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.
WoW in vanilla I was on a 2day on 1 day of schedule I doubled 60 hrs a week easily this kid needs to stop being a noob IRL and learn to balance things if you are losing friends in family its because of YOU not a video game if you are neglecting your financial responsibilites again its because of YOU and not a video game, Addiction is just a word gamers use to cope with the fact that they lack the ability to use their self control BY THE WAY when I played had a job a gf (who didn't play) and everything was and is still peachy nothing was sacrificed in my gaming days people just need to take responsibility for their actions
lol imagine you have a child that got addicted to some drug, your answer - stop being a noob and suck it up, I love your humanity :P
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
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.
WoW in vanilla I was on a 2day on 1 day of schedule I doubled 60 hrs a week easily this kid needs to stop being a noob IRL and learn to balance things if you are losing friends in family its because of YOU not a video game if you are neglecting your financial responsibilites again its because of YOU and not a video game, Addiction is just a word gamers use to cope with the fact that they lack the ability to use their self control BY THE WAY when I played had a job a gf (who didn't play) and everything was and is still peachy nothing was sacrificed in my gaming days people just need to take responsibility for their actions
lol imagine you have a child that got addicted to some drug, your answer - stop being a noob and suck it up, I love your humanity :P
you are comparing apples to oranges....VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT DRUGS
and addiction is a CHEMICAL DEPENDANCY!
since you do not intavenusly inject WoW into your veins, and my children would know how to be responsible human beings because i would have provided them with a wonderful example
There are times when one must ask themselves is it my passion that truly frightens you? Or your own?
OmaliMMO Business CorrespondentMemberUncommonPosts: 1,177
Originally posted by Illyssia
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.
World of Warcraft doesn't cause the symptoms, it merely allows them to be expressed. Similar to how casinos don't turn people into gamblers, they're just points of interest for people who have psychological predispositions to be hardcore gamblers.
Also you're quoting The Guardian, that trash rag is hardly a reliable source.
I dont think this is new, a hundred similar things happens in the world like this each day, in this case that guy wasnt mentally prepared for a mmo, its just like you give some drugs to someone that have never consumed one, he can suddently become an addicted even more than the one who offered him the drug, its just an example of course but i say this to not blame a game because of the mental weakness of someone.
Whether or not the Game companies create contents in the form of Time Sinks, the time sink is only a time sink if you treat it as such. Regardless whether or not it takes you 10 hours of gameing session to get this particular item, the item is never an requirement, its there if you want it, but you are never forced to have it.
If you want to blame Game companies, the Developers, then you might as well blame the gaming society that demands you to get that said weapon.
Becoming an Addict is a terrible ordeal for anyone, the addict and their familes are the ones getting the worst experience through it, but blaming it on a Game is just idiotic. We are all weak individuals, but we are in control of what we do, how we do it and how much we do it. Games does not physically inject your body with chemicals that makes you become addicted, unlike drugs, alcohols and tobacco.
I know people who are addicted to movies, comics and other entertainment venues, but some uses that addiction to their advantage. The friend that is addicted to movies writes in his blogs about movies, all kinds of movies.
Don't blame others for your addictions, you have to look within yourself to pull yourself out of the ditch you put yourself in, and it only helps when you have the support of your friends and families that forgives you, but only when you can forgive yourself.
ad·dic·tion
The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
And in what form did the game company enslave the individual to this habit. I have play WOW on a bench session of 10 hours once, but i still got up, shower, and went to bed, and wake up the next day to go to work and enjoy the sunshine. Is it habit forming, to me it wasn't. Unlike drugs that once you have a taste of it, you are enslaved to it by chemicals. The game company did not force me by gun point or by the threat of having withdrawal symptoms to make sure I keep playing their game.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
But our society praises the weak, encourages the weak and supports the weak and Puts the weak on the spot light so that the weak doesn't feel like we are weak.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
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.
WoW in vanilla I was on a 2day on 1 day of schedule I doubled 60 hrs a week easily this kid needs to stop being a noob IRL and learn to balance things if you are losing friends in family its because of YOU not a video game if you are neglecting your financial responsibilites again its because of YOU and not a video game, Addiction is just a word gamers use to cope with the fact that they lack the ability to use their self control BY THE WAY when I played had a job a gf (who didn't play) and everything was and is still peachy nothing was sacrificed in my gaming days people just need to take responsibility for their actions
lol imagine you have a child that got addicted to some drug, your answer - stop being a noob and suck it up, I love your humanity :P
you are comparing apples to oranges....VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT DRUGS
and addiction is a CHEMICAL DEPENDANCY!
since you do not intavenusly inject WoW into your veins, and my children would know how to be responsible human beings because i would have provided them with a wonderful example
I was not comparing anything, I was referring to your lack of compassion. Evidently some people do have a problem getting addicted to gaming - and incidently addiction to gaming is chemical based. We know most do not get addicted, the post was not about your ability to not get addicted, it is about people who have a geniune problem that is wrecking their lives.
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
Comments
lol imagine you have a child that got addicted to some drug, your answer - stop being a noob and suck it up, I love your humanity :P
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
From that page:
"Approximately 16% of WoW players, or roughly 1,600,000, are female, each one convinced they are a unique phenomenon."
Hahaha
My brand new bloggity blog.
you are comparing apples to oranges....VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT DRUGS
and addiction is a CHEMICAL DEPENDANCY!
since you do not intavenusly inject WoW into your veins, and my children would know how to be responsible human beings because i would have provided them with a wonderful example
There are times when one must ask themselves is it my passion that truly frightens you? Or your own?
World of Warcraft doesn't cause the symptoms, it merely allows them to be expressed. Similar to how casinos don't turn people into gamblers, they're just points of interest for people who have psychological predispositions to be hardcore gamblers.
Also you're quoting The Guardian, that trash rag is hardly a reliable source.
I dont think this is new, a hundred similar things happens in the world like this each day, in this case that guy wasnt mentally prepared for a mmo, its just like you give some drugs to someone that have never consumed one, he can suddently become an addicted even more than the one who offered him the drug, its just an example of course but i say this to not blame a game because of the mental weakness of someone.
Weak.
quite funny when a program like Big Bang theory depicts mmo- addiction. Shows how common it is.
Whether or not the Game companies create contents in the form of Time Sinks, the time sink is only a time sink if you treat it as such. Regardless whether or not it takes you 10 hours of gameing session to get this particular item, the item is never an requirement, its there if you want it, but you are never forced to have it.
If you want to blame Game companies, the Developers, then you might as well blame the gaming society that demands you to get that said weapon.
Becoming an Addict is a terrible ordeal for anyone, the addict and their familes are the ones getting the worst experience through it, but blaming it on a Game is just idiotic. We are all weak individuals, but we are in control of what we do, how we do it and how much we do it. Games does not physically inject your body with chemicals that makes you become addicted, unlike drugs, alcohols and tobacco.
I know people who are addicted to movies, comics and other entertainment venues, but some uses that addiction to their advantage. The friend that is addicted to movies writes in his blogs about movies, all kinds of movies.
Don't blame others for your addictions, you have to look within yourself to pull yourself out of the ditch you put yourself in, and it only helps when you have the support of your friends and families that forgives you, but only when you can forgive yourself.
ad·dic·tion
The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
And in what form did the game company enslave the individual to this habit. I have play WOW on a bench session of 10 hours once, but i still got up, shower, and went to bed, and wake up the next day to go to work and enjoy the sunshine. Is it habit forming, to me it wasn't. Unlike drugs that once you have a taste of it, you are enslaved to it by chemicals. The game company did not force me by gun point or by the threat of having withdrawal symptoms to make sure I keep playing their game.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
This world is not for the weak. Hail Darwin!
But our society praises the weak, encourages the weak and supports the weak and Puts the weak on the spot light so that the weak doesn't feel like we are weak.
Life is a Maze, so make sure you bring your GPS incase you get lost in it.
I'm addicted to music, should I write a book?
A better question, did this game make him lazy, or did the game just give him an excuse?
I was not comparing anything, I was referring to your lack of compassion. Evidently some people do have a problem getting addicted to gaming - and incidently addiction to gaming is chemical based. We know most do not get addicted, the post was not about your ability to not get addicted, it is about people who have a geniune problem that is wrecking their lives.
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