We relapsed again.... Damn you OverWatch
OverWatch, we meet each other once again. It’s not the first time, won’t be the last time with such an enticing roster of characters. Writing this now and daydreaming of Genji, Reinhardt, Brigitte, and Hanzo gives me a little high by simply thinking of playing those characters. Some of you reading this may be asking “Soooo why don’t you go play it then?”. I too ask myself this question multiple times a week. Come on man, it’s just one game! You have 20 minutes to kill, not going to hurt anyone. THIS IS THE PROBLEM!
What did OverWatch do to you?
One of my favorite bands said it best “It starts with one thing, I don’t why. It doesn’t even matter how hard you try”. This nicely sums up my feelings more often than not after a session of OverWatch.
- This team was doomed from the start
- That guy was a total dick
- What the hell was my team thinking
- We won but I still had a terrible time
- Why do I play this game?
OverWatch Is Psychologically Toxic For Me
Anytime you’re done with something and have to ask yourself why are we here, is typically a sad day. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve definitely have had some fun days online. There are quite a few people I’ve encountered who make hopping on totally worth it. However, the number of negative experiences seems to heavily outweigh the positive.
This in part could be a psychological phenomenon as shown in a study conducted by The University of Queensland which seems to indicate that these bad experiences outweighing the positive are to be expected. If a game is good enough to play, the mechanics and core gameplay should be enough to overcompensate these psychological barriers to keep you coming back.
Recently I’ve taken up fighting games again which can keep me hooked. It’s also helpful that the only person to blame when I lose is myself but I feel this is a rabbit hole saved for another time.
Ending The Relationship With OverWatch
Solving a problem means you have to first acknowledge that a problem exists. Thinking that a videogame was a problem seemed silly to me at first until I realized how I consistently felt afterward. Once I realized the problem, then I really saw how the game was impacting me.
- It was never only 20 minutes
- Minimum of an hour wasted each session
- Typically would play at night and would cut into sleep
- Overall, felt like I could’ve done anything else to feel better
This is where I feel lucky compared to others who may have an unhealthy relationship to something way worse. OverWatch was able to point out to me that I’m having a terrible time whereas many other harmful relationships can give you the appearance of a good time. It still took me over 400 hours of playing to finally uninstall for good and there were times where I would come back and install for a few more weeks.
Surely I’m not the only gamer to have gone through this cycle with a game. What are some of the games you’ve experienced this with? I’m expecting a lot of League of Legends to be the answer! Both Tobin and I have stopped playing OverWatch at the recording of the podcast. If you like this content, be sure to check out our other episodes here. Thank you for tuning in and I’ll get better about posting these way sooner!
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