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Has a mmorpg ever affected your real life?
panache
Member UncommonPosts: 397
Guys, I'm in need of a reality check...
Have mmorpg's ever affected your real life?
For me when i played daoc i forged friendships i thought were long lasting. It has saddened me that i have lost contact with them. Some particular people (if you know what i mean) got a little too close. Have you ever been upset when old mates and guildies have quit never to be heard of again? I have since moved onto CoH (quit) and still dabbling on SWG. I have found the community on SWG unfriendly. I'm not sure if it is me that is stopping myself from enjoying SWG or it is the population of AFK hologrinders.
So my question is....what are your experiences of playing mmorpg's??
Pan
Comments
Here's a reality check for you: the time you're spending playing the game is real, and thus it is affecting your real life.
I don't expect that will be a shocking revelation, but consider what you are sacrificing by spending time there. If you value other things in life (such as friendships) more than the games themselves then spend more time working on those. There is, of course, nothing wrong with forging friendships in-game, just be realistic about what that means.
One time I was playing EQ and eating cheetos all day for the fifth time that week, when I noticed my stomach bulging over in a way it never had before. It was then I realized I hadn't been outside or seen my friends in quite a while, and I decided to ease up a bit. I still play MMORPG's and Muds a lot, but I think one should have certain priorities.
In short, enjoy the (real) world around you.
Please, Mommy, I want a cookie.
Please, Mommy, I want a cookie.
I've made a few RL friends from playing MMO's and lost a few friends too. The first time you lose contact with gaming buddies is the hardest but after that you understand the ebb and flow of most online friendships (not all). It might sound harsh but that's just the way it goes sometimes.
On the other side of things I've seen entire guilds move to new games or small circles of friends stay in touch and continue down the gaming path. I've seen The Syndicate move from game to game for years. I'm not a member but I guess they have a fairly stable membership
IMO the people that are worth keeping in touch with are the ones that still chat with you on IM after the game (fun) is over a few years later. The key is to be able to distance yourself from the fantasy game and the reality of real life.
I have never met a friend in an MMORPG who i have contacted in real life. Most MMORPGs i go into with a couple buddies, so i dont really look for a real life friend, haha.
But i have made lots of Online friends, some of who i kept in touch with even after i quit the MMO. But yet i do experience the same feeling when a good guild mate leaves or something. It saddens me to see one of my online buddies leave the same organization i am part of.
Currently im playing SWG and find lots of people quite helpful. I played it through its opening stages so i have seen the amazing change and Player Cities is deffinately one of the best ideas ive ever heard of ! Congrats to SWG and i encourage you to check it out. Join Lowca if you do start to play and message Farseen.
But yes of course, put your real life before a fantasy at all times, unless its homework
. Good luck to you all! Hope to see some in game.
-Farseen-
" Faruka ! "
- Farseen
Current Game: Panzar
I agree with ianubisi aswell.
I've seen a few posts around in other forums where they talk about people shutting out their friends and even their family so they can play - mainly EQ - thats just sick. I think they need some AAMMG meetings - Anonymous Addicted Massive Multiplayer Gamer - or what you want to call it lol.
I myself play 1-4 hours a-day depends on work and friends.
Just don't let it take over your social life, you'll probably regret it later on.
mmorpg's effect me in the sense that sometimes i'll be runing around the yard with a stick pretending to kill storm troopers and safe the galaxy from the sith... j/k.well kinda... just leave me alone... i have to go establish a better base camp and upgrade my melee combate skill.
'Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. That way if he gets angry, he'll be a mile away and barefoot.'-sayings of the wise
-=-=-=-=-
"We're a game that's focused on grouping and on solo play, you know, more group oriented, more solo play..."
John Blakely Senior lead for EQ2. Link
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% The Test. Learn what it means here.
-=-=-=-=-
Achievers realise that killers as a concept are necessary in order to make achievement meaningful and worthwhile (there being no way to "lose" the game if any fool can "win" just by plodding slowly unchallenged). -bartle
Bartle: A: 93% E: 55% S:3% K: 50% The Test. Learn what it means here.
ROFL!!!! Run around the yard with stick killing storm troopers??? I needed a good laugh today... thanks dude.
For me... I felt like I wasted a good 4 years of personal time playing EQ. All that time and effort to wind up generally bored with the entire experience. The last year I logged in solely to maintain online relationships I had made and enjoyed chatting with people. That was about the time I realized that EQ had become an expensive, elaborate Chat Room. I quit playing MMO's for awhile and went back to Grad School. Finished that all up and now I'm back to playing MMO's again.... pathetic? Maybe... mental? more than likely... But now I play the games on my own terms and don't allow myself to be sucked into the politics. So yeah... MMO's will effect your life in one way or another.
"Are we done talking? We are? Good! Can I go kill them now? Right.... Come 'ere ye bastards!!"
Grym Goblinsbane
(My son speaking to his Japanese Grandmother) " Sorry Obaba, I don't speak Japanese, I only speak human."
Good answer Ianubisi. I agree, and I myself have been guilty of forgetting what really matters most. I had a hard time while playing Ultima Online, losing sight of real things that are so much more important. Thank goodness I caught myself and returned to reality.
Since then, I have gone on to play many other mmorpgs, Everquest being my favorite and the one I spent most time playing. It could have been so easy for me to slip back into a state of "fantasy" and focus all my energy and spare time on EQ. I didn't, I kept everything in control, limiting play time, making sure I saw family and friends often, keeping up with school and work, etc.
Overall, my gaming has been more enjoyable after I've realized that it is simply just a form of entertainment, not something I must do out of necessity to keep up with other online players, camp that rare drop, make that next level . . .
There is plenty of time for all that. Our lives on this earth is limited, let's make sure we all make the best of it.
yae it effected my life ... when ever i do someonething really cool i say im uber l33t and if i beat someone in a boardgame or something i say they sux0r and many new great words are in my vocabulary :P
"It's the darkness that brings us power"
SOF site come join
"It's the darkness that brings us power"
I recently found myself in a bad economic situation, so I liquidated much of me belongings in a mmorpg and sold it of, it netted around 1100$, pretty much saving my ass this time around. So yes they have effected me a bit.
Then again said game could very well be at least partly responsible for putting me in that situation in the first place.
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Originally posted by Jerek_
I wonder if you honestly even believe what you type, or if you live in a made up world of facts.
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I met someone in game that lived around the corner, we still team up all the time now
Dont know if it has anything to do with the topic but it's quite funny imo
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Fixup "Gioz" Looksharp Solitus Bureaucrat
Geile "Poepdoet" Donder Atrox Fixer
Saint "Healeet" Germain Solitus Doctor
Flych - 70 Blood Elf Retribution Paladin - Tarren Mill (EU)
Mediocre - 70 Undead Discipline Priest - Tarren Mill (EU)
Are these meetings going to be online? Maybe a Massively Multiplayer Addicts Online by Sony Online Therapy (new subsidiary). "Hi my name is WolfCrusher and I am a MMO addict?" Alltogether: "Nice gear, dude. Welcome."
I know you want to skybug, so I'm looking forward to your new online association´: Massively multiplayer online therapy association by Skybug.
Heck, I'd join in a heart beat if the first two hours would be free, he he.
I suppose that support group is going to cost $14.95 a month...
I still do what I have to do on a daily basis. I do, however, still manage to spend a good many hours playing in a week. It's definately not a second job though. I have met people online that definately "live" in that world. Either in-game or in the forums, that's where their "friends" come from. I would classify their real life compatriots as acquaintances more than actual friends.
Reality is up to each individual's perception. Where do you really live?
MMORPG -- Where's the RP?
MMORPG -- Where's the RP?
Common, lighten up guys!
I've played around with computers most of my life (I'm eighteen now) and though I did take a big break (about 2 years) from comps and being constantly online when I turned 15, I kinda came back about one year ago.
Nothing wrong with getting drunk every goddamn weekend and hanging around with mediocre people in mediocre places, but I really enjoy good online gaming a lot more.
Basicly the more I spend time on my comp (and with my girlfriend) the less I drink alcohol and smoke cannabis.
-----------------------------
A small bat
screamed out in fright
"Turn on the dark!
I'm afraid of the light"
Really, I dont see why people say
"you waisting your time on the computer"
or I waisted years of my life on the computer/mmorpg
why dont people say
"damn I waisted 2 hours everyday for 60 years jogging, so I could live 2 years longer"
or
"Damn I just waisted days hanging out with these idiots."
maybe
"damn I spent all this time learning to snowmobile, and I will probably nver do it again"
Oh wait, people do!
Spending time playing a mmorpg is no more a waist of your time than snowmobiling, driving around, Partying, drinking, watching the hockey game.
Its a form of entertainment, its just many people still stick the the stero type that if it involved a computer its lazy, nerdy and a waist of your time
thats like saying oh, you like to see soccer games, what a waist of time, you are spending all that money, and just sitting there...
or Why do you bother painting, your not making any money, its not going to change your life in any way aside form entertainment?
Many people like to use the "you hafta be more social" excuse to bash mmorpgs or the internet in general.
Last I checked playing a mmorpg is MUCH more social than many othe things such as many arts, going to a sports event, or or such activities we see as "socially acceptable".
So really if you still think spending time on the computer is a waist of your time, maybe you should start thinking watching TV, hanging out with friends, partying, going for a walk, drawing, singing, playing an insturment, is all a waist of your time too.
That concludes my rant on that lol
Anywho, I do find I will say "pwnd" ever so often in real life.
Or somthing stupid will slip like calling sombody a newb, in which they then get confused.
after 6 or so years, I had to change it a little...
for me I've never really had this happen from an MMORPG.
However I did have it happen with Diablo 2 when I lived in the dorms at school.. we had 20 some people playing it all the time in my building and we all were running from one persons game to another all day long.. and we were trading items and junk all over the place.
closest mmorpg that took over my life was uhum... probably...
Ragnarok online when it was still in beta test.
Final Fantasy XI never did, it just kinda pissed me off... couldn't play for that long w/o getting pissed at the amount of nothing to do but level up due to NOBODY ANYWHERE BUT PLACES TO LEVEL UP!!
I agree with munki. MMO's are very important to me, because it is my main form of entertainment. I am not a big fan of any sports, i dont go out every week to get drunk (much more expensive and bad for you). In fact i dont really do much but work and play games.
I have some IRL friends wich i game with a lot, and have had some online buddies over time. I even felt sad when i left uo and the guild i was in.
But i really dont care if people were to call me a geek, or think im a social disaster. I have most of my social contacts at work and occasionally after it, but generally i get home, make dinner, walk the dog and go do some gaming. Usually 2 > 8 hours a day. And i dont see that there's anything wrong with that.
Good clean fun and it's cheap compared to anything else. I think if you play with the idea that you want to have fun instead of being number one, or keeping up with the highest lvl players on your server then it's fine. Anything that's not in moderation can be bad for you. Water is good for you but, drink 20 gallons of it and it won't be. It's only time wasted if YOU decide it is. I have played games for years and I'll play till I'm an old man.