I must admit being an adult myself, I have many important responsibilities outside this game and I need to go to work, go to college or university, and more. Sometimes, I find it somewhat difficult to decide how much time to spend on management of general things in life like work and studies, and how much time to spend on playing this game. I'd like to ask if people can share here their experiences about this issue, and how have you been able to manage your life and how did you get enough skills to do so, so the ultimate goal which you can achieve is to play this game without letting the game to interfere with your life responsibilities like work and studies?
For me, the important thing about making this game or any game just a *part* of my life and not overtaking my life was to step away for some time and work on personal development. Take entire days, weeks or even months off and do other things....especially if you are finding you are dreaming about it or it's all you want to do or think about. Don't let any video game make you miss important things like work or class.
Comes in waves, sometimes I play religiously. Think about grinding and merching throughout the workday. Get home and play for hours. Then, BAM, it hits me. I am An adult, and this is just a game. then I go back to normal life. Play for an hour or so before bed. It’s a cycle. Also in the winter I play a lot more than I do in summer.
I found this server back in April this year, when I was under great great pressure of my second attempt for a very important exam for which I failed for the first time. After the exam I felt so relifed, and spoiled myself by playing this game from morning to midnight, a few days or weeks in a row. I have been so addicted, like how I was 15 years ago. But then I felt guilty of not working in my real life. Though I tried to not play that long, I cannot stop thinking of this game, even in my dream. To be honest I do not think I'm not doing anything exciting in the game, but just grinding and doing quests (not PQ!), most time alone. It is also unclear to me which part of the game makes me so addicted to, maybe it brings me back to my carefree times as a kid. This server is also great, most people are nice. I also donated twice as I really appreciated the efforts of the staff put into maintaining the server. I've set myself a rule since this week - I'm only going to play during weekends, but I will vote everyday. (This is challenging as Youtube keeps recommending me maplestory videos...)
For me there are times where it is definitely harder to step away from the game when there are things I need to prioritize before MapleRoyals. For instance, coming home from work I'll start playing and a few hours will pass, then it's 11pm-12am and I still want to interact with my guild, do quests, or whatever really, but I realize I have to sleep soon or the next day I won't be as productive as I'd like to be at work. I'm on a break from school at the moment so when that resumes it'll take even more discipline. I guess to answer your question, it really is willpower in the end. That while your responsibilities may not be as fun as playing Royals, they should be prioritized, and doing something like telling your friends goodnight and forcing yourself to close the game entirely kind of closes the door to open it again and resume playing (at least for me). Treat Royals like a reward for completing tasks in your life that need to be done, so you can enjoy it even more. Good luck, I hope you figure out a way that works best for you.
Thank you all for sharing your opinion about this issue. I can see what is required to be able to do this properly and effectively, and I admit sometimes it can be difficult. It can even be hard to even find the right motivation or power to manage this problem, because when other thing in Life takes over and you have multiple options, our natural response might be just to go with whats easiest, and the easier option would be play this game, not go to work or studies which is a less comfortable position. But I must admit it takes time to get used to a more healthy situation because of the years of playing this game, and playing video games in general. Which are not only taking away so much or too much of attention, but also are addicting sometimes too. So, I wouldnt say impossible but for me its very hard. I would say, if coronavirus didnt exist it'd be easier, but now whenever I look for a job, I cant find a job or I find a job which is in terrible conditions. So I can work at what's available at the terrible conditions or not work at all, which puts you at an unpleasant situation. Its complicated, and now with coronavirus its even more complicated than it was before, to be honest with you.
You seem to have read my mind, as I was literally thinking about posting something similar to this on the "get if off your chest thread". I was addicted to original GMS as a teenager, and because of quarantine, I came back and started playing Royals to pass the time. However, I am noticing I am slipping up in some areas in my life, taking shortcuts, just to add more time to play. It is good that I recognized it, and I will not beat myself up for it though. The simple habit of changing my mindset from "wasting days on a video game" to "investing hours to developing my talent, upgrading skills, this in turn will open yield a better experience in the game". For example, there were a strong couple weeks that I set aside strictly to making mesos and selling leech. I shaved off sleep hours, lowered my weekly running mileage, called out of work when it was slow, but it was ok. We're in quarantine. I didn't have much to do other than go to work, then head straight home and do my part to beat COVID. I treated Royals sorta like how I prep for races, I show up everyday, dedicate 110%, and play with the cards I'm dealt with. I know this sounds corny, but it really what I was thinking. I thought both short term and long-term goals, make an arch mage to make mesos no matter how long it'll take, and eventually fund x,y, and z. For now, things have relaxed. I've set just the afternoon 1-2 hours on the weekdays to level up my Hero, giving me ample time to sleep. Then on the weekends, I will have more time to leech or do other things. And this is great. No rush to get lv 200 or get the next big end-game gear. Low and slow. Where's the fun, if I suddenly have those 'items'? I am thinking about eventually requesting a self-ban ; I am awaiting orders to ship out for the Navy... and I would like to use the five weeks beforehand to get in shape. But for now.. I'm letting the good times roll.
I'm actually curious about everyone's real job in real life. Is there any existing survey about that?
I wish I was one of the people who plays seasonally and enjoy the game at face value.... but I tend to set big goals and play 3-8 hours daily (selling leech , set/check store, unlock skills, get mount, events, buying leech) until I achieve a big part of my initial goal and burn out for a few months. I can't get myself to play an hour or two a day, it's not fun because its not enough time to make real progress. I tend to play way too much for my own good or not at all
