Media Quitting video games (possibly)

[bdt2002]

Hey there, everyone. This is going to be a much more serious thread than you might be used to seeing from me, depending on how this conversation goes, maybe a noticeably longer one too. As the title of this thread implies, I'm considering quitting playing video games for the foreseeable future. Not only this, but the games that I do own and have grown up with- yes, even that one- I'm considering either placing into storage or selling outright. I've been back and forth with myself on this for a couple of months now, less because of the games and consoles themselves and more because the negative impact that the industry is having on my mental wellness and my behavior. In this thread, I wanted to discuss some of my reasons and hopefully discuss this with anyone else that may be having similar doubts. My goal here is to try and gain as much closure as I can that may help me come to a decision on what the next steps might look like going forward.

First, I want to discuss a matter that I've avoided talking about anywhere on the Forums until now- my faith. For reasons that I hope are obvious, I will not be explaining my faith in detail, what I necessarily believe in or trying to push my beliefs onto other users of this site. What I will say, however, is that during the past couple of months, I've been extremely conflicted on the role of video games and other similar hobbies within my beliefs. This is a matter that, to my understanding, different worldviews can have radically different opinions on, so I see it as healthy to hear what people of multiple different belief systems have to say instead of just hearing from people that believe in the same things I do. My personal conflict in this area of my life really just stems from the fact that I don't believe video games or the current state of the industry are glorifying my faith in any noticeable ways. If anything, the exact opposite seems to be happening- the more hooked I get on these games, the worse my attitude can become around them and ultimately the worse my behavior can become in some cases. This may be a symptom of too much screen time, also, so I'm interested to hear what some of you might have to say about if this is a screen time issue, a faith issue, or some combination of the two.

I mentioned the current state of the industry in the last paragraph, and that's another reason why I'm considering quitting video games. Let me just cut to the chase- the ninth generation of video game consoles (better known as the current PS5 and Xbox Series generation) has been a direct downgrade from last hardware generation as far as I'm concerned. Both in sales numbers and in enjoyment level, the aforementioned platforms as well as PC gaming have given me very little reason to want to pay attention to the future of what I struggle to even call a hobby of mine anymore. Normally this wouldn't be of much concern to me, especially with the inevitable Nintendo Switch successor hopefully providing some much needed variety to the market, but it's what the people close to me play that makes all the difference here. Maybe now more than ever before, I've felt an uncomfortable amount of peer pressure to upgrade hardware and consider playing some of this generation's offerings. To the developers' credit, there are quality AAA and indie games alike that have released since 2020 should you know where to look. Unfortunately, this peer pressure is doing nothing to help me appreciate what I already own, since I know a lot of people would love to have had the childhood I had. There is a very real possibility that my final decision ends up to be continuing what I've been doing- only playing older games and declining to upgrade- but none of this would change my opinions on the industry at large, and more specifically my negative views on the majority of big-brand game producers in an era full of job layoffs, worldwide inflation, and growing concerns about things like artificial intelligence (AI). The last thing I want to do is give these companies my financial support with newer projects of theirs.

Finally, I want to end off this thread's OP with some discussion about what I could do with the games I currently own, should I elect to "get rid of" them. That is to say, do I put these games and the consoles in storage for safekeeping, or do I try and sell a lot of them? Maybe there's another option or two that I haven't considered, either. All I know is that some people have lost games that they hold dear to them and regret getting rid of them, whether by sale or just because the physical games got lost somehow. Basically what I'm trying to say in this paragraph is that I don't want to do something I'll regret, but I also don't want to make this decision any more complicated than it needs to be. Again, maybe I don't get rid of them. But regardless, I'll tell all of you right here and now that I have a nasty habit of overthinking... pretty much everything? There's a very real chance that I didn't even need to make a thread for something like this, and that even writing this I'm making more out of this than I need to. Like I said at the beginning of this post, all I'm looking for is some closure on this subject so I can finally move on from all this constant anxiety I'm having. If you made it this far, thank you very much for reading this post. You have no idea how nice it is for me to finally want to open up about this and talk to like-minded people about what I'm going through. I do want to make one thing clear before I end this post- I'm still generally okay with participating in discussions and comment sections about video games at this time. Otherwise I wouldn't have made this thread in the first place. I want to take this one step at a time if I can and just focusing on the acts of playing and buying them so far. That just about wraps this post up, so I look forward to hearing what you all have to say, and I wish you all the best going forward. Take care, everyone.

 

[chimp]

You just seem burnt out. No need to go cold turkey and drop everything and sell all your games. Think about what you want to do and do it.

Pick up another hobby. Go to the library and don’t leave until you find a book that interests you, then go home and read it. Start a challenge where you watch 1 film a day, and log it on letterboxd. Go to any craft store and buy some paint.

Once you increase the breadth of your interests, you’ll notice ebs and flows between what you spend your time doing. I grew up gaming and doing nothing but gaming. But now sometimes I go long stretches not playing any games. And sometimes I go long stretches without reading, or watching a movie, or doing other things like drawing. It’s natural; the brain needs variety. One day you’ll wake up and realize there’s a game you want to play, and you’ll play it. Then you’ll wake up and there will be a movie you want watch, and you’ll watch it, etc. etc.

Routine is the killer of enjoyment. Spice things up a little bit. The frustration with your faith says to me that you are trying too hard to fit your whole self into one domain of your life: gaming. There’s no need for that.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jumpheart]

My personal conflict in this area of my life really just stems from the fact that I don't believe video games or the current state of the industry are glorifying my faith in any noticeable ways. If anything, the exact opposite seems to be happening- the more hooked I get on these games, the worse my attitude can become around them and ultimately the worse my behavior can become in some cases. This may be a symptom of too much screen time, also, so I'm interested to hear what some of you might have to say about if this is a screen time issue, a faith issue, or some combination of the two.

Gonna leave a couple thoughts about this paragraph.

First, I'm no longer religious myself, but I was for a long while--specifically in Protestant Christianity. Even when I was fully immersed in my faith, I always found this idea that literally every action we take needing to glorify our beliefs a little, to be blunt, silly. Do we glorify God when we sleep? When we drive? Not literally everything you do can glorify God--it's impossible. It's okay to have hobbies as long as they're healthy for you and your faith.

Second off, some games are bad for your mental health. I have a bit of a special interest in psychology. The whole "video games cause violence" talking point isn't true, but what is believed by most in the field to be true is that video games often cause aggression (Gentile et al., 2004; Prescott et al., 2018) (for fairness, I'll mention that there is a vocal minority in opposition of this, who say that video games and aggression are not linked--Christopher Ferguson is the most prominent voice here). Aggression in this context doesn't necessarily mean violent action, but the actual feelings of the person. If you've ever stopped playing a game and been angry at the game, or the opponent, or a teammate, or yourself, or just at the world in general, you've felt this yourself--and since we're on Smogon, I have a feeling most of the people reading this have at some point ;)

Where I'm going with this is this: if the games you're playing leave you feeling upset or frustrated, then it's completely okay to take some time off to evaluate this! I've quit multiple games before for my mental health, including quitting Overwatch entirely and taking a month-long break from Showdown this summer. Games are supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun playing them, what's the point? Perhaps try playing a free game in a genre you haven't really delved into and see how you feel.

It's good to think these things through, but overall, I'm going to echo what chimp said above. Don't get rid of anything yet, just put them aside and pick up a new hobby or two. Learn a new skill. Go out and make new friends. If you truly feel better after all this--great! But that means if you don't, you won't regret getting rid of all of your games. Gaming is just a hobby. Hobbies wax and wane throughout life. It's part of the beauty of it. But don't close doors that you might regret.

 

[gvmgvm40]

First, I want to discuss a matter that I've avoided talking about anywhere on the Forums until now- my faith. For reasons that I hope are obvious, I will not be explaining my faith in detail, what I necessarily believe in or trying to push my beliefs onto other users of this site. What I will say, however, is that during the past couple of months, I've been extremely conflicted on the role of video games and other similar hobbies within my beliefs. This is a matter that, to my understanding, different worldviews can have radically different opinions on, so I see it as healthy to hear what people of multiple different belief systems have to say instead of just hearing from people that believe in the same things I do. My personal conflict in this area of my life really just stems from the fact that I don't believe video games or the current state of the industry are glorifying my faith in any noticeable ways. If anything, the exact opposite seems to be happening- the more hooked I get on these games, the worse my attitude can become around them and ultimately the worse my behavior can become in some cases. This may be a symptom of too much screen time, also, so I'm interested to hear what some of you might have to say about if this is a screen time issue, a faith issue, or some combination of the two.

I'm Muslim, though not very observant. With all due respect, I don't think everything you do needs to (or possibly can) glorify your faith. Obviously if you think you're addicted to screens or it interferes with your real-life responsibilities or harms your mental health, cut it down. But otherwise, I'd say as with everything, moderation is key. You can have a well-rounded spiritual and social life that also includes occasional video gaming or Pokemon or whatever. Sometimes you need a distraction or a pressure valve and that's okay, I don't think it's anything you should feel guilty about. As a more general point I don't think worldly/bodily pleasures are our enemies, they're for us to enjoy within limits, so don't beat yourself up over small things. We're humans, not angels.

 

[bdt2002]

You just seem burnt out. No need to go cold turkey and drop everything and sell all your games. Think about what you want to do and do it.

Pick up another hobby. Go to the library and don’t leave until you find a book that interests you, then go home and read it. Start a challenge where you watch 1 film a day, and log it on letterboxd. Go to any craft store and buy some paint.

Once you increase the breadth of your interests, you’ll notice ebs and flows between what you spend your time doing. I grew up gaming and doing nothing but gaming. But now sometimes I go long stretches not playing any games. And sometimes I go long stretches without reading, or watching a movie, or doing other things like drawing. It’s natural; the brain needs variety. One day you’ll wake up and realize there’s a game you want to play, and you’ll play it. Then you’ll wake up and there will be a movie you want watch, and you’ll watch it, etc. etc.

Routine is the killer of enjoyment. Spice things up a little bit. The frustration with your faith says to me that you are trying too hard to fit your whole self into one domain of your life: gaming. There’s no need for that.

Hope this helps.

As a neurodiverse person, there's at least a part of me that wants to have structure and routine in my life. Or maybe that's just a me thing, I don't really know. The thing is, I'm already playing video games a lot less than I used to. I didn't really have a good spot in the OP to mention this, but my extreme surplus of free time as I wait for information on what will hopefully be my first actual career job is a big contributor to why I get bored so fast and subsequently have higher screen time than I'd like to. For a similar reason, when I say the word "faith" I'm not just talking about the religious, spiritual kind- I'm also referring to me not having a lot of faith in myself either. I have a tendency to almost psyche myself out of actually trying new things because I'm so nervous about taking risks and potentially wasting a limited resource as valuable as my time. Historically, video games were the one thing I could always rely on, since by nature I'm at my most comfortable when I have that sense of control and freedom to make decisions without overthinking things too much. Using another hobby of mine as an example, that's also part of why I like to write so much, since I have control over a story and what's happening on the page.

Gonna leave a couple thoughts about this paragraph.

First, I'm no longer religious myself, but I was for a long while--specifically in Protestant Christianity. Even when I was fully immersed in my faith, I always found this idea that literally every action we take needing to glorify our beliefs a little, to be blunt, silly. Do we glorify God when we sleep? When we drive? Not literally everything you do can glorify God--it's impossible. It's okay to have hobbies as long as they're healthy for you and your faith.

Second off, some games are bad for your mental health. I have a bit of a special interest in psychology. The whole "video games cause violence" talking point isn't true, but what is believed by most in the field to be true is that video games often cause aggression (Gentile et al., 2004; Prescott et al., 2018) (for fairness, I'll mention that there is a vocal minority in opposition of this, who say that video games and aggression are not linked--Christopher Ferguson is the most prominent voice here). Aggression in this context doesn't necessarily mean violent action, but the actual feelings of the person. If you've ever stopped playing a game and been angry at the game, or the opponent, or a teammate, or yourself, or just at the world in general, you've felt this yourself--and since we're on Smogon, I have a feeling most of the people reading this have at some point ;)

Where I'm going with this is this: if the games you're playing leave you feeling upset or frustrated, then it's completely okay to take some time off to evaluate this! I've quit multiple games before for my mental health, including quitting Overwatch entirely and taking a month-long break from Showdown this summer. Games are supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun playing them, what's the point? Perhaps try playing a free game in a genre you haven't really delved into and see how you feel.

It's good to think these things through, but overall, I'm going to echo what chimp said above. Don't get rid of anything yet, just put them aside and pick up a new hobby or two. Learn a new skill. Go out and make new friends. If you truly feel better after all this--great! But that means if you don't, you won't regret getting rid of all of your games. Gaming is just a hobby. Hobbies wax and wane throughout life. It's part of the beauty of it. But don't close doors that you might regret.

I'm Muslim, though not very observant. With all due respect, I don't think everything you do needs to (or possibly can) glorify your faith. Obviously if you think you're addicted to screens or it interferes with your real-life responsibilities or harms your mental health, cut it down. But otherwise, I'd say as with everything, moderation is key. You can have a well-rounded spiritual and social life that also includes occasional video gaming or Pokemon or whatever. Sometimes you need a distraction or a pressure valve and that's okay, I don't think it's anything you should feel guilty about. As a more general point I don't think worldly/bodily pleasures are our enemies, they're for us to enjoy within limits, so don't beat yourself up over small things. We're humans, not angels.

What I'm about to say applies to all three of these messages, but specifically these two. The idea that the things we do can glorify our faith in whatever we believe in is a fairly new concept for me. The challenge for me comes from making decisions on what I want to act upon. Take my friends from college that like tabletop games for instance. There's been several debates on if things like Dungeons & Dragons is morally acceptable as a Christian, but even a lot of my Christian friends would still argue that they don't have to strictly adhere to what sounds like would be the correct answer. In other words, those same Christian friends of mine love Dungeons & Dragons, and as far as I've been able to tell, they love the game for reasons other than their faith, and for good reason. Tabletop games are excellent for inspiring creativity and teamwork, to say nothing of all the writing potential that comes from fantasy settings. They've learned that they can do things like this that don't necessarily glorify their faith in theory, but in practice they value the positive experiences, memories, and lessons that come from group interaction.

Now, what do these paragraphs I just typed have to do with me moderating my screen time? This is just what I believe, but it's not just how much screen time someone has that's important. It's also what's on the screen that matters to me. The reason why I associate glorifying my faith my hobby of video games so much is because I want to make sure whatever it is that I'm playing, even if it contains things like magic, spells, whatever, isn't actively encouraging me to do bad things in real life. In this sense, it's not necessarily the context of the games that matters, but rather one's attachments to the games. Am I going out of my way to play video games when I could be (reasonably) helping others? Is my screen time getting in the way of positive life lessons that can be learned from picking up new hobbies? And are the games I'm playing causing me to behave differently whenever I'm not playing them? So many questions like that are always racing through my head, and I understand that I might never have all the answers. That's why I appreciate your help so much, because I want this to be a learning experience for me as I consider limiting video games in my life on a healthy basis as opposed to just quitting completely and, as chimp said, "going cold turkey".

 

[adjectivenoun]

I can relate to a lot of the struggles you seem to be having. Part of the difficulty, I think, is that gaming is a hobby that often becomes central to the identities and self-perceptions of the people who participate in it due to the time investment it requires (i.e. it can take dozens or hundreds of hours to experience everything in a game, whereas a film will rarely require more than three hours of your time). When you think of yourself as a capital-G Gamer as opposed to somebody who just happens to play video games on occasion, burning out or naturally losing interest becomes a more emotionally difficult experience because it feels like you're drifting away from a major part of yourself. That was my experience, anyway.

When I was younger, I went through a period in my life where my love for video games really waned. I wasn't enjoying my old favorites anymore, and I wasn't really motivated to seek out new games. I didn't quit completely, but I did move toward other hobbies and artistic mediums. I started reading more, listening to more music, watching more films, and so on. What I found was that a more balanced approach led to more fulfilling and meaningful experiences from every medium, video games included. They say that variety is the spice of life, and I have absolutely found this to be true where my hobbies are concerned. Rather than quitting completely and pawning off your collection, I would encourage you to try just taking a step back and incorporating video games into a broader array of experiences. I would also encourage you to seek out kinds of games that you don't play as often by the same principle.

I'm not religious, so I can't really speak to how video games intersect with issues of faith, but I will say that I think stressing about the moral benefit of your activities compared to other things you could be doing with your free time sounds like a recipe for not enjoying much of anything. Not everything you do with your free time has to help others or cultivate anything beneficial in yourself; it's obviously good to do some things that have those qualities, but it's okay to indulge in things purely because you find them pleasurable. The key, as with all things, is moderation.

 

[QuickBH]

Given your dilemma is causing you to think this hard about quitting video games, it seems that you have some other major questions in your life that have not been fulfilled. Don't try and speedrun your life, just explore and try and get those personal/existential questions sorted out and note that it takes time. I myself have seldom played video games once I got out of my comfort zone. I simply found exploring aspects of faith, philosophy and other activities more entertaining than trying to force myself to enjoy what's culturally popular.

 

[earl]

from a more utilitarian perspective: getting a job will probably solve this problem. luckily you mentioned you're searching/waiting. sounds like the problem is less on videogames specifically and more on general ennui. once you have less free time you'll probably figure it whether or not you want to spend that time playing videogames (I often do spend my 3 hours of free time on a weekday doing so!)

 

[s0liera]

It's possible that you just need to play games less than you do now. Getting rid of them and forgetting about them isn't really a great solution in any case. I will say that, as a Christian and neurodivergent person myself, I'm always looking for variety in my life that doesn't make me feel too uncomfortable for the most part (ironic pfp I know lol). Something I will say about the glorification aspect is that if anything you're doing makes you question your faith or makes you uncomfortable in that regard then it's probably best to mostly avoid it if possible (and that applies to everything, not just games). It's healthy to be challenged but obviously nobody likes being or feeling put down by something they're supposed to enjoy. What you do may not be direct glorification of your faith but rather an outlet that teaches you something that can apply to it or improve your mental state and thus make you less likely to do bad things or the like. And as for the peer pressure, I have no idea how we got to the point where not wanting to buy something that you don't think looks good or you're not personally interested in is a bad thing. There's endless things that I don't like that everyone else likes. Sometimes you don't have an explanation as to why, but that's perfectly fine. If you just like something, then you like it, and if you don't like something, then you don't like it, and there's nothing wrong with that. Deciding to upgrade or not should be something that you weigh the values of, not anyone else, and you can make the decision if you want to enjoy your old stuff alongside new stuff or if you'll just stick with what you have now. The opinions of others are valuable but they're only a piece of your decision making process. If something looks good or bad to you and the thoughts you've read or heard from other people aren't changing that, then said thoughts of other people shouldn't be the deciding factor for you. What I suggest you do is just take a break and find other things to do and come back when your thoughts on the matter improve. Everything you love will be there waiting for you to enjoy them as always.

 

[Bakugames]

being blunt, modern christianity is extremely reactionary and prone to fearmongering when it comes to media and it affecting you or your faith. A lot of it comes from bad faith (haha) connections, bible misreadings, or just straight up making shit up. Magic in an rpg or a devil in a videogame isn't going to do anything to you, the latter is not even based on proper bible depictions, its just something the catholics made up lol.

Id check out theology stuff really, it gives more information on what the bible actually says vs stuff thats just culturally made up and that "feels" canonical

 

[summerside]

I'm not religious but I'm grappling with a similar thing myself. My wife and I recently learned that we're going to have a baby girl and I've been debating on whether I should take a closer look at my gaming habits and cut back significantly. On one hand, duh, but on the other hand, this has been something that has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember. It sounds like it has been for you, too.

I don't know if I can particularly speak to your struggles, but if there's one thing I can try to offer advice on, is not to sell all your games and hardware. None of us know where the industry will be further down the line or if it will more closely align with what you're looking for; the best we can do is look at trends. I feel like I'd be sad if I sold my library/tech and years down the line I wanted to play The Witcher again or something. As others have mentioned, I also think supplementing with other interests is also really important. I used to game much more about 5 or 6 years ago and I picked up cooking out of what was basically necessity. Naturally the time I would normally spending screaming at people on Overwatch transitioned into time spent researching recipes and putting together meals for my friends and family. It might be worth a thought.

 

[bdt2002]

With today’s announcement of a certain Nintendo console and my brother getting a new Xbox Series X for Christmas, I thought it was a good time to… not necessarily “bring this thread back” or anything like that, but I guess consider my options? I will say that I’ve been playing games a lot less often so far during the new year, instead focusing my attention on “more important” things like my ongoing job search. I’m hoping as the new year continues I’ll have chances to go out and do things in public more, too.

For the time being, my brother getting a new console and me not thinking very highly of Nintendo’s attempt at the Switch 2’s first impression has helped me narrow down my options a little bit. I still can’t decide if either the new console, a PlayStation 5 or a PC are worth my time, but between those three I can probably afford to work for the money to afford two of them at most during 2025 when you account for my July birthday and Christmas. (On an unrelated note, yes, I do want to start buying my own presents with my own money.) Between my three choices, I’ll realistically not play them very much anyway so I’d rather save the money and the presents if I can. Ask my family for more useful things, you know?

Right now I’m leaning towards what many of you have said about just playing games less than I have been. It’s not worth getting stressed out about anymore. Like I’ve said, I don’t want overthink what should be a pretty simple set of decisions. Maybe the Switch 2 turns out better than I think it will and that’s what makes my decision for me, but until that happens or they come out with some good remakes of games I love (give me Ranger remakes and my money is yours), I’m probably not upgrading from anything I currently own.

 

[lilyhollow]

bear in mind that if you're asking for advice about this on a games forum, much of the advice may come from people who themselves are very addicted to video games. it sounds like you will probably figure things out in the end though!

if i had to give advice: experiment with other hobbies, including things that you might not have originally envisioned yourself doing. you might find that you fall in love with something and can become a more well-rounded person as a result. even if you come back to playing video games, this can only be a good thing.

 

[bdt2002]

Well, Pokémon Day is today. Yaaaay. I’m so exciiiited. In all seriousness, I’ve realized something that I think is worth addressing in this thread. Besides, I don’t know where else to post this. I’ve been thinking this whole time that I need to take a break from games, and while I have been enjoying doing… exactly that, I haven’t yet considered that maybe it is just Pokémon I need to quit or take a break from.

Allow me to give you guys some context. The past few days I’ve been in a bit of a hot streak posting negative comments and stuff on various threads and a couple YouTube videos. It started with my disapproval of the gacha game Pokémon Masters EX before transitioning into a failed attempt at satire saying that Pokémon is going to be irrelevant compared to Monster Hunter starting tomorrow. This was then followed up by a very easy day at work today giving me some free time to post a couple other messages about how Pokémon Legends ZA is leaving me conflicted after a year of no news and inevitable disappointment back from 2024, as I recall being very vocal at the time about how I wanted a Johto game instead of a Kalos game.

I’ve given it all some thought now that I’m home from work and I want to do two things. First, regardless of who sees this, I want to take the moment to apologize to everyone I may have confused, upset, or offended with some of my takes on the Internet over the past 48 hours. Secondly, I also want to at least give some thought to the idea that maybe it’s not a “me issue” or an issue with gaming. Maybe it really is just as simple as being an issue I have with Pokémon in the past year or two. Maybe I’m overthinking things again, but it’s very possible that it’s just this franchise I need to take a break from. I don’t care if one of my favorite Pokémon is a starter Pokémon in the new Legends game. Pokémon Legends ZA is, indirectly, actively harming my mental wellness and my posting etiquette, and I want to stop myself from acting irresponsible and foolish online while I still can. If that means skipping out on a new core series game for the first time ever even though some of my friends want me to get it, so be it. I value my mental wellness more than I care about a fictional media franchise. And if that’s the case, why not take things one step further and take a healthy break from all things Pokémon while I sit and think about how I’ve been acting?

Edit: Okay, maybe not all things. That might be a little immature and excessive. But still most of it.

 

[LeonLeeds]

Well, Pokémon Day is today. Yaaaay. I’m so exciiiited. In all seriousness, I’ve realized something that I think is worth addressing in this thread. Besides, I don’t know where else to post this. I’ve been thinking this whole time that I need to take a break from games, and while I have been enjoying doing… exactly that, I haven’t yet considered that maybe it is just Pokémon I need to quit or take a break from.

Allow me to give you guys some context. The past few days I’ve been in a bit of a hot streak posting negative comments and stuff on various threads and a couple YouTube videos. It started with my disapproval of the gacha game Pokémon Masters EX before transitioning into a failed attempt at satire saying that Pokémon is going to be irrelevant compared to Monster Hunter starting tomorrow. This was then followed up by a very easy day at work today giving me some free time to post a couple other messages about how Pokémon Legends ZA is leaving me conflicted after a year of no news and inevitable disappointment back from 2024, as I recall being very vocal at the time about how I wanted a Johto game instead of a Kalos game.

I’ve given it all some thought now that I’m home from work and I want to do two things. First, regardless of who sees this, I want to take the moment to apologize to everyone I may have confused, upset, or offended with some of my takes on the Internet over the past 48 hours. Secondly, I also want to at least give some thought to the idea that maybe it’s not a “me issue” or an issue with gaming. Maybe it really is just as simple as being an issue I have with Pokémon in the past year or two. Maybe I’m overthinking things again, but it’s very possible that it’s just this franchise I need to take a break from. I don’t care if one of my favorite Pokémon is a starter Pokémon in the new Legends game. Pokémon Legends ZA is, indirectly, actively harming my mental wellness and my posting etiquette, and I want to stop myself from acting irresponsible and foolish online while I still can. If that means skipping out on a new core series game for the first time ever even though some of my friends want me to get it, so be it. I value my mental wellness more than I care about a fictional media franchise. And if that’s the case, why not take things one step further and take a healthy break from all things Pokémon while I sit and think about how I’ve been acting?

Edit: Okay, maybe not all things. That might be a little immature and excessive. But still most of it.

I made a list of things in my life and rated them 1-10 based on how happy they made me. I won't be too specific, but pokemon and NBA were two things I gave a lower rating than I expected (4 or 5) despite how much time I put into them. Then the next couple days I cut them a bit out of my life and realized they did actually make me happy. I was just burnt out and tired of the negativity/negative thoughts around those things. I've learned it's very important to reflect before you try to alter your own brain.