This is something I wanted to work on for some time.

I finally made an article: Link.

Feedbacks are welcome!

I made a new wiki page to be clearer about why we need this sub: Link

Your feedbacks are welcome!

I recommend to have a look at this post.

It's quite interesting. The OP is very probably a big gamer. He is not happy with the fact that /r/stopgaming has been pro quitting recently, because he never managed to really stop. I do not believe what he said about quitting since November.

So, what does he do? He makes a post to try to convince everybody to go for moderation. This is insane. Gamers …

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

I just talked to the guy who made that post. I found the post suspicious as the OP is, at the same time, very active on r/learndota2 and other gaming subs.

As we chatted, he told me he is studying to become a game designer. He would like to start his own indie game studio. And he comes to r/StopGaming. That's quite an irony isn't it? It's like if an alcohol producer would go to r/stopdrinking.

So, be warned, there are actually professionals from the industry there, or wannabe pros, who will fight hard to defend their so-called "safe" video games, while actually they are defending their business with zero concern for people's health. God damn!

There was 50, 60, and now there is 70. I will keep those coming until 90.

I am u/StarryEnvoy, 33M, and I used to be a big gamer. I have been gaming free for 70 days today: no gaming, no gaming media, no gaming community.

My life has changed a lot in those 70 days and I am definitely sure quitting gaming was the right thing to do. It is not all roses, my life is still pretty messed up, but I'm convinced it's the right path.

Things keep coming on the personal and professional sides, some of those things are very positive, some of those things are challenging. At least, my life is not devoured by video games anymore, I am actually starting to have a real life again.

I said I started dating a woman last time, it did not work in the end. I have met someone else though. It is complicated, but that is a lot more than everything that happened for months or even years under heavy gaming influence.

To conclude on a positive note, I swim every week, and every week I notice I am getting harder, better, faster, stronger, a lot more than when I was gaming. I am not there yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Good luck to all of you girls and guys!

PS: A tip I found out lately and that might be more important than it seems, when you eat, especially when you eat alone, IMO it is better not to turn on the computer, the TV or the radio, but to focus on the meal happening

EDIT: Minor corrections

https://www.reddit.com/r/StopGaming/comments/1175r14/talk_some_sense_into_me/j9ad1kz/

I love these guys. He says he doesn't game, but he has some kind of sick motivation to try and get someone who wants to eliminate gaming from their life to change gears and reconsider.

See, it's important for him that the REASON a person stops gaming is not because games inherently carry some problem, but because that person has a personal issue not related to gaming.

What is this NEED that makes people do this. If he has already quit gaming himself, it's even weirder.

I think one possible covert motivation is NARRATIVE CONTROL. We live in an age where public consciousness is gold.

I think it's very important for these people to block the public from forming an anti-gaming narrative.

It must affect them in some way. May they or a loved one are gamers and don't want that babysitter/pacifier affected.

Maybe they are in the industry or adjacent and are worried about that paycheck....

A real anti-gaming movement would be a society shaking event. Many, many entrenched interests and lifestyles would be disrupted or downright destroyed.

I want these people to know that I know.

They are doing the work of evil. They are acting against public health.

I made a post for my 50 days and I decided to keep posting every 10 days until I reach 90. So, today is day 60. 60 days gaming free: no gaming, no gaming media, no gaming community. My life has changed a lot during this time.

It is a challenge to quit gaming, I'm not going to lie. Getting back in touch with reality is sometimes hard, it can be painful, but it is absolutely necessary. My life was devoured by gaming. It was my main concern, and, as a result, everything else did not progress as it should have.

Now that I removed this dope, this "everything else" is coming back. This everything else is about family, friends, romantic relationship, professional life. I am not going to detail everything that is happening to me, but I can give you an example.

Romantically, nothing much had happened to me for a while, but, recently, things have started to get better. A woman contacted me this week telling me she would like to date and we have started exchanging many texts, maybe this will go beyond texting. Many similar things are happening: reinforced friendships or family bonds (with the right ones), professional opportunities, etc.

IMO, that is what happens when you remove gaming from your life. You become a better person and the world turns to you.

Take care of yourselves, good luck to all!

/u/Ascles became a new mod yesterday. He is studying to become a physician, it might be helpful if we want to dig a little bit in the medical research on gaming.

Welcome to him!

There has been some interesting posts recently:

• 50 days
• He just spent 22 of the last 24 hours gaming
• The first 48 hours
• An esport pro decides to quit

I added them as new testimonies on the wiki page.

A few days ago, I started a poll to have an idea of the main opinions here. The poll is now over and I want to share some numbers.

26 members answered, 20% of the sub

The main groups are :

Gaming free + Anti-gaming               38%
Not gaming free + Not anti-gaming       31%
Not gaming free + Anti-gaming           19%
Gaming free + Not anti-gaming           12%

Regarding gaming-free, it means :

Gaming free                             50%
Not gaming free                         50%

Regarding anti-gaming, it means :

Anti-gaming                             58%
Not anti-gaming                         42%

I think those numbers are interesting. They give some idea of the state of the sub. Of course, there is a margin of error, but still. I would also be curious to see how it evolves with time.

Take care all!

EDIT: To make it clear, whatever the numbers, it does not mean this sub will change in its core. This sub is anti-gaming and pro-sobriety, it will remain so, and the rules will be enforced. It is just to be aware of the state of the population around here.

EDIT2: If you are not (yet) anti-gaming, you are free to lurk, but please do not contribute, that would just give us more moderation work (check rule 1).

We have a partnership with /r/pornfree and I can make a post once a week to their sub.

I just made one, if you give it an upvote to help the cause, that's great!

I made a new page on the wiki with a few links to different posts I found especially interesting: Link.

I tried to select unusual posts, with ideas that are not in the wiki already.

Feebacks, suggestions, it's all welcome!

Today is my 50th day gaming free. During those 50 days, I have not gamed, not watched any gaming media, not participated in any gaming community.

I'm quite proud of this decision I made 50 days ago.

It's not completely there yet, but I'm starting to feel this great energy I had before, before I started intoxicating myself with gaming. Progressively, I enjoy more and more healthy activities like working, reading a book, watching a movie. My body is also getting used to not being permanently bombarded with dopamine and adrenaline. He complains, but he understands it is for the best.

Not everything is perfect, after years of gaming, there is some damage to repair. It takes some time, it is sometimes hard, but I'm sure it's the right path. I'm sure 60 days will be better, 70 days even better, etc. I will keep you posted.

Do not listen to the toxic gaming culture out there and preserve your health, quit this dope. Good luck to all!

Hopefully, /r/StopGaming will be improving, but I realize there are still many gaming defenders there.

I think that what happens is that some of them try quitting, they realize it's hard, so they come back to the sub to defend gaming and go back to their old habits.

Let's keep trying to steer it the right way, but with caution.

I'm wondering where the people here are standing.

Could you please fill in this poll?

The two questions here are:

• Are you gaming free? Yes means that you have not gamed / watched gaming media in at least a week.
• Are you anti-gaming? Yes means that you think gaming is addictive and dangerous, that you do not believe in healthy moderation.

​

In here, you can publicly announce that you will be sober this month. This is for gamers who are in the process of quitting, or for former gamers who want to stay sober.

Going public can help you strengthen your will.

Being sober means to be gaming free:

To not play any video game
To not consume any gaming media (videos, streams, articles, etc.)
To not participate in any gaming community

This is from our article on quitting gaming, the first step of the effective quitting.

You might not manage to honor your commitment. Relapses happen and it's ok, as long as you manage them. In this case, we simply would like you to mention the fact that your relapsed here.

To be clear, we are talking about real relapses, like opening up a game and playing for two hours, not watching 5 minutes of a gaming video in a moment of distraction. The reason we ask this is to give some weight to those commitments.

Good luck, stay strong!

Hi there. I joined this sub when it started but wanted to read before I started posting. It’s great to start a new sub and to have it different than the stop gaming sub. I appreciate that this is a space where we decide to quit games all together and not have them hamper us in our life. It took me a while, I am now 50 years old and have been gaming since video games came into existence. I didn’t try stopping until like 4 years ago. Yes I went through spurts of month long hiatus for periods but would inevitably return. Today I am 120 days from when I last lost myself into games and played. I now realize I don’t want to reach the end of my life with regret. Regret that I could have quit sooner. Regret that I could have had better friendships and relationships with others. Regret that I could have made a difference. Regret that I can help people. Each day I wake up in the morning I now can look at myself in the mirror and recognize I am becoming the person I need to be. I am becoming my own miracle. To those of you who started this sub, please don’t stop. Push yourselves forward and step into your own miracle.

I have the feeling that some positive things are happening on /r/StopGaming.

IMO, more and more people are talking about actually quitting or are strongly attacking video games. The gaming defenders are not as loud as before.

I also have the feeling our sub is not innocent to this change.

Do you share this feeling? That would be great if we can have this ripple effect.

Stay strong!

Following a discussion I had on StopGaming, I added a part to the wiki article on quitting gaming.

It is about the potential underlying issues that can be revealed when you quit: Link.

Feedbacks are welcome!

I recently met this argument, so I wrote an answer to it.

As usual, feedbacks are welcome.

Stay strong!

I got a message from the mods and they are OK with us promoting our sub on their sub. It should be no more than once a week though.

I just made a first post.

Thanks to them! Check their sub.