In response to the article earlier this week where we looked at some of the times people tragically just couldn't tear themselves away from their respective games, it prompts the overall question of how much do you self-moderate when playing through something? Many gamers have experienced the looks of shock or disdain when explaining to someone they've broken the 60-100 hour mark in an engaging RPG or addictive Call of Duty mode. The very idea of devoting such a large chunk of time to something like completing a string of quests in Skyrim, collecting all the stars in Mario Galaxy or just messing around for hours in GTA is definitely not common with the majority of people. Inside of that though you'll also find those who - whilst they'll play games regularly - make sure to self-regulate after only a few hours, doing some other activity for the sake of not devoting a considerable chunk of time just to gaming, or 'staring at the screen'. Then there's the rest of us; those who don't mind sitting back and proclaiming to any who'll listen that they're purposefully going to spend an entire afternoon clocking a particular game's campaign, set of levels or otherwise. These are the people society points to and questions their devotion to the medium, but is it harmful to do such things for so long? A particular talking point around this idea of games being intrinsically addictive is the manufacturing of something that is almost literally impossible to put down. How responsible does that make developers when devising the addictive side of their titles, and should measures be put in place to prevent you going overboard? Which games constantly offer up relentless rewards and perks for continued play, ensuring that as soon as you finally put the controller down (you have to sleep sometime, right?) you're already itching to get stuck back in? Let us know in the comments which titles grabbed ahold of you and never let go!
