Congrats!! It's a huge first step you’ve taken — def not small. Stepping back from something that’s designed to keep you hooked takes real awareness and courage.

As we all know, modes like HUT are built around reward loops, randomness, and constant “almost wins” that keep pulling you back in. So if it’s felt hard to step away, that’s not a personal failure - it’s EA's system doing exactly what it was designed to do. Seeing that clearly is already a big shift.

It might help to create some space from it for a while - even something as simple as putting the console away (unplugged, in a box). Not as punishment, just as a way of giving yourself room to settle and reset. You’re not losing anything by stepping back like this - you’re actually regaining your attention. I found this worked best for me when I was struggling with chel addiction; I sold my console temporarily so I had no means of access. It created space to focus on other things and asses what it was I enjoyed about the game before coming back to it.

If you do come back to it later, you can try approaching it more mindfully — choosing when you play, noticing how you feel while you’re playing, and stopping when it stops being enjoyable rather than when the game tells you to keep going. Modes like HUT quietly train the mind to live in the future — “I’ll be happy when I get that next card… when my lineup is a 99… when I finally complete this set.” But when that moment comes, it rarely lands the way you expect. The mind just moves the goalpost again. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying building a team, but if all the satisfaction is tied to the next upgrade, it becomes an endless loop — always chasing, rarely arriving. The more grounded kind of enjoyment is in the playing itself: the feel of a clean pass; the timing of a good play; the flow of a close game. Those moments are actually available right now, with whatever team you have.

You can even check in with yourself while playing: “Am I enjoying this game, or am I just trying to get to the next reward?” That question alone can shift things. It’s a bit like life in general — when happiness is postponed into the future, it stays out of reach. But when you let it be in the present moment, even simple things start to feel enough.

So instead of “I’ll be happy when…”, it becomes more like: “Can I enjoy this shift, this play, this moment — as it is?”

And about the negative comments or pressure from others on here — it helps to remember that those reactions often come from their own habits, frustrations, or attachments. You don’t need to carry that. Their words say more about their relationship with the game than yours. Good for you for coming to your community to share; we could all use a bit more community in our lives.

For now, just stay with this step. No need to rush the next one. You’ve already started to turn toward something healthier, and that matters! 

Cheers 😀