What have you lost/gained thanks to gaming?

[DanteLinkX]

Yeah, I guess we all met that cool new friend back in high school that shared your love for gaming, was your team mate at co-op games, which whom you had endless arguments when he went "the other way" and got that other console you didnt (be it cube/ps2/xbox), and now more than 15 years later you are still awesome buddies and you sometimes wonder, damn if not for gaming I wouldnt have met him.

But then again, you lost that awesome job for being lurking around that other site, and watching youtube videos/trailers, or just mindless arguing on forums/instant message chat groups, because you just can't be without doing something gaming related all the time,

These are just some examples I am sure many gamers have been through, so ERA what has been the best thing you have gained/lost due to gaming? has gaming been for the better?

Me personally, met my wife and best friends thanks to gaming. Some of my fondes childhood memories I owe them to gaming too.

 

[YuriLowell]

I gained 30lbs.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Lost: Time and money.

Gained: Most of my friends, my partner, tens of thousands of hours of entertainment. I also want to mention that being excited for the future of the medium and always looking forward to new titles/events is something I love.

It's totally been worth it.

 

[TheNotoriousAFG]

Lost: time
Gained: weight

 

[Deleted member 10629]

I learned English by playing videogames, and keeps my Japanese from rusting away.

 

[Gevurztraminer]

Lost: Almost any interest in other mediums, but I've been gaining it back recently.

Gained: A really strong foundation for critical thinking and visual design, insight into traditions and cultures I have no real experience with, and a deeper appreciation for technology.

 

[Prophane33]

Lost? Time. One could argue money too.
Gained? Lots o' weight; also, as someone else mentioned, it helps keep my Japanese serviceable (or let's me pick up new phrases/terminology).

 

[BDS]

 

[HardRojo]

Local friends who also play fighting games.
English, thanks to them I was able to improve my proficiency at it immensely.

 

[Pillock]

Gained : lots of weight and manboobs.
Lost : friends through ignoring them to often to play games.

That was a long time ago though I'm now very fit and active with good friends and healthy relationships. Was hard to break the spell of video games. Just goes to show we didn't need lootboxes to be utterly addicted back in my day.

 

[Sai]

gained: a girlfriend of 5 1/2 years now :3
lost: probably a lot of time i could have spent 'learning' or something

 

[DarkChronic]

Lost? Honestly, probably nothing. It's my favorite hobby so I don't consider the money/time I put into it as lost.

 

[Habino]

Gained most of my friends, both in Brazil and in the US :)

 

[N7_Kovalski]

Gained: Incredible experiences, stories and knowledge
Lost: Sleep

 

[BasilZero]

Gained : rest and relaxation

Lost: Time few years back when I was playing MMOs but nowadays it's worth it since I only play SP games

 

[dock]

I once lost 100lbs using Wii Fit Plus, if that counts.

I've since put on half of it back on, but it helped a lot. Shame the Wii U version wasn't as good.

 

[dock]

Lost: Almost any interest in other mediums, but I've been gaining it back recently.

Click to shrink...

I sometimes wonder whether handheld and mobile gaming is to blame for my reading so few books in my 20s. I'm glad I read more these days.

 

[Deleted member 36578]

Honestly I feel like I haven't lost anything. Only gained experience.
One could always do something in liue of playing a video game. But that doesn't necessarily mean you lost out on anything.

 

[Jenea]

lost muscles
gained kilos, lol

 

[Hutchie]

lost money spent on games

gained better decision making- i.e. never ever sell you consoles (my dreamcast and saturn collections could have got me thousands if i still had them!)

 

[Deleted member 9971]

Well gaming got rid of my depression especially in the hard times when my dad was deathly ill i found him almost dead years ago and saved his live. Fast forward 3 years he finally got a transplant without gaming i would probably killed myself at some point cuz my stress levels were insane.

So it kinda saved my life during that time and my former ex was such a weird lass in my former relationship where everything was always about her so she was addin to that stress. So thats why videogames also helped.

Its unfortunate she even stayed selfish after i told her i am havin it rough in life etc. So after 8 months i was like fuck it and ruined the relationship on purpose and ended it and blocked her and moved on best decision ever. I was at my lowest point cuz all that drama but videogames kept me sane in that period.

Few months after that drama my dad got a kidney transplant and so much stress and worries are gone. The relief is insane.

Finding your dad almost dead on the couch sure is rough man. I remember telling my ex about it and she was like smile lets talk about something fun dont be a sad emo. And i was like wtf. Well it sure hurted ending it its funny cuz even while she was narcistic and kinda emotional abusive it still hurt to end it cuz funnily enough i cared about her and thought i could lighten that cold heart up.

Guess i was wrong but yeah good riddiance. A toxic relationship is never worth continueing.

I am just glad now my dad is recovering greatly :)

And cuz videogames saved my life i have a few videogame related tattoos.

The only thing i lost for some years was a social life in my teens cuz of being addicted to runescape byt i quit it after i maxed out my skills to 99. Was like might aswell finish the game after spending so much time on it. Quit MMO's forever too and thanks to a old primary school friend who is now my best friend i got my social life back quick after.

Reason videogames also helped alot is cuz of my mental issues stupidly enough i quit my adhd meds cuz i thought all of them wouod make me a zombie cuz the ones i had as a kid made me like that and made me rebel cuz it was scary to lose my own personality due to medications.

Fast forward in my 20s i sook out help again and tried ritalin instead of concerta and since then my life got way better i actually had a girlfriend even while she was a pshycho lol could talk easier to girls and people in general without shutting down cuz of anciety or shyness.

Its weird the meds help me with anciety and also the bad focus part of my adhd and luckily i still retain my personality now.

Surs it sucks i skipped the right meds till my 20s but better at that age than at my 40s or 50s atleast videogames helped me alot in the time i was off meds :)


So yeah most certainly video games gave me alot of friends, mental stability, a lover (wich sadly turned out to be a bitch but ohwell theres millions of other ppl out there :) ) and got me through suicidal and stressfull periods in my life. And moments to never forget like for example i had a game room in my teens wich lasted for like 4 a 5 years where friends and i would play games daily together they brought new games consoles food tvs furniture new friends etc it was amazing.

So without videogames i would be 6 feet under by now.

 

[Kinoli]

Lost: a girlfriend
Gained: a girlfriend

 

[scottbeowulf]

Gained: happiness and design inspiration
Lost: time

 

[theotherMittens]

Gained: A coping mechanism to distract me from suicidal ideation/keep me looking forward to the future.

Lost: Just some money.

 

[The Watcher]

I've lost: a sense of fair play. Too many gamers online result to shady tactics to get a W in certain games to the point where it's incorporated into the meta. I want to get my wins up so when in Rome...

Gained: Respect to professional gamers (Speedrunners, E-sport players, etc.) especially fighting game players. Learning the ins and outs of a game and using it to your advantage is tricky enough, but to achieve that high of a skill level and compete against peers is insane. Props where props is due.

 

[Oinone]

Lost: My temper. Quite often. :O
Gained: Awesome moments, lots of fun, relaxing destraction and a handful waifus and husbandos. :P

 

[DanteLinkX]

Well gaming got rid of my depression especially in the hard times when my dad was deathly ill i found him almost dead years ago and saved his live. Fast forward 3 years he finally got a transplant without gaming i would probably killed myself at some point cuz my stress levels were insane.

So it kinda saved my life during that time and my former ex was such a weird lass in my former relationship where everything was always about her so she was addin to that stress. So thats why videogames also helped.

Its unfortunate she even stayed selfish after i told her i am havin it rough in life etc. So after 8 months i was like fuck it and ruined the relationship on purpose and ended it and blocked her and moved on best decision ever. I was at my lowest point cuz all that drama but videogames kept me sane in that period.

Few months after that drama my dad got a kidney transplant and so much stress and worries are gone. The relief is insane.

Finding your dad almost dead on the couch sure is rough man. I remember telling my ex about it and she was like smile lets talk about something fun dont be a sad emo. And i was like wtf. Well it sure hurted ending it its funny cuz even while she was narcistic and kinda emotional abusive it still hurt to end it cuz funnily enough i cared about her and thought i could lighten that cold heart up.

Guess i was wrong but yeah good riddiance. A toxic relationship is never worth continueing.

I am just glad now my dad is recovering greatly :)

And cuz videogames saved my life i have a few videogame related tattoos.

The only thing i lost for some years was a social life in my teens cuz of being addicted to runescape byt i quit it after i maxed out my skills to 99. Was like might aswell finish the game after spending so much time on it. Quit MMO's forever too and thanks to a old primary school friend who is now my best friend i got my social life back quick after.

Reason videogames also helped alot is cuz of my mental issues stupidly enough i quit my adhd meds cuz i thought all of them wouod make me a zombie cuz the ones i had as a kid made me like that and made me rebel cuz it was scary to lose my own personality due to medications.

Fast forward in my 20s i sook out help again and tried ritalin instead of concerta and since then my life got way better i actually had a girlfriend even while she was a pshycho lol could talk easier to girls and people in general without shutting down cuz of anciety or shyness.

Its weird the meds help me with anciety and also the bad focus part of my adhd and luckily i still retain my personality now.

Surs it sucks i skipped the right meds till my 20s but better at that age than at my 40s or 50s atleast videogames helped me alot in the time i was off meds :)


So yeah most certainly video games gave me alot of friends, mental stability, a lover (wich sadly turned out to be a bitch but ohwell theres millions of other ppl out there :) ) and got me through suicidal and stressfull periods in my life. And moments to never forget like for example i had a game room in my teens wich lasted for like 4 a 5 years where friends and i would play games daily together they brought new games consoles food tvs furniture new friends etc it was amazing.

So without videogames i would be 6 feet under by now.

Click to shrink...

Awesome read.

 

[Bakercat]

Gained laziness, lost hours of boredom and dealing with people.

 

[petethepanda]

I used to have solid points on the "gained" side of things, new friends and camaraderie and all that, but that was all when I was younger. In the years since finishing college, I haven't met any new friends through gaming, and the groups of friends I had who bonded over it have long since moved away and drifted apart. It's only the lost time that remains, really. Lots and lots of time.

I enjoy games in the moment, and they're at least sometimes valuable to me as a coping mechanism (in moderation), but I'm starting to play much less than I used to. As I get older and time keeps moving faster and faster, I start to worry about the time that could have been spent on other things, something more substantial than fleeting enjoyment from "comfort food" media. I'd like to spend more time trying to create things instead of just consuming things.

And I guess that actually loops back around to one more point for gained, or at least a potential one. In recent years I've started to feel inspired by more and more games. Undertale shook me out of a long funk and is largely responsible for the fact that I can say "I wrote a book," Nier Automata slightly changed the way I see the world and pulled into focus another thing I had rattling around in my head, and just a few weeks ago Wandersong left me desperately wanting to get out there and somehow find a way to be a part of creating something bigger than just me and a keyboard. I don't know if any of these urges will ever lead to anything, but they're coming more and more often, and games have been a big part of it. So that's something, I guess.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Probably about $1000 this gen

 

[Theta]

Lost: Probably nothing.
Gained: Becoming a possible miser.

 

[Asbsand]

Lost: Friends and social opportunities
Gained: A passion for creativity and not just doing what people expect me to.

If I hadn't been such a nerd I wouldn't have started a career in gamedev. My main other hobby is music and though I sort of broke off from that after college, I remember realizing that there's a lot of introverted, frankly strange people, in music too, and that the best songwriters and composers I talked to there were pretty egotistical and weren't writing for parties or anything, they were just really nerdy about music the same way I was nerdy with gaming. That was the realization that made me think that there's probably more for me to like if I just pursued a career in the industry instead of always looking down at my hobby just because all my friends used to do that.

 

[violent]

Lost respect, gained appreciation for my time.

 

[Deleted member 5853]

Lost: time, social skills, building a set of healthy habits in favor of playing video games


Gained: a distaste for being classified as a gamer, an appreciation for the insane amount of work it takes to make games, a group of cool music-loving folks on a gaming website, a sense of content for not having my identity predicated on liking video games. Oh, and a couple solo wins in Fortnite.

 

[Ayirek]

I guess I watch less TV and fewer movies now, but I haven't really lost anything. I enjoy games and have made friends through the medium so I've gained that

I definitely cannot relate to the "lost that job" scenario in the OP. That sounds like someone with addiction issues.

 

[Barrel Cannon]

Gained: Friends(m23 Primethius) Thanks Halo
Lost: Time/Sleep(Thanks league of legends)

 

[methodiczero]

I have gained a bunch of new friends all around the world, analytical thinking and problem solving skills and, most of all, a career in an industry that I adore!

 

[Hanzakisan]

Gained: Lots of unforgettable memories, friends and life expriences. English skills.

Lost: As a collector I wasted lots of money on gaming but it was probably worth it on a long run.
But who knows... :D

 

[Pokemon Master Tim]

I lost love and gained a backlog. Pretty much the same things though.

 

[eXistor]

Thanks to playing videogames I've gained a job that allowed me to buy a house and have zero debt. Also a shit-ton of videogames. A hobby that keeps me busy and sane every day. Pretty good deal.

 

[TheUnseenTheUnheard]

I became anti social during my last year of middle school and up until my sophmore year of high school. Maybe this was actually due to puberty or something but I definitely remember starting to play a lot more games at that time.

I don't really regret it. I've had some amazing experiences online with people across so many games.

 

[RockmanBN]

My knowledge of TV, Music, and Movies passed 2010.

 

[Dremorak]

I got a job in the industry, so I guess I wouldn't have my job without games.
I don't really have any other skills, if I wasn't making games I'd be stocking shelves.

Lost....a lot of time I guess, but I dont regret any of it.

 

[Deleted member 17630]

Lost: money, time doing more "productive" things, maybe some school grades when I was younger
Gained: Friends, experiences, a passion for technology, a career, an interest in Japan (going for the first time in May), and something that always keeps me excited about the future.

Yeah it's worth it.

 

[Deleted member 42]

Lost: Weight
Gained: Time

 

[Celine.D.Sykes]

Gained 6kg, lost time and money most of the time. Games worth the money and time are rare, most aren't.

I've been caught by SOTC on PS2 and outside of rare games, like Bloodborne or Smash Melee, I've never found the same level of awesomness. PUBG is the only game I play now. Let's hope Death Stranding and Sekiro will be worth the hype and wait.

 

[DOT_mjo]

Lost: A social life
Gained: Endless happiness and a gut.

 

[Lifendz]

I suppose I lost time and money I wouldn't have spent on various peripherals and other top-end devices to get the best gaming experience possible.
What I gained I can't put a price on. I can't even really quantify. It's the best hobby in the world. I've cried, laughed, been frustrated and felt pure elation from gaming. And thanks to online multiplayer, I'm able to connect and interact with family and friends I haven't seen in years.

 

[Mreow]

I lost so much time and money and missing out on some great social events with friends and family by dedicating almost my entire life to gaming. Sure i had friends who played games every now and then but it has always been a big part of my life. I would say that gaming is what defines me as i have never had any interest in doing any form of sports, or watching any sports or something like that, but my fondest memories is from gaming. I gained the feeling of watching my 3 kids growing up and teaching them how to play videogames and being a part of their hype train whenever something new is announced. Walking in to my oldest kids room seeing him sitting there talking with his friends and sharing some sick gameplay videos he just did, and then turning his pc off and coming to me asking «Dad, can we fire up your Super Nintendo today and play some 2 player games?» just brings tears in my eyes.

In short: Lost something but gained so much.

 

[Deleted member 8593]

Super Seducer helped me get a girlfriend.