

Please don't let gaming consume your life - Buildstarted
http://buildstarted.com/2012/05/21/please-dont-let-gaming-consume-your-life/
Server died...here's a repost:<p>Over this past weekend a good friend and coworker passed away. He always had a good heart and would do anything he could to help you out. It was certainly a shock.<p>Monday morning he didn't show up to work. He always calls or sends an email if he won't be in but nobody could get a hold of him. I got a bit worried since I knew he was playing Diablo 3 since it came out on Tuesday and I've heard of people dying from exhaustion and what not from playing video games so much. I didn't want to think that but it had occurred to me. Especially since nobody has heard from him since late Saturday. I had called his landlord and asked about him. (The landlord, Russ and I are all good friends and we've known each other for a while) I was heading over and she was going to let me in but apparently she got too worried and went in anyway. She found him at his computer. He apparently had a heart attack. Poor gal shouldn't have had to do that. I kick myself for not going there immediately. I had gone in anyway at the request of the Fire Department to find his identification and cellphone. Not a minute goes by that I wish my memory of him had not been sullied in that manner.<p>I sincerely hope that he went quickly and didn't suffer, unable to contact anyone for help.<p>He was only 32 years old.<p>Please, if only for yourselves, take time out of your day to get some exercise. Go outside and enjoy the sun. Ride a bike. Do something active. Video games are great fun when played in moderation. This may be an extreme example but take it as advice to not go overboard. Or at least don't do it alone. He took 3 days off and played Diablo 3 pretty much the whole time. He called in and asked to take Friday off as well. We are placing the blame on ourselves at work wondering if we made him come in on Friday would he still be with us today?<p>It saddens me that we tried to get him to be healthy. Work offered to pay for a gym membership. Friends coaxed him to exercise and eat better. He took us up on our offers, if only for a short while.<p>We should have tried harder.<p>He will be missed greatly by all who knew him.<p>&#60;img src='http://aws.buildstarted.com/russell.png' Title='Russell Shirley' /&#62;&#60;h1&#62;Russell Shirley 1979-2012&#60;/h1&#62;
======
boredguy8
There are more subtle ways of gaming ruining your life, as well: slowly losing
the drive to do anything more than what's necessary to pay the cable bill,
rent, and the gaming subscription. Slowly the only friends you have are people
you know from your guild. When the only source & output of creativity and
energy are all wrapped up in _playing_ a video game.

I've also seen people similarly consumed by pornography, alcohol, gambling,
day trading, and I'm sure other things I can't think of now. Pot. I think any
of those things can have their place, but please maintain connection to people
who can and will say something if you start going overboard.

For instance, I'm in a pretty good place right now and still gave parental
control to a friend for the D3 release, just in case. Six hours a week is
arguably still too much, but seems reasonable to me, and they won't budge
because A) I asked them not to; B) they care. That I've hit that limit is a
good sign that I may not be as well off as I thought I was ;)

Take care of each other, and yourself.

~~~
dekz
How does this compare with what can be considered a 'gym' addiction. Is it ok
when it is exercise? What is too much? What about work, startups? I rock climb
at least 6 hours a week, it's not bizarre to hear someone dying from rock
climbing though.

~~~
humbledrone
Someone recently tried to convince me, a frequent climber, that the health
effects of getting exercise from climbing were outweighed by the risks
involved. I did a bunch of research on the subject, and it is very clear that
the benefits of exercise massively outweigh the risks of even a dangerous
activity like climbing.

It's hard to find statistics for indoor climbing, but for outdoor climbing
there is a death for every 320,000 outings. If you go on two outings a week,
your chance of dying is around 0.03% per year [1].

Getting the proper amount of exercise (compared to being sedentary), though,
can decrease the total risk of year-over-year mortality by a factor of up to
4.5 times [2]. The overall risk of death for e.g. a middle-aged man is
something like 0.2% [3], so any significant reduction to this factor compares
very favorably with the risk of death from climbing.

So, basically, if your options are either a) be sedentary or b) get adequate
exercise by rock climbing, it is better for your health to choose b. This
comparison looks even better if you're doing only gym climbing (which is much
safer than outdoor climbing).

[1] [http://www.allclimbing.com/archive/2009/01/data-on-
climbing-...](http://www.allclimbing.com/archive/2009/01/data-on-climbing-
accidents-and-fatalities/)

[2] <http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/107/1/e2.full>

[3] <http://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html>

~~~
cjy
You shouldn't compare the benefits of getting exercise from rock climbing to
the chances of dying from it. The choice isn't rock climb or be totally
sedentary. You can get exercise in ways where you can't fall and die. What you
should compare is the marginal benefit of the additional exercise you end up
doing because you enjoy rock climbing more than the next best activity. And,
then compare that to the death rate.

~~~
humbledrone
So, if you look at the numbers, the risk of death from climbing is very, very
low. Really, it's extremely low. You'd have to go on two outings a week for
3,200 years for the probability of your death to have an expected value of
1.0. Or, if you stick to top ropes, a lot longer than that.

Compared to how much you can benefit from the exercise, the risk of falling
and dying is really insignificant, to the point that I don't think it's worth
debating between climbing and any other common form of exercise.

[EDIT]: Fix an incorrectly worded statement about expected value.

~~~
shasta
Probability of 1.0? Are you sure you're doing the right math? What's the
probability after 6,400 years? 2.0?

~~~
humbledrone
I meant expected value, but I wrote "expected probably".

~~~
SamReidHughes
That's still wrong. If you have x chance of surviving each day of rock
climbing then you have an x^n chance of surviving n days of rock climbing, not
a 0 chance of surviving.

~~~
mertd
OK, by now we all know that GP meant expected number of fatal accidents.

------
cletus
I've had conversations on similar aspects to this many times. There are many
psychological issues involved but the highlights are:

1\. People eat for many reasons, sustenance being only one. People eat for
enjoyment, because they're happy, because they're sad, to deal with stress, as
a substitute for something else arguably more destructive and so on. The
sooner you can adjust your mental view to treating food as nothing more than
fuel, the better off you'll be;

2\. American cities with their car addictions make it incredibly easy to lead
a sedentary existence. Biking is a somewhat hazardous option that's not always
realistic. The ideal exercise (in times of reward-for-effort) is probably
walking. I live 7 minutes from work and the absolute minimum steps I could
take in a day is probably 5000, maybe 6000 (I have a pedometer). 8000 is more
common, which is still a bit low (10,000 is recommended). Live 10-15 minutes
from work and walk to and from work every day and you _massively_ better off;

3\. People treat diets and, to a lesser extent, exercise regimes as a
transitory effort to get back to some goal weight or fitness level, at which
point they seek to return to the previous behaviour. This is a mistake. You're
getting older. Your metabolism is, all other things being equal, slowing down
(it requires more effort to keep it up at any rate). You should view a dietary
change (in particular) as a lifestyle change, not a temporary adjustment;

4\. Psychological addiction may not be as "obvious" as physiological addiction
but its effects can be very real.

I'm sorry for your loss. It may sound callous but ultimately we are each
responsible for our own well-being. If someone chose to die that way, it's sad
but there's not much you could do. You have to choose to be helped.

~~~
surement
"The sooner you can adjust your mental view to treating food as nothing more
than fuel, the better off you'll be"

Better off how? Eating for enjoyment is one of the best pleasures in life. To
quote someone else, if you spend your life eating no butter, no lard, no salt;
you're gonna feel like a damn fool lying on your hospital bed, dying from
nothing.

~~~
shin_lao
_Eating for enjoyment is one of the best pleasures in life._

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I really think this is a sad
statement and I truly hope one day you will understand why I think so.

~~~
etherealG
I disagree, eating for pleasure doesn't mean overeating.

~~~
FuzzyDunlop
Nor does it mean gorging on McDonalds and KFC every day of the week.

It might cost a tiny little bit more to get the fresh ingredients instead of
the usual stacks of shitty ready meals and frozen foods, but the variety and
the balance (if you shop well) is hard to beat.

I love being able to cook good food, and as a result, the food is enjoyable,
and I'm encouraged to learn more recipes so I can enjoy more.

~~~
surement
Absolutely. I love cooking with fresh ingredients and hate fast food, and most
restaurants for that matter. Although I may love cooking some foie gras a few
times a year, what I cook is generally a lot healthier than what a person who
doesn't particularly enjoy eating eats.

------
asdkl234890
Gaming? So fast food with no exercise would not have killed him if he had just
not played games?

I had a friend with diabetes, he was way over weight. One day we talked about
his new apartment, WOW and girls. He mentioned he had a good view of the
joggers from his window. I mentioned I am frequently one of those joggers, and
you see a lot more of the cute girls that way.

The topic of conversation moved to WOW, and I mentioned how I hate to touch a
computer after spending all day at work sitting in front of one.

Despite subtle and not so subtle hints he did not start to exercise and died
alone in his mid 30s.

And you know what, a lot of people die exactly the same way, with no gaming
what so ever involved.

This whole heart attacks are a top killer, so eat well and exercise deal pre-
dates computers by decades.

~~~
sliverstorm
_I hate to touch a computer after spending all day at work sitting in front of
one_

The funny thing I have discovered is that while I don't like it on a high
level of thinking, it actually can be relaxing. As a consequence, I am trying
to slowly add physical activities instead of going cold-turkey- it isn't a
leap I can make in one day, and finding myself with no stress relief is
murderous.

------
Buildstarted
Server died...here's a repost:

Over this past weekend a good friend and coworker passed away. He always had a
good heart and would do anything he could to help you out. It was certainly a
shock.

Monday morning he didn't show up to work. He always calls or sends an email if
he won't be in but nobody could get a hold of him. I got a bit worried since I
knew he was playing Diablo 3 since it came out on Tuesday and I've heard of
people dying from exhaustion and what not from playing video games so much. I
didn't want to think that but it had occurred to me. Especially since nobody
has heard from him since late Saturday. I had called his landlord and asked
about him. (The landlord, Russ and I are all good friends and we've known each
other for a while) I was heading over and she was going to let me in but
apparently she got too worried and went in anyway. She found him at his
computer. He apparently had a heart attack. Poor gal shouldn't have had to do
that. I kick myself for not going there immediately. I had gone in anyway at
the request of the Fire Department to find his identification and cellphone.
Not a minute goes by that I wish my memory of him had not been sullied in that
manner.

I sincerely hope that he went quickly and didn't suffer, unable to contact
anyone for help.

He was only 32 years old.

Please, if only for yourselves, take time out of your day to get some
exercise. Go outside and enjoy the sun. Ride a bike. Do something active.
Video games are great fun when played in moderation. This may be an extreme
example but take it as advice to not go overboard. Or at least don't do it
alone. He took 3 days off and played Diablo 3 pretty much the whole time. He
called in and asked to take Friday off as well. We are placing the blame on
ourselves at work wondering if we made him come in on Friday would he still be
with us today?

It saddens me that we tried to get him to be healthy. Work offered to pay for
a gym membership. Friends coaxed him to exercise and eat better. He took us up
on our offers, if only for a short while.

We should have tried harder.

He will be missed greatly by all who knew him.

~~~
jonursenbach
How is him having a heart attack in any way related to him playing video games
all weekend?

~~~
jsprinkles
It isn't. We can infer from the rest of the post that the person in question
was unhealthy, but OP took an unnecessary shot at gaming. One can argue an
unhealthy focus on anything can kill you in the same way, and gaming wasn't a
symptom.

Frankly, this entire thread is about as bad as mass media blaming video games
when a kid shoots up his school.

~~~
detst
> infer from the rest of the post that the person in question was unhealthy

And we can also infer that he was unhealthy, in larger part, due to spending
too much time gaming.

> One can argue an unhealthy focus on anything can kill you in the same way

And in this case that thing was gaming. It's a cautionary tale, not an
indictment on all gaming.

~~~
jsprinkles
> And we can also infer that he was unhealthy, in larger part, due to spending
> too much time gaming.

Very much, emphatically, not. I know someone into World of Warcraft who spends
~40 hours a week playing, and just ran Bay 2 Breakers. Gaming and being
unhealthy are very definitely unrelated, and any attempt to paint them as
being related is FUD.

If someone is out of shape because they "spend too much time hacking", are you
going to blame hacker culture next? Gaming is an easy target. Admit it.

~~~
detst
Very much, emphatically, yes:

> Work offered to pay for a gym membership. Friends coaxed him to exercise and
> eat better.

Instead he was gaming.

> If someone is out of shape because they "spend too much time hacking", are
> you going to blame hacker culture next?

Yes, in part. BTW, I'm not "blaming" gaming.

~~~
jsprinkles
Here's a thought, oh, I don't know: it was _his_ fault, not _gaming's_.
Radical concept, personal accountability. It's almost like the choices we make
in life shape who we are, or something else absolutely crazy like that.

~~~
detst
You responded before I edited to be clear that I'm not blaming gaming. It was
his choice but that doesn't change the fact that spending his time gaming
instead of getting some physical activity likely had something to do with a
32-year-old dying of a heart attack.

------
groby_b
First off: I am really sorry you have to lose a friend like that.

But please, don't blame yourself. Asking him to come in or not might well have
not changed anything. While gaming certainly can be addictive, he had a heart
attack. That has _nothing_ to do with gaming. You can get a heart attack at
any moment. Heck, you can have one while sleeping. (You can even have one
without any recognizable symptoms)

So, instead I suggest people learn what the symptoms of a heart attack are -
so if you or somebody close to you has one, you can actually recognize it and
get help in time. Here's one link giving more detail:
[http://www.webmd.com/heart-
disease/guide/heart_disease_heart...](http://www.webmd.com/heart-
disease/guide/heart_disease_heart_attacks)

------
daeken
First things first, I'm very sorry for your loss; it's never easy to lose a
friend, let alone one so young. With that said...

This hit so close to home that it's scary. I'm 24, and my weight hovers
between 350 and 385lbs. I've always been fat and otherwise unhealthy. While I
don't eat a lot (I definitely eat more than I should, but I don't think that I
eat to excess by any means), what I do eat is terrible; that's gotten worse
since I moved to NYC and had money to get delivery effectively every night,
meaning I eat at my computer and pay no attention to what I'm eating. In my
case, it's not gaming but programming that's killing me; I don't get away from
the computer and exercise effectively at all, and even if I ate perfectly I'd
still be screwed for that reason.

But with that said, blaming programming/gaming/whatever for my health problems
is like blaming the manufacturer of my chair for making it so damn
comfortable. At the end of the day, it's an excuse to take the attention away
from the real issue: sedentary lifestyles are unhealthy and _will_ kill you.

I don't want to get too far off-topic here because this is about your friend,
not me or anyone else here, but the focus really needs to be put on a healthy
lifestyle, not on isolating one specific component as the failure point. A
serious change in my life (and I imagine Russell's) wouldn't involve removing
the object of obsession, but changing a million factors, and it's definitely
easier said than done; that said, it's something I'm working hard on myself if
only because... I want to live.

Edit: Something that I missed while writing this initially, as I got caught up
in it.

> We should have tried harder.

I know you say that with the best of intentions, and I know that you're
beating yourself up over this, but you shouldn't be. Speaking as someone who's
been on the receiving end of that _many_ times, I can't describe how deeply
embarrassing it is to be in this position and how much shame is involved. I
know you can't exactly hide being this fat, but you damn sure try to put it
out of mind and keep it from being a topic of conversation. That absolutely
makes it harder to get help. Think of it like someone being a closet
alcoholic, but they always reek of beer regardless.

~~~
Hytosys
>While I don't eat a lot (I definitely eat more than I should, but I don't
think that I eat to excess by any means), what I do eat is terrible

I would argue that you do excessively eat. Contrary to popular ignorance, the
reason people get fat is simply due to a caloric excess. The idea is that if
your maintenance intake is 2500kcal/day, and you eat exactly that much, you
will not gain (store) or lose (use) any fat (energy). So even if you eat three
meals a day consisting solely of chow mein and orange chicken from delivery,
and all meals add up to be 2500kcal, you will not fluctuate in body fat
percentage. Of course, you will otherwise have terrible health due to the high
consumption of saturated fats and sodium, but that's another story.

In this vein, I think everyone should tally caloric intake for a week and
compare it to their daily caloric needs which can be calculated using all
sorts of tools (e.g. <http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html>).

Hopefully this discussion is not completely irrelevant, but I thought it was
all worth noting. I'm certainly not trying to pick on you either, just thought
this was a good outlet.

------
bcrescimanno
I'm sorry for the loss of a friend; I don't pretend to know how you currently
feel.

That said, I think there's a pretty big leap you're taking from "playing a lot
of games" and "had a heart attack at 32." Obviously, I don't know this person;
but I do know a lot of folks who have gone on binge gaming sessions who have
never had heart attacks.

I'm not saying there isn't any connection or that it didn't contribute in any
way; however, let's be honest with ourselves and admit that a binge gaming
session, while not in any way healthy and certainly a likely contributor to
this person's poor health, most likely did not cause a heart attack.

~~~
k-mcgrady
I don't think the connection the OP is making is that binge gaming session ==
heart attack. I think it's that the person spent a lot of their time playing
games. They spent too much time sedentary and this was the unfortunate result.
It's something that can happen easily with games - some people find them very
addictive (I don't have the attention span for gaming but I know people who
have days where they wake up, play games, and go to sleep). The same result
could happen if you sat and watched several movies every day and didn't
exercise or eat well.

~~~
UK-AL
Considering most desk jobs are roughy equivalent to watching a few movies on
end. What do you do then?

It's not so bad at small companies where socialising with freinds is not
frowned upon. However at many large companies, spending 30 mins socialising
would be frowned upon.

~~~
k-mcgrady
I think the difference is that at most desk jobs you get up every so often to
use the bathroom, have lunch, get something from the printer, go to a meeting
etc. And at the beginning and end of the day you have to move to go home. The
problem is sitting in a chair playing a game (or another activity) and not
getting off that chair for to do anything for a very long time (the gamers I
know often sit for 12 hours only getting up to use the bathroom for a few
minutes).

I honestly don't know very much about this but I think those minor
distinctions are very important.

------
vectorpush
I'm not really sure what this has to do with gaming. Spending days at a time
hunched in front of a computer with little sleep is like the quintessential
image of working the start-up life. He could have spent those three days
working in vim rather than playing Diablo and he'd probably still be gone.
More importantly, don't blame yourself for letting him take that time off, a
heart attack at thirty isn't something that a day in the office could prevent.

~~~
potatolicious
I dunno, I've had some pretty epic hack sessions in my life, but none of them
even compare to when I get sucked into a video game.

Diablo 3 came out last week, and I literally had stretches where I didn't even
go to the bathroom for 12+ hours. I got severely dehydrated when Mass Effect 3
came out to the point that the effects lingered for a couple of days.

That sort of complete absorption has never come to me while hacking. I might
forego sleep, but I've never forgone basic bodily functions while programming,
whereas I find it dangerously easy to get into that mode with games.

~~~
Dylanlacey
Out of curiosity, have you been to a gambling environment? Did you find it
hard to eat and drink there?

Do you play board games with a similar intensity? What about marathon TV
shows, do you wait until the end of an episode (or story arc) before
ablutions?

~~~
potatolicious
Nope, nope, and nope, but yes on the TV shows.

To elaborate: I've been gambling many times, but have never felt the same
compulsion as I get when I drawn into a good video game. Heck, I have trouble
sitting at a blackjack table for more than half an hour.

Ditto board games. I've done some all-night Risk games with friends in the
past, but those were out of sheer machismo, and no food/bathroom breaks were
missed.

On the other hand, for really strongly arced TV shows I do find it hard to
tear away. When I discovered the West Wing last week (how did it take me this
long to find this show?!) I ended up marathoning the first season over two
days, entirely unintentionally.

I might have an addictive personality...

~~~
Dylanlacey
Aww, you saw through my veil of mystery:P I was just curious to see if games
are more addictive for you personally then other "common" addictive
activities.

I wonder if it's because games and TV have something in common that the other
activities don't: A storyline. I personally get a little engrossed in media,
but only for a few hours then I'm bored. Games, however, I can play all day.
Other activities just don't have the same pull for me.

------
vm
At what point is it wrong to engineer a product to be addictive?

Tobacco companies are evil for doing this. But when it comes to things like
fast food, gambling and _games_ , I hear things like "everyone knows those are
bad for you" so you should "be responsible"

Like all things, not everyone submits to urges. But I bet most gamers don't
know there are sophisticated teams fine-tuning the gaming experience to
maximize time played (or whichever metric). Some people are outmatched by
those teams.

I had been thinking about this earlier today when I saw this quote from Bing
Gordon: "World of Warcraft has 0% churn from levels 35-40" [1]. Those guys at
Blizzard are _good_.

[1] <https://twitter.com/ericries/statuses/204601761560932352> \- I put faith
in Eric Ries for the accuracy of this statement

~~~
Dylanlacey
Evil comes when the user is expected to lose significant amounts of something
for no return.

Tobacco companies expect you to lose years of your life, tens of thousands of
dollars and return you yellowing teeth and nails, smelling bad and lessened
taste and smell. Evil.

WoW expects your monthly subscription fee and you'll probably put some time
into it as well. They don't actually care how MUCH time you put into it, just
that you're engaged enough to keep playing. In return they give you fun, a
sense of achievement, a vibrant community and new content. Not Evil

Zynga games are _boring_. In fact they're worse, they're work. They guilt you
into playing, they try to manipulate you into harassing your friends, they're
designed to nickle-and-dime and get you playing as much as possible. In return
you might get a sense of achievement, but you irritate your friends and waste
a bunch of time on a game that isn't any fun. Evil.

I think it's always evil to engineer a product to be addictive. Compelling
yes, addictive no. If you don't return a positive benefit to the user then
even compelling is evil.

~~~
pemulis
There are people who enjoy smoking and playing Zynga games, though. Positive
benefit is relative. Just because you don't like cigarettes or Farmville
doesn't mean that no one does. The argument that Blizzard doesn't care how
much time you put into World of Warcraft doesn't hold up, either. The lower
levels have a lot of grinding and the higher levels have multi-hour raids.
World of Warcraft has addictive properties baked in to keep you playing, just
like Zynga games. You could make the argument that Zynga is "evil" for milking
addicted players for thousands of dollars, but Diablo III's auction house
creates a similar dynamic. Isn't it enough to say that you think Zynga's games
suck, but Blizzard's are good?

------
aeturnum
I think this does the dead man a disservice. He was unhealthy, had unhealthy
habits, and he played video games because it was easier to do that than other
leisure activities. If he were still alive to be offended, would you have said
he played too many games, or perhaps that he didn't exercise enough?

There are people who have real, legitimate behavioral addictions to things.
There are sex addicts, video game addicts, gambling addicts, even fitness
addicts. However, the great majority of people are unhealthy for a large
number of subtle and difficult to address reasons. If you've ever known
someone who's struggled with their weight, or their general health, you
shouldn't be as ignorantly reductionist as the person who posted this.

Video games (almost certainly) didn't kill, or even harm, your friend. His
poor health killed him, and playing video games gave him a way to enjoy his
free time. I understand the idea that endemic boredom would have saved him,
but I think that is the result of a fundamental misunderstanding about
motivation.

Also - if he didn't play video games, but was a voracious reader, would you
have posted, "Please don't let reading consume your life?" "Writing?"
"Programming?" Etc.

------
Buildstarted
I always heard of people in other countries dying while playing video games. I
never thought it would ever be someone in this country let alone someone I
knew. It's one of the hardest things to hit me in my recent life...so
sad...please take care of yourselves out there. Stay healthy.

~~~
Dylan16807
Do you actually think the game was related to his death? If enough people play
video games an hour a week it's guaranteed that some of them will die while
playing.

I understand that he was marathoning this game but that shouldn't cause a
heart attack.

~~~
omgsean
I think the subtext was that his sedentary lifestyle is what killed him.

~~~
Dylan16807
But how much of that was actually tied to games? Maybe I'm being needlessly
nitpicky but I didn't even notice the comment about lifestyle as I first read
the article, tucked away near the end.

~~~
omgsean
For a guy who took 3 days off work to play D3 and died at his computer?
Probably a lot.

------
ChuckMcM
Having spent way more time than is healthy playing WoW I realized one day,
after I had spent 12 hours collecting virtual materials to make virtual armor
so that I could go with folks into a simulated environment without dying so
that I could get other armor that would replace the armor I had made, that
there were _much_ better ways to spend a Saturday.

The challenge of course is that it is so damn easy. And by that I mean that
one of the things video games have over programming (what I had previously
spent 12 hrs on a Saturday doing for fun) was that in the game everything is
set up so that you can get right toward making progress against your goal, and
you can stop, and then come back later and get right back into it. From power
up to 'engaged' was like 3 minutes, vs programming which seemed to have an
hour just to get to the point where everything was in shape to work on it.

Since that time, I've been trying to make programming as easy as gaming in
that regard. Things like 'screen' can help since you can pop right back into a
session, everything is setup your cd path is current, as is your history etc)
and stuff like picking one editor and using it everywhere helps too. A USB
keyboard is essential because switching between Macbook keyboard to desktop
keyboard can generate a lot of mistyped keys. Finally there is the 'questing'
system, where in the game you log in and the quests you have to complete are
sitting there in a list with a short note about what needs to be done. I use a
notebook for that but it has the same effect. Open up the notebook to the book
mark and the things that need doing are highlighted and circled, stuff that is
done is lined out.

I'm still not there yet, work to do. But I am long past being 'hardcore' in
WoW.

~~~
swah
How a procrastinator faces a todo list: you read the first item, realize that
its a hard one and you should game for a little while so your subconscious can
work on the problem and generate creativity.

(But I always end up realizing that conscious effort/thinking about the damn
task gives better results).

------
jsz0
Not knowing anything about this individual I don't want to make too many
assumptions but the broader point here is valid. The whole culture of
'hardcore gaming' is pretty creepy to me. There's a fine line between fun and
mental illness. It's too easy to look at this as just a harmless eccentric
hobby when, past a certain point, it really needs to be treated more like a
serious problem with interventions & rehab. I really dislike how the culture
around it is so supportive of obviously destructive behaviors. It's eerily
similar to hardcore drug culture at times.

~~~
sukuriant
s/hardcore gaming/competitive horseback riding/d

s/hardcore gaming/competitive Go playing/d

s/hardcore gaming/dedicated Iron Man competition training/d

s/hardcore gaming/frequent weekend get-away-ing/d

s/hardcore gaming/dedicated volunteering/d

Perhaps I'm not familiar with the hardcore gaming you've seen, with exception,
perhaps, of WoW addiction, but you need to be careful of looking at a
particular use of a person's pass-time, or even an entire culture's use of
their pass time

~~~
giblfiz
Well two differences... one only applies to some of those things. In the case
of all of the physically active ones they to some extent self-regulate. There
is really only so much power-lifting you can do in a week, and very few ways
around that max (even assuming steroid use)

But I think the more relevant issue is far fewer people seem to be prone to
obsession in any of those other spheres. It's not that hardcore gaming is any
worse than an obsession with chess, it's that far fewer are obsessed with
chess.

I found this article (which came off of hacker news in the first place) to be
super relevant. <http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html>

------
staunch
Does it really have anything to do with gaming?

It's not like he was a physically healthy guy who sat down for a 30 hour
Diablo 3 bender and died, right?

Regardless, I'm sad for anyone who dies so young.

------
chao-
Echoing others' sentiments in this thread: I don't see the link between video
games and the man's death being all that strong here. I can understand if
sharing details of his health isn't something meant for the internet, though,
and I am sorry for your loss.

As someone who spent the majority of their teenage years "gaming" (6 hours per
day average in an MMO), and despite benefiting socially and financially (you
read that right) from it all, I have since quit and become a bitter ex-gamer.
I speak with that hat on when I say that this is not an article about gaming
and its personal costs. I could write such an article, but it's been done
before, and you just end up preaching to the choir. Instead, this is an
article about the loss of a friend. We always wish we could have spent more
time with friends who have passed, regardless of what their hobbies were.

To close, I will share the reason behind my own transition. It boils down to
one simple notion:

 _Do you want to spend your days living in a world someone else created? Or do
you want to build your own?_

------
nemik
Maybe he died doing what he loved...

~~~
staunch
I think this is actually a perfectly reasonable idea. When I look back on past
15 years one of my absolute favorite memories is playing FPS games with my
friends, brothers, and father. Those times were more real and more meaningful
to me than many other more socially acceptable activities.

But...you shouldn't die at 32 because you're eating burgers and playing games
too much. That's a terrible way to go, and it ultimately means you get far
less time gaming!

------
zobzu
It's about a game but it can be about anything. Specially, work kills many
more people than video games, for exactly the same reasons. (that even include
non-computer work)

------
muraiki
If you're a gamer and are looking for a way to get some physical activity, I
suggest trying out fencing. I recently started taking lessons and I'm having a
blast!

Fencing is a sport that appeals to many aspects of a gamer personality: it
requires the use of the mind as much as the body; it is competitive; it has
clear feedback as to whether you are improving or not. It will get your blood
pumping and also stretch you out -- something that most of us need since we
probably are sitting at computers all day!

When I first thought about trying fencing I watched some videos online and had
no clue what was going on. Things happened so quickly that it seemed like
people were just moving at random to get a touch. But now that I've fenced, I
see why fencing isn't so popular as a spectator sport: in order to appreciate
what is going on, you have to understand the techniques. It is only then that
you can appreciate the brilliance and athleticism of a high level fencing
match. It's much like watching chess or go: largely indecipherable to a
layman.

I know that I don't have the patience or discipline to run on a treadmill, but
fencing is a different story... and it's even motivating me to the point where
I might hop on a treadmill or jump rope to improve my fencing. Give it a try!

------
Peteris
Regular exercise really is the solution. I know exercise makes me more hungry
to the point where everything tastes good. And if you've put in enough effort,
you will not want to waste that by eating junk. Solid exercise involves a lot
of physical pain and once you learn to deal with that your willpower will be
off the charts and sticking to the right food will be a breeze.

I was out of shape until I did P90X last summer and now I'm a different person
altogether. You would be surprised how much can be done in three months of
proper hard work. But it does not have to be a full blown fitness program.
People aren't always aware of the options. When thinking of weight loss,
jogging is the first thing that pops to mind. I have always found it extremely
challenging mentally and I was never even overweight. Commit yourself to a few
basketball games a week, or a cycle, a climb, a hike, skiing, whatever you
enjoy. If you push that little bit harder every time and get some sweat going,
get your heart racing, you will be surprised what it will do to your body.

Also a tip for motivation is to focus on performance. If you can run faster
and farther, jump higher or feel better, just keep progressing and the weight
will come down naturally.

------
mattiask
I used to be a gamer but then I realized something. While gaming is fun,
sometimes fulfilling and a source of "flow" it's ultimately without higher
meaning. Imagine spending hundreds of hours playing WoW, DI:3 or whatever, now
imagine what you could have done with that time.

It's better to game your life than spending your life gaming. I Enjoy gaming
in certain amounts,prefer gaming over TV, but prefer creating, socializing and
learning over gaming.

------
dhughes
Sorry to hear about your friend Ben.

I actually had to kick the video game habit I have to get my electronics cert
by August (or I am jobless, will be the first time in 30 years) and I haven't
played any game at all since early December last year. Console (an apt word)
or PC games certainly are addicting, some people say it can't be since it
isn't an opioid drug (some say the same thing about weed) but it's your world
when you're alone.

It will be nice if, maybe, someday technology will be so seamless that you
won't sit and browse the web or play video games maybe it will be a part of
our lives all the time but more subtle. Like the telephone was so futuristic
when it came out people had no idea it would become so ubiquitous and easy to
use. Maybe information won't have to be sifted through on Google or Duckduckgo
it will just be there when desired.

I remember reading about stimulus response reward training given to US Army
soldiers so they would instinctively fire at the enemy it pretty much removed
the thinking part of the procedure. That's what it seems like for me anyway
when I played, really I had trained myself to play without thinking and kills
in the game were my reward.

------
driverdan
I'm sorry you had to lose a friend. I understand that you're trying to find
meaning and place blame but playing a game for 3 days is not likely to end
your life. It's possible he had an underlying medical condition. If he had
been sitting for 3 days straight writing code would you blame it instead?

~~~
Buildstarted
I wasn't placing blame on the game but on himself. The game was the final
straw that broke the camel's back. Yes, there were other health issues which I
addressed later in the post.

~~~
ajross
People who are 32 years old don't die of sudden heart failure for lack of a
gym membership or a poor diet. He almost certainly had a serious health issue,
possibly one he wasn't aware of. That kind of progressive heart disease comes
slowly, with lots of warning.

Gaming certainly didn't help him, but it certainly didn't kill him.

------
Pedrom
Sorry in advance for this but... Is there chance that this could be a hoax?
It's not that it couldn't happen but I couldn't find the obituary or any other
reference to this other than the same text reposted on another blog.

Also Buildstarted's account was just created to post this entry, which it is
not helping me to sorting this out in my mind. I don't want to be skeptical
but I take very serious these kind of news and it would be really sad that
somebody would be joking with these matters.

------
astrodust
Kickstarter idea: A USB connected exercise bike with a keyboard and mouse tray
on it and a VESA display mount. If you don't pedal fast enough the screen
dims. If you stop the screen blanks and the network connection drops.

You'd need a "break" button that you can recharge every so often so you can
coast or grab a drink, but otherwise it'd be the ultimate "hard core" mode for
gamers.

------
EricDeb
How sedentary does one have to be to be at risk of a heart attack at age 32?
This story seemed a bit odd to me, like it could have been entirely contrived.
I certainly hope it wasn't.

Exercise (really just walking and getting up on a daily basis) is vitally
important, and for those of us OCD enough to program or game 12 to 18 hours
straight, it is important to remember such facts.

------
nodata
One of the problems is right here on this thread: lots of conflicting advice,
everyone claiming their advice to be true.

------
kreek
Some have questioned whether it was gaming that killed him, obviously playing
video games won't give you a heart attack. However sitting in one place for
hours on end could give you one (or a stroke). Playing games, coding, flying,
in all those cases you should be getting up every now and then.

------
readme
> We are placing the blame on ourselves at work wondering if we made him come
> in on Friday would he still be with us today?

I'm sorry for your loss. It is not your fault. Please don't beat yourself up
over it.

I know how this feels, I've experienced survivors guilt over my direct family
before.

------
gavanwoolery
These days I won't get near an addictive game - I tend to favor games that I
can easily pick up and put down, like collectible card games or board games.
Also, as a "game designer" I often question whether I should intentionally
make my game non-addictive.

------
j45
Managing distractions is incredibly important, be it reading useless stuff
online, or gaming.

------
UK-AL
Remember most jobs are like gaming. Sitting at a desk for hours on end, maybe
a few breaks.

I don't think it is gaming alone, it is bad life styles in general. The worst
part is most people HAVE to adopt that lifestyle for a desk job.

------
omgsean
I think it's really interesting to see so many people here jumping up to
defend gaming. Nobody is blaming games or gaming, the original post simply
states that like everything else, you should make sure that you moderate the
amount of gaming you do and also try to do things that are good for your body.
I think it's a good message for Hacker News given the number of gamers we have
here (I can easily log 20-30 hours a week when I have a new game and some free
time).

If you game a lot but you don't let it get in the way of your health then this
message wasn't intended for you (except perhaps as a cautionary tale).

------
n8ji
So hard to decide if I should read this article or play Skyrim.

