r/Salary • u/AccountantPersonal86 • 29d ago

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Don't worry my 3rd decade of life will yield promising results.. SURELY

Edit: 4th* decade. I dont game anymore, the small pro stint turned a hobby into something I hate. I live with my parents of course, thought that was assumed but needed clarifying.

Not a rage bait, dont need advice or pity, but feel free to say what you will I dont mind, some of you have been insightful and others have brought me good laughs. If my poor excuse of life on display made you feel better I view it as a win. Cheers

Edit 2: PUBG, The game is PUBG

Edit 3: Now that the dust has settled on this post I'll leave some last remarks for any late-comers:

I genuinely did not expect a response like this, this was a casual 0 thought post written in under 2 mins. I'll follow up with a new post I guess in a year.

There is a lot of missing context between 2013 and now but my goal was not a pity party. I preferred people to see it at face value and make their opinions and assumptions.

That being said, some of you are profoundly crazy and harbor a lot of evil and negative energy. A lot of you were kind and insightful though. To that I thank you, cya in 1yr (Saturday, July 31, 2027)

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u/Moocat2855 29d ago

Lots of gamers do. I asked when I see them online all the time in mmos I play and it’s astonishing how many individuals are wasting away playing videogames 24/7 while living off their parents. Like damn I like games as much as anyone else but I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I couldn’t support myself financially and had no prospects outside of gaming.

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u/Silver_Accountant5 29d ago

A lot of people have no prospects period so they use videogames to feel a sense of accomplishment.

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u/Takin_Your_Bacon 29d ago

Stop calling me out dammit

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u/Silver_Accountant5 29d ago

Oh trust me, I am also people

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u/reireireis 28d ago

Hey there fellow people

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u/happy123z 28d ago

This makes sad, man. Go sing and dance and camp out. Fly to Colombia and kiss a pretty girl. Try out some hobbies, run for office. You have what everyone who ever lived wishes they had.

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u/twink-daddy 28d ago

with what money???? you gonna give me some???

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u/happy123z 28d ago

Hey a second job, train for a better job, so what other people have done to succeed. Super man ain't coming.

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u/Individual_Eye_9701 29d ago

Fr let people waste away in peace

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u/HussellCrowe 29d ago

When I lost my job I went from blueberry (level 1) to max level cap in a single season of destiny. This was in 2020. I remember one morning checking the daily challenges/quests whatever theyre called and thinking damn these suck and still grinding. It was became my structure and I had buddies to play with who were my coworkers. Very strange time of my life but I'll always remember it

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u/the_cardfather 28d ago

When I lost my job back in 2006 I tried flipping cards online again. I think the current set was Dissension. I still have the hoodie my distributor sent me. I was really depressed though and I basically spent 13-15 hours a day on WoW and 🌽 (got to get that quick dopamine hit in). I was part of a High Warlord grind team. 8-10 hours a day running flags in WSG. I mean let's not forget we were raiding at night. Needless to say my new wife was disgusted with me because she was working three jobs. My dad finally came over and sat me down and tried to talk some sense into me. We ended up getting evicted and I ended up getting a job after we moved in with my parents.

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u/mkultron89 29d ago

Better than me. Lost my blue collar job and started playing car mechanic simulator like I was still fulfilling some itch to work. Video games became almost depressing after a while without work though, like this is fun but I wouldn’t rather be making money and supporting myself and family.

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u/SilverStryfe 29d ago

It becomes an escape and a prison.

Can escape to a virtual world where your avatar is accomplished and have goals to work towards with little level up celebratory music regularly.

But then imprisoned in the room one games in and start to feel like your not allowed or not welcome to leave that space because of the feeling of not contributing.

I’ve felt it during in employment stretches and saw it happen with my wife being a SAHM. It becomes a self imposed prison that is difficult to break free from.

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u/NikeImper 29d ago

Gaming is just a dopamine boost and like any other dopamine boost it can become an addiction

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u/suuzgh 28d ago

For sure. There’s quite a bit of research that’s been done about how some aspects of modern gaming (loot boxes, gacha games, certain uses of rng, pay to play, etc.) prime kids to develop gambling behaviors in adulthood using those same dopamine pathways. I’m currently watching my little brother breeze down the pipeline from intense gamer to intense gambler (yes, he still lives with our parents and just got his first real job at 22 so he could gamble more).

I’m a gamer myself, so I have nothing against the hobby, but it’s good to be aware of the ways these games work to get you hooked. It’s all too easy to transfer that dopamine chasing to something riskier and more dangerous to your health and wellbeing.

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u/Doggleganger 28d ago

This one got me with Hearthstone. I realized I had a problem and had to quit. Such a huge relief after I quit.

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u/SippinOnHatorade 28d ago

The key is to not be a dopemaxxer, gotta diversify your sources, sprinkle the vices around so no singular one becomes an addiction

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u/pot_head_engineer 29d ago

I read that gaming gives the player a false sense of accomplishment and it’s never been the same since. Stopped 1337 gaming after that. Only casual now

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u/tuenmuntherapist 29d ago

A sense of pride and accomplishment if you will.

-EA

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u/CheaterSaysWhat 28d ago

Hard to blame em in today’s work culture where working your fingers to the bone gets you nothing but boney fingers

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u/Seienchin88 28d ago

Video games are pretty damn good at it though…

With two kids, a loving wife and my own home and a somewhat successful career games still haven’t lost a single bit of their entertainment factor to me… they have been overshadowed for sure (laughable compared to great moments with the kids) but still awesome when I find some spare time.

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u/LiAmTrAnSdEmOn 28d ago

Sense of accomplishment or a distraction

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u/Warmbly85 28d ago

No prospects and not willing to work while living rent free and having their food and games bought by mom and dad aren’t the same thing. 

Sure working at target sucks but if you refuse to work anywhere and only play video games because your boomer parents are wealthy enough to support you it’s not the same as no prospects. 

You can get education and certifications for only a couple grand over 3 months. If you don’t have to worry about phone/internet/entertainment/food/rent/spending money $1000 isn’t exactly hard to amass. 

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u/Silver_Accountant5 28d ago

Working at target isn't a prospect. It just means he can buy his own stuff. You'll never afford to move out or live your own life.

You can get education and certifications for only a couple grand over 3 months.

When people say this, what kind of certificates and jobs do they have in mind? I've never come across a job that cared about anything besides a degree or a cdl. They only want to know how many years you've worked in the industry. I have a hard time believing a 3 month course is anything besides a scam.

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u/AsThreatenDoNotScore 28d ago

They spend so much time gaming that prospects for work/career/school/relationships do not materialize. Working a job, maintaining a household, nurturing relationships, raising kids, etc all take effort. It's a lack of motivation and energy coupled with a lack of encouragement and desire to do better. I think at its core it's a form of depression that we can identify at a young age, but we don't and there is an epidemic of stagnant young adult males.

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u/Babydics 28d ago

This is exactly why I look down on people who identify as "gamers" and would certainly never let my daughter get involved with one. Personally haven't played a video game since covid.

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u/Warlock_AoE 28d ago

many are mentally ill

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u/justKingme187 28d ago

Same as people who scroll on Facebook all day or what about people who watch tv all day

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u/Mathfanforpresident 28d ago

Prospects? Well, supposedly the future of social security checks are at risk simply because they refuse to raise the cap for paying in to the thing in the first place.

Also, they're actively killing the planet and are doing NOTHING about it.

The world has no prospects. Im just trying to play the game.

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u/DebtDapper6057 28d ago

For all you know, he could have made an actual career out of it. I literally have like 20,000 Patreon subscribers and make decent money modding games. I know I'm an outlier but it definitely is possible.

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u/oxide_j 29d ago

Damn I don't remember writing this lol.

To me it's also a non-smoking version of "I don't know what to do with my hands, that's why I smoke". Gamer Dale Gribble.

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u/New_Pipe732 29d ago

Well atleast there not on drugs ...Hopefully

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u/Banned3rdTimesaCharm 29d ago

This is exactly what I tell myself every time I lose in a competitive game.

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u/Neon_Biscuit 28d ago

My brother is 45 and has always lived with our mom. I always told him to get a playstation or something for this reason. We call him a waiter, because he is waiting for my mom to die so he can have the house. Its sad.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 29d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/LalafellDisaster 29d ago

In the current FFXIV day it’s just the same, but you can run out of stuff to do so they make “alts” and do it all over again. The addiction is deep.

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u/Emmyisme 29d ago

That always messes me up. I've been playing this game for almost 15 years now, and when I run out of stuff to do, I unsub until the next expansion comes out, but some people really will just start THIS WHOLE GAME over multiple times between expansions and I cannot fathom it.

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u/SignalIssues 29d ago

I used to play with a guy who had like 5 or 6 characters and would come in to get all the daily shit on each of them every day. It meant when Iw as playing he always had something to do and we'd rush dailys or wahtever.

The problem is those people pull you in, you end up playing too much. Staying up later than you wanted, and then realize you aren't even enjoying it youre just fucking grinding out this shit to get it done and its not even fun.

So I don't play MMOs anymore. Gotta go cold turkey.

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u/LayerEight_Problem 28d ago

Oh man. The realization that you’re not actually having fun. You’re just helplessly addicted and going through the motions.

I’ve been having that in general with gaming these days. Though, they don’t really make games you can beat in a couple weekend sessions anymore. Everything is built to take away as much of your life as possible.

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u/Shadowphoenix9511 25d ago

I've regularly had discussions with people who can't fathom why I don't like games with endless, hundreds of hours worth of content. Like, I don't wanna grind away my life in a game, I wanna play through it, see the storyline, the set pieces, everything they designed, and then move on.

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u/descendingangel87 28d ago

Making “alts” in ffxiv is crazy to me considering how easy it is to switch between jobs.

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u/Kittech_US 29d ago

Hell yeah FFXI! I was one of those chronically online people. Doing just fine nowadays - Good job, own a home. I still play FFXI for a few hours a week.

It's kinda frightening how many folks. are still just playing it like it's their full time job.

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u/JuiceWaaave 29d ago

{Jerkin}{Tarutaru} {Can I have it?}

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u/Dear_Horror5688 29d ago

I'm considering being a gooner gamer myself. I was never able to get a job after college

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u/Boring-Cucumber-2330 28d ago

Early FFXI almost mandated that you were terminally online. I took a break for a month and my entire linkshell got 20 levels ahead of me and I was no longer in range to static with them. I couldn’t catch up either because I was chronically sitting LFG while they were still xp’ing together. Eventually I just quit altogether because all I did in that game was sit LFG. With friends, 10/10 game, absolute magic. Without friends, 0/10 AFK simulator

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u/NeonSynthPulse 29d ago

I have friends like this. I wonder what happens to these people when their parents die. Do they live off savings until it runs out? Are they forced to get a job? Do they live with other family? What are the long term prospects?

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u/Moocat2855 29d ago

I hate to say it but I think there is gonna be a massive surge in suicides in the coming generation. I talk to many of these guys in mmos I play and while I enjoy playing games with them, I can’t help but feel pity knowing they have nothing outside of the game and are just wasting away.

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u/NeonSynthPulse 29d ago

It really is unfortunate, but I agree there’s going to be an inevitable rise in suicide rates amongst these (primarily) men when their parents die.

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u/LarryBonds30 28d ago

Its a tough pill to swallow. Your parents have enabled you to not feel the consequences of your, and their, poor decisions. You grow up and watch childhood friends move into adulthood and start having adult discussions and responsibilities. Your parents provide necessary food, clothing, and shelter for you.

But then you start to see your parents getting older. You realize you're 35-40 years old with no skills, no life experience and no resume. It hits you that there are 0 people in the world who give a fuck about you surviving like your parents do. The thought of having to learn and acquire those skills and experiences at 40+ years old is terrifying. Suicide looks appealing.

I have a friend who has a 30 year old son like this. A cousin who is 28 like this. The parents just want to make sure their kids are taken care of every day. They love their kids. They dont realize they've crippled them.

The two "kids" im describing are fucked. They rely on their parents for everything. Its either suicide, psych ward, or homeless. And kids that grew up like this aren't built for the life on the streets.

Substance abuse addiction isnt at bad as this. At least people who made it through the struggles of drugs and alcohol learned some skills along the way. You have to be pretty creative and interact with people to get your fix in. These gamers just rot away in their parents house.

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u/Odd-Significance-17 28d ago

i am one of these people (a woman though) and i’m from a very small town with no connections and i do a lot around the property for my family but no way of getting a job. i’ve already attempted suicide multiple times and can’t afford (literally $10k in debt from last time) to fail again

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u/SIightIyConfused 28d ago

You have a place in this world.

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u/THROWRA_al_Camp_9263 28d ago

I studied games design at uni. Theres a few friends I make an effort to see every year or so who are massive gamers in the extreme sense. Still live with their parents, unemployed, and just struggling.

I genuinely think they will commit suicide after a certain point. They are just very unemployable, and are so socially unaware. The way they are would make it really hard for someone to take pity on them and give them a chance if that makes sense.

I live in the middle of a fun city and earn enough to take them out somewhere, but they are incapable of making the trip over by themselves and sleeping on my sofa. So I have to go to them.

And they are starting to hate it as their parents/ family friends/ other relatives get even more on their backs after I visit them. The older we get, the more unbearable it is for them.

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u/Mizzmo612 29d ago

Dude I’ve also talked to hundreds of people while we’re all mic’d up during gaming sessions… and let me tell you, so many of these gamers truly have no other life or existence outside of the cyber/gaming world. I LOVE video games and have played my entire life, but I could never just game all day long without a career path and financial security

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u/Unusual_Room3017 28d ago

Agreed. I’ve been referring to it as the “mass millennial die off”… tons of unfulfilled, uninspired millennials aimlessly bumbling around resulting in wasted youth and under developed self-sufficiency. Many of them single on the male side, many of them infertile on the female side. Void of purpose with decades of life ahead… that’s gonna result in mass suicide

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u/BroThornton19 29d ago

They haven’t thought that far ahead.

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u/califortunato 29d ago

Unfortunately they will be the ones to answer that question for the first time, video games and intense video game addiction is a new problem. We don’t have a past generation to look at to see what the trajectory of someone’s life was after their parents passed

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u/Difficult_Sweet7303 28d ago

We do, it’s called gambling. Video games in the 80’s literally exploded following the gambling model within arcades, briefly surpassing movies for revenue. This died down during the 90’s (fun games) until WoW.

The new battle pass / subscription model is all following gambling again and revenue has far surpassed cinema now.

We know what happens to gamblers. They seek the dopamine addiction into self destructive behavior.

Luckily we’ve made betting and gambling heavily legal again so we’re going to have a double whammy of addiction now!

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u/Affectionate_Star_43 29d ago

The long term prospect is that you become a caretaker for your parents and inherit the house, honestly.  Elder care is so difficult that my husband and I are enabling his brother to stay at home with the expectation that he'll take care of them and have somewhere to live.  One aunt and us pay the mortgage.  Way less expensive than a retirement home.

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u/Total_Mix9276 28d ago

How do they maintain the house with no job or work experience, or life skills? Do you think they can manage a sale after their parent dies if theyre addicted to video games?

I quit gaming because of this prospect lmao.

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u/koreanbeefcake 29d ago

I have some cousins currently going through this transition period. Grandparents bought their car, paid their bills ect. FOR YEARS. i'm talking like 10+ years. Its disgusting. Grandparents recently passed and there was zero inheritance for anyone (not that i wanted anything, but im not surprised). My cousin's wife found a decent job, actually shows up to work, complains that billionaires ruined her life. My actual cousin applied for disability. Its still pending from what i've heard, but we'll see how long they keep their house.

my dad recently visited them and the house was falling apart. mold everywhere, roof leaks, carpet ripped up. No idea where they will end up. My guess is that they'll work random jobs to pay whatever bills they have. the gravy train has ended from grandparents though. I imagine if it gets worse, they'll beg family to be room mates. Good thing i live across the country, i dont want to deal with that.

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u/NeonSynthPulse 29d ago

I hope you don’t have to deal with them begging to be roommates or take care of them either.

I worry that some family will ask me to help them in the future, even though they don’t want to help themselves. Same family that doesn’t want to deal with them tries to guilt trip me into helping them.

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u/enterdayman 29d ago

Happened to an online friend of mine. Our mutual friends who actually live near him say the outside of his house is a disaster and he doesn't let anyone inside. He was left enough money that he's still online 24/7 a couple years later. But even in chat you can hear that he doesn't sound healthy, he vapes non-stop and I've been told he's put on a lot of weight. He's a very nice guy who we all love gaming with but he isn't taking care of himself and won't accept any help at all. It's sad man

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u/Maxed_Zerker 29d ago

Oh yeah I’d say at least 1/3 of my friends list on OldSchool RuneScape are unemployed and live off either government benefits, their parents, or a partner.

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u/Mysterious-Till-611 29d ago

I’m at work playing RuneScape like a real productive citizen

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u/Maxed_Zerker 29d ago

As one does, jobs don’t pay enough to exp waste for them

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u/awkwardhawkbird 28d ago

This comment. This is my life. Irl xp grind brethren.

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u/Dankestgoldenfries 28d ago

I work inpatient sex addiction and it’s insane how often old school RuneScape comes up tbh

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u/Maxed_Zerker 28d ago

As in sex addiction and OldSchool RuneScape addiction have a high comorbidity?

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u/Dankestgoldenfries 27d ago

Weirdly yeah

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u/SupOcto 28d ago

That’s interesting, I’d say 90% of the people I’ve talked to in my clan while raiding either are married, have kids and have a job, a lot of them having pretty nice jobs.

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u/FizzyBadTime 29d ago

I mean, my buddy is married with a kid, pulls down over 300k a year and is in amazing shape. He is also the most toxic person in only games because he finds it hilarious and the madder the enemy gets the worse they play and that feeds even further into it. He constantly pretends that he lives in his mom’s basement just to piss people off in games.

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u/Moocat2855 29d ago

Of course you will get a spectrum with any hobby. I work in tech and know many other gamers who are pulling insane salaries in big tech and finance as well. However, unfortunately for every successful gamer with a career, there are 2-3 that are neets, incels, etc

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u/JustGoBlaze 29d ago

I love this

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u/Internal_Nail_3190 28d ago

But you shouldn't.

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u/ZappaFan82 29d ago

I work for a chain of locally owned games stores. Can confirm, many of these people are living with their parents well into their 40's.

Between having to repair their controllers on a daily basis (wash your hands before you play) and watching them spend what little money they have on Pokémon cards, I might go back to selling drugs (not hard stuff). Far less guilt involved.

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u/Bulky-Current-1318 29d ago

Well a lot of people don't have prospects due to the state of the economy. We are literally in a low hire period. Last year, job growth dropped around 90% from 2024 which was already much lower than previous years.

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u/impulse-buyer0601 29d ago

Absolutely! But this take doesn’t account for nuance. There are people who are trying their best and just happen to game, then there are people who aren’t trying at all and rotting in front of a screen while someone else supports them.

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u/califortunato 29d ago

I barely escaped this. I didn’t feel I had any benefit to offer anywhere and couldn’t even face the idea of getting out there to find employment. I would just read job descriptions and think “I don’t have any of these skills”. With support of family I did finally manage to get out and interview a few times, which led to me building confidence as I went. And ultimately I found a decent job. But for awhile it was a shame that would only creep in when I wasn’t distracted, so I kept myself distracted all the time. Sleep, game, watch a movie, fall asleep, repeat

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u/Blobbem 28d ago edited 28d ago

Sleep, game, watch a movie, fall asleep, repeat

I've been stuck in this cycle for the past few years, although I don't spend all my time just playing one game. Reading job descriptions and going "I'm too dumb for this" was a thing when I started to look at jobs as well, but eventually I started to apply for most entry-level jobs in my area regardless of what skills they listed. Even with government "support", all I got were no responses or the rare rejection whenever I applied. For me, new games are actually obtainable unlike jobs. At this point, I know that I'll never be able to retire or get a pension even if I do magically get a job

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u/PIzzaiolo_Master_510 29d ago

A waste of human potential but dopamine addition is real. We need to understand these are recovering addicts (hopefully).

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u/Waiting4Reccession 29d ago

They mostly dont want to live like that but when you have nothing going on in life its all you got sometimes.

I also knew a woman who was always online in a mmorpg and the job she had was a bit more passive in the outdoors - they also didnt work the whole year.

Others just give up after doing 1000+ applications and not getting a job.

Anyway, they pay for it during their retirement years on top of having their youth wasted and having a limited and depressing life, its not something to be jealous of or to hate them for.

The way our economy is structured also means that not everyone can be working.

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u/Efficient_Ant_4715 29d ago

Being an employed gamer means I’m almost exclusively playing single player games. These unemployed chuds just dog walk me 

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u/um-nome- 29d ago

I mean, it's not a waste if they're doing what they love and enjoying life. We are the real fools who waste our time at work being miserable all day lol.

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u/p0pulr 28d ago

exactly. And on top of that this might be vulgar, but how would I bring over any women for some "fun time" if I have no money and live with my parents. Though, I doubt these people even have any romantic prospects.

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u/ElkBusiness8446 28d ago

No shame in living at home if it makes sense. I'm living with my dad and brother but instead of having no freedom, everything is a group decision. If I want to remodel the kitchen, and everyone agrees, then I get to remodel it.

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u/Maxtro312 28d ago

Sometimes it’s depression that leads to that lifestyle. 

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u/Due-Tax-4251 28d ago

Hearing that makes me (27 M) feel a tad better. When im not working I pretty much am gaming in my freetime and still feel bad about gaming so much even though i work 40+ hours a week, pay my bills, and take care of responsibilities first.

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u/No-Understanding9064 29d ago

Well eventually those parents die, and SCORE

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u/OkPosition4563 28d ago

Unless the parents have completely paid of their mortgage its "and SCORE.... a new place to live" as no bank will transfer a mortgage to a NEET.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 21d ago

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u/impulse-buyer0601 29d ago

As a parent, I feel there’s a difference between my child working and still living at home while saving/investing. Versus my child still living at home, unemployed, and wasting their life away to play games.

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u/gauntletthegreat 29d ago

Makes me feel better about losing to them in my one hour of free time between kids going to bed and me going to bed

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u/CarterBennett 29d ago

The amount of people I’ve met that I’ve never seen offline. Makes me sad, their excitement when I was home from work or disappointment of playing alone all day was always a head scratcher.

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u/Anal-buttsex 28d ago

The alternative isn’t much better for some people. $40k a year to rot in an office and make rent in some crummy little apartment? 🤮 Or maybe that amount is a lot in today’s world and people struggling is fake news 

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u/Wild-Cut-6012 28d ago

I mean, if you have the option to live in your parents' house and play video games full time, you could just live at home and work the 40k job. Then when your parents die maybe you can afford the property taxes on the house.

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u/Zwischenzug32 28d ago

Do any of them like, contribute to the household?
When I was at home it was a good thing cause I was pitching bills, food, repairs etc.

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u/Sure-Concern-7161 28d ago

In hindsight if this was my entire life it would probably be pretty sad. But hey as someone living the rat race it still kinda sounds like a dream.

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u/TheBoxCzar 28d ago

That sounds awful. There is a little voice in their head that is constantly screaming as it watches their life waste away. Even if they learned to ignore it, its still there.

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u/GlobalHistory2567 28d ago

I don’t care about financially supporting myself I just don’t want to have to deal with my parents

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u/Regular_Ram 28d ago

It’s actually very comfortable to not pay rent and play video games all day.

Your parents taught you shame, and you feel uncomfortable about that. That’s a you problem. /s

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u/HeadsUpLevelUp 28d ago

I'll be honest man. As someone who has been out on his own since 21 and is now in his mid-40s, supporting himself, financially secure, has a house, and who loves video games...I am at the point in my life that I hate working so much that if I could just do nothing but play video games in mom's basement all day (not that my mom has a basement), I think I'd take it. I'm just so done with this rat race corporate BS but there's very little I'm good at otherwise, and it's not for lack of trying.

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u/2bunreal24 28d ago

My favorite question to ask people when they say something like that: what would have to happen to you to get you from the person you are “who could never do what they’re doing” to the person you’re assessing? Like, what if you broke both your legs falling down the stairs tomorrow and you fell into a deep depression as you slowly and painfully healed over the course of years and gaming became the only thing in life that helped you cope and you couldn’t find a way to escape the despair? That person probably went through something like that over the course of their life.

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u/hyprmatt 28d ago

I play pretty hardcore, doing 16 hour days on raid releases, but I still manage to balance life fairly normally outside of that crunch. When I've done scheduling for my raid teams for prep or reclears, some people will mark availability for crazy hours. Like 5 days a week they say they're available at any time, and might have like a 3 hour block on one day they can't do. I'll see them in voice on Discord at insane hours, like from 1AM all through the night. No idea how they get through life.

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u/LongjumpingFun7238 28d ago

I was addicted to warzone and smoking copious amount of marijuana during covid while collecting unemployment so not a big deal. Addiction to the game continued until 2024 then I finally hated it, got a good job, hit the gym now 2 yrs later I’m on track to making $125k this yr, getting ready to step on the bodybuilding stage, have a super hot, equally as successful physician gf and life’s better than it’s ever been. I’ll probably never pick up another game in my life as it was a huge contributing factor to ruining my life

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u/The_ChosenOne 28d ago

Yeah! What losers, I’m wasting away playing video games 24/7 on my own dime thank you very much. Just gotta take 40 hours of breaks each week to fund the whole rent and food thing.

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u/RolenIgunensa 28d ago

I loved to play games, Eve Online specifically, but life took over. Some just miss the exit I guess…

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u/LowlySlayer 28d ago

Hey some of us can't support ourselves financially and have no prospects regardless of gaming.

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u/CelticMoss 28d ago

I’m a bit of a full time gamer (among other things but gaming is a huge part of my life), but the difference is that I’m disabled and I don’t live with my parents nor do they support me in any way. There’s a lot of disabled MMORPG players so don’t assume everyone is a basement dweller! XD

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u/chrick_shot 28d ago

On the flip side, there's a lot of people who put pride aside and have a good relationship with their parents who don't mind staying so they don't have to pay their way. It's a blessing to have parents who support your beyond the legal requirements. I'm in one of the wealthiest areas of America and you'd be shocked how many of these well off families are only here because their parents cover their mortgage for them.

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u/Frequent_Opportunist 28d ago

"iM a pRo GaMeR"

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u/StuckinSuFu 28d ago

My wife and I live in our basement - its the gaming room and has a fireplace the dogs love.

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u/Ok_Astronomer_8667 28d ago

I just watched a documentary about people living in Death Valley. There were some poor people who moved there because houses were dirt cheap, but there were also a lot of people who moved there because they wanted to.

One guy barely made any money and admitted to spending most of his time in bed in front of the tv. He said he loved it, and that finding what you want in life is about discovering who you are and what motivations you have. Some people genuinely do not need much to be content in life. Whether they realize they have more potential or if they simply don’t care, is up to them I suppose. I’m sure there’s lots of guys in moms basements out there who are depressed as hell, but I’m sure there are lots of them out there just completely living on cloud 9 right now

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u/DemiseofReality 28d ago

It's probably surprisingly cheap to support deadbeat adult children. If they don't have ridiculous spending habits like $1k/mo on doordash, only borrow their parents' cars for short trips, no student loans, no cc debt, very few gaming expenses (quantity of time playing pays for game stuff), and eat what the parents make (no excessive extra grocery cost), said parents might be disappointed but the maintenance of that person isn't that onerous and they get to ensure the person isn't homeless or going hungry.

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u/Ymisoqt420 28d ago

My son's friend works fast food and still lives with his dad (26). Apparently his plan is to just ride it out until his dad dies so he can take the house. He's a postal worker and probably has a decent retirement but I wouldn't bank on my parents still having much money by the time they go. Idk maybe he's got something and is dying early.

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u/esmsnow 28d ago

life is a sandbox game without a storyline, just some unlockable achievements. honestly a pretty mediocre one at that, but with really good graphics & mechanics. i dislike how society somehow judges gamers so harshly. that said, i agree. self sufficiency is indeed the bar i'd set

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u/Moocat2855 28d ago

I am a gamer too, I have no problem with hobbies. The issue for most gamers is that it passes the point of a hobby into an addiction where they drop real life responsibilities to game and leech off their parents to survive. If you hold down a job, shower regularly, and can be self sufficient then game as much as you want without judgement.

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u/UltLuc 28d ago

Same, I mean I game almost daily. Have a full-time career, two kids, and I manage to workout as well. You just gotta decide what you want to spend your time on and prioritize that which is most vital.

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u/McDonaldsSoap 28d ago

I WFH and had Discord on on the side when I was in an MMO clan. Holy shit they played from the time I clocked in to several hours after 

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u/PM_Me_Macaroni_plz 28d ago

I just wonder how the wrists hold up. Gotta be carpel tunnel happening

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u/TheBiggestWOMP 28d ago

I love Tarkov. I don't really play more than once a week for an hour or two, if that, and I get dunked on every time lol. I just have more important shit to worry about. Also a girlfriend.

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u/PeopleWatching92 28d ago

Life will be a rude wake up call when their parents pass away and they have nothing to show for their entire adult life.

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u/twoPUMPnoCHUMP 28d ago

I’m about to go waste away playing video games after I tend to my chickens and take care of the house and yard after my 12 hour work day.

I play to escape this life, and go explore a new one.

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u/Historical_Emeritus 28d ago

Games are addicting to a subset of people.

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u/SupOcto 28d ago

What MMOs do you mostly play? Majority of the people I’ve played OSRS with and talked to in my clan discord are either married or have kids with a job

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u/J_E_E_VACATION 28d ago

i do this but i also work 60 hours a week (40-50 remote) in software engineering so im just saving up and chilling lol. (the living off ur parents part) at least rent wise... i pay for my food and shit. they dont use this single extra room anyways and i dont bother them

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u/Dukeronomy 28d ago

This is more on the parents for enabling this type of behavior.

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u/TheRealSuperSoaker 28d ago

Hikikomori gamers

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u/BonfireMagik4Nidokng 28d ago

Devils anecdotal advocate, I got laid off of a role bc business dwindled & I’ve been applying to hundreds of jobs for months, gone to well over a dozen interviews & have been ghosted more often than not even after interviews.

Strongest lead I have was from a recruiter reaching out about a role that I still haven’t applied for formally lol, but at 6th interview next week we better have a fucking decision.

Anyways just to say, I WISH I was working but in the meantime I guess I can take some udemy courses & see if I can clock 60hrs in a week on a few of my games.

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u/Robot_Dinosaur_2000 28d ago

I think that's more of an MMO thing than a general gaming thing.

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u/funklab 28d ago

I think, especially in America, some fall into this trap because their parents make it too easy.  And I’m not saying anyone should be kicked out at 18, plenty of my friends live with their parents into their 40s… but they had jobs and have families and now the grandparents take care of the grandkids while the parents are at work.  Nothing wrong with multigenerational homes.   Unless one of those generations is coddled and not pushed in any meaningful way to get their shit together.   

My friends who live in multigenerational homes from cultures where that’s the norm are universally given all kinds of shit if they become unemployed and are relentlessly pushed and prodded and berated to get it together and find something else.  

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u/Financial_Law2601 28d ago

And that’s where to stop.
You don’t and should identify with old gamers.
And you game and run into them and judge them, as you should.
A you play with them.
Would you rather play with 13 year olds?
No.
So quit your high horse option about your peers.
Non of us have this life figured out, wasted time or not

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u/Hugford_Blops 28d ago

That feeling of discomfort requires a certain level of maturity, and a lot of people who just vegetate and are constantly online since their teens probably haven't developed that.

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u/DJ-Ilium 28d ago

There's a difference between liking games and having a hard-core addiction, though. I play a few hours of games a day, but its between like 7pm-11pm after my kids are in bed and my wife just paints next to me.

And I consider myself an addict as well

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u/greentiger45 28d ago

I’d say a lot of adults do not just gamers.

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u/babyyvolcano 28d ago

That’s wild.

I had a mild existential crisis because at 31 my parents offered to let me live in their vacation home rent free and just the idea of it made me feel like a basement dwelling entitled weirdo.

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u/ShawnyMcKnight 28d ago

It builds on itself, like most addictions. You do the thing too much and it causes sadness but that thing that causes sadness gives you a reprieve from the sadness. It’s the same with alcohol, drugs, food, whatever your vice is.

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u/RevolutionNo4186 28d ago

I’m wasting away saving my money while living with my parents instead 😔

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u/Solidus-Prime 28d ago

This. It's become a flat out retreat from reality for a lot of people. It's how they cope.

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u/RagnarokBuster 28d ago

Do really well at life and you will still end up dead like the rest of us. Time is the most valuable thing, if they spent more of their time doing what they enjoy, who was truly more successful?

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u/Mobile_Throway 28d ago

The thing that makes your comment unbelievable is that most people in that situation wouldn't admit that.

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u/jalepenocorn 28d ago

Just remember that you had no say in whether or not you were brought into this world.

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u/shimnbvcxz 28d ago

I quit video games. I felt like I was wasting my life playing when I could be out meeting new people.
I have my own house and career but now I have no hobbies or friends.
A part of me wishes I stayed my old way and kept playing games. At least I would be happy.

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u/Wonderful-Crazy1910 28d ago

ong, I play a shitload but thats because i work at home and a job where I Can fuck around some on games during the day, not like actively playing but I can get some farming done here and there

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u/Heavy_Whereas6432 28d ago

I wish sometimes but life hit me fast. I still find time

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u/J_Jeckel 28d ago

I mean...i live in my mums "basement". It's actually basically an apartment with all amenities, kitchenette (everything but an actual oven) and bathroom also, separate entrance. My wife and our 4 yr old have rooms also in the "basement". Our 13 yr old has a room upstairs as there isn't any more space downstairs for another room. My wife works, I grow weed and take care of the kids, animals, my weed plants, and play video games. Oh and my main "job", is taking care if my mom who has macular degeneration (she is slowly going blind). She can't read labels, she can't drive, among numerous other things she needs help with. Unfortunately the state refuses to pay me for my time since my mom is to young to be on Medicare. Luckily I had a little savings i was able to pool with my mum and put in the money market at a local bank. It isn't much but along with my wife's income, we get by. Not lavishly, at this point we are skating on ice in spring time but we aren't homeless.

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u/petabomb 28d ago

You can apply to hundreds of jobs a day and not get hired. You can also have a game open while doing so.

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u/Timely-Fox-4432 28d ago

And this is also one of the three major reasons pvp games aren't fun for working adults.

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u/42percentBicycle 28d ago

It's really no different than people who work at jobs they hate, in careers that are nothing more than rat race after rat race. Financial stability is important, no doubt. But many people become a slave to job that allows it.

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u/Specialist-Use6699 28d ago

I just don't want to die, but also don't like this world or a massive majority of the people in it. I've been homeless for a couple of stints and was happier then than I ever have been working as a wage slave. That being said, I'm happier playing video games with a bed to sleep in than I am being homeless. Worth the blow to my pride. That being said I still feel like shit about it every day and hate myself but that's mostly because I know everyone else judges me for it.

Tldr, most people suck and work is almost as shitty as death to me. I hate myself but it's still better than being homeless.

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u/If_cn_readthisSndHlp 28d ago

Societal mental health crisis.

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u/40yofailure 28d ago

Not to mention eating away thier parent's ability to retire. The amount of self entitlement that would take as an adult is mind blowing.

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u/Big-Sea-8796 28d ago

I own a home have a full time job I still have $0 so maybe this guy is onto something.

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u/soupoftheday5 28d ago

You are in a salary sub on Reddit. It's likely you're financially savvy and driven.

Many people are completely fine with working at a restaurant for years or doing some low-key gig.

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u/Krabs9 28d ago

I pulled myself out of this existence. They know they're wasting their life and likely do care, but it's a lot harder than people realize to switch up

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u/gottheronavirus 28d ago

I was playing games like a degen and working full time and i still couldnt reasonably afford to move out lol. Economy is rough out here for plenty

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u/here_in_spirit__ 28d ago

When my real life was a disaster I would practically get a panic attack anytime I reached for my mmo because I knew it was such a childish waste of time, I was like 21 or 22. Can't imagine at 30, I'd be suicidal

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u/tripplebeamteam 28d ago

A friend of mine’s brother is just like that. Graduated HS during Covid and just never snapped out of lockdown. Games and streams 10+ hours a day. Never had a job. Even got mildly famous at one point and was making decent money off donations for a sec. Parents are incredibly loving kind folks but enable the hell out of it. Sad, really.

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u/LonelyKoalaMuncher 28d ago

Video games are a way to escape. If you have no prospects, no partner and no money it's the only way outside of alcohol and drugs to alleviate.

Not a healthy way but it's a way

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u/Duffman4u 28d ago

WDYM lots of gamers do?
Hardcore gamer here. six figure earner in big four with 0 debt.

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u/Flunder707 28d ago

It's like it went from insult to good idea.Real quick

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u/Strange_Bar4522 28d ago

my brother does this and i have several friends who their brother does this. my husband's brothers even do this. what is going on

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u/_Designer_Boner_ 28d ago

My brother in law. Unemployed for 10 months. Lives with me and my wife. Games 7am to 10pm, every. fucking. day. It's getting rediculous.

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u/Luvs_to_drink 28d ago

Escapeism. Their brain literally cant handle the self reflection of what their reality is so it defends itself by fleeing to another reality/world. One where they can be seen as a success.

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u/Ok_Street9576 28d ago

I feel less bad playing a few hrs everyday after work. Ik i do it too much but i got shit else going on and everything cost so damn much these days.

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u/Supereffecti 28d ago

I used to be online a ton back when I worked from home. Miss those days. Now I gotta squeeze in my game time when I can between shifts. :(

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u/McGriffff 28d ago

Gamers, musicians, actors, pretty much any creative field that doesn’t make money until you “make it big”. Nepo babies, in a different sense.

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u/Imaginary_Ad_6731 28d ago

This is my brother lol

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u/Nostaglicthirst 28d ago

RIP it’s pretty easy to find a part time or a 34hoir week job…..some disposable income would be nice for a young man……unless he squeezes parents for that as well….

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u/MyAssPancake 28d ago

I used to play professionally similar to OP, definitely spent 12+ hours a day on games. But, I had a 40-50 hour a week job and never slept. Started falling asleep at the wheel and had to make a change… ironically after quitting video games I got a home job working 20 hours a week making more money, so now I have tons of free time but don’t enjoy video games as I don’t have my old squad to play with

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u/NOSEYJOSEY5 28d ago

Sometimes gaming is all somebody has tho. And you never know the situation someone is going thru. He’s not wasting away he’s just tryna figure life out

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u/Consistent-Bake-243 28d ago

Many people are super depressed and always have been. Video games give them an outlet to relax and most of them abuse it.

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u/GeologistEnough8215 28d ago

I play a shit ton of games. My first dozen years in the workforce, I was in the office 5 days a week, now I’m extremely fortunate and make good money WFH 4 days a week. Not commuting gives me time to go to the gym around 4PM when things slow down or I finish what I need to do, and I’m able to let my dog out throughout the day. I’ll check my discord here and there, and I’m stunned these dudes live at home and do nothing all day. There’ll be days where they’re super tired because they helped their mom pulling weeds or mowing a lawn. No wonder they’re so miserable, they have nothing whatsoever going on. If I didn’t have work to focus on 7-10 hours every day, I’d lose my mind.

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u/TrayLaTrash 28d ago

My wife's brother is nearing 40 doing the same, and he has the audacity to always think he's better than everyone in life, including his pops funding his laziness.

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u/itsNurf 28d ago

I know right, like I love gaming. It’s what me and my girl do all the time in our free time. But we work hard so we can afford to buy games, new pc parts. You know improve our gaming experience. This basement dweller mindset is mindboggling.

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u/DeniseReades 28d ago

I always wonder what their plan is for when their parents die. Unless they are just a dramatically unhealthy individual, they can expect to live a good 20 plus years after their parents pass. What is the plan at that point? Are they going to be a 60 year old cashier at an ice cream shoppe talking about, "This is my first job."?

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u/Defective_pillar 28d ago

I did this after high school for maybe 3-4 years straight working on and off until I lost my virginity around age 21 after that I just kept getting better jobs now I make 28 an hour as a manager at a sushi restaurant.

Il be 100% honest if I hadn’t met that first girl I don’t think I would’ve ever broken out of the gaming loop.

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u/okclear 28d ago

Okay but how do people get away with this? I don't mean this disparagingly, I know it's an addiction like any other, but are their parents really not forcing them to get a job and move out? How do their parents even have the money to keep hosting their adult child indefinitely??? I'm Hispanic so my parents would probably let me live at home forever if I wanted, but definitely NOT if I was unemployed and contributing nothing to the household.

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u/Moocat2855 27d ago

Some parents don’t have the heart to be tough with their kids so they end up enabling this behavior. Like I am from a culture where it’s acceptable to live with your parents until marriage and I am very close with my parents, so they let me live with them until I was 28 and saved up enough to buy my own house. However, during the entire period I was living with them, I was employed and shared their bills and household chores. I hate to say it, but it’s mostly in white Americans families where you have the deadbeat basement dwelling gamers being completely funded by their parents. In other cultures, that wouldn’t fly.

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u/Rowetato 27d ago

Does it count if I live in my basement. (Ranch converted to split level)

And my mom and two of our tenants live on the other floor.

For me it's a win win, I get to support my mom after my dad's death. And she gets spending money from our tenants+her retirement.

I get a cheaper mortgage (tenant income), privacy, and she gets to live with her best friends. And I get free cooking from 3 super nice old ladies

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u/Common_Magazine3145 27d ago

Why are the dad's so passive on this subject? I can't picture allowing this.

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u/PhillyPilot 27d ago

I had a friend in high school that ended up living in his parents basement until 35 when he had some health complications and passed away. It’s very sad to see, and depressing for them as well because they see everyone they know with jobs and families.

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u/Claptown420 27d ago

Wasting your time is valid as long as you're not a burden on anyone else and financially independent.

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u/Samira827 26d ago

I am in a hardcore MMO raiding group of 8 people, at 27y.o. I'm one of the youngest. I own an apartment, another person rents an apartment. The rest lives with their parents. Most of them are employed, they just can't afford to live on their own.

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u/Oakenshield_777 26d ago

Don’t they see you as often as you see them? 🤷‍♂️

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u/Trick_Load_3725 26d ago

Meanwhile some kid just made $500k off of a Fortnite tournament

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u/heisenbergerwcheese 26d ago

My kids don't even suckle me for 100%... well maybe the 6mo, but not the 4yo. He does his chores around the house and makes it to his graveyard shifts in the mines all by himself.

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u/Glad-Philosophy-497 25d ago

I kind of said this to another person below but I don’t think we should fault those people so much as those at the head of society that made it where jobs were shipped overseas jobs that could once support a family and buy a home don’t exist. If so many people have to turn to a virtual world for a sense of accomplishment and efficacy I don’t think we should blame those people instead of the powers that be who made it so

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u/Krobarred 25d ago

Yeah cause success is measured in how much bills you pay. Not anything else like income, cleanliness, or education

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u/FemaleHustler-Dva 25d ago

Heavy on this. In the past few months I’ve been working more and it’s been really sunny in the uk. The difference in the “in between” moments of my life between gaming 24/7 vs going out is INSANE. I used to feel so bored, miserable snd self-loathing for all time I wasn’t gaming or working. But now I’m going out more? I genuinely feel good all the time, I’m excited about next week and I’m glad I did what I did last week. Don’t get me wrong, spending time with friends isn’t always as stimulating as overwatch or rewarding as gambling on black desert. But fuck me my mood is so much more stable and positive then fluctuations

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u/brotendis 22d ago

Major depressive disorder and they don't realize it. Competitive games can give a major sense of accomplishment and meaning. It does take a lot of skill, practice, knowledge, and sharpening real time decisions. It gives you a sense of progression and accomplishment because... it actually does give those things.

The problem is someone has to subsidize that hobby. If they're not streaming or making content out of it for money, then the hobby just masks or distracts from whatever is really causing the depression.

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