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Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

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Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#41

Post by pooriar »

vunderba wrote: post #25

I'm sad to hear about your addiction. People seem to have an inability to judge this game relatively impartially. They either claim that it's an unholy abomination that should have been aborted by the compiler or it's the greatest invention of mankind since the printing press. In reality (and as someone who played the original bg1, and bg2), it's a solid dnd based RPG experience with an incredible amount of content t…

Haha love your take on the extreme opinions people have on this game. And yeah, the thought has occurred to me that, like most anticipated things, it probably wouldn't be as exciting as I'd imagined once I was really playing it

Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#42

Post by prepend »

CharlesW wrote: post #10
prepend wrote: post #4

You’re going to play it. And that’s ok. Abstinence in common things, or even required things like food is a challenge. Saying you’ll never play is just setting up for failure so when you crack, you play more. What works for me is to set some non-zero target. That way when I fail, I fail by a percentage instead of an infinite percentage. Pledging zero and playing for an hour is much worse seeming than pledging an hour…

That's all very cool and I'm glad it works for you, but it doesn't for others. As the author notes, "I wish I could just play them in moderation like most people, but because of my addiction that is much harder for me than simply abstaining."

> but it doesn't for others

But it does work for others. Millions of people who play despite addictions or urges to play.

I’m familiar with addiction and the stories we tell ourselves and others. Just because I say “moderation doesn’t work for me” doesn’t mean it never works.

Just like when I say “I’ll never play again, this time I mean it” that doesn’t mean that works either.

People are different and there’s different things that work or don’t work. Addiction is weird and it distorts our perception of reality. Never trust anything an addict says, just trust their actions.

I’ve been to a lot of addiction meetings and it’s never very useful to trust “I’m not going to drink for 100 days. I promise.” It’s much better to focus talk on “I haven’t had a drink in 100 days.”

Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#43

Post by pooriar »

amputect wrote: post #35
pooriar wrote: post #2

Blog post I wrote about video game addiction. Hope it resonates with someone :) Open to feedback

This story resonates with me a lot. I hope you don't mind if I share my own story (not as a counter-argument or anything, but out of solidarity from an addict in recovery). I don't really talk about this with most people, because I feel very weird about it. I used to be debilitatingly addicted to video games. I played World of Warcraft in particular compulsively, to a degree that I joke about but am also deeply asham…

Thanks for sharing your story. I had a similar moment with the mobile game skinner boxes where I just got repulsed and lost all urge. But I still get sucked into higher quality games, thus, this post :)

Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#44

Post by pooriar »

yaseer wrote: post #24

At first I thought "This sounds stupid, just play a little, have some fun, and move on like everyone else". Then I remembered my own experiences with addictive substances. Addiction rewires your brain, which is an experience I forget when I am not addicted to something. It's easier to not indulge at all, than try to have a little and attempt to control it from there.

Thanks for saying so, always great to see someone examine and reconsider an initial dismissive reaction like that

Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#45

Post by pooriar »

prepend wrote: post #40
NegativeK wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people require abstinence and even total social avoidance to fight addiction. Some people need moderation. There isn't a one size fits all, and I don't think advocating for OP to give in when they've got a long history of unhealthy behavior is wise -- at least, it's unwise unless you know a lot more about OP.

It may not be wise, but it’s true. I only know what OP wrote. And my money is that they will play. The point of my comment was to help OP develop a long term strategy to help with their issue. It’s no more one size fits all then “I’m never going to play this game.” It’s just one idea that may or may not work. That being said, I’ll bet you $50 that OP plays BG3 within six months.

I'd take that bet, will give me more motivation to prove you wrong ;)

Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#46

Post by prepend »

pooriar wrote: post #45
prepend wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may not be wise, but it’s true. I only know what OP wrote. And my money is that they will play. The point of my comment was to help OP develop a long term strategy to help with their issue. It’s no more one size fits all then “I’m never going to play this game.” It’s just one idea that may or may not work. That being said, I’ll bet you $50 that OP plays BG3 within six months.

I'd take that bet, will give me more motivation to prove you wrong ;)

Neat. I always wanted to make a HN bet. I don’t see your contact info in your profile, so please email me some contact at anything@prepend.com and I’ll connect with you in six months to settle.

Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#48

Post by cdchn »

CharlesW wrote: post #15
cdchn wrote: post #11

If it helps at all, the game isn't _that_ good.

Exactly.

I mean its really not that good. I got bored with it pretty quickly and some large sections are pretty tedious if you don't save scum. I think some people were just enamored since it did some things kinda nice (no microtransactions)

Re: Baldurs Gate 3 comes out on Mac tomorrow. I will not play it

#49

Post by NegativeK »

prepend wrote: post #40
NegativeK wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people require abstinence and even total social avoidance to fight addiction. Some people need moderation. There isn't a one size fits all, and I don't think advocating for OP to give in when they've got a long history of unhealthy behavior is wise -- at least, it's unwise unless you know a lot more about OP.

It may not be wise, but it’s true. I only know what OP wrote. And my money is that they will play. The point of my comment was to help OP develop a long term strategy to help with their issue. It’s no more one size fits all then “I’m never going to play this game.” It’s just one idea that may or may not work. That being said, I’ll bet you $50 that OP plays BG3 within six months.

Betting on someone else's mental health seems fucked up.
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