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ADHD Gamers Unite!!!
reavo
Member Posts: 2,173
I hate slow games. I hate farming. I hate sitting on my ass waiting for my stats to go up between the action.
ADHD gamers unite. Tell us the games you enjoy the most and why. Let the world know that the insults about us being childish players are meaningless, because we know the truth. We just enjoy action.
I have found some success in a couple of games. WoW, EQ2, and of course various other offline action games. But what I really want is for more in depth games to come along who don't take away from the action for the depth. WoW is guilty of that, to an extreme. EQ2 not so much so, but yes to an extent.
Let us know what other games out there fulfill our dreams of action!
ADHD gamers unite. Tell us the games you enjoy the most and why. Let the world know that the insults about us being childish players are meaningless, because we know the truth. We just enjoy action.
I have found some success in a couple of games. WoW, EQ2, and of course various other offline action games. But what I really want is for more in depth games to come along who don't take away from the action for the depth. WoW is guilty of that, to an extreme. EQ2 not so much so, but yes to an extent.
Let us know what other games out there fulfill our dreams of action!
Comments
UO, SWG (Pre-CU) and EVE are my favorite MMORPG's of all time. Trying to typify ADHD gamers as gamers who 'just want action' is silly. ADHD people focus on things that interest them. What interests 1 ADHD person may or may not interest another. Just like any other human being on the planet. The only difference between an ADHD and a "normal" person is that the ADHD person has a very difficult time focussing on things that DONT interest them.
What games ADHD people play are as varied as the next person because what interests us is just as widely varied as anyone else.
"A ship-of-war is the best ambassador." - Oliver Cromwell
For pure action (with no depth whatsoever) nothing I have played beats City of Heroes. The fighting in the missions with a group is fast, furious and chaotic
Support Bacteria, its the only culture some people have.
It's not only not fun to me, but it causes a great deal of frustration due to boredom and anticipation of what I could be doing instead. That frustration is caused by a real trait of ADHD sufferers, and that is lack of inhibition. See, it takes inhibition to tell the mind to be patient and wait for the reward of this slow game play. Ergo, frustration. So, my brain tells the game to go to hell because I don't want to have to inhibit myself for a reward. So, I don't get the reward, and this causes even more frustration. So, I look for games that do reward me.
If you can find me a person with ADHD who enjoys that kind of slow playstyle, then I'll show you a person with a misdiagnosis.
I usually get board with a game after a week some in a few hours. I can however focus on games when there are bright colors and faster animations, games with slower animations and dice roll style combat i get board of quite quickly, i did enjoy AO though but i think that was because its ski-fi.
Games with alot of grind in, i just wont do, simply becasue i cant be bothered playing for the reward although i would like it, i dont have the patience. Whilst im grinding im always thinking dammit ill get that item in 3 weeks, then i de-motivate and end up playing somthing else that i may have stuck at more.
Generally though, if im not extremely intersted in somthing or excited about it, then focusing on it is a grand mission, i usually end up doing whatever task it may be in parts, breaking it up by doing somthing in between. For example, I work at a garage run by my dad and grandad, i have to do some paper work, but i can only do so much of it (maybe 10 mins max) before i need to be back out on the main floor doing repairs or doing somthing faster paced.
So ill agree, the more action the better, hence why im looking forward to 2Moons so much.
I must note though iv not been officially diagnosed like you guys have, as i thought it was just how i was, or i thought id grow out of it like it was just a teenage thing, but after reading this thread im actually starting to think that maybe i should go visit the doc :P.
Goodluck fellas
Garrik
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"once upon a midnight dreary, while i porn surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404."
Seriously, CoV/CoH is good for a jump in and play for an hour type of game.
I sleep with a pillow under my gun.
I was diagnosed with ADD after being misdiagnosed all through childhood so when they finally decided what to call me I was at the point where I learned to deal with it so I refuse to take anything for it. Anyway you learn to deal with it, I do by playing more then one game. Right now I switch between Guild Wars pvp (random arena is fast paced with no wait) and Final Fantasy Online when I feel I can devote more time. World of Warcraft is always good (though I am not a fan), because it's an easy grind and you can quickly get involved in the game. Though the only games I've ever been able to really focus on for very long spands of time is the CIvilization series, but that's not an MMORPG.
But yea, when games start to get grindy , and i cant get my fix of new badass looking gear, i usually get bored within minutes =/.
Just a little off topic, but college is hard especially after coming from a structured setting I had at home. What a huge shock my first year there.
Yeah and that's my #1 problem with alot of games Spektor. A really indepth character creation and customization will keep my attention most of the time even if the rest of the game kind of stinks.
doesnt every mmo player by default have A.D.D?well least the people that i have played with.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7153152098207965240
ADD is the #1 misdiagnosed disorder to the point where people think it's a joke. Though people who truly have it understand it for what it really is. It's not always that hyper kid who misbehaves and acts up in class.
You are right though, many people with ADD (especially adult men), turn to the internet for relief. The constantly changing environment can sometimes be the only thing you can focus on. I read a great article on it in a magazine somewhere but I can't recall which.
It might sound silly, but I have found that the games that keep my attention the most have the best spell effects and the best sounds. I know, insert shiny things and raccoon joke here. But it's true. I love a game that looks and sounds good. But it's got to have that action as well, or none of that matters at all.
I dunno if I have ADHD or not, but it's definitely my game style. Like someone said in this thread, I don't like looking at my characters it on his ass. That is not fun.
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CORRECTION: I started thinking about this post again when I was watching my toon sit on his ass today.
I have a question. What do people think about when they are playing those games that make you sit for a long time and watch your stat bar go up? Do you think about the weather outside? Your next meal? Do you sit and watch the tv show that is on over in the corner? Do you prepare a list of things that need to be done tomorrow? Do you read a magazine?
I'm seriously curious, because I sit there and go nuts.
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I dunno why FE zero isn't working.... I really want to play but it won't work
Did you get it work on your PC? I wonder... if they have a IP block for US users like LIneage II Beta JP did long time ago.
All these games here are basically off the mark... Us hyperactives need dynamic game engines/worlds that change every week and a huge population of other hyperactives all plugging away to keep it changing. And there needs to be like 500 levels or no leveling at all... most level caps just get in our way. I'm looking at Second Life as one potential candidate for that but it doesn't have the huge population of "Modders" and leaders that SC/CS/BF had and the people who run it frankly sound like a buncha Ivory Tower KOOKS to me. ...Worse than that, it looks like All MMO's to date pretty much only cater to the "Achiever" and we don't fit in that square peg, we go stir crazy when the rest of our psyche's go unfed. ..But the biggest issue of all, is attention, AHADD puts you in a state of constantly needing some kind of attention payed to you whereas most games in this genre make the attention revolve around crap that has nothing to do with you and your character.
I tell ya I'd pay 10x what an MMO costs each month to be rid of this infernal disorder, but until then, hopping from one polished turd to another is all we can do b/c apparently the whole production process of these games seems to weed out the final components that we all need to be kept entertained.
PS: Don't Blame TV!! I grew up WITHOUT TV, the only TV in my house was a tiny Black&White TV in my parents room that I got to watch Sesame street on for 1 hours maybe 2 or 3 times a week. All I had to do all day was go chase lizards, but you had to be FAST to catch them, like .... sneak up, then RUN RUN RUN and GRAB GRAB GRAB and... hey wait a sec.... I think I just figured out what caused it
I've played a ton of MMO games (EQ, AO, DAOC, WoW, Ryzom, EQ2, Eve, various betas). In my case, I seek out complex or changing environments. DAOC had the strongest hold on me, because of the ever-changing dynamics of RvR. Sure, the world didn't really change, but every strategic or tactical situation was unique. The pure PvE games (EQ, WoW, EQ2) didn't really grab me, because I quickly mastered the game dynamics and decided there was little new to discover, just a lot of grind. Lots of people love WoW, but I had a visceral hatred of the hand-holding quests -- it just felt too "theme park" for me, with everybody on the same ride. I enjoyed EQ2 more because of its initial complexity, but SoE has been trying to turn that game into WoW for some time now...
I have recently started the Eve trial, and it looks like my cup of tea. There's incredible world complexity to keep me busy learning, and the PvP game looks deep. It's just a shame my wife is unlikely to play -- she loves playing fantasy elf characters, still has an account in DAOC. I'm hoping either Age of Conan or Warhammer will give us a new team-PvP-oriented game that we can both enjoy.
Nobody's really talked about treating ADHD... Personally I think it is a personality type, related to certain dominant hunter-gatherer traits. People with ADHD tend to be excellent at quickly sizing up situations and acting. We are excellent in a hunting or soldier role. Which is probably why I enjoy PvP games, or at least team-based PvP... I think it is also very likely that ADHD symptoms are exaggerated by Western-style diets. There's very strong evidence that most Americans do not get enough Omega 3s in our diets, and studies have shown that up fish oil can dramatically reduce or eliminate ADHD behavior. I've started taking about 4 grams of fish oil per day, and after a couple of weeks I'm starting to feel a little less distracted.
But here I am posting on a game forum from work, so there you go :P I see no harm in taking some nutritional supplements, but otherwise I'm excited about embracing the positive side of my ADHD, seeking games that make good outlets for it, and finding ways to minimize any negative behavior that goes with it. If it happens that a bunch of us play a certain game like Eve, let's form a guild/corp and be hyper together! Except we'd probably hate each other, because we're all hyper in different ways