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World of Warcraft...Is it a game, or a drug?
PkhBasko
Member UncommonPosts: 59
World of Warcraft...is it a game, or a drug?
Has World of Warcraft become so addicting that people are actually quitting their jobs just to play it.
Has World of Warcraft gotten people fired because their boss has found it on their computer at work?
Has World of Warcraft actually given people anger issues?
Has World of Warcraft actually made people want to spend their hard earned money just to get some money on the game?
Has World of Warcraft killed people?
THE ANSWERS TO ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS ARE YES
Comments
This could be said (and has been said) about other MMORPGs, too.
I've no doubt that WoW is addictive to some people. Games have been described as addictive long before MMORPGs came along. But just because drugs are addictive, doesn't mean that everything you can become addicted to are drugs. You can become addicted to internet chat rooms, TV, excercise, gambling, certain crimes, sex - any form of activity that gives pleasure can be addictive.
Humans tend to form addictions to things, some more than others. It's just how some of us are wired.
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
Definition of drug (link):
1 a obsolete : a substance used in dyeing or chemical operations b : a substance used as a medication or in the preparation of medication c according to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (1) : a substance recognized in an official pharmacopoeia or formulary (2) : a substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease (3) : a substance other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body (4) : a substance intended for use as a component of a medicine but not a device or a component, part, or accessory of a device
2 : a commodity that is not salable or for which there is no demand -- used in the phrase drug on the market
3 : something and often an illegal substance that causes addiction, habituation, or a marked change in consciousness
WoW is not a drug, it's a video game.
True I definitely agree with you...however drugs do kill people and World of Warcraft has done that...Two 13 year old boys committed suicide...One of them before he committed suicide he wrote a note to his parents saying that he wanted to be a hero in the game and before he killed himself he had just finished playing World of Warcraft for 32 hours straight...another 13 year old boy wanted to become a ghost/spirit like on the game when you die and he thought he could just run back to his body...I am not saying that it is all the games fault however I do believe that World of Warcraft does deserve some of the blame...yes maybe the kids were not the smartest kids out there for a thirteen year old.....I'm not saying that World of Warcraft should be banned by any means...Don't get me wrong it is a good game, I just think the ones that play it should be a little more careful, in China I believe it is they have already set a curfew on this game everyone can play two hours a day unless it is after 8:00PM.
With this post I do not want to make any arguments or anything of the sort I just want this to be seen by all that play the game. I do think that people take this game way to seriously...Thank You
Drugs aren't the only thing that cause deaths. Depression causes people to do similar things to what you've described, it's not a drug any more than WoW is.
No more addicting then a religious belief. "I don't believe in raiding so i don't goto WoW"
Countless more suffer those same problems listed and many many MANY more problems i dont even wanna know about thanks to religious belief. So id say WoW is closer to a religion then a drug, considering the amount of people doing it and the way people change their lives around to for it.
It's not WoW problem, it's people's problem. People can get addicted to just about anything. Sure, some stuff can get you addicted faster, but it's still people that choose to get addicted.
That being said, I believe there should be mandatory time limit on how much time player can spend in online game. This would certainly do more good than harm. I really see little point for anyone to spend 10-12 or more hours per day. Been there, got the scars.
Games should be fun and distraction, and not a second life.
I refuse to believe there is any physical withdrawel symptons from playing this game.
CURRENTLY PLAYING SHAIYA
The correct answer is neither.
Its not a drug because drugs are addictive to everyone, not just idiots. WoW is only addictive to idiots.
Its not a game because a game is something you play to relax after a hard days work. WoW is NOTHING but work. And just like real work, after all the work in wow, you dont get SHIT aside from some cooler clothes than the ones you were wearing when you started.
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
/yawn
an EQ1 player shot himself long before WoW was a thought.
I believe whole heartedly WoW or any mmo is just another variation of a drug 3 : something and often an illegal substance that causes addiction, habituation, or a marked change in consciousness ,and there's probably alot of people out there in denial .Have you ever read some of the forums on mmo's ,some of the posts sound like addicts who need a new fix because the stuff they we're using doesn't do the job anymore ,reminds me of the old Hewey Lewis song "I need a new Drug".I agree that anything can be addictive even food,and mmo's are a place for people to hide or escape from reality,I'm not saying everyone does it but all of us being human have to be careful and honest with ourselves to avoid being addicted to something and mmo's are new and cool and flashy and immersive and have alot of new lights and whistles.Ive heard of places in other countries that have people playing just to accumulate in game currency to sell on the net to players because they know they'll pay for it.I am a Christian and that's not an addiction or a religion for me ,its my Faith.I've seen others near and dear to me and myself also have been hooked on mmo's so I know they have the potential.
Joh 8:32
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
If you keep picking at it ,it won't heal.
I agree with Geritolx...
Anxiety, frustration, boredom, need.
Same as other drugs...
My addiction History:
>> EQ1 2000-2004 - Shaman/Bard/Wizard/Monk - nolife raid-whore
>> WoW 2004-2009 + Cataclysm for 2 months - hardcore casual
>> Current status : done with MMO, too old for that crap.
If you'd searched a little harder you would have found news stories about children who played MMO's so much they killed themselves (according to their parents), or refused to get up from the keyboard for 3 day and died from starvation or urinary tract infections. Heck, MMO's have been blamed for a couple of murders (one guy stabbed another with a real life sword, another put a hit on a person who was harrasing his wife in WOW).
Many people watch television every day, and need new programs to watch every season, are they addicts? They watch it before work, sometimes at lunch or even while working out, and then watch it all night. But still, they don't need to watch it, so they are not addicts in the true sense.
WOW is the same, sure there's folks playing 16 or more hours a day, (didn't know that did you?) and they do so by choice. Maybe its a failing in their real lives somewhere, but hey, its theres to do as they will. But WOW isn't an addiction.
You brought up your Christian faith. You know as well as I do that for some folks religion is an addiction as well. (by your definition). They live and breath for their faith, and in fact are quite willing to die for it (something most of us MMORPG gamers aren't quite willing to do). Are they addicts? No, afraid not, just zealous in their beliefs and the need to communicate that faith to others.
One final point, I suspect you are fairly devote in your faith. I'm a Christian too, and I tell you this as a friend, you do not serve the Lord's purpose posting Biblical passages in forums like these. This is not the appropriate venue to spread God's word and you will actually drive more people away than you will ever reach.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I do not agree, alot of people who get addicted don't enjoy or have much friends in the real world so they get attached to the game. Only people with problems already get addicted, people like to deny this nobody likes to admit they have social disorders because of being made fun of all the time and being isolated from there peers.
WoW only makes people with bad disorders worse. You should start looking into a way to fix your problem thats decreasing your confidence and make new friends and find a girl or boy which ever you like. Once you experience this stuff you won't want to live in WOW 24/7.
Those kids probably had issues with their parents , school and everything. An 11 year old child in our country commited suicide just because he lost 10 mil in RuneScape. His so called "friends" (they were the ones who hacked his acc info) knew earlier that he commited suicide than his own parents, he posted it on a clanforum. I don't think everything should be blamed on the game imo. People just get to obsessed sometimes, like with drugs yes. It 's just the way look upon it imo. So I see it as a game, a fun way to kill time.
Some people have issues.
Some people have common sense.
Thread over.
and the people who have common sense dont play wow anymore, because they realised how mind numbingly repetitive it is, and once they reach 60 saw the game for what it truely was..another piece of raiding sh*t
It is simple this is just a freaking game, it is choice to play world of warcraft! if you label this game as a drug then why not label oxygen as a drug or water, sure we need thoes things to survive but it is the same thing, people have died from too much oxygen and people had drowned, so what if this game as caused some emotinally disturbed children to kill themselves it not like the big people who wear the ties set out and say, "So how can we make this game kill more emos today?"
Oh yeah this game is deffiently part of the Merchants of Death, come on people this is souly choice to play the damned game, so get off your freaking high horse and stop labeling shit as drugs just cause it has caused a few deaths.
Yours Sincercly,
The Great Ganonduarf...2
http://world4.knightfight.co.uk/?ac=vid&vid=96047447
I know how drugs work. I've been to classes for drugs. This isn't a drug. You can't put binary code into yourself, which is basically what WoW is. It's just binary just like any other program.
CURRENTLY PLAYING SHAIYA
drug or not is depends on yourself .You must understand play game is just a way of pastime not a real life. however many ppl did not realize that
There is also the argument that the true addiction in all these cases stems from chemicals released into the bloodstream via your lymphatic and various other systems after certain conditions within the real world are met. We are all in some addicted to these chemicals and are well aware of there effect on our lives, if not always the cause.
Endorphine addiction is in some ways the real addiction that many refer to as drug addiction. So to point blank say that a game can not be addictive is simply untrue.
-----
The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
yes wow can be compared to a drug. people have died and loose a social life because of this game. the funny thing is i think its worse than a drug. at least with drugs you do them with other people. when you play wow most people just play by themself. i mean by themself in there room i know your with other people on the game.
now its really up to the person playing how he wants to play it. he can choose to play it 5 hours a day never goin outside to hang out with people. or he can choose to play it once in awhile and hang out with some friends. the only problem is when the person playing takes it too far. if you skip work or school whatever to play it you need to stop. if you get fired or start failin school you need to stop. if you lie to your friends or start yellin at people just to play it you need to stop. this is just me but if you actually buy money in the game and pay people to play it for you you might need help. the truth is this is a COMPUTER GAME and that is it. it will NOT help you in life all it is is a form of entertainment for you to have fun with. keep it that way.