How I got rid of PoE addiction

I started playing PoE about 8 months ago. My first impression of this game is it's pure genius -- I still remember the first time I saw the skill tree and i was in awe. And once I learned how currency is actually useful in this game I was even more impressed. I have logged about 1000 hours now and considering i work full time i think I could say I was quite addicted.

However, the combination of the following several factors drove me away from the game.

1)I created a build on my own and it actually worked even better than I expected.

This first reason might sound weird to you guys but hear me out. I was intimidated by the complexity of this game at first and I thought there are so many veteran players out there that I could never come up with anything better. But later I realized that if I don't make a build on my own then it's a waste of time playing this game, because the joy of inventing something on your own is very hard to explain. So I did, and as soon as I finished my build, i kinda feel this sense of accomplishment and void that I have never felt before. In a way, I think I inadvertently accomplished my ultimate goal with this seemingly endless game without even knowing it myself in the first place.

2)I am really sick and tired of developer's obsession with gating end game content with heavy RNG.
I dare say probably half of the player base feel as strongly as I do about this issue -- the classic "now I finished my build at lv90+ and idk what to do anymore because I can not run 74 maps one more time." dilemma. I grew up in a middle class family. Right now I make about $75K a year and I have a very decent amount of saving/investment in my broker account. Yet, it is this game that taught me the feeling of poverty -- when I look at the 6 77 maps and 4 78 maps in my stash tab after 8 months of play (all of them drop from Zana daily), I simply don't know what to do with them. Some day I really want to roll some crazy mods on these high level maps and just solo run them and enjoy myself by seeing how my OWN build can cruise through highest level of content (pre 2.0). But every time I end up saying to myself "you can't, because you never know if that's your last 78 map. Better off just save it later for a rotation".

And don't get me started on Uber Atziri. Because to experience it once = spending 6ex. I have farmed Atziri multiple times and have got 2 uber sets. Both time I sold them, like a bitch.

And this second point bring me to the third point

3) I forgot how much I enjoy well made single player game, since I've been playing PoE solely for quite a while.
After getting fed up with GGG's gating philosophy, I decided to quit PoE for a while and started picking up some game that I know I must play one day. One of them is Dragon Age - Inquisition. The game came out about 7-8 months ago and I was too into PoE back then. But as soon as I started playing, I realize how much I have missed out. To simply put, it is one of the best games I have played in my life. Period.

Most importantly, while I was playing Dragon Age, I find myself enjoying so much about the fact that there is no dev that could fuck with me and my game play. There is no nerf hammer. There is no gated content. The irony is such that I was relishing this game SO MUCH because of how much PoE has traumatized me throughout the mere past 8 months, and I didn't realize until I left it.

4) Lastly, I recently discovered Dragon Age - Inquisition Multiplayer. I must say, it is much more rewarding than PoE's shit loot drop.
The multiplayer of DA is truly amazing.
- There are many builds that you can explore.
- You WANT TO work in a group of 4 to defeat enemies, unlike GGG forces you to play in a group of 6 while your potato suffers.
- There is RNG involved as well but it is just so much rewarding and you can feel you progress, even within the first 10 hours of game play.
- Lastly, did I mention that the content of the game is not gated? There are 5 difficulties that you can run with team members. And even if you're a level one character with 0 experience, you can for sure try to queue up for the highest difficulty and just watch your ass get owned. Now that, is the kind of difficulty I like -- not artificial bs difficulty inflated by RNG gating.

All in all, PoE has been a good run. I still sometimes play for like an hour here and there, just because I like the character I made so much, and knowing that since I am no longer invested in this game anymore, it is okay to just run a few 74 maps and watch my character demolish everything without having to worry about "am I gonna be able to run another 78 next time". I felt very.. defeated in the end, simply because I feel like I am not allowed to play the game that I have put so much work into, yet at the same time, I never felt so relieved.

In another word, I have finally become a true casual.

This is one of the best farewell posts I've read on this forum.

Farewell, exile. Be well.

(Also, it really makes me want to play DA. Sounds like great fun!) :)