Dealing with NS Burnout

[Kingdom of the Polar Bear]

(Sorry if in the wrong thread)

So I used to love this game. Played it non stop for almost 10 years now. But lately the past few years I’ve been burntout with it. Not the idea and Mythos behind my nation, just the platform. It really sucks. Does anyone’s else deal with this? If so how do you manage?

[Nakena]

Yeah it does. Might be time to take a break or quit? Like you need only logging in once every sixty days if on vaccation mode.

[Bear Stearns]

try career or relationship burnout first. this will seem tame.

[Arisyan]

The same thing kinda happens with me. I both want to post factbooks and don't at the same time, and ive kinda got quite a bit of burnout lately. Still, I find it relatively fun and I don't plan on leaving soon.

[-SARS-]

Log off and go outside.

NS will still be here if you want to come back later.

[Dumb Ideologies]

No, this just happens as you get older. Everything slowly stops being fun and then for most of your adulthood you're just in the queue waiting to die.

[Cannot think of a name]

Dude how many other games have you played the same version for 10 years. That's a pretty swingin' run.

[The Tsunterlands]

I know what you mean. My region (in theory) requires a fairly consistent amount of activity to stay on its map. About a year ago I took a break to for exams then realised I had very little motivation to come back to it and i'd been posting just to stay on the map. I put a lot of work into my old nation and I guess i didn't want to lose the time investment i'd put into it. But i eventually took a break for a year, came back and i'm having fun again with a new nation. End of the day, don't play a game if you're not enjoying it.

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

I've been here 17 years, and now I find out there is some kind of game attached to NSG?

[The Rich Port]

As a Generalite, burn out comes in many forms, whether it's not wanting to log in anymore, not wanting to do issues, not wanting to vomit the same points to the same ignorant Karen or Gary for the millionth time because they refuse to use their brain, and of course, losing your cool and getting your nation deleted or banned.

Logging out helps, talking about your problems with others helps (TG me anytime I love talking to people straight up :3). Meditation helps me too, thinking about why things go a certain way, calming myself down and forcing myself to think around and counter positions instead of just getting angry and shutting down.

So what do you enjoy so much about the game? Me, I love the forum, the books, the community. It's an amazing place where you can see how people argue, how they think (or how they don't), and how ideas are exchanged by people who know more than the average politically motivated person.

[-Ocelot-]

(Sorry if in the wrong thread)

So I used to love this game. Played it non stop for almost 10 years now. But lately the past few years I’ve been burntout with it. Not the idea and Mythos behind my nation, just the platform. It really sucks. Does anyone’s else deal with this? If so how do you manage?

Yes, it sucks. It's antiquated. Maybe it's time to kiss NS goodbye.

I only have an account because I'm RPing a fictional region with my buddies and we use NS for nation profiles. Otherwise I wouldn't bother with the forums.

[Atheris]

Put on vacation mode and leave for a few weeks. I've done it plenty of times.

[Chan Island]

2 main broad suggestions.

1) Go outside and do something else. There's a whole world out there and NS isn't going to go anywhere while you're away.

2) If you really must stay for whatever cursed reason, then I'd recommend finding some other focus on the site then. At various times I've swapped from primarily raiding to roleplay, issue writing, NSG, regional government, F7, Arts & Fiction and now I'm even tiptoeing it into the world of dispatches and factbooks. There are so many facets to nationstates that I rarely find myself burned out the site in its entirety.

Of those the first one is infinitely preferable. Who knows? Travel the world, meet some people, discover a new hobby, and then come back here to tell us the tricks you used to avoid lockdown restrictions to do all of that.

[95X]

End of the day, don't play a game if you're not enjoying it.

This sums it up. Nothing on NS or the Terms of Service requires anybody to play NS. I'm reminded of a lottery commercial in my area with a message of "keep your entertainment entertaining" designed to stop problem gambling but applies to other things as well.

Rather than repeat the same stereotypical "advice" that's been given to me at times and/or mentioned in this thread, sometimes you have to ask yourself "why do I do this?" and honestly answer the question for yourself, which is something only you can do. Then rhetorically ask "why do I do what causes me to do this?" until finding the real reason. This can help find other things to do besides NationStates.

I will concur with what's been said about putting your nation(s) on Vacation Mode, as well as supplying an email address, which will send you emails when your nation(s) closes in on CTEing as well as gives you a way to recover your nation if you return within eight years (according to the NS privacy policy). People have also come back with a new nation entirely.

[Atheris]

(Sorry if in the wrong thread)

So I used to love this game. Played it non stop for almost 10 years now. But lately the past few years I’ve been burntout with it. Not the idea and Mythos behind my nation, just the platform. It really sucks. Does anyone’s else deal with this? If so how do you manage?

"The platform sucks" is a new take on "please de-platform me, ye Mods!"

You aren't allowed to promote competing online games. Whether it's in the rules of not, you can probably imagine how Mods feel about this ...

...What? They're not saying that at all. They're not promoting anything, just talking about the burnout this site pretty commonly gives people.

[The H Corporation]

I feel the same, hence the reason I am leaving NS is mainly because of multiple burnouts in my daily life, more on my personal life with a lot of issues regarding my future and constant pressure and combined with a lot of frustration on NS due to a lot of ideas to RP/Write Factbooks/Nation Detail and I now feel that I need to leave in order to not lose my mind with this stuff. And probably facing a lot of problems in the future that require my attention because I am about to choose a career my parents won't like, and are about to explode on me.

One way to deal with a lot of the pressure and burnouts would probably be taking a rest of NS when you can, because constantly feeling this way is not good for our health

Like a month or two would be enough even a year is acceptable

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

(Sorry if in the wrong thread)

So I used to love this game. Played it non stop for almost 10 years now. But lately the past few years I’ve been burntout with it. Not the idea and Mythos behind my nation, just the platform. It really sucks. Does anyone’s else deal with this? If so how do you manage?

You get it eventually. Maybe take a break.

[Diarcesia]

(Sorry if in the wrong thread)

So I used to love this game. Played it non stop for almost 10 years now. But lately the past few years I’ve been burntout with it. Not the idea and Mythos behind my nation, just the platform. It really sucks. Does anyone’s else deal with this? If so how do you manage?

Happened a few months after I started as Diarcesia. I switched to vacation mode, logged in and out every other week, and went on with my life. I promptly was able to get my rhythm back, but I set aside a certain time span of the week for NS things unless I'm really involved in an RP.

The below summed up my activity after I experienced my burnout:

Lycurgus was reportedly asked the reason for the less-than-extravagant size of Sparta's sacrifices to the gods. He replied, "So that we may always have something to offer."

[Torisakia]

Yeah I agree this game sucks. I have more fun staring at a wall.

[Luziyca]

(Sorry if in the wrong thread)

So I used to love this game. Played it non stop for almost 10 years now. But lately the past few years I’ve been burntout with it. Not the idea and Mythos behind my nation, just the platform. It really sucks. Does anyone’s else deal with this? If so how do you manage?

I honestly only managed to piss away almost half my life on this site because I discovered the forums: the gameplay side without the forums was incredibly boring.

That said, I can kinda relate: in the past couple months, I'm not as interested in NS-related stuff, and even the bits of NS that I'm interested in (i.e. RPing/worldbuilding with my region-mates) has become unmotivating, even though I have a fuckton of ideas that I want to do. Maybe it's the pandemic wearing down on me, maybe it's Maybelline.

[Tsaivao]

I didn't say they were promoting anything.

You aren't allowed to promote competing online games

(Sorry if in the wrong thread)

So I used to love this game. Played it non stop for almost 10 years now. But lately the past few years I’ve been burntout with it. Not the idea and Mythos behind my nation, just the platform. It really sucks. Does anyone’s else deal with this? If so how do you manage?

Usually I manage by just putting a notecard over the forum section and then just writing my own factbooks for a while. If that doesn't work, then just taking a regular break is a-okay. Nothin' wrong with doing that, I've been off and on this site for almost half a decade now

[The Ghost Lands]

I joined NS way back in either 2008 or 2009. At first I loved the game, but the issues eventually got boring. I started posting in the forums, but even that got boring and I left NS. Then I came back several months later, stayed for a bit, then left again, and the process have continuously repeated.