why are people so damn lazy that they need to be forced to do something that a dose of common sense would fix? Stop asking for baby sitters, people want govts to do the same thing ... "im too stupid to not do this i need protection from <fill in the blank>" be it a game , watching their kids , changing the channel on their tv so jr cant watch skinemax etc ...
Going to have to agree. I actually find those warnings annoying, as with the Wii warning about breaks. I know when I need a break and I'll take it when it's *needed*, I don't need a video game to tell me how my body is currently feeling like.
If people want to play 10 hours a day in a game straight I believe it's there choice. You know what the consequences are for doing so, just like using common sense on how coffee is hot but yet a select few of people still drop it on their faces. I don't think most gamers should be punished for playing "longer than normal" because a bunch of people can't use their brain.
People go afk to take a break. Many games do not not have an afk command, so they cannot monitor your breaks.
Mmorgs do not have a pause button. How can you pause a whole zone, affecting other players because the software says you should take a 15 minute break?
Also, many long missions and similar encounters have to be done in one session or you fail or start from beginning again.
Implementing forced breaks would require huge programming changes in many existing games and fundamentally change the missions, encounters and instances.
Enforced breaks is not a bad idea. It would have to factored in during the development of new Mmorgs.
Then dont read the message I dont see anything wrong with messages suggesting breaks as long as breaks are only encouraged of course you cannot force people but obviously game addiction is becoming a serious problem for most rather they choose to admit it or not.
By the way in games like eq2 you get xp bonus if you log out your character for a while so in a way that is encouraging it not enforcing it and can easily work much better.
People go afk to take a break. Many games do not not have an afk command, so they cannot monitor your breaks. Mmorgs do not have a pause button. How can you pause a whole zone, affecting other players because the software says you should take a 15 minute break? Also, many long missions and similar encounters have to be done in one session or you fail or start from beginning again. Implementing forced breaks would require huge programming changes in many existing games and fundamentally change the missions, encounters and instances. Enforced breaks is not a bad idea. It would have to factored in during the development of new Mmorgs.
You log out
when in a zone -thats a personal pause right there... i mean lets see .. staying in game for 24 hours to get 10% xp and that next level vs being alive ,or being a daddy and taking care of your kid, or being a husband. in all cases the game seems to be the loser since real life always trumps some made up digital epeen item ( if this isnt the case seek help really im not joking , go see a therapist)
or maybe apply some common sense like work it out for yourself as in ...
we stopped when raiding alot for breaks , half would break the other half stood guard incase of respawns . you have to want to break tho, even if there are warning the targeted people wont listen, so all it would do is mess up the other people playing who have self control and enough sense to stand up and wak to the john rather than pissing in their pants.
how would you like a window to pop up when trying to heal the tank on the verge of dying and have to click a box closed telling you its past your bed time or you need a nap or mommys milk or whatever? or how would you like to be the one who died cause your healers window poped up?
or even better finally getting in that group to run that instance you needed and finishing a quest you held on to for weeks only to learn you only got 1/3 xp and no drops cause you went 30 mins past bed time?
stop looking to others to fix a personal weakness. you should instead lobby to keep those people from playing and have them seek professional help as obviously they dont have the ability to make a self preservation decision.
anyone who says i cant quit now to play ball with my son i just got in a raid group! deserves it when the wife and kid leave. you chose some make beleive crap over flesh and blood your fault not the game. and if the wife telling you get off your ass 1000 times ( like mine does if i go to long) wont do it some in game warning isnt going to either.
Passing the responsibility to a game company instead of the tool who should probably not be playing the 1st place opens them to all sorts of issues and responsibilities that really should belong to the player.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
First of all let me clarify. I started this thread to gain thoughts and opinions on enforced game time. It isn't about ME needing therapy. Thanks for those that posted mature comments.
For the record I am in a rowing club, play baseball for the firm and also take martial art classes. I do have a life and probably more than the trolls on this site.
Besides having the occassional gaming marathon I asked the question because I know people that are really ruining their lives and even though they know it they physically need something to stop them playing.
Games that worked for me:
EVE Online - like one post said it gives you an option to leave it for days, weeks or months and not get left behind. Plus 1 hour downtime each day helps.
Earth & Beyond - As the death penalty showed exactly how much time it would take to lose. I did find myself logging off for 3 hours and waiting for it to go.
FPS - I like playing counterstrike so I can hit it for 30-60 minutes and log off. No need to stick around.
Maybe the question is, 'should companies be more responsible?' For example elements such as:
- Grinding for hours to get 1 level. Then if you log for 1 hour you come back at such a low level you cant get into the group.
- Death penalty that you can only get rid of in the game.
- Games like Vanguard that takes ages to get a group then ages to do the dungeon etc. No jump in playability.
I quit Vanguard and other similar games because of the above. I just found myself grinding for hours to keep within our groups level bracket. Go away for a weeks holiday and you might as well forget about joining your friends again unless you churn out 24 hours of Yeti killing.
I think in game clocks is one of the best things to have. No doubt on some occasions I dont look away from the screen for so long, that when I do I find its waaaaaay later than I had planed to play.
Yep I think many people find it can be easy to lose track of time sometimes.
To the kneejerk complaint it would be irritating, maybe it could easily be switched off in the options
Maybe the question is, 'should companies be more responsible?' For example elements such as:
- Grinding for hours to get 1 level. Then if you log for 1 hour you come back at such a low level you cant get into the group. - Death penalty that you can only get rid of in the game. - Games like Vanguard that takes ages to get a group then ages to do the dungeon etc. No jump in playability.
I quit Vanguard and other similar games because of the above. I just found myself grinding for hours to keep within our groups level bracket. Go away for a weeks holiday and you might as well forget about joining your friends again unless you churn out 24 hours of Yeti killing.
I'm confused how you mean by responsible-the examples you posted I'd call a problem of time-intensity. There are people who quit the genre because it takes too long to do anything. You are right that things like making groups and travelling(to an extent) should be quicker processes.
They do that in China.. how bout getting some self control and stop trying to get game companies to nanny?
Good thing this guy hasnt encountered crack yet.
-- Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
To be frank today's MMO's aren't immersive enough to warrant intervention.
How would a company handle that anyway? The reason many of us play MMO's is for 24hr access to dynamic content. I for one wouldn't pay for a title with such a policy. Nonetheless I do agree game breaks should be encouraged but never inforced.
Enforcing breaks on people is a communist way of thinking.
People should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them, that is the only way we change for the better.
Who is better off the person who is forced to only game 2 hours a day, or the person who has learned and wants to spend their time in other ways and can discipline themselves?
Originally posted by chryses On occassion I become so addicted to an mmo I have played for almost 24 hours straight and without food and water. (8 coffee's only). I haven't done that for years but I still lose half a day now and then. Last week I bought a Wii and I noticed that after about 30 minutes a picture pops up and suggests having a break and I was wondering if companies should enforce this on mmo's? Options could be: - XP loss after 2 hours solid game play. This is reset if you take a 15 minute break. - In game avatar actually gets tired and starts to accumalate negative hits to attributes. Show him yawning etc. After 15 minute break she/he is back to normal.
Blizzard tried this kinda thing with wow if you think back to the betas... it went over like a lead brick with players. I personally wouldn't play a game that was that condescending. If I have 4 hours to play and want to play them solid... I should be able to. If I have 30 hours to play and want to play them solid... I should be able to.
If you're not drinking water while you're gaming and not going to the bathroom you're a moron. The rest of us shouldn't be punished for the stupidity of the few.
im really sorry ,after going back and reading my rants i do see how it looks like im attacking you , sorry i meant to use "you" as in whoever in general , not to personally mean you.
Im sorry i wasnt very clear on it .
I dont mean you personally.
again im sorry it came out that way.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
I think that only the people still using a CRT screen need breaks for the eyes because even high refresh rates can strain the eyes with a CRT monitor. Get yourself an LCD with low response times and it's just like looking at a piece of paper. Another thing you need to focus on is ergonomics. You NEED an ergonomic keyboard, wrist wrest, and gaming mouse with a REAL computer workstation and not what furniture you managed to come up with at the time of your PC purchase. The ergonomic rules are to have your screen the distance of your arms extended with feet flat posture etc and once you've mastered the proper ergonomic techniques you can just relax like you would on the couch watching television and still be healthy.
I've discovered a real easy and fool proof way not to become addicted to gaming and end up playing too long. I drink. no really half a fifth and I can't even see the key board. no addiction for me.
Imagine this if you will though. Say a game has a 2 hour play and 15 minutes off forced break. You log on an hour before a raid to get some minor XPing done and maybe some trading/crafting or some such. The raid starts after that hour and you're going great. Say it takes 30 minutes to get the entire group gathered and ready, and then another 15 or so to run wherever the dungeon is. There's an hour and 45 minutes gone already. 15 minutes into the actual raid you have to log off because the game won't let you play anymore. Combine this with the dozens of other people who are not all on the same playing schedule (some might have been on for longer before that, or even later than you) Then what? Your entire group is forced to log off randomly because they aren't allowed to play anymore due to game mechanics.
You're paying a monthly fee to play the game. They should not deny you access to the game. If you aren't smart enough to know when it's becoming unhealthy for your life, then you shouldn't play the game in the first place. It has nothing to do with having real life obligations. It just has to do with knowing your priorities, and it shouldn't be the game company's obligation to tell you when enough is enough.
My country(Norway) outlawed those coinslot machines cause a minority played themselfes into debts, took loans to play, lost their jobs to it etc. Now, I dont agree to this method at all cause I think we are all responsible for our own actions and need to control them ourselves.
But it actually worked. Some internet sites thought to cash in on the addictive coinslot players through online playing but that stuff just didnt work. Which goes to show that the people around us prone to addiction really need the strict rules around them to control their actions. And there is alot more of them around than you may think, especially when it comes to online gaming.
You can compare it with smoking actually. Everybody knows smoking hurts your health but they still do it. Everybody knows sitting infront of a computer screen most of your waking hours aint healthy. Some may not admit it to themselfes, but they know it nonetheless. Your real-life partners/friends and so on dissapear and on top of that you hurt your own health.
Its a sad circle though. The more successful you get at a mmo(or any other type of game for that matter), the more your real-life suffers.
Absolutely NO to any kind of forced control from the company side. A gentle reminder that can be turned off by the player (EQ1 style) - yea sure, but anything forced, NO way. First it starts innocently, you ask them to shut down your access to the game after X number of hours... next thing you know, they tell you what type of drinks to drink, who to date, what to wear or even that spanking monkeys is baaaad.
DOWN with bloody capitalism, join the revolution, dont be a "baaaaaaaaa"-person!...
OK, I dunno where that last sentence came from... its not a good thing to skip medication intake.
Yes, but not how you say. I'd like a server where you stop getting experience, skills and gold after playing for more than let's say 40 hours that week, per account. That will slow down also gold farmers and char sellers.
I would support a player-controllable reminder to take a break. No penalties, nothing enforced, and you should be able to turn it off if you don't want it.
My country(Norway) outlawed those coinslot machines
We call them bandits and yes its pretty extreme to outlaw them. You may as well outlaw food while youre there to combat obescity.
-- Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
Pretty overwhelming 'NO' to enforced breaks. Hope some companies are reading this then
Even though I posted this thread I am not for 'enforced' breaks as such but would like some in-game incentives to have breaks or at least have gameplay that encourages it. Not wanting to go back to EVE but it works for me since I can stick a barge on mining and walk off for 5 minutes (safe space) and grab a coffee or whatever. Plus the tiny clock on the bottom left is always a constant reminder.
AFK travelling is a nice to have and it saves people having to sit and monitor their avatar riding 30 minutes across a desert.
I seem to remember that a couple of games that I have played had at least self-set timers and/or alarms, or something similar.
Good idea in my book, easily overridden though,
People who destroy themself, or their lifes playing these things would by all probability done it in even if MMO's had not existed, they would just have done it in some other manner.
I do however think that companies should have "master accounts", tied to the card that pays the bills or some other manner to let parents set time restrictions on their kids gaming accounts with no way for them to alter that time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I voted no for Forced breaks, its nice if they give you the options to set up ways to Make Yourself take a break (like a pop up timer to let you know you've been playing to long EQ2 had timers you could set up they dont force you off but they let you know you've reached the time you set for yourself). We pay them to play its not their right or job to tell us when to go take a break. Hell if you do work as a programmer or anything that has you infront of a computer all day NO one tells you much less encourages you to get up from your desk. You just have to take responsiblity for yourself to get up and move around and stretch. I dont know what it is about the players that can't stop themselves its variety of personal problems that just seem to take a noticable form when it comes to games (not the games fault the issues are usually already there!).
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Gamers feel like they are being punished if they have to take a break during a long grind/playtime. It just feels like you think you're going to waste time, and if you spend time going to the kitchen to cook some soup or something you could have gained xx percent or xx gold.
However, these breaks are nessecary. Long periods of gaming can result in minor delerium and hallucinations as well as many physical effects such as loss of breath and lightheadedness.
So if you get off for about 20 minutes and you gain 5% in 20 minutes; if you get off at level 52 with 65% you could come back after the break and be like "man I could be 70% already I shouldn't have taken the break!"
I.E.: guilt for not having constructional thinking. You think you are just wasting time but you are maintaining your status of health
I think a reward system for the number of hours played would be a good idea. For example: You grind for 2 hours, gaining a level and then you get an achivement award which lets you go AFK whilsnt gaining EXP.
Although this might cause complications, alot of them; all for the users convinence.
It's just hard to think of it as a positive action when you think you gained nothing(but you actually did)
Comments
Going to have to agree. I actually find those warnings annoying, as with the Wii warning about breaks. I know when I need a break and I'll take it when it's *needed*, I don't need a video game to tell me how my body is currently feeling like.
If people want to play 10 hours a day in a game straight I believe it's there choice. You know what the consequences are for doing so, just like using common sense on how coffee is hot but yet a select few of people still drop it on their faces. I don't think most gamers should be punished for playing "longer than normal" because a bunch of people can't use their brain.
People go afk to take a break. Many games do not not have an afk command, so they cannot monitor your breaks.
Mmorgs do not have a pause button. How can you pause a whole zone, affecting other players because the software says you should take a 15 minute break?
Also, many long missions and similar encounters have to be done in one session or you fail or start from beginning again.
Implementing forced breaks would require huge programming changes in many existing games and fundamentally change the missions, encounters and instances.
Enforced breaks is not a bad idea. It would have to factored in during the development of new Mmorgs.
Then dont read the message I dont see anything wrong with messages suggesting breaks as long as breaks are only encouraged of course you cannot force people but obviously game addiction is becoming a serious problem for most rather they choose to admit it or not.
By the way in games like eq2 you get xp bonus if you log out your character for a while so in a way that is encouraging it not enforcing it and can easily work much better.
You log out
when in a zone -thats a personal pause right there... i mean lets see .. staying in game for 24 hours to get 10% xp and that next level vs being alive ,or being a daddy and taking care of your kid, or being a husband. in all cases the game seems to be the loser since real life always trumps some made up digital epeen item ( if this isnt the case seek help really im not joking , go see a therapist)
or maybe apply some common sense like work it out for yourself as in ...
we stopped when raiding alot for breaks , half would break the other half stood guard incase of respawns . you have to want to break tho, even if there are warning the targeted people wont listen, so all it would do is mess up the other people playing who have self control and enough sense to stand up and wak to the john rather than pissing in their pants.
how would you like a window to pop up when trying to heal the tank on the verge of dying and have to click a box closed telling you its past your bed time or you need a nap or mommys milk or whatever? or how would you like to be the one who died cause your healers window poped up?
or even better finally getting in that group to run that instance you needed and finishing a quest you held on to for weeks only to learn you only got 1/3 xp and no drops cause you went 30 mins past bed time?
stop looking to others to fix a personal weakness. you should instead lobby to keep those people from playing and have them seek professional help as obviously they dont have the ability to make a self preservation decision.
anyone who says i cant quit now to play ball with my son i just got in a raid group! deserves it when the wife and kid leave. you chose some make beleive crap over flesh and blood your fault not the game. and if the wife telling you get off your ass 1000 times ( like mine does if i go to long) wont do it some in game warning isnt going to either.
Passing the responsibility to a game company instead of the tool who should probably not be playing the 1st place opens them to all sorts of issues and responsibilities that really should belong to the player.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
First of all let me clarify. I started this thread to gain thoughts and opinions on enforced game time. It isn't about ME needing therapy. Thanks for those that posted mature comments.
For the record I am in a rowing club, play baseball for the firm and also take martial art classes. I do have a life and probably more than the trolls on this site.
Besides having the occassional gaming marathon I asked the question because I know people that are really ruining their lives and even though they know it they physically need something to stop them playing.
Games that worked for me:
EVE Online - like one post said it gives you an option to leave it for days, weeks or months and not get left behind. Plus 1 hour downtime each day helps.
Earth & Beyond - As the death penalty showed exactly how much time it would take to lose. I did find myself logging off for 3 hours and waiting for it to go.
FPS - I like playing counterstrike so I can hit it for 30-60 minutes and log off. No need to stick around.
Maybe the question is, 'should companies be more responsible?' For example elements such as:
- Grinding for hours to get 1 level. Then if you log for 1 hour you come back at such a low level you cant get into the group.
- Death penalty that you can only get rid of in the game.
- Games like Vanguard that takes ages to get a group then ages to do the dungeon etc. No jump in playability.
I quit Vanguard and other similar games because of the above. I just found myself grinding for hours to keep within our groups level bracket. Go away for a weeks holiday and you might as well forget about joining your friends again unless you churn out 24 hours of Yeti killing.
Yep I think many people find it can be easy to lose track of time sometimes.
To the kneejerk complaint it would be irritating, maybe it could easily be switched off in the options
I'm confused how you mean by responsible-the examples you posted I'd call a problem of time-intensity. There are people who quit the genre because it takes too long to do anything. You are right that things like making groups and travelling(to an extent) should be quicker processes.
Good thing this guy hasnt encountered crack yet.
--
Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
To be frank today's MMO's aren't immersive enough to warrant intervention.
How would a company handle that anyway? The reason many of us play MMO's is for 24hr access to dynamic content. I for one wouldn't pay for a title with such a policy. Nonetheless I do agree game breaks should be encouraged but never inforced.
People by and large know their limits..
Dutchess Zarraa Voltayre
Reborn/Zero Sum/Ancient Legacy/Jagged Legion/Feared/Nuke & Pave.
Enforcing breaks on people is a communist way of thinking.
People should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them, that is the only way we change for the better.
Who is better off the person who is forced to only game 2 hours a day, or the person who has learned and wants to spend their time in other ways and can discipline themselves?
Blizzard tried this kinda thing with wow if you think back to the betas... it went over like a lead brick with players. I personally wouldn't play a game that was that condescending. If I have 4 hours to play and want to play them solid... I should be able to. If I have 30 hours to play and want to play them solid... I should be able to.
If you're not drinking water while you're gaming and not going to the bathroom you're a moron. The rest of us shouldn't be punished for the stupidity of the few.
Shadus
To the Op:
im really sorry ,after going back and reading my rants i do see how it looks like im attacking you , sorry i meant to use "you" as in whoever in general , not to personally mean you.
Im sorry i wasnt very clear on it .
I dont mean you personally.
again im sorry it came out that way.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
I think that only the people still using a CRT screen need breaks for the eyes because even high refresh rates can strain the eyes with a CRT monitor. Get yourself an LCD with low response times and it's just like looking at a piece of paper. Another thing you need to focus on is ergonomics. You NEED an ergonomic keyboard, wrist wrest, and gaming mouse with a REAL computer workstation and not what furniture you managed to come up with at the time of your PC purchase. The ergonomic rules are to have your screen the distance of your arms extended with feet flat posture etc and once you've mastered the proper ergonomic techniques you can just relax like you would on the couch watching television and still be healthy.
CURRENTLY PLAYING SHAIYA
im not very ergonomic lol im laying on my butt on my couch with a wireless keyboard ..
but i am 9 ft from my monitor.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
I've discovered a real easy and fool proof way not to become addicted to gaming and end up playing too long. I drink. no really half a fifth and I can't even see the key board. no addiction for me.
Imagine this if you will though. Say a game has a 2 hour play and 15 minutes off forced break. You log on an hour before a raid to get some minor XPing done and maybe some trading/crafting or some such. The raid starts after that hour and you're going great. Say it takes 30 minutes to get the entire group gathered and ready, and then another 15 or so to run wherever the dungeon is. There's an hour and 45 minutes gone already. 15 minutes into the actual raid you have to log off because the game won't let you play anymore. Combine this with the dozens of other people who are not all on the same playing schedule (some might have been on for longer before that, or even later than you) Then what? Your entire group is forced to log off randomly because they aren't allowed to play anymore due to game mechanics.
You're paying a monthly fee to play the game. They should not deny you access to the game. If you aren't smart enough to know when it's becoming unhealthy for your life, then you shouldn't play the game in the first place. It has nothing to do with having real life obligations. It just has to do with knowing your priorities, and it shouldn't be the game company's obligation to tell you when enough is enough.
My country(Norway) outlawed those coinslot machines cause a minority played themselfes into debts, took loans to play, lost their jobs to it etc. Now, I dont agree to this method at all cause I think we are all responsible for our own actions and need to control them ourselves.
But it actually worked. Some internet sites thought to cash in on the addictive coinslot players through online playing but that stuff just didnt work. Which goes to show that the people around us prone to addiction really need the strict rules around them to control their actions. And there is alot more of them around than you may think, especially when it comes to online gaming.
You can compare it with smoking actually. Everybody knows smoking hurts your health but they still do it. Everybody knows sitting infront of a computer screen most of your waking hours aint healthy. Some may not admit it to themselfes, but they know it nonetheless. Your real-life partners/friends and so on dissapear and on top of that you hurt your own health.
Its a sad circle though. The more successful you get at a mmo(or any other type of game for that matter), the more your real-life suffers.
---
Grammar nazi's. This one is for you.
Absolutely NO to any kind of forced control from the company side. A gentle reminder that can be turned off by the player (EQ1 style) - yea sure, but anything forced, NO way. First it starts innocently, you ask them to shut down your access to the game after X number of hours... next thing you know, they tell you what type of drinks to drink, who to date, what to wear or even that spanking monkeys is baaaad.
DOWN with bloody capitalism, join the revolution, dont be a "baaaaaaaaa"-person!...
OK, I dunno where that last sentence came from... its not a good thing to skip medication intake.
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
Yes, but not how you say. I'd like a server where you stop getting experience, skills and gold after playing for more than let's say 40 hours that week, per account. That will slow down also gold farmers and char sellers.
I would support a player-controllable reminder to take a break. No penalties, nothing enforced, and you should be able to turn it off if you don't want it.
Chris Mattern
We call them bandits and yes its pretty extreme to outlaw them. You may as well outlaw food while youre there to combat obescity.
--
Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
Bandits huh..What a fitting name
---
Grammar nazi's. This one is for you.
Pretty overwhelming 'NO' to enforced breaks. Hope some companies are reading this then
Even though I posted this thread I am not for 'enforced' breaks as such but would like some in-game incentives to have breaks or at least have gameplay that encourages it. Not wanting to go back to EVE but it works for me since I can stick a barge on mining and walk off for 5 minutes (safe space) and grab a coffee or whatever. Plus the tiny clock on the bottom left is always a constant reminder.
AFK travelling is a nice to have and it saves people having to sit and monitor their avatar riding 30 minutes across a desert.
(BTW apology accepted
)
I seem to remember that a couple of games that I have played had at least self-set timers and/or alarms, or something similar.
Good idea in my book, easily overridden though,
People who destroy themself, or their lifes playing these things would by all probability done it in even if MMO's had not existed, they would just have done it in some other manner.
I do however think that companies should have "master accounts", tied to the card that pays the bills or some other manner to let parents set time restrictions on their kids gaming accounts with no way for them to alter that time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I voted no for Forced breaks, its nice if they give you the options to set up ways to Make Yourself take a break (like a pop up timer to let you know you've been playing to long EQ2 had timers you could set up they dont force you off but they let you know you've reached the time you set for yourself). We pay them to play its not their right or job to tell us when to go take a break. Hell if you do work as a programmer or anything that has you infront of a computer all day NO one tells you much less encourages you to get up from your desk. You just have to take responsiblity for yourself to get up and move around and stretch. I dont know what it is about the players that can't stop themselves its variety of personal problems that just seem to take a noticable form when it comes to games (not the games fault the issues are usually already there!).
Please Refer to Doom Cat with all conspiracies & evil corporation complaints. He'll give you the simple explination of..WE"RE ALL DOOMED!
Gamers feel like they are being punished if they have to take a break during a long grind/playtime. It just feels like you think you're going to waste time, and if you spend time going to the kitchen to cook some soup or something you could have gained xx percent or xx gold.
However, these breaks are nessecary. Long periods of gaming can result in minor delerium and hallucinations as well as many physical effects such as loss of breath and lightheadedness.
So if you get off for about 20 minutes and you gain 5% in 20 minutes; if you get off at level 52 with 65% you could come back after the break and be like "man I could be 70% already I shouldn't have taken the break!"
I.E.: guilt for not having constructional thinking. You think you are just wasting time but you are maintaining your status of health
I think a reward system for the number of hours played would be a good idea. For example: You grind for 2 hours, gaining a level and then you get an achivement award which lets you go AFK whilsnt gaining EXP.
Although this might cause complications, alot of them; all for the users convinence.
It's just hard to think of it as a positive action when you think you gained nothing(but you actually did)