My fiancee won't admit he's addicted. Big surprise right? The difference between my story and the others I have read on this site is that he believes that it isn't an addiction if he can make a career out of it. He is convinced that he can be a professional gamer, either in tournaments or by posting his games online for others to watch. He also thinks that the "skills" he gets by playing these games (LoL, Guild Wars, Starcraft) are things he can put on a normal professional resume'. I have tried for years to open his eyes with various articles about gaming addictions, or just talking with him extensively about why he does what he does. I'm worried that when he gets out of college and needs to find a real job (his degree is in comp sci) he won't be able to motivate himself to actually apply to a real job, and will instead continue with his delusion that he can make money off of a hobby. Have any of you other SOs dealt with this problem? Have any of you Gamers? I need advice. I can't marry this otherwise wonderful man if he refuses to grow up...
Hello cat_gal, I am sorry to hear of the loss of another fine human being into these games. My 2 cents (from my own experience) if you cannot accept the way he is today, for the rest of your life (you cannot change him), do not marry him. Liz
Liz Woolley
I've known quite a few gamers (when I was gaming) who thought they could make careers out of professional gaming or programmers who create games. Not one of the guys I knew made it in those categories. Not because they didn't want to, but because the field is full of brilliant, excellent players and it's like anything in industry--if there is a surplus, not many are successful.
The best thing to get your bf's attention is consequences. If he goes for any or all of what he wants to do, he will find it extraordinarily hard to get into.
You telling him, me telling him, OLGA telling him won't mean anything. But consequences of his own behavior will. In the meantime, you might want to think very carefully about getting into a relationship that could end up like the wonderful families here who are caught in this addiction. And it isn't just the gamers caught up in it.