Wirehead Studios

Although it's been quite fun playing and getting to know everyone here, I am bringing it upon myself to depart from the gaming scene for a very, very long time. Over time, computer affiliation and gaming have transformed from a hobby to a lifestyle to abseloutely complete immersion. I do not feel confident about being around any 'net society right now, as I fear my tendancy to get completely drawn into it, ignoring everything else around me. Other people do not have this problem - I know. I think that my problem is a learned one that has developed over time. My grades are suffering, I have a minimal social life and the only things I have to show for all of the hours of gaming are some video cards.

I took a long break before, and then picked up World of Warcraft, thinking I was cured of this mental ailment. All things considered, that had to be the most foolish thing I've ever convinced myself of believing. Despite numerous tales of addiction from MMORPGs (poopsockers (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poopsock) are probably the worst of the bunch), I let myself get drawn right back into the gaming scene, although I still went to classes, work, showered and all that jazz. To this day though, I have put in over 17 days worth of time into WoW (400+ hours) in two months. That's over 50 hours of gaming time per week, and that combined with a part-time job and full-time school has driven me to forced insomnia, fatigue, skipped classes & work to sleep along with a general feeling of stress because there isn't enough time in the day to do what I want.

I developed the name Tekhead when I was 14, just getting into the whole online scene. The Tek part isn't very technical at all - it first occured to me through Final Fantasy 3 (US, 6 for you japs) in the form of MagiTek. The spelling looked neat, so I went with it. The head part came from my constant admiration & dreaming of tech when I was a kid, hence Tekhead. What is amazing is how accurate that name has been for my personality thus so far. Now, seven years later I need to change for my own sake, and move on.

I may be back later on, but I will definitely not be the same. At the moment I am overweight by at least 20 pounds, have way too many gaming bookmarks that I keep up with, my elbows hurt from the strain of being on armrests for far too long and an always behind in all of my classes because I never make time to do homework. These are all personal problems, and I believe I am doing the right thing by attacking the problem at the source - computers, and 'net society. I will call my ISP and terminate my 'net connection today. I will dismantle my machine by taking out my hard drive and send the rest home for my family to use. I believe that I should not have been raised with this luxury, as I have developed a sweet tooth for it. By purging it from my presence, I hope to unlearn this mental flaw.

So, goodbye everyone. Good games, hope to see Generations 1.0 someday, much <3 to you all, and take care of yourselves.
 - Tekhead, R.I.P.

Just recently saw a post of this sort in a tech-discussion board (about the new Razer mouse) - seems to get more common all the time.
First of all, although you may not read this post, good luck and bravo for this attempt to rid yourself of the shackles of addiction. I hope you succeed. I also hope to see you return to us at some point, because a wee bit of internet-comradeship can't hurt.

I also think you're taking this 'mental ailment' thing a bit too far. Obsession and addiction are not entirely one and the same thing, and neither is as bad as, say, schizophrenia. However, taking it seriously is probably the quickest and most effective way to tackle it.

Cheers mate, till we meet again.

I can understand the need for a change. About a year ago i found that gaming didnt hold the same zeal for me that it once did. Then some good games came out and that went away. I decided to seek some new hobbies unrelated to gaming and computers in general. I seriously cant imagine myself cutting off my connection and taking apart my computer but i understand what the proublem is. When i got into this lifestyle i was in a very low state in my life. I was eternaly depressed had no job and no friends ( thats right not a one) but that all changed when i got my first real computer ( i had crappy ones before) i actually think the whole "geek" lifestyle saved me.

This, like almost anything can become an obsession. I find the best thing is to only allow yourself  certain times to do things. Thren they can't take over too much of your time.

Although I didn't know you as well as most others you'll definitly be missed.Had to take a break myself...I may have let gaming destroy my marriage.Though I'll never really know.Anyhow good luck,and hope to see ya sometime in the arena. :thumb:

mine is a bit from woods how I got in ( altough I had friends )
and a bit of tek that it took over my life , I found the solution in not playing so much ET anymore , not installing gen anymore ( dit I say that out loud ) and switching back to my old laptop who can only play commander keen and worms .

I play in between lunches a game while working on my yearwork wich is coming along nicely .

but anyway it became a little bit to much for me myself , playing 16 hours a day in the summer can ot be good for you .
so in september I took evening school together with dayschool , both are coming along nicelly

If I play for more that 90 minutes or so in a FPS I get sick as a dog. This not only limits my time playing, it keeps my weight down.

Scratch one Beta Tester.

SAD FACE ! Tek, I hope you get everything straightened out and hope to see you back online eventually. <3

I can relate. Gaming can take up too much of your time if you let it. I'm kinda glad my comp got stolen in a way, cause it's given me a chance to take a break and sort things out. Half the time, it wasn't even gaming in particular that was my problem, cause even when I forced myself not to play games, I would still find stuff to do on the comp, like post on message boards (*cough*) and surf the web to procrastinate doing work and stuff. If I get another decent computer some time, I will deffinitely be making sure I limit my time with it. Games, computers, and the internet aren't inherantly bad, but too much of anything can be a bad thing, you need moderation in everything.

Isolating yourself form the problem as opposed to learning self control... Sounds good. Leading an Amish lifestyle would cure you of all of your problems though. You wouldn't have to worry about your brain being taken over my technology ever again, and you'd loose a lot of weight in the process by rasing barns.

Abstaining from something completely IS a form of self-control.  Sometimes the only solution is to go dry, and sometimes a hiatus is all that's needed.  Tekhead's trying to solve what he sees as a problem in his life, and I commend him on that.  I'm sure we'll see him around again eventually.  Until then, I wish him Godspeed and success.

the reason for my periodic hiatuses from whatever community I have involvement in is a result of the same problems Tek is experiencing. I don't know about the 50 hours of gaming a week part, but that's why I distance myself as much as I do now. I can understand Tek's problem, and I'd probably do the same thing, but I'm dependent on the internet for more reasons than you'd think.

so now you know why I don't come around IRC or play Gen on a daily basis. it's because if I did, it would consume me.

anyway, even if Tek doesn't see this, I just want him to know that he was an awesome player that I really wanted to be able to play again in .99f, but that's out of the cards now.

later dude

Leave it to Lord Malchia to interject with a totally bullshit criticism.