Gaming ergonomics and style

Hello fellow Tyrians!

I wonder how do you play? Do you get up - walk or pace in your daily routine? It's an important subject to me and I've started to pay attention to it in a not-so-recent timeline. Personally I'm sporting in early 30's, and growing up a gamer has made its mark over the years.

Do you have a standing table or do you use a normal chair-level desk as your platform? I recently upgraded, or downgraded, my station to a floor sitting platform about 30 cm (~1 foot) off the ground because my dog likes to participate. It doesn't know what's happening, but it enjoys the company. Many a times have I found myself playing while my dog is sleeping on my desk - between myself and the monitor. :)

Does anyone play with a standing platform? How does it feel and what sort of intervalls do you play at? I've often wondered if that would be an optimal gaming stance for casualing through the content, but I've never tried.

Thank you in advance!

I'm functionally disabled due to a mystery illness, so I sit like a potato immobile for hours at a time. Well, more like a really fidgety and uncomfortable potato that shifts position every 10 minutes. My chair is a lazyboy rocking chair that I grind into the ground, because I am emotionally disturbed if I am not rocking constantly. I currently have a laptop that sits on the end of my lap, to accommodate space for my gigantic and aggressively affectionate cat. The mouse pad is on the arm of my chair, and the mouse sensitivity is turned up so I can shuck and dive with a mere flick of the wrist. As far as health goes, I don't bother. The disabled part of me is my abdomen, so merely standing poses great effort and causes great pain.

If you're wondering about a standing desk, those are sort of a gimmick that was sold to be healthier for you before there was any evidence for it. Standing in place isn't particularly healthier for you than sitting in place, since all it does is produce undue stress and pressure on your legs. Your ankles and knee caps can only take so much sustained pressure before they start to wear. Turns out, our gigantic protruding bubble rumpuses are great for sitting, and our legs are good for motion. Standing in place... not so much.

Health generally comes down to several factors:

1: Genetics2: The ability to discern bad ideas from good ones (I.E. medical literacy and risk avoiding behaviors)3: Diet and other intakes (I.E. smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc)4: Overall physical activity (not just exercise)5: Self Actualization and fulfilling emotional and intangible needs (I.E. the sense of improvement, the sense of belonging, the sense of fulfillment, the sense of purpose)

And many more. Whether or not you are standing or sitting at your desk while playing a game... is very low on this list.

Sit like a potato in front of my potato computer (so it doesn't feel ostracized). :grin:

When I was younger.. I lie in bed on my back with laptop on my tummy or on my tummy with pillow and laptop in front of me. I'm playing side by side with my partner these days. We sit on a chair where we can adjust height to fit .. I'm a shorty and my arms are short too so normal chair doesn't fit me well if I adjust to right height.. my foot are hanging out lol. So.. I stretch my leg out on the couch sometimes like resting in a foot stool .. the chair seems to fit perfectly for my husband table heights and monitor.About taking break....... Who takes break while playing game? ?????

I know of a lady who plays with adjustable desk.. it can be pulled up for standing and collapse down for sitting.

And I have one of this varied desk for my work which is pretty awesome.https://au.varidesk.com/en-au/products/standing-desk-pro-plus?o=Size:48+inch;Colour:Black

I would very much like to advocate for proper gluteous placement while gaming. I'm not at all adverse for 30+ hour gaming sessions, especially when I was in my 20's. Them hours gonna catch up to you though.

Last year highlighted a 3 week trekking journey in New Zealand for myself as well as my partner. That very efficiently killed my heels unexpectantly, but getting over that is part of the battle. This is why I'm strongly looking at ergonomics at the late, and am asking for views and advice.

I'm using a standard office chair and desk. When I rest my arms comfortably on the arm-rest, mouse and keyboard are at the same height as my elbows. The primary screen is standing right in front of me, so I don't have to look up, down or to either side.

The point is: if you feel uncomfortable during or after gaming, you're most likely damaging your body. A stiff neck means you should probably reposition your screen and if your back hurts you should try a different chair. And what I read here about gaming while standing would most likely kill my legs.

@BunjiKugashira.9754 said:The point is: if you feel uncomfortable during or after gaming, you're most likely damaging your body.

My man.

I just have a normal desk and chair, but I don't really do sitting still. I recently had to go through all the desk set-up/positioning thing at work because I've moved desks and was thinking it's kind of pointless to worry about whether my feet can be flat on the floor directly in front of me because I'm almost never sitting like that. Even in the time I've been writing this post I've shifted position twice and gotten up, brushed my hair while wandering around the room and sat down again. I also don't tend to do long gaming sessions without breaks because I get bored or distracted.

So I don't think it'd be worth investing in a special desk or whatever, because I wouldn't be using it in a way that would get much benefit from it.

I sit at a computer desk where my monitor sits a bit higher than my keyboard/mouse (desktop is on the floor).

I’m a bigger guy (6’2, 235lbs - 188cm, 107kg) and for years I bought normal office chairs at the local stationary supply stores but my back always seemed to bother me pretty quick and I’d wear out the new chairs pretty quick (and I was spending 150-250$ per chair trying to find something decent that would last). Invariably the chairs would be comfy to sit in at the store but my lower back would be sore after 3-4 hours of gaming and sitting in them.

At the beginning of this year, I bought a “gaming chair” (the titan by secret lab) and man am I ever happy I did. It was expensive and I hesitated before purchasing it but it’s solved all my lower back issues when gaming. When you first sit in the chair it feels a bit hard compared to most chairs, but it also gives proper support. I can game for 3+ hours easily and have no issues at the end with my back(I can no longer pull 8+ hour gaming sessions like I did in my 20s but some days if the wife is busy I can still get 4-5 hours in at a time).

If I can think of it, I always try every hour or 2 while gaming to get up and walk around the house for a few minutes (certainly doesn’t always happen depending on how into the game I am/what I’m doing in game).

I actually attended an ergonomic training not long ago from my work.. we were all given customised chair with adjustable lumbar support , a varried desk and footstool.. if we are sitting on the chair in front of computer to work for too long, it put a lot of pressure on our body.. We were told to do stretching every 30 mins. They suggest us to put things away from easy reach so we get up and walk to get it. They also suggest us to drink lots of water so we go to visit the bathroom more frequently. The standing up desk is good but i don't really like to stand when I can sit :pThe i find it quite hard to follow the right way to sit and my body often get lazy and shift to very bad position.. I think the best is still don't play for too long. In gw1 there's in game msg that tells player they been in the game for how long and suggest player to take a break. Wonder why there isn't such thing in gw2. It might help.

Not sure if sitting in the floor is good though...