Addicted? I was...

[Teh FnoRd]

Look to yourselves. What has gaming ever gained for you? Really. Anything? Other than the respect of other addicts?

I've gained friends all over europe, many whom I 've met up with in RL and had a blast with and many more I hope to meet in the future. (There's this twoll in Cardif who I have to do a stick /dance for )

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who haven't put RL on hold for DAoC or any other MMO. Say I'm playing and someone calls me wanting me to go to a party, grab some beers, play PnP or tabletop or just go for coffe, I just go /quit and been happy with that. That is ofc if I haven't been part of planning some raid in advance and set away time for that specific game time.

Nice post and good luck in the future, but please don't judge all after your own experience. (That's just the feeling I get from reading your post, I could ofc read it wrong ^^)Far from everybody gets a serious addiction from any game. Yes, quite a few, granted, but that's really just a reflection of our society in generall.

 

[Xoxarle]

Get Married - that will stop any DAOC addiction in its tracks - its hard to play when you are getting twatted with a rolling pin!


On a serious note - if you realise you are addicted to something at least you are able to admit the problem - it only takes self will etc to move on from there - the real trboule is when you don't even know you are addicted.


I would be addicted to games but I simply don't have time in my life to be anymore - albeit in my 30's with a job and a wife - so it kinda prohibits itself anyway.

Hey mate. You do speak some sense (As in, the first step to breaking an addiction is realising you have one). On the flipside, you're totally wrong in that the majority (I would, as a rough guess on my own experiences as a professional) experiences, estimate that maybe 1 out of 3 actually fails to recognise their own addiction. Personally, I am simply urging anyone who realises they have a problem to contact me or a healthcare professional to seek support.

This may be incredibly difficult for some people, but for others, speaking to someone who not only has been through the experience, but is trained to deal with it may help. Please, please, don't let a minor problem with online gaming turn in to a full blown addiction (Like it has for me and so many before an after me).

Mistake me not, this addiction will affect your life far, far, far before you realise the effect. The knot in your stomach, the butterflies you feel, the nervousness and anxiety you feel in new situations, is purely and simply down to a life you chose to live inside a video game instead of the so called 'real life'.

Online gaming is a valuable and beneficial (in this new age of technology) experience, but it is truly no subsititute for real experience. If anybody else finds social interaction hard, please, don't hesitate to email me, i promise to return emails as fast as is humanly possible. You're not alone.

 

[Xoxarle]

I've gained friends all over europe, many whom I 've met up with in RL and had a blast with and many more I hope to meet in the future. (There's this twoll in Cardif who I have to do a stick /dance for )

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who haven't put RL on hold for DAoC or any other MMO. Say I'm playing and someone calls me wanting me to go to a party, grab some beers, play PnP or tabletop or just go for coffe, I just go /quit and been happy with that. That is ofc if I haven't been part of planning some raid in advance and set away time for that specific game time.

Nice post and good luck in the future, but please don't judge all after your own experience. (That's just the feeling I get from reading your post, I could ofc read it wrong ^^)Far from everybody gets a serious addiction from any game. Yes, quite a few, granted, but that's really just a reflection of our society in generall.

As previously stated, all comments are completely welcome. You input (As well as everyone elses) is respected. Its good that you (Like SO many others) have had a god experience of online gaming. My true point is simply a direction for people to move if they recognise symptoms of addiction.

It is entirely true that 99.9% of the gaming population is able to control their urges, that 0.09% needs help that few people can provide. And it is their needs that I target. I do not seek to inflict my views on those who are perfectly able to control their gaming experience. And again, I would offer my wholehearted apologies if I came across that way at all. I just urge those that recognise something withing themselves as being the same as that which is within me to seek help before their adiction debilitates their life as it has done mine.
Thankyou.
-Mark.

 

[Xoxarle]

Bump this shit man,I wan't some of the "so-called" hardcore gamers to reply. Hi guys

 

[kirennia]

Ello bud Long time no see. This is probably too much of an honest account for me but what the heck, that's what the thread is for. Prepare for (probably not that much) shock!

I guess I fall into the bracket of people who used to have an addiction. Back when the game first came out, I wouldn't say I was someone who stopped going out because of it because I never once (in the old days) missed a night out due to the game. If I got a call, I was straight out, pretty much no matter what. It was just a replacement for television...

As time went on though, in the old days of LoD especially, we had a fantastic community going. The problem was though that it had little motivation without some key members being on. There must have been about 7 of us who were on a considerable amount of the time for various activities; rvr groups, pve raids, and for me my biggest sin was caer sidi. Setting aside entire daytimes, sometimes even waking up at 8am just to make sure I could do the raid and go out at the nighttime for about 8pm.

At this time, I was in sixth form doing my a-levels so the only days I could do this were of course saturday or sunday. I don't think I once did one two days in a row but it was always the case that after finishing a particularly successful one, I'd want to organise another straight after and that was when the danger started. The pitfall for me wasn't the social life, it was the work. I often missed non-crucial assignment deadlines, and although I didn't ONCE miss proper coursework, it suffered because of it, as did my studies.

My design technology was the worst whereby I was left with 2 weeks to write up 40 A3 pages of an assignment and build my own guitar from scratch. The most sleep I got was 4hours one of those nights, the rest were either none or 1-3. I even managed to toxically poison myself due to neglegance whilst making a prototype shape design.


Anyway, after finishing my a-levels and getting nowhere near what I thought I'd get, I wasted a good part of a year doing pretty much nothing and it's something I can pretty much solely place on this game and my own problems with it. This was after being a consistant A student in everything back in GCSE. The year was wasted; I didn't look very hard for a job, didn't know how to build on my qualifications and had no prospects and due to this, I wasn't a very happy person for quite a while. I'd still always find the time to go out though as just getting out of the house everyday was enough of a task for me. I was basically not close to as good a person as I used to be.

Because I went out so often, I ended up drinking too much and then the following day I couldn't be bothered to do much so I logged on. I eventually got tired of organising events and a little of the game itself.

I ended up literally one day saying fuck it (sometime after the sidi nerf, if that hadn't of happened, who knows) and I went out and got the job with the harshest hours I could get just so I could get SOMEthing on the go. And that was when I found my 12 hour day shift job in a local factory.

It must have been about 3 months into it where I found that all I was doing when logging into the game was chatting to in-game friends and thus, my 'responsibilities' weren't being filled and I ended up leaving the guild. It's the short version of that story but it'll do ...

I then had a 1month break, gave away 104plat then came back after realising that television really was as bad as I thought it was...!


After coming back I told myself that I never wanted to be in that position again. Never would I put myself into the position whereby I had to log on at any time for raids, rvr or anything and I didn't for a while. I joined HB around christmas time and intended to solely be a helpful member. This was fantastic. Even with my silly job pattern, no longer would there be a problem with when I logged on or for how long and life was better. I was coming on once or twice a week at most and I started feeling better as a result of it.

After HB numbers declined quite some time later, I ended up leaving for dragon knights which pretty much had the same outlook on things except when I logged on at my weird times, others were on too. The whole schedule was perfect for me at the time and the guildies I met there were fantastic. No longer was anything in my life being sacrificed for the game, as long as I didn't log on too much.

Ever since then, things have been great. I can basically right off an entire year of my life as a complete waste of time but boy have I learnt a lot from it. Although I STILL play the game, I am nowhere near to being as addicted to it as the average english person is to corrie or eastenders!

I started up at university this year after being quite honest in my personal statement to them and I truly beleive that if I had've gone straight from college, I would have ended up flunking uni as well. I now however have a very sound head on my shoulders and am confident that I am doing well enough to get a good grade already (first assignments, 60% (10% of the year)and 90% (20% of the year)leaving me at an average of 80%. Since joining uni, I've had a blast and hope it continues like this for the next 4 years, should I carry on to do a masters degree.

Back to the game though.

After DKs slow decline, I moved to Tedious Ten (just when I moved to uni) and pretty much went against what I followed when I came back to the game. I'm now in a regular group which runs from 7pm-10pm on mondays and tuesdays but to be honest, that's left me much happier then I was before. It's rare to find me on other then these times (apart from today because it was patch day ) and I'm doing the part of the game which I always enjoyed most. High end rvr! Through all the rollercoaster ride of my life these past 5 years, I've finally started to do what makes me smile from the game everytime I log on which is why I don't think I'll be able to carry on the game outside of this rvr bracket. If TT breaks, I think I'll end up quitting.


So what have I learnt from this? After seeing some people I would consider good friends in game completely fold from the game and myself having a few close encounters, I intend to never play another mmorpg in my entire life. It really is as big an addiction as a drug for some people and that is a scary prospect for something which can potentially take up ALL of your free time. Basically, I didn't beat the addiction, I just got bored at key times which helped me carry on in life without having too much of a large upset. In that respect, I consider myself lucky.


There are a huge amount of plus sides however from playing this game which I don't want to down play but tbh, I'm getting bored of typing

It's strange though that entering a type of gameplay considered by the masses to be almost 'elitist' has in fact helped me stop this game from becoming an addiction more then anythingelse that I ever did in the game.

Good to hear from you again anyway mate, things have a funny way of sorting themselves out though and as long as you carry on being as nice a guy as you were in game, I doubt that you'll end up having troubles outside of it for the future.

 

[Gear]

The only way (well the best one really) to control addiction to any game is if you're leet irl.

Some people might need further explenation over the above statement but just realise it was never for you to figure it out

 

[Gear]

The only way (well the best one really) to control addiction to any game is if you're leet irl.

Some people might need further explenation over the above statement but just realise it was never for you to figure it out

I just read it again... blah... this statement can be read in many different ways and will probably misslead a lot of people, however I'm still concerned if there is anyone competent to understand even the slightest!

 

[Yoshimo]

think you will find alot of people can relate to this situation u were in altho saying its crippled your ability to handle your social life... i play maybe an average of 40 hours a week and still have time for work,college and a very active social life and im respected as a good player on my server.

 

[amase]

respect +1 for posting this!

Many true facts I am afraid =/

 

[amase]

respect +1 for posting this!

Many true facts I am afraid =/

 

[Svartmetall]

Hey, Xoxarle...10/10 for the name

Iain M. Banks for the win

 

[Thorwyn]

Seems like you´ve exchanged your addiction to DAoC with the addiction to save players from their addiction by evangelising about the dangers of MMOs on a message board.

Seriously... you can get addicted by almost everything. I know 35 year old nerds who´re meeting on SciFi cons on a regular basis, wearing Star Trek uniforms and plastic laster pistols. Then, there are the usual addictions, alcohol, cigarettes, weed, and whatever. I´ve seen friends of mine going all the way down, losing job, wife, self esteem because they were unable to control their alcohol problems.
Addictions are all around us. DAoC is not worse than any other thing. I respect that you managed to acknowledge and solve your addiction. But I think that you can´t transfer your personal experience to the majority.

 

[rampant]

i have quit playing after being addicted and wasting my life on this useless pile of poo of a game - the only real thing i liked about it was playing with my mates - who have become good rl friends!

I quit and wanted to start something new - a new addiction so ive taking up flying lessons - going to get my pilots licence, buy an aeroplane and tour europe in the summer next year

 

[Knothead]

i can understand how this could have happend, but to say all who play a lot are wasting their lives is a bit silly. what would some people be doing apart from watching TV. i play when i have time..the only day i'm 90% to be certain of is thursday as i have too much to do. but if i can play other days thats fine ..so as long as you keep life in perspective it will never take over your life unless YOU want it to.

 

[Xoxarle]

Nothing more to say

'Cept, hey Kir Good to hear from ya mate Any of the old LoD guys (or gals) still around 'part from you?

 

[kirennia]

Aye mate, there are quite a few of us still about but spread over various guilds. I think the guild with the highest ex-lod population is the merry men Muylaetrix seems still active, I think hawkwind is still playing too. Jpeg now has a new friar called QuikStix or something Isunder is still about, as are bracken and aadia I think.

Of the mezzi/temos crew and such, I think they're still playing WoW currently but I haven't seen them in quite a while

 

[Pirkel]

Bump this shit man,I wan't some of the "so-called" hardcore gamers to reply. Hi guys

Talk about being obsessive. Bumping a thread after 40 minutes of inactivity

 

[Sharaft]

only game thats ever addictive.. its Diablo II.. Daoc is a game where i can either play or of stalefish... chose nr 2 more often these days? :S

 

[Teh FnoRd]

Talk about being obsessive. Bumping a thread after 40 minutes of inactivity

Repped

 

[Fiver]

Talk about being obsessive. Bumping a thread after 40 minutes of inactivity

I think he's addicted to attention

 

[Zede]

Its the Millions upon Millions that spent 3+ hours a day just watching soaps that have the real problems imho

least with daoc my synapses are being somewhat more stimulated than soap brain drain, hand eye co-ordination up, manual dexterity up, computer skills up - heck this mmorpg stuff give some key life skills !

 

[Konah]

Its only a matter of time til someone takes an mmorpg developer to court for peddling software thats deliberately and consciously DESIGNED to be heavily addictive.

Take a long hard look at your time in DAOC, or WoW, or any of the others and stand back and think "How much of this do i actually enjoy?"

If you quit you'll find other things to do, maybe irl, maybe elsewhere. But, more likely than not, find more happiness and freedom than you find in DAOC...

 

[Marcus75]

I think you gotta look in the mirror and ask yourself if playing a game several hours every day really isnt hurting you more than it benefits you. People compare it to television and sitting around watching that - but I doubt you can get as stuck and struggle as much to stop watching a TV...I mean heck...just commercials makes me go do something else. Thats an advice I wanna give everyone. Because I have played DAoC alot as well as WoW and poff - 4-6 years of my life is gone without me doing that much interesting, no travels, sitting content in a job with little or no social life and as soon as I came home I could forget about those things as soon as I got ingame.

MMORPG's is an addiction, its a replacement, I think, for a real social life for many, many people and I think thats just goes to show what this world is coming too - I looked away for quite a few years and I'm sure those younger than me (31) probably dosnt think much about this since they are, well, young still but I can almost promise you - you will.

I will try to never go back into the world of mmorpg's if I can because life is so much richer IRL than it ever will behind the computer screen.

Wishing you all the best!

 

[Teh FnoRd]

4-6 years of my life is gone without me doing that much interesting, no travels, sitting content in a job with little or no social life and as soon as I came home I could forget about those things as soon as I got ingame.

hmmm what Have I've been doing the last 4 years I've been playing DAoC?
* Had a good job with nice friends
* Played more PnP and boardgames I care to mention
* Drinking vast amounts of beer (not at the same time as playing DAoC)
* Backpacked in India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Bali for 4½ month
* Started at uni and loving it
* Working more and more as a humper and light/sound engineer

Yupps last 4 or so years been pretty darn good! And I played DAoC the whole time, 'cept for when I was backpacking in SE Asia for obvious reasons.

Go me!

 

[Afran]

Think I started DAoC when I was 11 years old, maybe even 10 o0. I was certainly addicted to DAoC, I passed on a lot of school and social activities so that I could spend time playing the game. I used to (say pre-ToA) spend 16-19 hours a day on average playing, I didn't really think of it at the time and what the outcome would be, but looking back I can see how it would've and has affected me.

I think what got me addicted to the game, or atleast would've been a part of it, was due to the fact I was at such a young age and had some problems at the time. Once I had quit DAoC (or atleast stopped spending so much time on it, I cut down to 2-3 hours a day at most) and started to get on-track with real life again, it wasn't easy. I hadn't realised how much, as I said, it would effect me at a later date.

Atleast now, and for the past year, I've not been addicted to _anything_, whether It's smoking, drinking, drugs, or mmo's in general. I do still play an MMO, WoW to be more precise. I started WoW a month or two after quitting DAoC, and I did spend a lot of time on the game the first couple of months. I still play now but no where near as much as I did in the past, I might play 10 hours one day, 3 the next, and then not play for the rest of the week, which is pretty much how it goes since I'm spending a lot of my time with my family and socializing now =)

Edit:

I never thought I'd be doing such a post here heh, and to some that I knew on DAoC, if they still read the boards, it might come to as a shock. But I have to say quitting the game, or rather cutting down time played dramatically on any game(s), was one of the best choices I ever made, I just wish It happened sooner.


Might not make much sense as it's 4:30am when posting this (don't ask) and didn't put too much thought into the post

 

[Starwind]

Problem is with all people who started playing the game when they was 15-16 etc , and played for 4 years under so called addication, these are the ones that are going to have missed out on things and have problems with it.

From 16 - 20 you will learn more about yourself than ever before, such as :

Meeting Women and Men, working out how all the sex/relationships things work.

Learning how far to take people and and other things, without your perants standing behind you saying " well he/she is just a kid ".

We can go on all day about what goes on from 16 - 20.

Instead of farming scrolls, you should be farming women and other controlled pleasures. ( Women farm cash by default, in and out of game. )

And you see, this is what happens when you get to 20, you realise what you just missed out on and are feeling left deprived, and try to put the world to rights, by forming a " Save The Whales Campaign ".

16 - 20 .... those are the times when you need to show the people in the real world what you are about, on the many fronts that you didnt think you had, instead of showing people how hard you nuke for, or PA for, its not going to get you geared up for a women/man, or a job you want is it.

I know this may seem quite blunt, but its to the point, and there is no point in making it complex.

 

[censi]

i just look at daoc as a more stimulating way to spend an evening talking and playing rather than watching like Fly on the wall random documentary etc....

there are dangers with mmrpg's though they are quite clever with this reward versus time spent playing... I dont like that I wish the game was just their and you could play it, rather than have to constantly play it and work to keep competative etc..

 

[blejs]

I made this thread before about kinda same subject

Do you regret starting playing mmorpg games? / How has is changed you?
https://forums.freddyshouse.com/showthread.php?t=171909

28% regret they started playing mmorpg
32% wish they played less.

Thats 6 of 10 that think the game took to much of their time

 

[Dwali]

i have to agree i am hookt also on mmorpg...playd daoc 24+ hours sometimes and lost all friends and work etc...but after i stopt with daoc and moved to wow and manage to get my drivers license i have started to play wow lesser and lesser...trying ot get a work now and have started to get a RL back to action...i gave up daoc after 5 years and 15+ lvl 50 after i saw there was nothing more for me to do in the game...i still miss my friends tho...miss them very much

 

[[NO]Subedai]

Good post, i can personally relate alot to what u said, first time i touched daoc was when i was 16 and it was 3 months before my gcses, i played it for 1 week and found it very addictive but then i realised it wuld fuck them up so i stopped, got good gcses but then i started up again in Alevels. I was fine for first 3 4 5 months as i wasnt so addicted but then it came the summer between yr 12 and yr13 which was a turning point as i just played loads over summer like 10 hours a day, at time i didnt care cuz i felt i was having fun. this continued to the end of my alevels which resulted in me getting much worse grades than i shugld have.

I was never a social reject but i did find sum social situations difficutl that i shuldnt have, i continued playing after Alevels also and what prolly kept me goin was that i was actually good enough for the daoc elite, which i loved as it was 1st time i was able to play with the best and compete with the best.

However i realised this was awful for my life and the future and its very hard to break free, im in no ways a loser or a reject in anyway, but it shows any1 can get addicted.

It was summer of 2005 when i was 19 at the time and i decided to do summin trastic, fly off to SE asia for 3 months alone, was best thing i ever did as i caught up on alot of what i missed, and became so more confident about myself. I lost some weight and became inspired to catch up on what i missed.

So now im 20, 2 weeks ill be 21, i had a fun time of daoc but i wasted alot of time, to much time and its only now that i am recovered. Living in spain, making friends and havin a blast.

MMORPGS are a terrible thing, and i can think of very few positives that they have.