Okay so when I say 'you', I'm actually referring to myself. I'm not sure if I'm addicted, but i certainly spend too much time gaming

Here is my theory

The interesting thing I notice most about gaming is that whatever game I play, the character i create ends up becoming highly reputable, rich, looks awesome and builds communities

For example...i used to play World of Warcraft like crazy, many years ago now. I was an undead rogue with an engineer skill, and i would build mounts (mechanohogs for any WOW nerds) and sell those, very lucrative

I would also make trinkets and weapons for PvP sessions, then i made my own PVP guild and sold those items to my guild members, i became in-game...super super rich

I used to play runescape too, for that...i was a free player (no paid subscription for benefits), and i got my mining skill to about 90 and would mine coal like crazy, then i would hire other people to mine coal for me so i could sell to other people (this was before the auction house existed, again for any runescape nerds) very lucrative, also harvesting yew trees was big back then...more money etc. I created a group of people and we literally operated as a business and would sell to runescape members who had the money to pay for high volume recourses

These are just two examples, across all games i have played...it sounds like this

The point I'm trying to make..

In retrospect, I notice that the things I'm achieving in game are at a high level...exactly what i want to achieve in real life

My characters become rich, look cool, have the good stuff, lead 'guilds' which maybe you can imagine as 'companies' or 'businesses'

I would put crazy amounts of hours in to these things and each day would be like adding a brick to the wall of success, but most days I would be SO motivated, it's like i would add an entire row of bricks

Motivation comes SO easy in that scenario, i would wake up and think 'today I'm going to do this' and feel hyped

What I realised

And this is where the penny dropped for me..

I'm simulating the practise and vision of my success - I am literally, and figuratively, simulating the actions I need to do, the effort I need to produce, the hours i need to put in and the determination i need to have... in to a game, rather than my own life

If i were to take those same qualities and utilise them in real life, i'd be on the road to owning those rewards...but for real!

But in fact all i have done...is allow my mind to think in the same way it would have to, if it were in the real world. I've been simulating my success for rewards that are for my in game character and not for real life me

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Recently i played this game called 7 days to die, it's a really cool zombie survival game and...surprise, you have a chance to make money on it

You can create vending machines and place them around the map, in good locations with high player throughput

So what did i do? I spent hours exploring the map, finding best loot locations, finding best vending machine locations (usually close to the in game traders) and creating a network of vending machines around the map, i would place appropriate items to the appropriate level of players in the game per region

For anyone who plays the game...every 7th day there's a big zombie attack and people build what's known as a 'horde base' to protect against it, so i would build a vending machine close to that with guns/health/ammo/buffs etc...or just host all that in my own base etc, again..an example of identifying and then making the most of a virtual and simulated profiteering opportunity..

Again...I'm just simulating the successful thought patterns I need to use in real life, but in game

In Conclusion

And this is why I think gaming is addicting, at least for me

The mind patterns and practises i'm using in game are the SAME that i want to do in life. In game. of course when in game, it's all so much easier to do

Some people say that people distract themselves from real life with gaming, and i think that is true, but i think it's deeper than that

People distract themselves...but STILL utilise the same skillset they need (making money, levelling up, developing etc) in a much easier simulated environment - this is the danger

The mind is still satisfied that it's doing the things it wants to do, whether it's in a virtual world or not

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I do believe gaming has benefited me, in these kinds of 'make money' thought patterns especially, but imagine what I could do if I turned the tables, imagine if I took all of that 'simulated' knowledge and deployed that to my real life - which I have started, but it's a smaller chunk than the gaming at the moment

I felt a real penny drop moment when i realised this, I'm simulating my own success, I'm simulating the skills i need, it's all...practise, and yet paralysis by simulation almost

For anyone else out there who has troubles with gaming, especially those who have this 'energy' to build a character and get them crazy rich and have all the best stuff...this may be the answer for you too?

Regardless, I hope this can help in some way