Struggling with fixations and obsessive interests

[Jamison]

I've had obsessions and fixations about certain topics since I was a kid. It's not until recently that it's become a big problem for me.

Here's the situation: I'm a big Zelda fan, love the franchise, and I was really excited to hear that Nintendo is making a sequel to Breath of the Wild (a very excellent game, I recommend playing it if you haven't). Unfortunately for me, this anticipation turned into obsessively looking for any bit of news about the game since it was announced. It became disruptive to my daily life but it slowly tapered off. It isn't until recently that my obsessive behaviors came back full swing due to the fact that Nintendo, for whatever strange reason, hasn't put out a Direct presentation for at least half a year. For the past month I've been searching Twitter endlessly and ruminating over when in the world they would give us further information. It's become incredibly disruptive to both my personal and professional life: I end up procrastinating certain tasks because I can't focus my mind on anything else, I've lost sleep which in turn affected my ability to focus at work, and it generally causes me anxiety.

You'd think that some video game wouldn't be something to lose sleep over, but for some reason I can't emotionally detach myself from it. It's become a problem. There's nothing wrong of course with having an interest but when it gets to this point, it's never healthy or productive. I've had this happen in the recent past with other type of interests as well. I want to find a way to manage it and have it under control. How do you guys deal with obsessions/fixations like this? If you have any tips, tricks, or advice, I'd be happy to hear them.

(P.S. I feel it worth mentioning that I also have ADD. I've considered this might be a cause of my fixations, but after doing extensive research and skills training for my ADD, I feel like this is more of an autism trait rather than ADD.)

 

[Joel's Hear]

I have been as big a Zelda fan as you all my days. From Zelda, to Adventures of Link, to Link to the Past, to Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

I have never played Breath of the Wild, but I will definitely put it on my list based on your recommendation alone.

I particularly love the soundtrack: Song of Storms, Epona's Song, the Bolero of Fire, and of course the original title score all ignite a spark in my soul that testifies that Koji Kondo is indeed a rare genius..

 

[Misery]

Ah, this. I've done this.

In my case, it was Mario Maker. One thing I always wanted to do as a kid was make my own Mario levels (I loved editors/makers/whatever, still do) and suddenly Nintendo is putting THAT out? Yeah, I had to know EVERYTHING. It was the same with the second game as well.

But here's a few things I realized, in terms of keeping the obsession under control:

1. On Youtube, just set a notification thing on Nintendo's main channel. When they post, you get notified, and bam, you'll know if it's anything important. If not, well, no need to do anything else.

2. Twitter is a total waste of time. No, seriously. My advice here would be: Dont even use it. Something Iv'e learned over so very many years of gaming and internet usage is that when it comes to things like this, misinformation and rumors will be everywhere. Twitter in particular is godawful about this. If you want to NOT know what's really going on, and get hyped up about stuff that doesnt even exist so that you can be super disappointed later? That's what Twitter will get you. It's the direct opposite of a good place to get info on things. There is zero logical purpose to scouring twitter. If Nintendo decides to release important info about the game, they arent going to do it solely on Twitter. They take release of info very seriously, and no company worth their salt would even THINK of putting info on Twitter and nowhere else.

And before you mention it: Yes, I know sometimes individual developers on the team might post something. Dont trust that either. Why? Because one of the harsh realities of game development is that things can change or go wrong. I still remember some of the earlier photos and footage of Mario Maker for instance, and how the final product didnt look anything like those. What Nintendo posts in their treehouse thing is likely to be at least relatively reliable (because the higher-ups will have considered it all VERY carefully). ANYTHING posted on Twitter may as well not have been posted at all.

tl;dr just dump twitter. Which is a good idea even outside of this situation...


And lastly.... realize that nothing you can do will speed it up. One rule I set for myself is to NEVER get too hyped about something until it is actually released and people have played and reviewed it. For all you know... this new Zelda absolutely could still go wrong. It's happened before. Remember also that even Nintendo isnt perfect. Like any company, stuff they put out (like the treehouse stuff, or trailers) is designed to dazzle the consumer first and foremost... not inform. I say this with literally every single game publisher there is: DO NOT trust trailers and things. Just dont. Nintendo is one of the less problematic ones, but they've still been guilty of pulling crap like that in the past. I still remember all the hype everyone was having with all the screenshots and stuff of the new Star Fox game, and then it came out, aaaaand.... it was bloody terrible. That is always, ALWAYS a possible result, never forget that.

There is no way for you to know what the game is really going to be like until A: you've played it, or B: someone on Youtube has played it and can show it to you. Before that? You effectively know nothing. Watch their videos on the game if you'd like, but other than that, there's no logical reason to waste your time on finding "info" particularly when 99% of that info isnt even reliable.

Consider all of that whenever the urge occurs to you, and then go do anything else instead. Maybe get a second hobby, even, so you're not entirely focused on just that one.

 

[FreeDiver]

When I was younger. I use to get hyped-up about a lot of things that were about to come out. Everything from Movies, video game and other products. Only to find out that 95% of the time, it was all a disappointment in the end. With that said. Now when a new product is about to come out that's got a hold of my obsession. I just reflect on past experiences with this kind of thing and I soon calm down and forget about it.

 

[BrokenBoy]

Special interests are also kinda a problem with me. I constantly have to resist the all consuming urge to mention something about psychiatry and mental illness (special interests of mine) in a conversation regardless if the person I'm speaking to knows anything about or cares about those topics.

 

[Jamison]

Ah, this. I've done this.

In my case, it was Mario Maker. One thing I always wanted to do as a kid was make my own Mario levels (I loved editors/makers/whatever, still do) and suddenly Nintendo is putting THAT out? Yeah, I had to know EVERYTHING. It was the same with the second game as well.

But here's a few things I realized, in terms of keeping the obsession under control:

1. On Youtube, just set a notification thing on Nintendo's main channel. When they post, you get notified, and bam, you'll know if it's anything important. If not, well, no need to do anything else.

2. Twitter is a total waste of time. No, seriously. My advice here would be: Dont even use it. Something Iv'e learned over so very many years of gaming and internet usage is that when it comes to things like this, misinformation and rumors will be everywhere. Twitter in particular is godawful about this. If you want to NOT know what's really going on, and get hyped up about stuff that doesnt even exist so that you can be super disappointed later? That's what Twitter will get you. It's the direct opposite of a good place to get info on things. There is zero logical purpose to scouring twitter. If Nintendo decides to release important info about the game, they arent going to do it solely on Twitter. They take release of info very seriously, and no company worth their salt would even THINK of putting info on Twitter and nowhere else.

And before you mention it: Yes, I know sometimes individual developers on the team might post something. Dont trust that either. Why? Because one of the harsh realities of game development is that things can change or go wrong. I still remember some of the earlier photos and footage of Mario Maker for instance, and how the final product didnt look anything like those. What Nintendo posts in their treehouse thing is likely to be at least relatively reliable (because the higher-ups will have considered it all VERY carefully). ANYTHING posted on Twitter may as well not have been posted at all.

tl;dr just dump twitter. Which is a good idea even outside of this situation...


And lastly.... realize that nothing you can do will speed it up. One rule I set for myself is to NEVER get too hyped about something until it is actually released and people have played and reviewed it. For all you know... this new Zelda absolutely could still go wrong. It's happened before. Remember also that even Nintendo isnt perfect. Like any company, stuff they put out (like the treehouse stuff, or trailers) is designed to dazzle the consumer first and foremost... not inform. I say this with literally every single game publisher there is: DO NOT trust trailers and things. Just dont. Nintendo is one of the less problematic ones, but they've still been guilty of pulling crap like that in the past. I still remember all the hype everyone was having with all the screenshots and stuff of the new Star Fox game, and then it came out, aaaaand.... it was bloody terrible. That is always, ALWAYS a possible result, never forget that.

There is no way for you to know what the game is really going to be like until A: you've played it, or B: someone on Youtube has played it and can show it to you. Before that? You effectively know nothing. Watch their videos on the game if you'd like, but other than that, there's no logical reason to waste your time on finding "info" particularly when 99% of that info isnt even reliable.

Consider all of that whenever the urge occurs to you, and then go do anything else instead. Maybe get a second hobby, even, so you're not entirely focused on just that one.

I feel like I have to agree with you on Twitter. I actually don't even have an account on there. I think the reason I kept checking it is partially out of the vain hope I'll find something I'm looking for and also it ends up becoming a cheap dopamine hit for me. It's just not that good of a platform in general, especially with all of the toxic political crap going on there. That's mostly why I never actually use it.

I also like what you and FreeDiver said about setting realistic expectations for these sort of things. I guess you could say it's "hyping responsibly". It also helps set a healthy perspective on the situation which is great for me since I'm terrible at keeping things in perspective.

 

[Misery]

I feel like I have to agree with you on Twitter. I actually don't even have an account on there. I think the reason I kept checking it is partially out of the vain hope I'll find something I'm looking for and also it ends up becoming a cheap dopamine hit for me. It's just not that good of a platform in general, especially with all of the toxic political crap going on there. That's mostly why I never actually use it.

I also like what you and FreeDiver said about setting realistic expectations for these sort of things. I guess you could say it's "hyping responsibly". It also helps set a healthy perspective on the situation which is great for me since I'm terrible at keeping things in perspective.

Hm, honestly with this industry I'd say the idea of "hyping responsibly" basically boils down to "just dont even get hyped".

Unfortunately, it's a very, VERY shady and exploitative industry. These companies would throw you into a vat of piranhas if they thought it'd get them another penny. Most of them are *bad*. To the point where some are outright dangerous, preying on those with things like gambling addiction, and not caring at all if they ruin someone's life. With freaking videogames. Just think about that for a second.

Nintendo fortunately is one of the last remaining holdovers from the old days. But even they cant completely be trusted anymore. They've definitely pulled some nasty crap themselves.

Whenever a major publisher tries to get you hyped about ANYTHING, dont let them. View it only with skepticism, as it's almost guaranteed that something in their trailer or whatever is fabricated. "Actual gameplay footage" it says? Yeah, probably not.

Nintendo may be a bit more trustworthy than 99% of the others, but still. With that industry, hype simply has no function for the consumer, as those companies can get away with pretty much anything. That's also the reason why preorders still exist. Do you know why they ORIGINALLY existed? Because brick-and-mortar stores would run out of initial stock really fast. Putting a pre-order down (which was usually exactly $5, NOT the full price) guaranteed that you'd get a go at that initial shipment, and they would STOP taking preorders when they hit the limit for that shipment's count. But now, games are mostly digital. As in, infinite stock. So why the pre-orders? Simple: So they get your money BEFORE you can learn anything concrete about the final product. If it turns out bad (as it often will)? Well, tough, you already paid them. They got what they wanted, and couldnt care less about you. That's part of why they hype stuff, to get you to do that. Never preorder.

Dont bother trying to hype responsibly. Instead, stop hyping at all, and simply be a responsible consumer overall. Be careful with your money, approach all new announcements with skepticism, dont give them money for silly things or stuff that doesnt entirely exist yet, and learn to spot and avoid tricks that these companies might pull (and they will pull so freaking many of them).

I've been watching this accursed industry for longer than I want to think about, and have learned so much about how it ACTUALLY operates. That's where alot of this advice is coming from.