ntoskrnl.exe BSOD when playing games

I have already read online about how Norton has caused BSOD problems for many people when the 8.1 upgrade happened. Most solutions explain to replace Norton with Windows Defender. My question is that, is there any way of using Norton thus after then? I already spent the money have anti-virus software so it doesn't make sense for me to just uninstall it and never use Norton again. Or if not, are there any better (preferably free) anti-virus solutions? I'm tired of getting BSODs because of Norton but, being as laymen as I am with computers, I feel like if I don't have Norton on, my computer is at risk.

Maybe you should ask Norton for a refund. If it makes you problems (and you applied all the updates) there is not much else you can do but uninstall it completely and take your losses. Does temporarily disabling Norton while playing help any ?
There are many nice and useful free AVs ot there. I am partial to Avast free but there are many more free ones too, Like AVG, Bitdefender etc. and most of them are arguably better than Windows Defender. As for free/payed AVs goes, it all depends on how much of and from what you need protection from. Check about them on their sites and compare the difference between them and free/ payed versions. For me, with pretty active internet use, Avast free, helped by Search&Destroy, does just fine job.