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Rhyfelwyr
11-03-2007, 23:25
I always hear people here talk about how they spent 24 hours solid playing their latest M2TW campaign or something along those lines. Yet I find that if I play for more than a few hours for a few days in a row, I end up with sore eyes and a head to match. So how do you guys here manage it? Paracetamol wears off if you use it too regularly. I really wanted to have a gaming marathon for part of my big summer holidays this year, but it ended with me feeling ****.

So, since your all nerds that play TW 20-hours a day in your parents basement :clown: - how do you manage it? I'd love to just sit and get absorbed in a campaign for a week or two.

Decker
11-04-2007, 00:53
Simple, lost of red bull, pizza, and a toilet system hooked up hospital style.

AntiochusIII
11-04-2007, 01:01
Simple, lost of red bull, pizza, and a toilet system hooked up hospital style.That's unhealthy. :no:

To OP: Just let the nerds be nerds. :2thumbsup: 20-hour marathons are not cool. You lose enjoyment as your physical condition gets worse, which is kinda counterproductive to the purpose of gaming in the first place.

Now, playing a lot, but with clever scheduling is another matter. :clown:

If you want to score 12+ hours of gaming a day with out a headache, it really is easy, just make sure to split that into two or more sections and do something different in-between: snacks, dinner, lay your head down, a shower (best), even a nap...

scotchedpommes
11-04-2007, 01:25
Would have to agree with AntiochusIII here. Have experienced overly
lengthy gaming sessions [not entirely uninterrupted, mind, but near enough...
and certainly not intended] and it's only really had negative effect. After too
long the game will become a frustration, the pizza is punishing on its own,
and the Irn-Bru 32 [avoid Red Bull] is doing damage, as always.

naut
11-04-2007, 01:34
Drink lots of water: that should stop your headache, because your headache is most likely due to dehydration. Then you'll need to use the toilet more, so you'll have to take more breaks. And you can see where this is going. And personally I'd never (and I actually mean never) take Paracetamol.

CountArach
11-04-2007, 02:03
Practice. Start playing slightly more each day before you do it to desensitise yourself to the screen refreshing, then just jump into it. Also if you can see the refresh rates of the computer screen take a small braek for the toilet or a drink/snack.

But yeah Rythmic is right, lots of water.

LittleGrizzly
11-04-2007, 03:27
get everything you need within touching distance (anything unhealthy usually helps) then just get sucked in and hours fly by! i find coca cola helps my headaches might just mean im addicted to caffiene though...

Xiahou
11-04-2007, 03:36
I never game for more than a couple hours at a time anymore. But, sore eyes are usually because people forget to blink as much when staring at a screen and your eyes begin to dry out. This can be helped with a dry eyes or "tears" type eye drops. Just FYI. :bow:

Uesugi Kenshin
11-04-2007, 05:43
I never game for more than a couple hours at a time anymore. But, sore eyes are usually because people forget to blink as much when staring at a screen and your eyes begin to dry out. This can be helped with a dry eyes or "tears" type eye drops. Just FYI. :bow:

Gaming for more than a few hours in a row/per day generally gets old pretty quickly too. I almost never game for very long periods of time anymore, though I guess I did today but that is the exception due to a really long week.

I also take frequent breaks, mostly to get water, that seems to help, though it does cause a lot of runs to the bathroom.

Papewaio
11-04-2007, 06:09
If you want to do it for long periods of time (Not 24 hr by the way).

Then treat it like a day at work.

Get up, eat a complex carb breakfast, shower. (all the time planning the strategy)

Play the game for 1.5 hours. Go and exercise for an hour. Play for 1.5 hours. Have lunch for an hour. Play 1.5 hours. Have a half hour coffee break. Play again for an hour or two.

By the PC keep trail rations, fruit (banana or something not to juicy), water.

It is far better to break up the play as much as possible. You can still plan strategy away from the PC (you might even dream about it). But continous play will only dull your reactions and enjoyment.

It is better to play it for 40 hours in a week like a job and at the weekend still feel fresh and fine.

Beirut
11-04-2007, 12:16
Get a wife.

You'll be so happy to get two straight hours in before she nags you out of the chair that you'll feel like you won the lottery. And no adverse physical symptoms will have had time to set in by then.

pevergreen
11-04-2007, 12:44
Do a whole night and see if you want to again.

As to how: you get to a point where you are incredibly tired. Then you overcome it, and it feels as though you dont need to sleep. Keep that high and you are flying :yes:

edyzmedieval
11-04-2007, 13:03
Get a wife.

You'll be so happy to get two straight hours in before she nags you out of the chair that you'll feel like you won the lottery. And no adverse physical symptoms will have had time to set in by then.

:laugh4:

That has to be the best advice on gaming ever!

My tips: Get a confortable chair. Get enough light, and sometimes even from the front is good. Put a headset, that helps a lot. Get wrist rests, they are very important to prevent wrist injury over the long time (I had problems... gaming + basketball = sinusoidal liquid accumulating at my wrist preventing me even to flex it! ). Water, sweets and fruits and you're ready to go! :yes:

Rodion Romanovich
11-04-2007, 14:01
I always hear people here talk about how they spent 24 hours solid playing their latest M2TW campaign or something along those lines. Yet I find that if I play for more than a few hours for a few days in a row, I end up with sore eyes and a head to match. So how do you guys here manage it? Paracetamol wears off if you use it too regularly. I really wanted to have a gaming marathon for part of my big summer holidays this year, but it ended with me feeling ****.

So, since your all nerds that play TW 20-hours a day in your parents basement :clown: - how do you manage it? I'd love to just sit and get absorbed in a campaign for a week or two.
How about just taking a few breaks every once in a while to drink and eat? For most people, playing over 5-12 hours without any sort of break at all DOES give headache and other issues no matter how they do it. Perhaps a lot of those who say they play "for days without break", probably mean they took a few short pauses for food and drinking during that time...

Mikeus Caesar
11-04-2007, 15:27
You need to allow your body to get used to it. Gradually start playing for 5-10 minutes more each day, as well as taking into consideration the other tips such as drinking lots of liquids to keep headaches at bay - you'll be gaming like a pro-loser such as myself in no time!

Ramses II CP
11-04-2007, 16:19
I don't do this, but FYI if you alternate doses of paracetamol (Acetominophin to the US) with ibuprofen you get a more even performance out of both. I'd recommend caffeine pills or mints and water instead of sodas as well.

:egypt:

Productivity
11-04-2007, 16:27
If for some reason I'm trying to go for a stupid amount of time playing games, I make sure every couple of hours I go for a short run (20-30mins). It's enough to get me re-energised and keep going.

To be honest though, I really wouldn't recommend it - there aren't many games that are worth playing in order to put your body through that much crap, you end up feeling so bad the next day (the only time I've done it in recent history was in a three-day Guild Wars event where the winner at end was sent to Germany).

Rhyfelwyr
11-04-2007, 19:18
Thanks for the tips guys. 16 replies in one day must be a record for my posts. Anyway, seems that most people agree that splitting it up is the way to go. Next big holiday maybe I'll try 1 hour gaming, then 1 off. I'm at the stage where I can play safely for in total probably for a couple of hours a day. If I start going 5-6 hours a day, I start to feel the effects.

No pizza or coke for me at the moment anyway, mostly been on rabbit food recently due to other problems.:embarassed:

BTW, why is it that extensive gaming gives you sore heads and eyes anyway? In particular in tends to be the back of my left eye that gets painful, especially when I move it. TV doesn't seem to bother me, only PC screens. Would turning down the brightness help, and playing in better lit surroundings? Can't wait till the first holiday after ETW comes out...

doc_bean
11-04-2007, 20:20
BTW, why is it that extensive gaming gives you sore heads and eyes anyway? In particular in tends to be the back of my left eye that gets painful, especially when I move it. TV doesn't seem to bother me, only PC screens. Would turning down the brightness help, and playing in better lit surroundings? Can't wait till the first holiday after ETW comes out...

As has been mentioned before, the biggest issue is blinking enough. Make sure to look away from the game from time to time, so your eyes don't focus on the screen all the time. Take 5 minute (or longer) breaks every hour or so (at least when your eyes start feeling tired).

Besides that, the normal rules apply: make sure the room is sufficiently lit, a light behind the monitor is best, and sit far enough away from the monitor. If you have a CRT monitor put the refresh rate at least on 70Hz, and if you have a rig that has trouble playing the game on higher settings, play on lower settings so you get a decent framerate (it should probably be at least 30 for a comfortable experience).

Pharnakes
11-05-2007, 00:25
uuum, are you people crazy?

You acctualy sit down and plan how to play games for the longest possible time?

and some of you propose taking drugs (albiet mild drugs) in order to achieve this? I mean WTF? seriously? This entire thread must be some sort of joke that I am too retarded to understand...:sweatdrop:

Please say it is. Please don't tell me that people will sit down and work out how to force their body to do something it obviously hasn't been designed to do, and for such a trivial cause. I mean OK, I have played games for 18+hours with no more than 2 hours break all together and I have sometimes had mild reaction to it by the end, but how could you ever want to take drugs just to play games? I mean as soon as playing a game causes you pain surely it is no longer fun and then whats the point of playing it? And incedenatly I entirely agree with Rythmic, Paracetamol cannot save your life, therefore there is never any reason ever to take it, it will always do more harm than good.

Rhyfelwyr
11-05-2007, 00:31
I mean OK, I have played games for 18+hours with no more than 2 hours break all together and I have sometimes had mild reaction to it by the end...

You must just be a natural then. Remember, the point in the thread is to avoid suffering the effects. And the point about the headaches etc is that they tend to come after the gaming, you don't really notice them until you stop, at least in my experience, although that might just be because I have never played long enough. Also you make it sound like we're taking class A drugs its paracetamol he's suggesting. And in fact most people don't even recommend that.

Pharnakes
11-05-2007, 00:56
Sorry:shame:

I was just completly amazed to see such a thing. As for my avoiding it, I can only suggest: eat alot of fruit, I do (being a vegi it is my staple diet) and probaly it does help with the headaches. I also eat alot of rice cakes, though I doubt if that has any effect... (except for getting into your keyboard)

Evil_Maniac From Mars
11-05-2007, 01:07
Have a nutritious snack, like soda crackers with good cheese or fruit, and plenty of water. These aren't too fattening (depending on the cheese), fill you up fairly well, and are healthy enough. Don't drink energy drinks - just take a ten minute break whenever you're tired. Go for a walk or jog every five hours, at least, and read a book during load times or while you're counting down to respawn - this relaxes and refreshes you.

Good luck, and remember that your body isn't designed for this. Don't do it for more than an absoloute maximum of two days in a row. Some people may brag about having done more - don't listen to them. It's not healthy what you're doing already, and it's certainly not to do it more often than two days in a row.

Productivity
11-05-2007, 03:24
uuum, are you people crazy?

You acctualy sit down and plan how to play games for the longest possible time?

and some of you propose taking drugs (albiet mild drugs) in order to achieve this? I mean WTF? seriously? This entire thread must be some sort of joke that I am too retarded to understand...:sweatdrop:

Please say it is. Please don't tell me that people will sit down and work out how to force their body to do something it obviously hasn't been designed to do, and for such a trivial cause. I mean OK, I have played games for 18+hours with no more than 2 hours break all together and I have sometimes had mild reaction to it by the end, but how could you ever want to take drugs just to play games? I mean as soon as playing a game causes you pain surely it is no longer fun and then whats the point of playing it? And incedenatly I entirely agree with Rythmic, Paracetamol cannot save your life, therefore there is never any reason ever to take it, it will always do more harm than good.


Prizes/financial incentives can do it...

CountArach
11-05-2007, 07:03
Oh, I forgot this one:

"If you start hallucinating, it is probably a good time to stop."

Yes, this one has happened to me before.

Mikeus Caesar
11-05-2007, 11:51
I have to say though, i don't get all this fuss about it. I've been gaming for obscenely long periods since i was 10, and before that watching TV for obscenely long periods, and i've never had any of the problems described in this thread.

Evil_Maniac From Mars
11-05-2007, 14:03
Oh, I forgot this one:

"If you start hallucinating, it is probably a good time to stop."

Yes, this one has happened to me before.
When you start seeing little phalanxes whenever you close your eyes...


:dizzy2:

Husar
11-05-2007, 14:10
My tip is don't force anything on you.

I've played for about 12 hours or so while I was in highschool but nowadays(getting old) I get bored after an hour or so sometimes, then I usually stop and resort to pressing F5 every few minutes on the forum frontpage, similar to what I'm currently doing. :help:

Rhyfelwyr
11-05-2007, 22:28
Yeah I get those times when I can't be bothered playing and just mill around the Guild.

TevashSzat
11-06-2007, 01:02
IMO, having 24 hour gaming sessions is not recommended for single player only games. For online games or MMORPGs, it is probably doable relatively easy, but still gets tiresome pretty quickly. I consider myself to be a pretty avid gamer and only have played around 10-11 hours straight by myself.

Playing with friends at a LAN party or online, is drastically different. It kinda wierd to describe, but its like you're on adrenaline the whole time if you have a good time and have easily had 29-30 hour gaming sessions without eating/drinking/going to the bathroom much at all. It seems that you want to quit after every game once the 20th hour hits or so, but someone always wants one more game and before you know it, 9 hours just passed

Edit:

Make sure that you are in a comfortable position when playing. I had a particularly nasty time when I was sitting on my legs on the floor for 5 hours straight and then literally couldn't stand up or move my legs well due to loss of circulation.

Meldarion
11-06-2007, 03:14
The best advice I can give is beware the basement dwelling monster! He only appears after ten or so hours by which time you should be prepared, clad in full plate mail with a mighty sword, you must smite him across the face and drink his blood to reinvigorate yourself for another ten hours of gaming.

Reverend Joe
11-06-2007, 17:49
Forget gaming for 24+ hours. Drop acid.

Seriously. If you're going to **** with your head that much, you may as well go all out. Plus it's way more fun to do with your friends.

If you ask me, though, I would recommend neither. Just grab some beers, some weak grass (you want to relax, not get pissed) and some pizza and invite some friends over to watch some good movies (i.e. The Big Lebowski, Rolling Kansas, Up In Smoke... mellow stuff.) :jester:

drone
11-06-2007, 20:10
Boot the woman out of the house for the weekend. It's the only way to game for longer than a few hours. :yes:

Mount Suribachi
11-06-2007, 22:34
Get a wife.

You'll be so happy to get two straight hours in before she nags you out of the chair that you'll feel like you won the lottery. And no adverse physical symptoms will have had time to set in by then


Boot the woman out of the house for the weekend. It's the only way to game for longer than a few hours

Once every 5 weeks is my weekend of nights (3 straight night shifts), when Mrs Suribachi goes to her parents to give me a chance to get a little bit of peace and quiet. And since she works from home its about the only time I get to play on the PC.

I've not fallen asleep at the PC yet, but when you've only had 4 hours sleep in the last 36....but you can't sleep cos its 4pm.....so you go play on the pc.....but you want to sleep......but you can't......still, I've only got to take Byzantium and Rome and I'll have finally finished my 18month long RTRPE game!

Viking
11-07-2007, 14:51
Headacher is not so much of a problem if you don't have to concentrate alot about the screen; e.g. reading on it. I have grinded in an MMORPG for about 6 hours non-stop without any problems with eyes/head, but my neck told me to stop. :sweatdrop:
Nowadays I typically dont game for more than 2-3 hours after I get home from school, though in the weekends it might become.....more. ~:wacko:

And yeah, taking a break from the game only enhances the experience as you get to think thoroughly through strategies, while when you've played for some time you might finding yourself rushing.


Edit: Do of course not take any paracetamol. :inquisitive:

Rhyfelwyr
11-07-2007, 17:53
Whats the big deal with paracetamol here? My parents take several dozes practically every day, its like its part of their diet.

Viking
11-07-2007, 19:54
Well generally speaking, do not use medicine otherwise necessary. Paracetamol might not be the worst drug, but most drugs tend to be unhealthy when over-used.

Uesugi Kenshin
11-07-2007, 23:20
Well generally speaking, do not use medicine otherwise necessary. Paracetamol might not be the worst drug, but most drugs tend to be unhealthy when over-used.

I agree, using a drug when you don't actually need it is almost always a bad thing, and daily use of almost anything with some exceptions (caffeine possibly falling into this) will usually cause health problems in the long-run.

Pharnakes
11-07-2007, 23:43
And its still better if you can avoid caffine if atall possible. Although I do admit it is very good at dealing with headaches.

Still, going for half an hours walk would be even better.

Uesugi Kenshin
11-08-2007, 02:00
And its still better if you can avoid caffine if atall possible. Although I do admit it is very good at dealing with headaches.

Still, going for half an hours walk would be even better.

I need coffee to pass my first block class....

But I never really drink it except for weekdays, which happen to be five-sevenths of my life....

naut
11-08-2007, 04:14
Whats the big deal with paracetamol here?
Well most medicinal drugs if taken to regularly cause the nasties in your body build up a resistance to it after a while, so you have to take more to get the same effect. Also some antibiotics target both good and bad bacteria.

Drisos
11-08-2007, 17:10
Lol... you're actually asking advice how to get more addicted? :sweatdrop: :no:

Really, why? Why would you want to be on the computer so long you're getting physical problems? :dizzy2:

Just, take enough time to eat and sleep, and take breaks now and then. You'll get better results anyhow as well if you feel good.

atheotes
11-08-2007, 17:17
i though gaming was supposed to be a fun pastime... not something you force yourself to do... Once you get a full time job more often than not you will be forcing yourself... so just do whatever is fun for you.
p.s. Pls dont take any drugs for this... it is not going to help your immune system.