So i just noticed that when i really like the game at some point i will at once play the game and watch the stream/youtube wideo of the game( usualy speedrun or aome hardcore challenge). I noticed it recently with anno 1800 but now that i think about it i did that with tales of arise, eu4 ,kings bounty,total war,hades and probably some more. So i wonder do you have similar strange habits
When I can’t stop thinking about it when I’m not playing it.
For me, that tends to be a sign of burning out. Or at least it’s imminence.
When I think I’ve been playing for 1 hour, but it’s actually been 12.
This is why I’m not sure I actually like Starfield… that simply isn’t happening :/
I can tell I’m really into a game when I end up ditching the objectives to just screw around. If I’m following the quest arrow I’m probably just in it for the plot or for some completionist urge, but if I really like the game I’ll start wandering off the main path to just enjoy the environment and satisfy my own curiosity about things.
Similarly, it’s if I really start looking at the scenery. Like zooming in on desks and and where textures meet and stuff to a) see all the worldbuilding details, and b) to see the level designer / env artist’s work up closer.
I was like level 20 before I started the main quests in Skyrim. 😂
Wait, Skyrim has a main quest?
Avoiding main quest line advancements in order to make the game last as long as possible.
After overcoming a challenge, reverting my progress so I can try it another way, and then another.
Getting through real-life tasks as quickly as possible because I want to get back to the game.
Contemplating game characters and their motivations when I’m supposed to be trying to sleep.
I will be in my own bubble playing the game. Not looking at social media, just focused on the game.
The game will be my first thought when waking up, and my last thought before I sleep.
The biggest sign is when I stop playing it, I notice that it’s night.
Night? More like sunrise and time to go to work
When I’ve been playing for 5 hours and needed a piss for 3 hours.
When I have on the video game music and sound effects. That means I’m totally in it.
Otherwise I’ll have Netflix/Hulu/whatever streaming or music playing.
See, so many of the things below I can think of about games I was addicted to but wasn’t really enjoying. Like, if I’m hearing the music while I fall asleep? That’s a sign I’ve been playing it a crap load, but I also can think of many games that sucked me in chasing carrots and kept me up until dawn… but the actual fun parts were fleeting.
Games I actually enjoy have me grinning like a maniac once I start getting into top-tier flow with the actions available, like threading needles in a racing game.
Relevant SMBC:
When I’m researching things about the game even when I’m not playing.
Starfield is definitely doing that for me. Before that Distant Worlds 2, X4 Foundations, Elite Dangerous, Skyrim, Space Engineers, Empyrion, GTA V, and Minecraft have all done that.
When I start making notepad lists of long term goals or shopping lists and such, usually in open world games with lots of tasks where you’d forget on your own what you might be working toward
Hm I guess doing all the side quests, and going to the wiki to understand the plot better.
When I start choosing to play that instead of a multiplayer game with mates. And also when I start recommending it to people. It’s all kinda involuntary at this point.
ok, I’ll be the one to say it…
an occasional pants adjustment.
what’s that? no, it’s just dragon age or spongebob at bikini bottom, nothing to see here.
