Think about it...

S

Saturnine

Guest
Serious issues folks so some serious posts please.

First, take a step back and read this (thourghly - don`t just look at the graphs):

http://www.nickyee.com/hub/addiction/home.html

I originally posted this in my "home" forum but it's clear it deserves a wider audience: you can see what people have said thus-far in the albion/pryd thread (no realm bashing please):

http://forums.barrysworld.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39730

And finally, this is not a conspiracy theory: it's actually happening - stop and think.
 
B

ButaneBob

Guest
<NB before you read this - in light of my previous posts i urge you to give me the 'benefit of the doubt' on this one - this is not a troll or a wind up, I believe its an important subject that should be discussed as widely and honestly as possible>

good idea bringing the thread here guys

i cant be arsed indulging in flame wars about this topic now it has been brought to the general forum, but just to say that first off i have professional experience in dealing with addictions

perhaps i overstated my case previously but i guess that is because i truly believe there is an issue here over and above the idea that mmorpgs are only as potentially habitual as any other enjoyable pursuit

its easy to get into circular semantic arguments about the meaning of addiction etc and the relative risks of indulging in behaviour A over behaviour B, this i guess is missing the point

i just urge people to read the thread carefully and attempt to understand it, follow the links if needs be - then draw your own honest conclusions in terms of how it relates to your own life / gaming experience etc

i personally believe that whilst I myself enjoy mmorpgs that for some (probably quite a few) people they can be harmful - yes i know so can many other things blardy blaah but this is a mmorpg forum and i suspect some of you who frequent here may recognise some of the issues raised in this research

Bob
 
O

old.Tohtori

Guest
So a game is addictive.

Let's make it illegal like heroin. FFS it's what games are about, addiction. How do you think games would sell if you could rush through it in 15 minutes or loose interest in it in 5?

Now if someone has trouble stopping playing, THEN we talk about a problem. Get a mental check if you can't put down the mouse and press quit. Again game's are made so it attracts us, hell, harry potter, LotR, SW...addiction? Nooo..not at all. Or is it? People would give their arms to see it before anyone else. I don't see MMORPG players sitting in tents waiting for the new AC 2 coming out, do you?

Games are addictive, some nutcases get killed for not eating or sleeping. And as i said, those guys truly have a problem. I play DAoC alot but it's not like air to me, i can quite, i can play for 15 mins and do something else, i can take my eyes of the screen to watch a naked boobie.

Next thing we know we get rehab stations for ex-Evercrack players...yeah..why not put a buttered bread on a cat and see if it hovers when you drop it.

Games are evil, satan is games...moral US crap hitting the shores of europe, run to the hills.
 
S

Saturnine

Guest
I'm judging your 15 years old, school is reasonably easy - don't need to bother with much homework, the winter nights are drawing in so you don't go out with your friends as much. You get into DAoC, "I`ll come for tea in a minute" you shout as you think about possibly leaving your great XP group for 20minutes.
You spend time in class dwelling over the best places to go to xp, "I'll do my epic when I get in"... you find yourself talking about the game to uninterested friends, "they're missing out" you think...
..your mum complains about you playing that "stupid game" too much as she walks through your room to collect your laundry and the 4 or 5 plates sitting around your PC.
People are getting a bit sick of you playing the game so much but what the hell, you have a level 40 alt and a RR5 main!
You say things like "lol" in normal conversation... ...you shudder when you see someone with the dragon drop you wanted... ...you begin to feel that "lol" IS part of normal conversation.

Of course if you read the essay in the link while your deeply enjoying the game your just going to brush it off in a fairly angry way (check back all the people who were unimpressed by it and you`ll notice a similar theme). When your enjoying DAoC of course you can't understand why people would say it's bad and accuse you of perhaps playing too much, past levels of "normality".

Then you see your little sister, she's just got the latest barbie with hair twirling accesories, her christmas list includes barbie's car, house and space station, she talks to all her friends about how cool barbie is and shows off that her barbie show-horse has more rosettes.... how little do you care?


How do people see you playing DAoC 2, 3, 4... hours a day....
 
O

old.Tohtori

Guest
If you meant me, then you could be more wrong.

23, have a steady job, haven't played in DAoC for a good week or so. Before that i played it perhpas an hour once and then simply because i happen to like the game. Biggest char i got is 24, that's a stretch since i've played the game since february. I don't sit in class but i do talk about games since i AM making them. I work in a company that makes games so i have a pretty damn good idea what makes a game sell and what keeps me in my daily bread. Oh, i do laugh if i hear something funny and don't think l33t talk is something i'd love to do with my spare time.

Simply was stating that good games, games that sell, are addictive and how some people do need help when they get over the limit.

So please save your Dr. Freud analysis to those 10 year old kids that think your cool because you sit at home knitting a t-shirt that sayes i love god while thinking if a pumpkin is immoral and scaring children is the work of bealsebub.
 
K

kr0n

Guest
Ok, where the fuck did you get my Biography...
 
S

Saturnine

Guest
games are evil, satin is games, I make games.

Anyway I said I wouldn't flame so lets not go down that path - I was mearly making an example - any names and circumstances are purely coincidental and no animals were harmed in it`s writing.

(and what's wrong with knitting - or is socially destructive too?)
 
S

stabba3

Guest
I miss about 50% of my lectures due to daoc, i prolly miss alot of sleep too, and have cut down alot on my social activitys. Im also a smoker since 10 years back, and have a highly abusive personnality (i always do things to an extreme). I do however not consider myself addicted to daoc, with ciggaretes i feel a huge need to smoke, no matter what. With daoc i make a choice, altho i know that i whould benefit from not playing it in the long run, i still play it.
 
O

old.Tohtori

Guest
Originally posted by Saturnine
games are evil, satin is games, I make games.

Anyway I said I wouldn't flame so lets not go down that path - I was mearly making an example - any names and circumstances are purely coincidental and no animals were harmed in it`s writing.
Click to expand...

If you can't see sarcasm, then better not use it as a defense. If you didn't want to flame then don't go making assumptions about people.
 
S

Sharma

Guest
Originally posted by Saturnine
satin is games
Click to expand...
i didnt know that a metrial used in the manufacture of clothing items was in games
 
O

old.Tohtori

Guest
Har sharma...didn't want to be that cruel but, thanks for using it :p
 
S

Sarum TheBlack

Guest
If you can't make sensible posts about a serious subject folks, don't bother posting. Game addiction IS very real, and in some cases IS a very big problem. So don't mock it.
 
C

Cap'n Sissyfoo

Guest
~cries~ Its all true! I confess, I killed an old lady and stole her pension money so that I could pay this months subs. I quit my job because it was taking up too much time of the day and I survive mainly on bird poo and whatever crud I can scrape from under my toenails.

I can only hope that the americans save us all and stamp health warnings on ALL games so that people won't fall into the trap I did and become hopeleslly addicted.

Even better, ALL games should be banned! We should enter a prohibitionary period with games! No games anywhere...'cept in shady speakeasies.

I should have listened to my friends and stayed hooked on crack; its much safer and less dangerous to my mental and physical health.

Incidently, here is a site which may help some of you other poor souls with your obvious problems (otherwise you wouldn't be on this forum if you weren't hugely addicted). As long as you put your trust in them and God then you can overcome this blight that is upon your soul! God be praised.

...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...for those of you who don't give a flying fuck, I'll see you in-game. ;)
 
S

Sharma

Guest
ok serious comment now.
stop laughing!

i am true to know about game addictions, i have tried to quit DAoC defore with no luck, just came back after 2 weeks.

i played everquest for 2 weeks, thank goodness i got bored with it.
i have seen many people with game addictions, even ones that arent MMORPG's i myself would play final fantasy 1-9 for days on end with no sleep. thank fully i completed them all and was free for a short while till my friend started on at me about DAoC, thought i would give it a try.....havent been off it since and that was in May....
 
W

<Wels>

Guest
Is there a gamers edition we can read, was way to much text there and I missed out on 1 level while clicking on the link. ARGHH
 
U

Uncle Sick(tm)

Guest
Butane ... time to get a new 1337 identity.
I'm not buying your old one anymore.

/salute
:D


... the rest of you - you are just in denial.
And so am I.
 
O

old.Xarr

Guest
Why is everyone using the word 'addiction' in a negative way?

Ignorance is bliss.
 
D

Dagalush

Guest
I'm starting to really hate this game, I don't have fun playing it no more... it is mostly extremely annoying.

The problem is I can't quit playing it, it just ain't possible. I log in and play for hours, not having any fun at all... but I can't quit the damn game, no way no how.

Gonna have a break from it now for a week since I'm out of town and hope I get some insights of what I want to do with this, quit or hang around and try to 'make' it fun again.

How will it go, well only time can tell...

y, lol ffs I'm teh addicted :(
 
O

old.chesnor

Guest
Tohtori, so you work in the computer games industry. Does your company specifically produce MMORPGs? The entire point of the site was addiction in MMORPG, not games in general. The elements of MMORPGs that cause people to become addicted are generally not present in other types of games.

The point is games like this one are designed to nurture that addiction. How long does it typically take a character to hit lvl50, or to reach 1000 in crafting skills? Casual players are at an immediate disadvantage, as the games mechanics are designed to reward people who spend extended sessions on the game. Think about it, if I play for 1 hour a day, it is unlikely that I will be able to find a good group at a good exp spot before I have to log. Soloing is less rewarding than grouping, by design. So casual players have to choose to either increase the amount of time they play, or to quit completely.

Basically, the most succesful players in this game are the ones who play for the longest periods. The guy with the most RP isn't the most skillfull, he just plays more than anyone else (generally). His reward for his obvious addiction is the kudos of being #1. I don't know whether to /salute or /cry at him....
 
O

osy

Guest
Computers, Internet, Information...... words that you can't ignore, not in this decade.
PC Games ?... key word is game.

-------------------
game (gheim)
n.
An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: party games; word games.

A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules: the game of basketball; the game of gin rummy.
A single instance of such an activity: We lost the first game.
-------------------

I like games, what about you ?


BlueConEvilVakten out.
 
M

Mjock

Guest
Awfully judging behavior. Yes I feel addicted and know it harms me, but that kind of "concerned co-habitat of this planet" way of coming forth is... uh... disturbing.

And I read it through (skipped the graphics though) and do think it was a valid research and most likely covered most of the cases there are, though as someone stated before it's just telling us what we already knew.

Tohtori mentioned something about all the crap in US hitting Europe. Couldn't agree with you more there.

And those "hmm, defensive posts..." replies are plain silly. Of course the posts from those who see themselves in the, no doubt accurate, research feel "under attack" when they're "encouraged" to seek help for it. Basically, it just makes us all who have characters over a certain level and/or with a certain /played value look like nut-cases in need of heavy medication and Professional Help from the same branch of science-adorers who helped make the game evil in the way it is.
 
U

Urme the Legend

Guest
Hi, my name is Urme and I am a daocholic.

Hehe.. sure I can admit I like the game and the people who plays it alot. And it's still fun, so I play the game. Maybe I am an addict :) Who cares? I don't as long as I'm healthy and happy ;)

I'll see you ingame folks! ;)
 
S

Sarum TheBlack

Guest
If you are honest with yourself (well, not you personally, DAoC players in general), and you see for yourself the way you behave towards the game (I find it funny, and slightly disturbing, that people can be so totally ignorant of the effects of their own actions, not just in regards to this, but life in general. Something that seems especially prevalent in the "consequence free" world of online games), then yes, it doesn't really say anything you didn't already know. The research isn't really trying to discover anything new, it's attempting to prove that addiction (as in, the serious psychological condition including dependency and withdrawal) applies in exactly the same way to MMORPGs as it does to other accepted addictive pastimes such as gambling and non physically addictive drugs. And regardless of any of the angry posts to the contrary, they do prove it. And anyone who has ever played an MMPORPG long term knows they are right.

As for "US crap hitting Europe" I fail to see how this statement applies to this research. It's not an evangelistic tirade, pro-US or anti-TheRestOfTheWorld(tm) in any way. It's scientific research, and pretty much nationality independent. Yes it was done in the US, and probably mainly concerned US citizens as the subjects, but that doesn't mean it doesn't apply here.. we play the same games, and get addicted to them in exactly the same way as them you know.
 
E

Elenah Lopez

Guest
I don't think anyone should speak for anyone else so I won't comment on any replies made but will only give my opinion and personal experience (not xp).

I to feel I play too often at times. I think I'm on 2 to 3 hours at least every day. Do I feel guilty about it... sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It's the 'sometimes I do' part that gets to me. Then I think to myself, "Hey so what, 80% of the population watches tv for hours and hours so why should I not replace tv for daoc/games?" I made a choice not to watch the damn news or follow this or that tv show every day of the week, so I could spend that time playing daoc.

Does that mean I am addicted to daoc? I would say I am just as much as those millions of people watching tv. When I think about stopping... [just a sec, need to mezz something ;p] --- oh well, I don't feel I could stop, or is it only because I don't want to? can/want - it's not much difference in reading, but those two little words are what it's all about - addicted or not?

Sometimes my brother and I joke about it;

me; "Bah, we're outa food"
him; "Damn, and we have no time to go shopping! <smiles>"
me; "<laughs>"
-->> then we play some more and when we finally get hungry enough we go shopping unless if one is in a good group, then the other goes alone (huh, more signs)... I'm single, he's single so we don't have to look after anyone but ourselves, so we're not hurting anyone........ except ourselves? Hmm, that's what that article is all about isn't it.

What we should all try to do, and keep trying, is to make time for our REAL friends out there. Doing that will automatically make you do other things, have fun in another way then daoc can provide. Oh but wait, all my real life friends play daoc!! Damn I'm blessed ;p

Do I feel like quitting the game now that I read the article? No I don't, but it's very good reading and many of us should just stop and think about it.

Or let's have a meeting in Ye Mug and discuss it over a pint, dear 'friends'.

This concludes my view on things...
 
P

pcentella

Guest
Hmmm... What I think is that every activity (or most of them) can become an addiction for some people. Examples? Building up your muscles(and maybe taking too many proteins in the way), watching a TV channel/show, going to discos... I mean, a big part of the original acticle linked (which, by the way, i think it's quite good) can apply to those things or others. But who can decide what is and what is not an addiction? Sometimes it's clear, somotimes it's not.

Hmm, i don't know if this makes some sense (probably not much :p); anyway, i have already written it, so i won't erase it :)
 
O

old.Normengast

Guest
Some people are even addicted to the BW forums
 
S

Saturnine

Guest
The whole point of this is not to decided are you addicted, what addiction means, how less addicted you are than everyone else (bully for you) or any of that:

It's basically to get you to think that while you may be questing for an epic piece of armour, getting those last few thousand realm points to the next realm rank or sitting on the port-pad for another 15minutes - the sterotypical outside world sees you sitting infront of your computer playing a game. The more you do it, the more people notice. This is not to say "games are bad", indeed they can be great fun and a good laugh: but this kind of game specifically "encourages" anti-social behavour by rewarding you to sit infront of it for longer.. and longer... and longer......

Mentioning you choose to play DAoC rather than take an interest in the real world (e.g watching the news e.t.c.) is just the most horrific thing brought to light in all of this to date.
 
O

old.Xarr

Guest
*cough* crusade *cough*

Anti-social behaviour you say? Let's say the kind of socializing you do is go out with mates in the weekends and drink yourselves piss drunk at a pub and get into fights etc. Wouldn't it be better (for your health) to just play DAoC together?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 4 (members: 0, guests: 4)
Top Bottom