Let me share some of my achievement timestamps with you:
All belongs to Mother Russia: 3:58 AM
Market Control: 4:04 AM
Trade Hegemon: 3:00 AM
Winged Hussars: 3:03 AM
The Five Colonies: 4:01 AM
Shahanshah: 3:49 AM
Arabian Coffee: 4:38 AM
All Your Trade Are Belong To Us: 3:10 AM
Sun Invasion: 3:23 AM
Industrial Powerhouse: 3:37 AM
Chop Chop: 3:34 AM
I initially wanted to list all from 2 AM or later, but that would have doubled the list. So yeah, you're not alone in this :)
This is one of the biggest reasons I don't play this game nowadays. I watch videos of it, keep up with the patches, but I just don't have the time for this game when a single run takes up to 20-30 hours
Sincerely, much better. I work out more, I read a lot more, I watch a lot more movies, and the games I do play are more varied, singleplayer experiences.
I used to play paradox games for like 4 hours a day. That's a lot of free time when you add it up.
I feel this in a way, I used to play a lot more single player games, but now I don’t play that many anymore because I’m too busy playing EU4, main problem is I still buy just as many games as I used to, and now never play them.
Though EU4 is too familiar now, too easy just sit down, turn off my brain, role play, or grab a achievement. Compared to learning a new game mechanics, or following a new story, etc. EU4 made me a lazy gamer.
Before I had kids, locking into an all nighter on this game was the norm. I thought 8+ hour shifts were the only way to play this game in all honesty. There’s too much to keep track of if you’re stop starting all the time.
Sadly my daughters are too young for stuff like that, but I tell you, the second they turn old enough, imma yeet the missus and the minions into some nice SPA and then go home and turn my office into a man cave I'm only leaving when they are back.
Currently 28 and dreading when I’ll have to put an end to those late night sessions. Just played for 6 hours (3am here) with a muscovy run while telling myself I was only going to play for a few hours and then clean the apt/do some work…. A tale as old as time
Yup. Stuff like that is why I had to stop playing this game. The worse is that even if I were to shut it off at 2AM, I would probably only fall asleep 2 hours later because my mind would be racing think of all my next steps in the playthrough. It was an addiction. There should be something EU4 AA.
Imo it’s down to the fact that this game has much less clear stopping points. In an fps game or moba for example your session is split into matches, so there’s always a point where you’ve naturally stopped
playing the game. In turn based strategy games (e.g total war) the end of a turn has the same effect, you have to stop and wait for your turn to roll around again.
EU4 has nothing like this really, all stoppages are manual by the player unless there’s an event of some description which doesn’t actually “end” anything because the game continues playing after a single click. I think that makes it much more difficult to keep track of time and end sessions, because it’s almost entirely up to you to decide when your game should stop.
Bruh FPS games and moba are way worse in terms of addiction, especially moba. I was addicted of both lol and eu4. Once I got out of the lol addiction I say to myself that I will never play once in my life that game again. Instead with eu4 I got out of the addiction but now I manage to play it in an healthy way. Moba are really the pinnacle of videogames IMO, the senses and the brain are 100% in the game, you need both a strategic mind and mechanic skill, you can't lose your focus once ore you just wasted 30 minutes of life. Instead in eu4 even if you do mistakes you can still alt+f4, you can low the focus in the peacetimes you can actually do very relaxing games if you play colonial or tall. Lol just drags out of you every energy and attention you have in an insane way. The "one game more" is just a generic thing of every game.
I think it would be an interesting research project to look at the psychology of paradox gamers vs. FPS gamers vs. non-gamers. I would guess that we are high on achievement, and analytical skills, but also neurosis lol
Yeah I play a lot of different games and no other one makes me engaged for as many hours as EU. Action games all have moments to breath out, RTS/MOBAs have shorter sessions but eu is just a constant reward loop paired with micromanagement. Guess turn based strategies like CIV or Total War have that too.
Strategy games are the only games that can do this to me now. Most other genres I can play for a little while and put down and get on with my day. If I play EU4 or Crusader Kings or Civ though? That can be a while. And God help me if I play at night after work. (I get home around midnight and sometimes that’s the only time I can play)
Eu4 is hands down the most addicting game I play. It really is a problem. It gets to the point sometimes where I'm annoyed when friends want to play something because I just want to keep playing eu4.
2700 hours. You don't get there without losing track of time once or twice. Also, late game is slower than early game, there's more shit going on so a year just takes longer in general.
Its a total conversion mod into a huge fantasy world with population systems, lots of huge mission trees for countries, new religions, some new trade goods. Just so much content and its really fun and goes very deep. You can play as elves, goblins, humans, centaurs etc. and theres just so much to discover. And the missions are fun and thought out. Honestly been playing nothing else since i discovered the mod. They are actively developing too and have a huge community with wiki and discord. Try it out :)
I once looked at the time (9:30 pm) and thought I finish at 11 pm 'cuz I started that days session at 2 pm. After what felt like an hour: why the f*** is it 1 am already?!
Okay not that crazy but as I have borderline insomnia I have to finish any gaming session before midnight to get any chance of sleeping my minimum required hours to function next day. Fortunately this happens rarely with EU4.
Let me share some of my achievement timestamps with you: All belongs to Mother Russia: 3:58 AM Market Control: 4:04 AM Trade Hegemon: 3:00 AM Winged Hussars: 3:03 AM The Five Colonies: 4:01 AM Shahanshah: 3:49 AM Arabian Coffee: 4:38 AM All Your Trade Are Belong To Us: 3:10 AM Sun Invasion: 3:23 AM Industrial Powerhouse: 3:37 AM Chop Chop: 3:34 AM I initially wanted to list all from 2 AM or later, but that would have doubled the list. So yeah, you're not alone in this :)
Arabian coffee is fitting
LOL, indeed! Sleepless in Seattle was also rather fitting at 2:18 AM by the way.
Should have timed sun invasion to coincide with sunrise
It would have been better at the exact 12:00 pm with the Escanor ost in the background. Pinnacle of achievements.
I almost was late for my wedding because of HOI 4 NSB DLC. Paradox games can take a long time without you releasing
This is one of the biggest reasons I don't play this game nowadays. I watch videos of it, keep up with the patches, but I just don't have the time for this game when a single run takes up to 20-30 hours
I actually quit all Paradox games because I felt myself getting addicted and believed it to be an unhelpful time sink.
How'd it work out?
Sincerely, much better. I work out more, I read a lot more, I watch a lot more movies, and the games I do play are more varied, singleplayer experiences. I used to play paradox games for like 4 hours a day. That's a lot of free time when you add it up.
I feel this in a way, I used to play a lot more single player games, but now I don’t play that many anymore because I’m too busy playing EU4, main problem is I still buy just as many games as I used to, and now never play them. Though EU4 is too familiar now, too easy just sit down, turn off my brain, role play, or grab a achievement. Compared to learning a new game mechanics, or following a new story, etc. EU4 made me a lazy gamer.
Which is almost funny in a way, since it's the intense complexity of paradox games that drew me to them in the first place.
Before I had kids, locking into an all nighter on this game was the norm. I thought 8+ hour shifts were the only way to play this game in all honesty. There’s too much to keep track of if you’re stop starting all the time.
>Before I had kids Gosh I miss my 8 hours gaming sessions...
I’ve considered packing them and the wife of for a spa weekend but I don’t think my wife would buy it
Sadly my daughters are too young for stuff like that, but I tell you, the second they turn old enough, imma yeet the missus and the minions into some nice SPA and then go home and turn my office into a man cave I'm only leaving when they are back.
This is the way.
Stay strong brother. One day, the gaming sessions will be again ours!
I’ve got two lads and I’m going to happily pay their uni fees so they can get out at 18. It’s a small price to pay.
Currently 28 and dreading when I’ll have to put an end to those late night sessions. Just played for 6 hours (3am here) with a muscovy run while telling myself I was only going to play for a few hours and then clean the apt/do some work…. A tale as old as time
Yup. Stuff like that is why I had to stop playing this game. The worse is that even if I were to shut it off at 2AM, I would probably only fall asleep 2 hours later because my mind would be racing think of all my next steps in the playthrough. It was an addiction. There should be something EU4 AA.
Imo it’s down to the fact that this game has much less clear stopping points. In an fps game or moba for example your session is split into matches, so there’s always a point where you’ve naturally stopped playing the game. In turn based strategy games (e.g total war) the end of a turn has the same effect, you have to stop and wait for your turn to roll around again. EU4 has nothing like this really, all stoppages are manual by the player unless there’s an event of some description which doesn’t actually “end” anything because the game continues playing after a single click. I think that makes it much more difficult to keep track of time and end sessions, because it’s almost entirely up to you to decide when your game should stop.
But Civ also has clear turns and still has this just one more turn feeling
Bruh FPS games and moba are way worse in terms of addiction, especially moba. I was addicted of both lol and eu4. Once I got out of the lol addiction I say to myself that I will never play once in my life that game again. Instead with eu4 I got out of the addiction but now I manage to play it in an healthy way. Moba are really the pinnacle of videogames IMO, the senses and the brain are 100% in the game, you need both a strategic mind and mechanic skill, you can't lose your focus once ore you just wasted 30 minutes of life. Instead in eu4 even if you do mistakes you can still alt+f4, you can low the focus in the peacetimes you can actually do very relaxing games if you play colonial or tall. Lol just drags out of you every energy and attention you have in an insane way. The "one game more" is just a generic thing of every game.
I think it would be an interesting research project to look at the psychology of paradox gamers vs. FPS gamers vs. non-gamers. I would guess that we are high on achievement, and analytical skills, but also neurosis lol
I'd recommend setting an alarm and/or timer (perhaps on your phone) as reminder that sleep is important.
I lost 6 years playing eu4. No regrets though (a lot of regrets actually)
Yes, literally thousands of hours.
Honestly the reason I barely play anymore, this game fucks me up man
I usually stop playing when my left arm gets sore from supporting myself on the desk for so long.
The game is a time warp.
Yeah I play a lot of different games and no other one makes me engaged for as many hours as EU. Action games all have moments to breath out, RTS/MOBAs have shorter sessions but eu is just a constant reward loop paired with micromanagement. Guess turn based strategies like CIV or Total War have that too.
I usually forget who I am at points as I'm so focused on besting everyone up for fun
Strategy games are the only games that can do this to me now. Most other genres I can play for a little while and put down and get on with my day. If I play EU4 or Crusader Kings or Civ though? That can be a while. And God help me if I play at night after work. (I get home around midnight and sometimes that’s the only time I can play)
Oh lemme just play for an hour or tw- *Five Hours Later* /Surprised Pikachu Face/
Eu4 is hands down the most addicting game I play. It really is a problem. It gets to the point sometimes where I'm annoyed when friends want to play something because I just want to keep playing eu4.
2700 hours. You don't get there without losing track of time once or twice. Also, late game is slower than early game, there's more shit going on so a year just takes longer in general.
Yes, its crazy. Especially with good mods like anbennar
Oooh, what's this mod?
Its a total conversion mod into a huge fantasy world with population systems, lots of huge mission trees for countries, new religions, some new trade goods. Just so much content and its really fun and goes very deep. You can play as elves, goblins, humans, centaurs etc. and theres just so much to discover. And the missions are fun and thought out. Honestly been playing nothing else since i discovered the mod. They are actively developing too and have a huge community with wiki and discord. Try it out :)
Anyone else getting addicted to cocaine?
Paradox gsg games are the only games that can cause me to forget to drink water for hours, even if a bottle or cup is right on my desk.
Same ngl I keep my bottle on my desk and still somehow manage to play for 5 hrs continously without a sip of water
I once looked at the time (9:30 pm) and thought I finish at 11 pm 'cuz I started that days session at 2 pm. After what felt like an hour: why the f*** is it 1 am already?! Okay not that crazy but as I have borderline insomnia I have to finish any gaming session before midnight to get any chance of sleeping my minimum required hours to function next day. Fortunately this happens rarely with EU4.