DON'T get me wrong, PSO is great, but...

[PSO_Krunk]

Preface: DO NOT flame me for this next statement. I love PSO, and think games, in general, are great. This is just an observation, not a judgement on gamers.

It hit me the other day when I loaded my character file and saw the total play-time clock on the select screen--- I had spent OVER 100 hours playing PSO.

It was like a slap in the face. A wake up call, if you will.

That's a hundered hours! Playing in front of the tube like a drone. All for a level 54 ranger! That's over 4 DAYS straight, sitting in the exact same spot. (not all at once mind you. My record is a scant 13 hours)

You know how many short stories I could have written in that time? How many new resumes and sample sheets I could have sent out? How much work I could have done on my website? (http://home.earthlink.net/~tripwire/)

I could be a decent guitar player now, if I had never even picked up a guitar, by spending 100 hours practicing. Chicks dig that. They like musicians. Show them your level 54 ranger, and see how many phone numbers you get.

Instead, I plow thru the same levels, night after night, mashing the buttons in a continous 3 hit combo. light, fierce, fierce. --- light, fierce, fierce... over, and over and over.

AUUGH! WHAT AM I DOING? I could be using all this time constructively! This is pathetic! I'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!

(... hmmm, it's only 11:30. I wonder if any of my japanese friends are up for a quick romp thru the mines?)

LOL

[MilkManX]

Man I dont wanna know how much Counter-Strike I play...at least 3 hours a night since May..hmmmm.

[BlitzGott]

Don't think of video games as wasted time, consider it well spent training for the impending remote-battled, alien invasion spurned, nuclear conflicts of the future.... or something like that. When the world is overrun by Boomas do you think just anyone can clean up the mess? Of course not! Then the world will call upon our lightning quick reflexes and split second decisions(honed by hundreds of hours playing all sorts of games) to deliver the world from the very grasp of Hell itself! It will be the age of destruction like the world has never seen, so I warn you potential inhuman invaders... proceed at your own risk. For you shall be struck down with a swiftness and efficiency unlike you could ever imagine. Either that or I just don't want to admit that it really is wasted time, I haven't decided yet...

[Phantasmal]

Things like this are best to not think about. One hundred hours? Dude, that's like, a trip to canada and back to liberate some maple syrup..

[Elrathan]

Ok so you come on a PSO fan site and lament over the 'wasted' hours of your life...

There is a simple solution to your dilema and it doesn't even have to be extreme. Schedule your time. Set up the hours you think it would be 'less invasive upon your personal worth' to play PSO and stick to 'em. If you set aside 1.5 hours a night, stick to it. Maybe you set aside less time if need be. Maybe you schedule all the important resume writing and and short story writing and make a stalwart decision to NOT play PSO until you have met all your weekly goals. If you can't handle this, then quit gaming.

If your only mission is to 'Impress Chicks' then by all means, put away the controller and grab that guitar, make sure your socks match your shoes and belt, and pop all those almost invisible blackheads on your nose.

Oh yeah, and quit whining about playing PSO here where we all still like to play PSO.

[Star_Angel]

Krunk, all the things you listed are for ENTERTAINMENT (well... except the resume part... I don't think that falls in the same line as enjoyable) http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/icon_smile.gif everyone has thier own taste in what they find fun.

<quote>PSO_Krunk wrote:
I could be a decent guitar player now, if I had never even picked up a guitar, by spending 100 hours practicing. Chicks dig that. They like musicians. Show them your level 54 ranger, and see how many phone numbers you get.</quote>

If your that worried, most of females like it when guys have something to talk about... It's just as boring hearing a guy talk about nothing but music as it is hearing a guy talk about nothing but video games.

Look on the bright side, games only last for so long until they begin to get old. Enjoy it while you can http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/icon_smile.gif

[addsig]"http://images.honesty.com/imagedata/h/906/63/29066341.jpg">



<font size=1>[ This message was edited by: Star_Angel on 2001-03-02 09:08 ]</font>

[Lenneth]

Honestly, the only reason that this makes an impression on you is because the game keeps a tally of the time you spent for you. You'd be just as horrified to learn the amount of time you've spent in a car over the past six months, or in the bathroom for instance.

Time's a funny thing, and just because the human race has tried to quantify it doesn't mean that it stays that way. Playing a game, like other people have said, is a recreational activity, and you're only wasting your time on it if you feel there are better things you could be doing instead. I know lots of people that rely on video games to calm down much like other people rely on beer. Not to say that either of these activities are inherently "bad" or "good" (they aren't), but most of us are well aware of what the repercussions can be of abusing any activity or substance.

It's all your call, however, and if you feel that you're wasting your time then it's up to you to do something about it. The bright side of all this is that you at least have enough perspective on your life to realize that something may be amiss. Best of wishes. =)

Pax, Lenneth

[Lanzer]

If anything, try to make friends out of the time you spent playing PSO. You'll then be getting something out of it which you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. To me that's half of what PSO is about.

The other half is still mindless monster slaying. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/icon_smile.gif

[Sisqua]

It's great to think of what else you could have been doing with that 100 hours, but in reality we all need leisure time and you'd have probably spent it watching TV or something similar. At least with PSO you are doing something of a semi-social nature, interacting with other people from other countries, cultures etc.

S.

[Neojin]

*twitch*
*twitch*

Game...crack....need fix...need

http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/icon_razz.gif

Its been said a few times here but i'll restate, you must make PRIORITIES.
I had a prob with EQ for awhile where I would actualy ditch going out for raid or sumthing..WTF i'm passing up getting out and doing somthing for sitting in front of a monitor eating cheetos and and a six pack???

So I started to make list, goal if you will of RL things I wanted to do first and needed to get done...somehow doing the dishes always ends up list but anyways http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/icon_smile.gif

Remember, we all might be friends and its great to play such interactive games, but they dont pay the bills, and they dont keep you warm at night. So make sure you keep your priorities in check.

[Neinth]

Here is the way I look at it.
Playing PSO is something you do to relax and have some fun.
You buy a single game and get 100+ hours of good playing fun.
Compare this to people that can only find fun by going to the bars and getting drunk. They spend more money in one night than you did for all the time you will enjoy PSO.
As far as entertainment goes a nice long game like PSO is much more cost effective than going to the bar or many other forms of amusemnet.
You can think about the time lost?
Or you can think of the money saved and the fun you've had.
Many people confuse their free time to release the stress of life with time they could be doing something else. It's pointless. Enjoy your fun with PSO.
I could be an NBA player if I spend all my time working on my game. But I would rather enjoy my life.

[Benn]

I spent 130+ hours, too..
any regret?... maybe..
did I have fun?.... oh yeah..
so..
it's PSO time.. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/icon_smile.gif

[Marlboro]

Oh I definately play to much. Luckily for me though I work till 12am and 2am and go to sleep about 6am so it gives me something to do.