After a few years of gaming in the early-mid 1980s, I decided it was too much of a time suck and purposefully broke my habit. Later on in the late 1990s, someone gave me Mech Warrior and with many hours playing it, I made it through the top level (32nd? IIRC). I quit gaming for good after that.
I see where you're coming from, I stopped playing video games entirely circa 2007 for the exact same reason, I mean playing seriously
Now it's casual, it's not day long sessions, I play when I'm in public transport, or during compile time/loading typically, and it's not super addictive/immersive stuffs. In fact it's more about the collection and customization thingy, than anything else
My BP used to rise when playing the upper level do-or-die scenarios, I could feel it. And after the game, the adrenaline and Diet Coke left me wide awake and stressed. I was always competitive and gaming was an outlet, but I never really got that much satisfaction from beating a game after considering the amount of time I invested to do it. I didn't have a bunch of buddies into gaming, maybe that would have kept me at it longer.
Me it was just because I couldn't play a minute without thinking "this a complete waste of time, it serves absolutely no purpose at all", which ruined my entire pleasure, I just couldn't play without being guilt tripped by my own brain
Also, I never came across a game that was that entertaining/fun to play https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nd4KqDt4Uc
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