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WoW addict tells of his spiral out of control
Illyssia
Member UncommonPosts: 1,507
In the Guardian online a WOW addict who would spend 60 hrs a week tells his tale
"At the height of his addiction Ryan van Cleave had little time for his real life. World of Warcraft, a video game, had crowded out everything: his wife and children, his job as a university English professor."
Is this not an indication that modern MMORPGs need to cater better to the casual crowd to prevent this type of addiction. Surely the rewards from the game should not demand the sacrifice of your family, friends, and job.
Blizzard declined to comment on the addicts case. But maybe they have designed a game that is an addictive time sink that can cause these symptoms in people.
Read more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/aug/29/world-of-warcraft-video-game-addict
Fee free to coment...
Comments
Who can we sue for this? We should all get rich!
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Poor git sounds absolutely depressed
If it wasn't WoW it would've been something else. Glad he got himself back on track.
I have read stories like this for years now. Is it the games fault or the person playing it? Games are developed to keep your ass in the seat as long as possible and developers do some questionable things to make you feel you need to be there. As seen in this article that was posted here awhile back http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html
In the end though it has to come down to personal responsibilty. People in todays world would much rather blame someone else for their problems instead of just admiting they were weak. People have flaws and the worst would be not being able to admit to them.
Okay; I just read the whole article.
You CANNOT blame games for this sort of 'problem'. What I got from that story (which is clearly defending the man and attacking MMOs), is that he was a weak individual, prone to addiction. What's also very clear, is that the subject of the article is depressed, and likely has been for a very long time.
I personally love MMOs. I was a full blown Neocron player many years ago, and I reckon I did a good 30 hours a week in game, easily. Before work, after work, etc. I did not, at the time, have a serious relationship/family or even particularly close friends to neglect (as I'd just moved away from my home town).... and it certainly wasn't ruining my career/health.
Now, I still love MMOs. I've pre-ordered SW:TOR, and not a day goes by where I don't check for Planetside 2 updates. I will undoubtedly play them for as many hours as I can squeeze in every week, but I will certainly not neglect my wife to be, nor the two businesses that I run.
All it takes is a little self-control and for me to never, ever forget that it is just a game, and that I am playing for fun. I never played WoW for this reason; it felt too much like hard work to keep up.
lol did nobody else spot his name? Like the last boss in Deadmines? Guy's gotta be trolling... plus "He spent $224 in real money to buy fake gold so he could get an "epic-level sword" and some "top-tier armour" for his avatar."
If he was racking up the kind of hours he claims he would have more than enough gold without having to buy it, and any gamer who plays that many hours is more than likely raiding, therefore able to get access to much better gear than the so called "Top tier" armor from the Auction House.
I call bullshit on this one. or stupid.
http://wowdetox.com
And no, this is not a problem WoW brought to us.
A friend of mine was unemployed and was lost in DAoC. At some point he used a rope. Thanks to Blutmaul I found out the server dedicated an event (Server Lyonesse(GER)) to his final exit.
The MMOgames are, what they are - time consuming. If you have no Real Life distraction, then there is a chance you will get lost in them.
The guy never once said WoW was at fault.
You people really need to learn to comprehend what your reading.
I read half of it, i lagued when they used the word "disgusted". Silly, but I stoped reading when the doctor started talking. OF course the influence of the doctor is going to be more on the tune of brainwashing the dude back out to reality, that part Id rather not read since I do game some.
No, but the article did. That's the point. It was slanted towards castigating Blizzard and painting this guy as a victim. For cryin' out loud, they equated WoW with a drug habit.
The guy was a weakling who hated his life. Period. And I'd bet any amount of money he hated it BEFORE WoW came along. WoW was just a vehicle for him to escape from his responsibilities, and he allowed it to happen.
QFT-
We live in a "victim" society. Always placing blame on our own inability to handle life on...Something.
In the 1980's it was Dungeons and Dragons (made you satanic, lose grip with reality, kill yourself) but oddly enough my gaming group from the 1980s all was VERY succesful in life, have families now and great proffesions-
Essentially (not to be mean) if someone wants to pillage their life on drugs, drink, women, song OR video games- It isnt my problem nor my concern. I have sampled ALL of the above (even played D&D lol) and I enjoyed every bit of it.
People can become "addicted" to pretty much anything. It's not the activity that's the problem, it's the addicts inability to control his own behavior or recognize when it becomes unhealthy for them.
couldnt agree more, its all part of the ' im alright jack, its not my responsibility culture'
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Hmm, another case of not owning up to your own weakneses and lack of maturity to take control of your life. Blame the game, it is a very easy way out.
Im going to guess that the majority of the people here calling the guy in the article "weak" probably have never had to deal with an addiction themselves.
Tried: EQ2 - AC - EU - HZ - TR - MxO - TTO - WURM - SL - VG:SoH - PotBS - PS - AoC - WAR - DDO - SWTOR
Played: UO - EQ1 - AO - DAoC - NC - CoH/CoV - SWG - WoW - EVE - AA - LotRO - DFO - STO - FE - MO - RIFT
Playing: Skyrim
Following: The Repopulation
I want a Virtual World, not just a Game.
ITS TOO HARD! - Matt Firor (ZeniMax)
In most of the replies people are talking about 'victim' mentality and blaming games instead of being more responsible. Nobody is saying a person can not become an addict but how blaming others for your own mistakes make it all right?
^I'm with this guy.
Let's not confuse the illness with the symptom of the illness. There are tons of people who play WoW without destroying their lives in the process.
It's clearly not the game's fault. Any activity can be the focus of an addiction, even healthy things like exercising or eating.
I must confess that stories like that exert a dark fascination over me... Of people that simply get lost in a virtual world...
He had responsibilities in the real world, with his family and job place, and in some sense those responsibilities allowed him to realize the consequences of the choices he was making...
But what about by example, social outcasts, who are constantly shunned by the surrounding people, and thus don-t feel that strong feeling of attachment to the people around them? Wouldn't they have a stronger reason to prefer being a Lvl 85 Death Knight than Average Joe Outcast? What if a MMO developer really targeted them?
"But already online gaming was taking its toll: he and his wife were late for her first ultrasound scan because Van Cleave was playing Madden Football, a sports game"
Thats a quote from the article, the poor guy already had issues. WoW is not to fault, its his weak mind to blame.
The guy wasn't really blaming the game despite that being the bias of the article and as others said, if it wasn't the game it would have been something else, drugs perhaps, I know which addiction I'd prefer.
Aside from that, out of all the games to get addicted to I think I'd be close to slitting my writsts playing WoW 60 hours a week.
-----
The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
im comprehending what it said and the guy was a loser no matter what he let not his wife but his children fall to wayside and to me hes garbage especialy for a game, like someone else said if not WoW or games it woulda been someone else. Honestly i have no remorse for people who give up their real lives for games nor do i believe it means the games are qrong should they weaken their content cuz some nuts use their products? i do not believe so. Hes a tard he had one of gods greatest (and worst) gifts children and apparently a really cool wife who put up with it so long. Don't care if he says it was the games fault or not people will still use his story to over react so people like hilary clinton can try to ban these games. point is majority of people don't act like this tbh i have alot of friends who play games still have jobs go to the gym and stay healthy, and video games don't promote un healthy eating either that was a stupid excuse to me as well. I also don't believe game companies dont WANT people to sit in their chairs and play there games all day if you truly think about it. Yes there time cosuming but honestly the company would rather have people take months to play their game casually slowly getting gear then the game fiends who di it in2 or less and move on thats the real reason they make them so long IMO they make no extra money on you playing the game for more time compared to length of time. if i play 20 hrs a month or 200 they still get the same 15 dollars from me and them at the end of the month (unless they have a cash shop different story
). I love video games and i admit there adicting but grow the f up and get priorities stright even when i played games as a kid i wasnt an addict like that fool and to hear him sob about such a stupid problem agitates me.
You are right for the most part, but it's a little more complicated then a little self control for some people. Many people have deep rooted issues and as a result, turn to various things to help relieve the pain because its too much for them to handle. Like you said, its clear he has most likely been depressed for many years. Having an addictive personality doesn't help either or a lack of emotional support. Let's also not forget upbrining and environment. It doesn't excuse their addiction and how it affects the people in important in their lives, but its not always as easy as you make it sound.
I have known addiction my whole life. I grew up with an alchoholic step father. My mother was later a pretty bad alchoholic. I was too until my children were born, and I never wanted them to see me like that. Later in life, I got hurt on the job and got addicted pretty badly to pain medications. Not ONCE did I blame Budweiser for making beer, or my doctor for prescribing me enough Vicodin to kill a cow (although the state board of medicine did that for me, apparently, as he lost his license because another doctor turned him in). This man isn't really blaming WoW either. People (the media especially), need to stop blaming inanimate objects for the downfall of our society. Games don't make you more violent. Porn doesn't make you a pervert. Drugs don't jump in your mouth. Guns don't fire themselves (well, most of the time). Take a little personal responsibility and own your shortcomings, or they will own you.
Yeah, we tend to shift blame on others too fast, too readily. Journalism, need to be glaring.
We commit the "crimes", we blame the revolver factory, the blacksmith crafting the knife, the ad promoting the drink. Since when we are living in a collective in which others make decisions for us? The constitutional rights in the west are arguably the best and last bastion of personal freedom and responsibility. If we let slip the right to making our decisions, we let slip our rights to individuality and choice.
Games are addictive. WoW is. This is a testimon to its good design, in which you can enjoy hours of downtime after work. Why blame WoW? Just because it is the best game? If WoW dies, will be blame the next best MMO? Will there be an end to the blames? Will that solve the problem at all?
Cannot express it better.