I had a very strong feeling that the game you were talking about was Skyrim. I know what she is feeling all to well...My ex used to spend more time playing WoW then paying attention to me. And I tried everything I could to get him to pay attention to me....and I did the same..I started playing, and I did find it fun and enjoyable so I stayed with it, but he just kept on ignoring me and such, though he actually did start to try.

It's never an easy thing to do, :( It really isn't. But I've usually managed to get my points across before it ever gets to serious....

Oh I know how she feels. I was married to someone who replaced me with games.. Not even seeming to care that he had someone REAL right in front of him wanting to do anything for him, much preferring pixels. I am with someone much better now, who although he plays games, he loves to spend time with me too.

I can´t understand how someone could take his games over his girl. I mean i´m probably a real gamer and all. have more then enough games i play and loves to do that. But never choose games over work and friends. And if i had a girl i would rather play with her then with my x-box.

Its a kind of addiction... many people is bad positions (low paying job, debt, little to no friends, etc.) become addicted because they see this perfect person they can be in front of them and in many ways are them... the 'real' them while the person in the chair isn't. Its a separation of reality really

I can vouch for that. I set aside time for games in the evening, but it does feel so much better feeling good at something that a lot more people value.

Its the new addiction of the 21 century... people can now become lost in other worlds, virtual worlds where they can live out every fantasy and dream while reality is cold and cruel and never gives into one's desires. I understand the addiction and what causes it but it never makes it easier... my one good friend is hooked on video games, rarely comes out anywhere and has no social life to speak of. The sad truth is unlike drugs a game addiction is hard to get past because thy are everywhere and it gives us (the players) complete control where there usually is none.

There is a remedy to this, it's called "Game Over". It tends to occur when he grows very tired, his concentration slips and he makes mistakes. Once he's out of lives, he'll resort to the real world again and realised what he's missed.

Then again, there is such a thing as pulling the plug. At least that way, his game isn't destroyed, provided autosave is on.

Some people do become addicted very easily, I myself have done this a number of times. Luckily, there are limitations to playing. For one, there is usually something on TV that my family want to watch on the HD TV and that forces me off. Secondly, my TV in my room may be big, but not HD, so it doesn't give the same feel (hang on, is the wood bowing underneath it? I need to get that seen to!).

I'm conscientious about looking after my console as well, I become very cautious when it feels even the slightest bit warm. If it weren't for these, I would lose myself in these. Chances are, once you're unplugged, 15 minutes on console is actually about 3 hours in real life.

I've been moved by your work before, but never to tears.. until today. I can relate to this so, so much.

That is true, after reading this I am starting to feel I need to get out an away from games an the house more often and scocilize with other people. But the problem "or exceuse that is comeing out of my head" is that my age group is gone from my town of retiered people and kids under the age of 18 and there is absolutly about nothing to do untill ground hogs day, festival, or carnival comes. I mean there is some stuff to do in other towns to but to get there fuel cost is going to kill me.

I'm kinda fighting this same scenario at the moment just not as bad anymore. Luckily I got my bf to stop playing WoW and now he just plays D&D once a week. Im currently lost in Skyrim and so is he atm so we are fine on that. Im just afraid his D&D buddies will get him into LARPing.

I ANT GOT TIME FOR SEX! I HAVE A BOOKCASE TO ARRANGE!!

amen!so many books so little time

Why I forced myself away from gaming so heavily.. I *used* be an addict to video games and AD&D to where school and friendships/relationships were suffering a lot. :P One reason I am edgy about getting Skyrim to try out heh. Afraid it may kick that habit in action again.

Thanks for posting this. Your art combined with your stories rock!

"Set His crotch on fire or pray for an power outage, either one works just fine". xP

I've been through this (the addiction) myself, and seen it in others.

It burns out, eventually. For MOST people. I love a new game (new to me) obsessively for a while... but they DO get old. So eventually, i pull my head out, look around, and go back to RL. ;)

As much as I enjoy games, and have been playing WoW for a few years, I do realise that I need to attend to real life first. It's a game, nothing else.

When they first came out, I could not afford them, and by the time I could, I started hearing these new words like "Evercrack" or "WarCrack." I decided then that I was not going to play those games. and I am glad I did not just for the reasons of this poor gal here. I'd still like to find someone to love, and pixels on a monitor can't hug me.

Never really understood how people could get so far into games like them.. But I have seen a lot of people who are into them like that..
Only game I ever finished was The Incredible Machine and now even that doesn't hold my interest because I can do it for real instead.

wow, i cant imagine someone dropping out of school to play a game, any game. i guess i just cant understand that mindset. & this is coming from someone whos playing skyrim @ least 3 hours a day now. i know to some thats nothing, but to me thats a HUGE waste of time. but i do it because right now, i enjoy it & it makes me happy. but i also know that eventually, like any other games ive been really into, i will either finish it, or get bored with it. i give it another 2 or 3 weeks on this one. but at the same time, if i get a call from someone who wants to actually go do something in the real world, the game gets shut off. i know it will still be there, right where i saved it last, even if i dont go back to it for days. i guess my point is that its fine to do something like that, as long as its in moderation. moderation is a good rule to live by for pretty much anything in life. ^_^
i feel so bad for that poor girl in the picture, she looks so sad. you have a real knack for drawing things that make me want to hug them!

Okay, speaking as a tabletop-game "obsessed" person (to the point where I am trying to design games of the sort as an outlet), I can't say I have any sympathy for this guy. He needs help. Professional help. And odds are, he isn't going to get any because he won't man up and take responsibility when it is so much easier to just retreat from his real life and live vicariously in these games.

My advice to Jen is simple, but it certainly isn't easy. If he no longer cares about you, and that seems to be the case, then it's not a relationship anymore. He has effectively left you for all intents and purposes. Leaving him is okay. I know it's not the kind of advice anyone wants to hear, but it seems frankly that all else has failed. Sure, you can try to get him help, but odds are, he won't care enough to accept it.

But that's my two bits' worth.

People say I'm porbably obsessed or addicted to my games, but in my defence as much as I love them I always have time for my partner. Skyrim has me hooked as my latest digital love, but it doesn't dominate my life.

ALWAYS pay attention to your partner, the game can wait, your partner cannot.

I know the feeling had someone do this to me, except it was all wow all the time, he dropped out of school for it.

Unfortunately, people have been doing this for pretty much ever. They don't like their day job or classes or whatever, and they they find [obsession]. It might be WoW, skyrim, console games, LARPing, D&D, pinball, hot rodding, or something else. They basically neglect the rest of their life to feed their addiction to the obsession.

these folks need professional mental health consultation, and they will usually resist this intervention. The classic case is the college student who gets kicked out of school for academic failures. They stopped giving a shit about their classwork so they could spend time on their obsession.

Sadly this happens a lot from what I've heard. I however I am more obsessed about my girlfriend than I could be with any game >w<

too some extent, i think i get the feeling as well. the whole own world thing and forgeting others, yeah, i've been through it before, and still am, but at least now i'm better, in a sense that, to some degree, i can control it.
what i'd do in a situation like this, if say i was on the other side, i'd probably make a bigger impression on him, do something he doesn't expect when he's not expecting it (this goes both ways, either when he games or when he's not) and being assertive, whle at the same time loving and caring. n a way, push yourself onto him without being too pushy, sorta like slowly seeping inside. Also, try to bring him away from the screen, do something that is outside the home (and if possible, minimal electronic activity) before reintroduuucing him back. that shouldhep bring him back. :3

*sadhugs and snuggles* oh noes! I hate stories like that where the internets and their worlds take over a person;s life :<

wow....almost exactly what has happened in my life...freaky...


the art is very much how I felt in that situation...

I'm just happy i've found someone else who doesn't waste their life in meaningless games.

Only real big ammount of time i'll spend on games is playing em' with you X3

i dont see how someone could do such a thing. i may be n artist n all n i get into my art but i still find time for my girlfriend. everyday i want to be with her no matter what

As one of those nerds, this makes me want to cry... How can anyone become so sucked into nonexistent realities, they forget what's right in front of them? I love Skyrim, and I adore playing games like D&D and WoW... But this is why the world has such a bad opinion of nerds. People like this.

*Sigh* Anyway! Awesome image, I can almost hear her crying.

Awesome image, great story attached to it too.

As a veteran gamer, D&D player, and fantasy world builder, I can honestly say that this is a sad side effect of virtual reality. Admittedly, it is my belief, that Skyrim lacked any real addicting gameplay in it due to a paper thin story line (I found most of the side quests far more impressive personally). But games like WoW just fuel the addiction that is started early on (though if memory serves, Everquest is and was still worse). I've never truly lost myself in a fantasy world, even one of my own making, though having to keep a steady job I guess has always leveled me out in that regard.

It's all about willpower and restraint, really - these games can be fun, but real life has to come first. I suspect most of the people who get well and truly addicted already have personalities or extenuating circumstances that lead to the escapism. That said, if I had a gf I would hang up my gaming hat whenever she was around, because sex > gaming every time.

I can relate to this...
My boyfriend dumped me because I wanted to hang out with him "too often. I wanted him to come over to my place a few times during the summer, but all he wanted to do was stay at home, sleep and play video games...he called me "clingy" when we broke up. That word stuck knives in my heart...I wasn't trying to cling. I just wanted some attention...

And he was so sweet to me before, but....his games were just way more important than I ever was in the end.

I play skyrim and a lot of other games but do to work and family my gaming has been cut down a lot now a days I can't play a game more then maybe a hour or two before I get tired and that's fine with me for I have found my lovely girlfriend a goddess of love and can say I would never replace her with a game my xbox will go before I let it take me over my lovely is the world to me