also dropped, or severely reduced, many other hobbies that were destructive in my life, such as Magic: The Gathering and a monstrous collection of books and other unnecessary material things. It's helped, but not cured, my problem. I now spend most of my creative energy in the theatre, and I model Warhammer 40K miniatures (without spending too much cash, and rarely play). I go back and forth with counseling (haven't found a counselor I really like yet), but prefer CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy). I've also started trying to work meditation and exercise into my life (ooh, and it's tough).

And, here I am, on ENWorld, a roleplaying site. I used to waste a lot of time on here too, but after dropping RPGS, I now just check in for the occasional interesting thread (truly interesting, or train-wreck threads I can't look away from).

Not saying you should necessarily take the same steps I did, and I'm certainly not done turning around my own life, just an example of what's worked so far for me.
 

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