Show HN: I built a site that turns your Steam gaming hours into a RL skill tree (alternatelife.xyz)
A bit of context..
So I think last week was my last straw, I hit 8k hours with dota and holy ** It finally hit me how much time I wasted on that game.
I'm a software developer, I always wanted to develop something and put it out but was scared shitless to do so, I was kinda afraid to get bad traction, to fail or even worse to be completely ignored.
so I decided to address two of these issues at once, stop playing dota and spend the weekend building a website that let you see what you could've done with your gaming hours.
As an avid gamer for the last 20+ years, I know that it's only theoretical, cause sometimes, after a long day u just wanna chill infront of a game and you wouldn't go get a pilot license, obviously.
but, a lot of other times, I would spend my days off, weekend, just gaming 10 hours straight like a mad man.
In any case, hope u like it and maybe it sparks something in u!
10 comments
[ 0.86 ms ] story [ 24.7 ms ] threadAnd the whole site is coded by claude
I don't agree that leisure is inherently wasting time, which I think is a pretty common belief across North America in general and within Tech specifically. I don't know if that's what you're asserting, but it does seem to be the thesis of the backing site ("if you spent all this time that you spent on a leisure activity elsewhere, you could have XYZ 'better' skill!")
Of course, all things in balance; gaming addiction is a thing, and I've absolutely been guilty of using Titanfall 2 to farm dopamine rather than taking my dog for a walk or tidying my room.
I'm glad this helped you, but I already feel like my life is under enough pressure to be more efficient, more productive, have more of an impact, when I'd really just like to slow down and enjoy things more.
(I'm also a little sad, I originally thought this would map time spent in a game to a _corresponding_ skill, e.g. "400 hours in space engineers" -> "level 5 systems architect," or something. That's on me, it's not a criticism, but it's influencing my disappointment.)
I think that for me, creating this site was about making myself uncomfortable to the point of, if I game, it's about relaxation and lesiure, and not something I do because I have no way other way to spend the weekend, going out and making friends gives me anxiety so I'll just spend the entire weekend at home gaming all day for 2 days.
I still game with my kids, but we play coach none addictive games on nintendo, over the course of years I realised I can't really balance stuff like dota.
as for your last point, that's actually a really really cool idea! might add it =]
Thank you for your feedback!!
Props to you for pushing yourself to confront the uncomfortable!
But this is a neat idea and I'm happy it sparked something for you.