looking back to when you were younger

[tris-]

do you ever look back to your younger days and wonder how it was you got to how you are now?

if i look back to when i was 12 or even as old as 16, it seems like life should of went differently for some reason. infact i seem to be a completley different person altogether.

hope im not the only one who thinks this ffs :/

 

[Shagrat]

I know I look back on "encounters" I had with women and think now, god's sake she was sooo coming onto me, how in hells name did I miss that then.

If the me now, met the me I was at 19, I'd have words....

 

[tris-]

thats one thing, but i think more importantly is you look back and wonder why you never took risks with things, for the sake of feeling embarassed or something.
i was never much of a risk taker with anything, because i may not of liked it or etc but then i wonder what it was i missed out on!

 

[Shagrat]

I always was a both feet in kind of guy so I dont see many opportunities I missed.

I was miserably shy around women though, thats got to be my main regret I suppose, although if asked if I wanted to change any of those encounters now, I'd say no, as it would me I probably wouldnt have met my wife and wouldnt have the 2 great kids I have.


Thinking about it actually, I do wish I'd got into football at school more, parents didnt push me and I had a cant be arsed attitude about it at the time (getting kicked all over the place in games of fouling football probably didnt help). didnt really get into playing until I was 25+ and found out that I was actually pretty good. In 6 a side games at work now I can still outsprint young lads and im 34 and Im pretty deadly in front of goal

 

[tris-]

I was miserably shy around women though

same here. but like most things, its simply a state of mind. i was never great at speaking to large groups then the other week i stood up infront of a couple 100 people and spoke to them!

 

[pikeh]

i changed a whole shit load when i came to uni
moving away from parents
having a new group of friends
realising what i want to do when i leave etc
it changed me a whole lot.

when i think back to my childhood
i just think how much of a good time i had. i guess im pretty lucky. living away from my parents made me realise how much they did for me.

 

[Lamp]

I often think back to when I was younger - mostly at what I would change if I got another chance. But of course, we only get one spin of the wheel. Hey ho. Onwards and upwards.

 

[old.Tohtori]

I do, but not really, i think about individual things.

How stupid things i did, etc. Left a perfect girl for no real reason, how it would be so much better to NOW date that same person.

 

[liloe]

Yer, I really look back sometimes, but it's not really a good view I get I used to be a total asshole for the teachers at school (not that new kind of beating up ppl and such, just lots of stupid things which the classmates found funny....the teachers not though ) and I could never be quiet or still. I had the same friends during kindergarden and basic school (or however you call it) and we did so much shit, it's emberassing. It went on at the next higher school where I reached my absolute height at making teachers cry for totally ignoring anything. I guess my marks were just too good and I didn't have enough to do /shrug. (I was always very polite and nice at home, though, just going to school made me go a bit bad )

Turn of my life was when I went to France for half a year to a semi-private school, where I actually had to really do something. Since then I've been a nice guy and when that evil thing inside gets too big, I become very sarcastic

So yes....I look back and I'm happy the way it turned out in the end ^^

 

[Mey]

I sometimes thing about what i'd be like if we hadn't moved so often when i was a kid. A good guage is looking at some of my friends when i was younger now, and i'm kinda glad i' moved hehe

 

[adoNix]

I made a lot of bad choices in life wich i wish i could do again, i would be a totally different and better person now. I have experimented with a bit of drugs the last year (wich i wish i didnt do ofc)
Starting with mmorpg's has cost me so much that i dont even have words for it. I almost lost my chance to get an education, but i managed to start on one just in time before it was too late.
I wish i wernt so shy around girls when i was younger, i missed alot of oppertunities there aswell.

But im still 19 and i have a hopefully long and good life in front of me so i really dont care about what i did in the past because i cant change that now.

 

[Mikah75]

i changed a whole shit load when i came to uni
moving away from parents
having a new group of friends
realising what i want to do when i leave etc
it changed me a whole lot.

when i think back to my childhood
i just think how much of a good time i had. i guess im pretty lucky. living away from my parents made me realise how much they did for me.

feel exactly the same having same situation as you. i used to be quite conserved growing up around people as lacking in confidence but can happily go talk to random people in clubs/bars just to make friends and also happy with my sexuality, have loads of new friends, pull lots of men

only thing i regret was not standing up for myself or voicing my opinions in secondary school as always had very strong ones, but all changed now

 

[old.Tohtori]

Forgot to say, that even if my life(in general terms) is in the sh*tter at the moment, in almost every way, i still wouldn't change a thing.

I've grown from sh*t, and it's changed me for the better.

 

[tris-]

Starting with mmorpg's has cost me so much that i dont even have words for it.

dont even start with MMOs. sure, its only a game BUT..
im sure everyone whos played them has regretted it in some way. i know for me personally, it caused me; massive health problems, stress, mood swings, bad eye sight and slight depression.
while playing DAOC, i put on an unfathomable amount of weight. i used to cancel or reject the chances to go out just so i could RvR or some fucking waste of shit time.
say what you want about them, but MMOs (and nost just DAOC) have caused me more problems than my long term affection and abuse of cannabis.

i hate to think what parts of life i missed out on just because of this game, but the fact is whats done is done. i cant change it now, but as it is it seems like everything i missed out on is all happening at once

 

[CorNokZ]

You might all say that MMOs have caused you some damage, and yeah I've taken damage aswell! I've RvR'd when I could have been at parties, I've been on an ml raid while I could have been with my girlfriend and so on.. But I don't regret it one bit! Not at all! I still have a great social life, eventho I've spent the last five years infront of my computer almost on a daily basis playing daoc.. Why don't I regret anything?

I've had amazing experiences and hours, days, weeks of fun playing daoc! Not to mention all the great ppl I've met over the years! Daoc has been so much more to me than just a game.. It was a 2nd social life for me, with friends that had same interests as me! I found FH through daoc and I spend hours here every day, reading about albs rr'ing, gays, football and whatnot?! Daoc has given me a whole bunch of friends and I wouldn't trade them for the world(you know who you are)! Looking at old screenshots is almost the same as looking at old real life photos to me.. They can bring a smile to my face just as a real photo!

I don't regret how my life has turned out, so far, and I enjoy every bit of it atm! Yeah I could have done better in school, but meh.. I made some great people from all over Europe and some even further away! Yes daoc has taken a lot of my time and yes sometimes I could have used my time better, but I got so much in return, that I don't regret starting playing this silly game about trolls, elves and what not

ps: tris- we should go to bed

 

[Chronictank]

You might all say that MMOs have caused you some damage, and yeah I've taken damage aswell! I've RvR'd when I could have been at parties, I've been on an ml raid while I could have been with my girlfriend and so on.. But I don't regret it one bit! Not at all! I still have a great social life, eventho I've spent the last five years infront of my computer almost on a daily basis playing daoc.. Why don't I regret anything?

I've had amazing experiences and hours, days, weeks of fun playing daoc! Not to mention all the great ppl I've met over the years! Daoc has been so much more to me than just a game.. It was a 2nd social life for me, with friends that had same interests as me! I found FH through daoc and I spend hours here every day, reading about albs rr'ing, gays, football and whatnot?! Daoc has given me a whole bunch of friends and I wouldn't trade them for the world(you know who you are)! Looking at old screenshots is almost the same as looking at old real life photos to me.. They can bring a smile to my face just as a real photo!

I don't regret how my life has turned out, so far, and I enjoy every bit of it atm! Yeah I could have done better in school, but meh.. I made some great people from all over Europe and some even further away! Yes daoc has taken a lot of my time and yes sometimes I could have used my time better, but I got so much in return, that I don't regret starting playing this silly game about trolls, elves and what not

ps: tris- we should go to bed

i dont know if its the fact i am fucked right now or your making perfect sense,
but have a rep anyway, couldnt agree with you more

 

[Huntingtons]

thats one thing, but i think more importantly is you look back and wonder why you never took risks with things, for the sake of feeling embarassed or something.
i was never much of a risk taker with anything, because i may not of liked it or etc but then i wonder what it was i missed out on!

yeah, thought about these things but in the end im shaped as im shaped because of what i did and didnt do, if i changed something i might have changed myself completly - no thanks. maybe 1 thing: (although, this girl (haha, it all seems to be the girls) i wish i made a move on. but in the end im glad i didnt, ill get the chance one day where it will last and have meaning --- maybe...)
i wish i started with graffiti when i had the interest (first time i got hooked i was 7, if that had kept on hard i would be world famous now!) instead of losing it to do other stuff (computer came in when i was 12 i think, around the time i lost the interest first time)

 

[old.Tohtori]

Well, calling MMOs a waste of time is pointless really, as EVERYTHING we do is a waste of time.

That's the only point we're here. To waste time until we run out of it.

So, do with it what you will and let others do the same. As long as YOU are happy, f*ck the rest.

 

[Vladamir]

Wish i never picked up an MMO, wasted so many years. Could've done much more with myself if i hadn't spent 12-14 hours some days on Daoc

 

[Heta]

I don't remember my youth

 

[Nate]

I never thought I'd have a careface when I was older, but I can't even take it off anymore I'm permanantly giving people careface..it's becoming a real problem now

Nah seriously, I'm pretty dissapointed how my life's gone so far..just seems a waist, I'd like to move out but I can't exactly drop Noodle on my parents after buying her myself. I'll have to look around for a flat that allows pets. Job I have atm although good money it has very unsociable hours, isn't challenging and is very boring. Currently just drifting on to the next day hoping something will happen and make my life a little more interesting.<slits wrists>

I'm thinking about Uni, was interesting to see how you got in tris as that looks like a way in for me aswell!

 

[Chronictank]

I never thought I'd have a careface when I was older, but I can't even take it off anymore I'm permanantly giving people careface..it's becoming a real problem now


I'm thinking about Uni, was interesting to see how you got in tris as that looks like a way in for me aswell!

If you do uni part time, you pay more but in general they are more slack about your qualifications

 

[soze]

I look back all the time. I used to do things just because i was not scared of anything and i had alot of fun and got in trouble for it. The trouble ended up getting too much shite kicked out of me followed by a night in the cop shop with a warning of any more and it gets serious. So i decided to chage and relax and think things through. Trouble is now I think that i overthink everything which means yes i avoid the trouble but i also miss out on alot of fun.

 

[Imgormiel]

This thread should be left alone by anyone older than 25 as you will have far too much to say and bore the pants off people like I do everyday

 

[Dukat]

Its a bit of a long story, but when I was younger I was a totally different person.

Untill a couple of years ago I was the stereotypical nerd. I would spend all my time online, I never went out, never did any physical exercise at all. I rarely went to parties or to the pub, I didnt really mix with people at all. The only friends I had were those people online.

I'd spend 40+ hours a week online, assuming I had college/school in the week, if not then I'd just spend stupid amounts of time ingame. In the summer holidays I'd only leave my room to get food or use the toilet for weeks at a time.

I'd get nervous if I was around anyone but family, I'd often find myself close to panic being in a place with more than 10 people at the same time. I did okish at college, I learnt a hell of alot about PCs, spent time learning programming languages, building websites, reading forums, but mostly playing games.

I clocked up 130+ days played on one character on DAoC in the space of less than a year, and the worst bit was I'd play other games just as much as I played DAoC. I was a geek, a 'hacker' or whatever you want to call that stereotype, I was magic when it came to computing but anything else I was clueless.

At the age where all of my friends were out going to parties, getting smashed, getting laid, building up a network of friends, learning to drive, I spent inside, on my PC, online.

All through college this went on, up untill a couple of years ago. After this I just changed, no idea how or why, but I just slowly became completely different. It took a couple of years, but I'm almost unrecognisable compared to how I used to be.

I've decided to join the army, to that end I've scaled back the gaming time to roughly 10 hours a week, I've joined a running club, I go to the gym 3 times week, I play football with real live friends at the park most weekends, I've been in a steady job for 8 months. I've done a skydive (doing another one soon), I go to the odd party, I mix with people. I've now learnt to drive, and have a motorbike, I even go to the pub occassionally, although not often enough to get in the way of the fitness stuff. I've been to fascinating places and met interesting people that I'd have never dreamed existed had I of stayed in my room on my PC.

Its strange to look back, going from less than 50% attendance at school, less than that at college, to having 100% attendance at work, having RL friends, still doing a fair bit online but keeping it within certain limits and being able to stop playing when I've got other things to do.

I wont blame MMO's for how bad I used to be though, I was always interested in games and got steadily worse untill I realised the fact that if I didnt change I was going to end up a worthless bag of shit.

I've set long term goals now and am working towards them steadily, I've just channeled the obsession I had with all things gaming into something more constructive, I still have times for games, but I've realised that winning RL is more important to winning whatever game is FotM (sort of - I still hate losing!).

If I could change anything at all, I'd be tempted to go back to when I started highschool and kick myself up the backside, I'd give myself a fucking good talking to, instill some pride in myself, ensure I had the confidence to overcome the problems I had in highschool, I would ensure I stood up to the bastards who bullied me in school so I wouldnt feel that I had to retreat into the PC.

I'd have done more sports and spent time making friends.

In a way though, I'm glad of the lessons I've learnt. I think I've come out better for it and in a way I wouldnt change all of the above, because I'm where I am now and I know what I need to do.

I think learning from your mistakes is more important than regretting they ever happened though, everyone has things that they would want to change in thier past but that would change who you are now.

I cant change what I've done wrong in the past, but I can make damn sure they dont happen again, and I'm happy to have that insight.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Dukat, similar thing, i went out to the bar first time when i was around 20-21.

Never socialize, just games, computers, graphics etc.

No need for life.

But...now that i'm older, moved to the big city, i'm REALLY glad i spent all those young days inside. It's basically a waste of time, young days, anyway, and i used it to hone my skills in graphics and design. Alone, in the dark, at the expense of school and friends.

Now, i got plenty of friends, am social, REAL social, with a masters like degree(from work) in game development and when i work, i pull in really nice figures + do exactly my dreamjob.

I just waited for my party days, to these days, and i never regret it.

If i wasn't a loner way back when, and had all that time to myself and my thoughts, i think i'd be a "normal" person, with a normal job, normal hair and normal car, with no sense of self.

Those years spent in the solitude of graphics and digital media, really taught me about myself, to myself, and now i know exactly who i am. Wouldn't trade it for any amount of schooling, so called "young days friends" or missed parties.

 

[tris-]

I'm thinking about Uni, was interesting to see how you got in tris as that looks like a way in for me aswell!

mean with the extended year? i dont know if any other uni does them tbh, you need nothing except maths and english GCSE at grade C. then you can do extended science or engineering, depending on which type of degree you want. but after you passed that year, you can do any degree available in the relevant schools. from digital forensics to biochemistry

 

[Shagrat]

Dukat, similar thing, i went out to the bar first time when i was around 20-21.

Never socialize, just games, computers, graphics etc.

No need for life.

You see I'm kinda coming at this from the other end as an oldie, I've had the advantage that although I played games a bit (Doom etc) online gaming online really hit when I was about 26. So from 15-26 I'd been out partying most weekends, done all the big clubs (Ministry, Gatecrasher, Cream etc) when they were at their peak, been to the big weekend raves with 20k+ people there and had a whale of a time living with a loads of mates in Leicester for 3 or 4 years and the online gaming just arrived as I met my missus and was "settling down" for want of a better phrase.

 

[old.Tohtori]

You see I'm kinda coming at this from the other end as an oldie, I've had the advantage that although I played games a bit (Doom etc) online gaming online really hit when I was about 26. So from 15-26 I'd been out partying most weekends, done all the big clubs (Ministry, Gatecrasher, Cream etc) when they were at their peak, been to the big weekend raves with 20k+ people there and had a whale of a time living with a loads of mates in Leicester for 3 or 4 years and the online gaming just arrived as I met my missus and was "settling down" for want of a better phrase.

Works too, quite well actually.

I've been in the games, then in the "party" stage, now getting back to gaming again and settling down. No missus though, would help

 

[Golly]

thats one thing, but i think more importantly is you look back and wonder why you never took risks with things, for the sake of feeling embarassed or something.
i was never much of a risk taker with anything, because i may not of liked it or etc but then i wonder what it was i missed out on!

i always look back and say "why o why did i do that"

learnt early on that lifes about the fun you get from it, and the risks are always fun

and wow @ "I think learning from your mistakes is more important than regretting they ever happened though, everyone has things that they would want to change in thier past but that would change who you are now."

nicely put and 100% agree- cant look back and have too many bad feelings, otherwise you spend the present thinking about the past, and the future never really materializes, which leaves you worse off then before