Should companies enforce game breaks?

chryses

On occassion I become so addicted to an mmo I have played for almost 24 hours straight and without food and water.  (8 coffee's only).  I haven't done that for years but I still lose half a day now and then.

Last week I bought a Wii and I noticed that after about 30 minutes a picture pops up and suggests having a break and I was wondering if companies should enforce this on mmo's?

Options could be:

- XP loss after 2 hours solid game play.  This is reset if you take a 15 minute break.

- In game avatar actually gets tired and starts to accumalate negative hits to attributes.  Show him yawning etc.  After 15 minute break she/he is back to normal.

 

Zikiel

They do that in China.. how bout getting some self control and stop trying to get game companies to nanny?

Steakpuncher

People should't really need self restraint to take a break. I personally cannot help but take at least a 15 minute break every 2 hours. Going to the bathroom, boiling the kettle, making a cup of tea (or coffee) and everything in between should be sufficient to give you a decent break.

0k21

Since Pre-Cu I have yet to play an MMORPG that can keep my attention for 24 hours.... Single Player games however.... Well, it's just a matter of learning how much you can take and whether you can afford to sleep for the whole day after staying up all night and of course as atomicide said, take short breaks, it's just common sense really.

chryses

Yea I do now.  Basically every hour I force myself to do 50 pushups so I have to earn my game time.  Besides my wife gives me grief as well.  I just think in the past I wouldn't have minded a little reminder that 6 hours had passed in-game.

Lonehearth

I personally think that one should not play for so long, that you actually need to take breaks.

But then again, thats just my opinion.

ianubisi

No.

Steakpuncher

One of the best things you can actually do is to take a peice of paper and draw a small circle or image in the middle, then stick it up on the far wall of wherever you play on your computer. Most gamers will stretch out while at their computer, but very few stretch and relax their eyes.

Focusing on something in the distance helps your eyes relax, and just looking at something a bit further away for a few minutes can really ease the strain on your eyes.

Asamof

Lineage 2 gives you reminders every hour telling you how many hours you've been playing since you logged in. Too bad that game takes 10x longer to level than any other mmo

its good that you're forcing yourself to do pushups before you keep on going. if you keep on adding to this, or force yourself to do more productive things, you might gain some more self control

Gorair

why are people so damn lazy that they need to be forced to do something that a dose of common sense would fix?

Stop asking for baby sitters, people want govts to do the same thing ... "im too stupid to not do this i need protection from <fill in the blank>"  be it a game , watching their kids , changing the channel on their tv so jr cant watch skinemax etc ...

 

Zikiel

The idea of someone doing push ups to play an mmo made me think of some chubby guy looking in the mirror and going "You think you're good enough to play today? You haven't f*cking earned the levels yet! Purge! Purge!"

... Yep.

Kyleran

I voted against it...but I've always wanted to play a game that set up a server with a 2 hour a day time limit per character.  

Not for health reasons, but to give the more casual gamers a chance to keep up with the people who have lots more free time to play the game.

Never going to happen...

 

 

Ferusa

Originally posted by Zikiel


The idea of someone doing push ups to play an mmo made me think of some chubby guy looking in the mirror and going "You think you're good enough to play today? You haven't f*cking earned the levels yet! Purge! Purge!"
... Yep.

rofl.

nomadian

---

Last week I bought a Wii and I noticed that after about 30 minutes a picture pops up and suggests having a break and I was wondering if companies should enforce this on mmo's?

---

Hmm thats interesting. Something like that could be cool on mmos but obviously much longer duration before the msg.(2 hours maybe?)

Also, why your idea is bad is some people could have spent half an hour getting a group then doing an instance then experience xp loss. That would be harsh. You could have a decreased xp rate the longer you play but then people would still keep playing just for those teeny amounts of xp. Also incidentally, some of the times you're wasting a load of time online you could be doing not very much- ie. not xping.

Taera

Originally posted by Kyleran


I voted against it...but I've always wanted to play a game that set up a server with a 2 hour a day time limit per character.  
Not for health reasons, but to give the more casual gamers a chance to keep up with the people who have lots more free time to play the game.
Never going to happen...
 
 

Having time limit servers seems more like a mechanic than a limit; it creates a whole new element to the game where you have to use your time WELL, not just often

As for time limits - I would be pretty pissed if they MADE me log off or debuffed me if I didn't take a break.  I'm a big girl, I can decide when and where I go for a walk :P

mudkip9001

horrible idea. if you're too moronic to take care of yourself properly while gaming, its your own problem. i won't feel sorry for anyone who gets sick/dies from exhausting themselves like that.

Carbide

I dont need to be told when to take a break like a child and if you do then your issues are deeper then just playing games for a long time.  If a game company tried to impose some sort time limit on their service - especially one I'm PAYING for they'd be quick to lose me as a customer.

 

Picklefoot

I do like the games that say "You have been playing for (x) hours, maybe its time you take a break."

 

 

  How sucky would it be to be raiding or PVPing and then bam! It hits you.

 

 

 

  I play a lot of FPS these days because most of the MMO's that are out suck balls. Its easy to take breaks, even if I do play MMO's I just say that I need a break, and the party should reform in 15 minutes.. people are most often down for that. Especially in COH/COV I've noticed.

 

 

 If they did enforce breaks (perhaps as a law one day), I would not have too much of a problem.. some people are just too addicted to games, and this would be the only way to get them from their personally formed mold of the computer chair. But it would have to be somewhere around 5 hours, and VERY VERY VERY persistent warnings. Oh, and it would be good to have it globally for all of your account. You could avoid this by logging out for 15+ minutes.

 

Zorvan

Wanna put those restrictions in free to play games? Go for it, I can't stop ya. But if I've paid even $.01 for the "privelage" of playing your game, don't even think about it.

SioBabble

SWG used to have an ingame mechanism to get you to stop grinding killing pikets.

It was called combat fatigue.

They got rid of it when they decided to WoWize SWG.

Gorair

if this is a serious problem, you dont need an in game penalty , you need therapy.

really , its just laziness , and not wanting to be responsible for your own actions. Hell might as well make the game adapt to other stupid lazy things ...

I cant pvp, so please when someone attacks me the game should warn them i suck and then nerf the hell out of their skills so i have a chance ....

My grades have dropped because instead of homework i played wow all weekend ... can you guys make the game not let me play on study nights since i dont seem to have the ability to get up from this chair...

how about if you really lack the power to get up tell your parents or wife or husband or friend to unplug the damn computer after 2 hours and hide the power cord. but that would erquire the person playing to acept his own faults and we cant have that noooooo ,someone needs to do this for me, i cant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

hubertgrove

Originally posted by Atomicide


People should't really need self restraint to take a break. I personally cannot help but take at least a 15 minute break every 2 hours. Going to the bathroom, boiling the kettle, making a cup of tea (or coffee) and everything in between should be sufficient to give you a decent break.

Toilet breaks? Toilet breaks?!? Real gamers ask - what's wrong with a plastic bucket beside your desk and a can of Glade?

merv808

Why would an in-game reminder be helpful. People that play for hours on end know what they are doing. I know how to control my playtime and any day where I can get more than a couple hours free to play I would be seriously annoyed by an announcement like that. You don't need a constant reminder to stop you from playing. Life has its ways of doing that....hunger pains, thirst, families, jobs, etc. Maybe the game just needs a reminder that states. "THIS IS NOT YOUR REAL LIFE!"

NeeAnderTall

The true measure of a person's maturity is their ability to control themselves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm news article about a man who died after a marathon gaming session.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4072704.stm gamer given life for pwning his rival in real life.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4265407.stm losing yourself to your MMO.

I've read further on suicides, divorce, and other casualties of this over indulgence. I wont say these are evil and are the cause of mischief and therefore should be banned or regulated, HELL NO. No matter where you go, you will find anything can be abused by people with nothing better or more urgent to do in their spare time. Look back far enough in history, the advent of just television was cause for alarm. Couch Potatos came into our culture experience way back then.

SO YEAH, Take a break once in a while. Don't become a wirehead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirehead

E V E Online's feature allowing your avatar to "learn" while offline was a godsend to me, and I was finally able to feel I could break away from the game with the confidence there was some continuous improvement going on that didn't violate any EULA agreements.

 

 

Czzarre

I think in game clocks is one of the best things to have. No doubt on some occasions I dont look away from the screen  for so long, that when I do I find its waaaaaay later than I had planed to play.

As for locking you out of the game, or having in game character 'fatigue". I dont think that will go over very well at all.

Torrential

outlaw101

It's called game for a reason, If people don't know when to quit it's their problem.