WoW Addiction. Your thoughs
World of Warcraft 'more addictive than cocaine'
From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/4863325/World-of-Warcraft-more-addictive-than-cocaine.html
The popular computer game World of Warcraft has been described as "more addictive than cocaine" after it sent a teenager into convulsions after he played non-stop for 24 hours.
The game has been called "the most dangerous game on the market" by addiction therapists, after a 15-year-old Swedish boy collapsed and went into convulsions earlier this month.
His family rushed him into hospital where doctors diagnosed an epileptic-type seizure brought on by sleep deprivation, lack of food, and too long a stretch of concentrated game playing.
Sven Rollenhagen, the author of the report from Sweden's Youth Care Foundation, said: "There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part.
"It is the crack cocaine of the computer gaming world. Some people are literally unable to drag themselves away and will play it till they drop."
The Swedish National Institute of Public Health has backed the report, adding: "Computer game addiction is becoming more widespread in Sweden and across the world.
"There is no known medical diagnosis of conditions brought on by excessive game-playing, but it is clear they have a very powerful addictive hold over many people who use them."
The boy has made a full recovery, but his father has now launched a campaign to warn other parents of the dangers of marathon game sessions.
The game's American makers Blizzard Entertainment have said 11 million people worldwide play World of Warcraft - making the world's most successful so-called "MMORPG", or massively multi-player online role-playing game.
Psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham of London's Tavistock Centre said: "Some of my clients will discuss playing games for 14, 16 hours a day at times, without breaks and without attending to their physical needs.
"For those, the consequences are potentially severe.
"Such prolonged gaming can produce a sort of socially withdrawn figure who may be connecting with people in the game, but is largely dropping out of education and other social opportunities."
Well guys what do you think of all this? I think its an issue of people putting their own priorities and limits into place, when playing WoW. But the truth is the game has a gameplay that sucks you into envolving yourself into instances, pvp'ing and stuff.
Other articles posted by our forum member Randulf:
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/724/724469p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/742/742770p1.html
From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/4863325/World-of-Warcraft-more-addictive-than-cocaine.html
The popular computer game World of Warcraft has been described as "more addictive than cocaine" after it sent a teenager into convulsions after he played non-stop for 24 hours.
The game has been called "the most dangerous game on the market" by addiction therapists, after a 15-year-old Swedish boy collapsed and went into convulsions earlier this month.
His family rushed him into hospital where doctors diagnosed an epileptic-type seizure brought on by sleep deprivation, lack of food, and too long a stretch of concentrated game playing.
Sven Rollenhagen, the author of the report from Sweden's Youth Care Foundation, said: "There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part.
"It is the crack cocaine of the computer gaming world. Some people are literally unable to drag themselves away and will play it till they drop."
The Swedish National Institute of Public Health has backed the report, adding: "Computer game addiction is becoming more widespread in Sweden and across the world.
"There is no known medical diagnosis of conditions brought on by excessive game-playing, but it is clear they have a very powerful addictive hold over many people who use them."
The boy has made a full recovery, but his father has now launched a campaign to warn other parents of the dangers of marathon game sessions.
The game's American makers Blizzard Entertainment have said 11 million people worldwide play World of Warcraft - making the world's most successful so-called "MMORPG", or massively multi-player online role-playing game.
Psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham of London's Tavistock Centre said: "Some of my clients will discuss playing games for 14, 16 hours a day at times, without breaks and without attending to their physical needs.
"For those, the consequences are potentially severe.
"Such prolonged gaming can produce a sort of socially withdrawn figure who may be connecting with people in the game, but is largely dropping out of education and other social opportunities."
Well guys what do you think of all this? I think its an issue of people putting their own priorities and limits into place, when playing WoW. But the truth is the game has a gameplay that sucks you into envolving yourself into instances, pvp'ing and stuff.
Other articles posted by our forum member Randulf:
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/724/724469p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/742/742770p1.html
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Comments
Im studying in psychology and have a couple of friends attending early teens that spend 10hrs playing the game despite their dads canceled the subscription, they manage to buy game cards.
if i HAD to chose, i'll go fot the other one... hehehe. lucky me i don't like mmorpg's.
It's a psychological state. We willingly create a pattern and faithfully follow it in almost anything (we feel like) to know that it is there and to feel the certainty; certainty that we are alive, certainty that we are safe. I mean, just look at those lost souls every Tuesday when the servers are down for maintenance!
Still, I think the comparison of WOW to cocaine is a little bit farfetched. I would compare it to more like a coffee addiction. Most people who play WOW don't get physical ailments. They die a lot in game though.
Although I have never tried, seems really dull.
Perhaps, coupled with the concept that you can manage a small task within minutes and get rewarded for it. For some people that feeling beats dealing with real life issues.
Peer pressure sometimes plays a roll here, considering that your guild likes you more if you're always active and available.
Another thing is that you have something to show off once you accomplish something, such as gaining a higher level or obtaining a rare item, and become somewhat of a legend in this community, a celebrity.
My opinion on WoW addiction is the same as my opinion on other addictions, which was explained once by a young boy from a certain popular TV show:
(quote edited to be less racist)
I don't regret playing WoW though, it made me appreciate real life and good games so much more. Also it's made me immune to other money grabbing mmorpgs, they all have the same formula as WoW, so I'm already bored of it. Win win.
[but I don't like many things other people find addictive - almost don't drink and after several marihuana \ hashish \ amfetamine episodes I can say I don't like drugs either - I like my mind clear; only thing I'm addicted to is tobacco).
But no, I never played it for hours on ends. Generally, to the last few months, it was rare that I touched it. But no, I thought it was a good game. But I had too much stuff to do to play it. And I needed money...
And by that, I mean I start playing it a little, then get hooked and get madly into it, then suffer a bit of burnout and decide to give it a break for another 6 months.
I think the addiction in WoW is on a different level than a drug like cocaine. With cocaine, the addiction comes from a craving for it.
With WoW, the addiction comes from having to spent hours playing because that's what all of your friends do.
I mean, if someone wants to take cocaine, it's usually a solitary experience. They don't have to complete an application form to join a guild, sign up to a raid slot, and then play for four hours straight with 24 other people.
I think the main problem with it is that regardless of how much backstory it has, they don't present it in a way that makes you want to care about it.
People always say "well you should read the quests" and I respond "how interesting is it to read 'some kobolds stole my boot, please kill 10 of them' 300 times over?"
Uh oh, I just stopped playing (after a few months)... I hope I don't start wanting to play it again... I loved it when I had it, and now that I don't play it anymore I hate it.
Apparently you have never played Fallout 3
I don't think anyone considers Fallout 3 to be a true shooter.
Oh, that action-RPG with shooter-style gameplay (assuming you don't use VATS)? No, I put about 60 hours into it once, but I never really sat down and pushed through it.
Well maybe you should. Then you could change your comment.
Go play the Half-Life series. NOW.
... Uhh... you did read my comment, right? Where I said I put 60 hours into it?
Again!? But I already have them memorized...
I see this is going to go on all day, and I'm too tired and cranky to deal with it, so allow me to reword my statement. The vast majority of shooters have very weak plots, and couldn't hold a candle to your average adventure game as far as story goes.
Have I covered all of the pedantic bases now?
I'd like to think I now understand the attraction of games like that for people who do play all the time, but I actually don't think I do. I know some people that play after or instead of work for 6 hours a day, plus most of the weekend and it kinda makes me feel sorry for them, in that they've obviously got nothing else... and it's a vicious cycle. You play more, so you hang out with real friends less, so you play more... I mean, there's nothing wrong with having a hobby, but there's a few I know that use it more as an emotional crutch, and have virtually no real friends outside of the game, and that makes me sad
that said, I don't think you can put most MMO-players into that box... there's also many that play casually that balance real life and a MMO hobby just fine - the weird bit is these people are respected less in the game-world for not being as "hardcore" as the "serious" guilds. That I actually find hilariously funny.
Then there's the people. The idea of meeting people is a good one, but this requires actual people to be let in. And the reality of the video game and MMO markets is that a lot of idiots get in, or smart people that due to any number of qualities end up poisoning the community.
And of course, the gameplay. It's always really, really bad. A mix between heavy menu-based gameplay that might work for turn-based games, and live gameplay. it's just really bad, and also generally turns out to be...extremely repetitive.
So yeah. I don't get it. At all.
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/724/724469p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/742/742770p1.html
Personally I don't understand the appeal of a game where you're obliged to log in everyday at the same time, so as not to disappoint your loyal guild fellows. It's like getting a part-time job, only one that doesn't pay.
from one of these articles: I kinda feel insulted by this.
I think he's referring more to MMO forums than anything else, and he's pretty much right.
MMOs tend to draw the biggest jerks from all around into one community. You know, the kind of people who take time out of their day to go run around in low level areas killing players who can't defend themselves just because they feel like getting someone angry, or the kind who will stand there and watch something kill you rather than help you, because they want the loot it drops.
Now imagine a gathering of thousands upon thousands of these people on one forum. :eek:
(ie I agree with Jeff Vogel completely
Oh and you have to use "pwn" "carebear" and "epic" in every third sentence, or it will cause a time/space paradox or something
You did read MY comment, right? If you did, you would realize that I was countering your sarcasm with my own.
Because even without an obvious cue, sarcasm is always detectable through text (the one medium where inflection is easily seen and heard, of course).
Protip:
But the entire point is moot anyway, since it was quite clear what I meant about plots in shooters.
Congratulations, people! You know of a shooter or facsimile of a shooter that has a plot! Allow me to introduce a concept: "Exception that proves the rule." In other words, games like... say... Half-Life... wouldn't be praised quite as heavily if the genre was teeming with great storylines. It would still be great, but people wouldn't have been rallying about and cheering about a shooter finally having a good plot. But they did. Know why? Because it broke the mold by having a good plot.