Much like playing/recording music, I need a little head change to really enjoy video games. A certain amount is great, but it's pretty easy to cross the line. It's like when I played on a pool league many years ago. I would run the table right up to that sip of beer too many
No mind altering drugs here, just lack of sleep ... does that count? When raiding I try to be 100% focused on what we're doing. Music in the background, GINA in the foreground. When grouping its music or maybe netflix.
I've played/raided EQ on many forms of hallucinogenic (as many who've watched my streams can attest to), it's not great on the eyes, but not particularly performance altering for me at any rate. Drinking just makes me tired most of the time. Usually get pretty "altered" for Scornfire's birthday every year in January. Got super high and requested/ran to and completed an LDoN with my UI hidden 2 years ago, and that was literally one of the funnest things I've ever done in EQ This past year several of my friends and I did a "Pub Crawl" through Norrath while drinking and bullshi*ting in Discord. Certainly a lot more enjoyable than doing Amalgam Arbiter
I live in a state where weed is legal. However, multi-boxing in an altered state feels too much like work. Having to actually focus sort of takes the fun out of it.
This is true, but we dwarves have such a vast tolerance for ale that we only rarely reach such a state.
Many a crappy little bar band has depended on this fact, and not been disappointed (as far as merely dancing). What happens next is usually quite a mixed bag.
I drink socially, with real live people, out at a gathering, but not at home so much, maybe a rare beer or two. I smoke a bit of "the devil's lettuce" as Mike* would call it. I've never been a drinking gamer but often been a smoking gamer. Pot doesn't impair me, other than I lose my sense of maps and roads in real life. Does anyone remember when EQ Forums had a "Nerf'd names" category and they basically glorified all the pot names they kept banning to seem cool while they were still banned names? They should release all those banned names anymore now that it's mainstream and legal. * More about "Mike" can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThatChapter/videos
In the 70s you may often get weed that smelled like straw or hay (as it would be hidden in bales). I had a friend who's dad called people 'Hay Hounds'. To this day I have never worked it into a conversation properly, but I love Hay Hounds. Would be a great band name.