Diary of a WoW Noob's Addiction

Noobab writes "There's an absolutely hilarious diary style article in CNET's Crave blog about Nick Hide's first experience playing World of Warcraft. It starts off pretty tame but soon enough the man has turned from unsuspecting casual gamer into a fully fledged 'Warcrack' addict." Your mileage may vary. From the article: "I can't say that I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms after two weeks of fairly casual World of Warcraft play (a couple of hours a night, tops. Honest, doctor), but 'neglect of other activities' made me rather worried. Last night my girlfriend got hold of an extra ticket to Wicked, the new musical. 'I, er, I'm going out tomorrow night, I'd like to stay in and, er, get an early night,' was my pathetic effort at hiding my spiralling dependency on WoW."

Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

[__aaclcg7560]

Day 1 - Played WOW
Day 2 - Played WOW
Day 3 - Played WOW
...
Day 69 - Looked in mirror and realized I became "He Who Has No Life". Then bladder burst opened, computer caught on fire and basement burned down.
Day 70 - Mom sent me out to the blue room with the bright light to get a job. Saw an ad to become a game tester.

Addicted to Warcrack?

[spun]

Who the hell checks themselves into a rehab center for World of Warcraft? WoW is not a drug. I used to suck dick for coke. You ever suck dick for WoW? NO! I didn't think so.

Re:Addicted to Warcrack?

[Attrition_cp]

Want another hit?

Re:

[treak007]

i know some people who would suck dick for better gear in wow

Warcrack the New Evercrack?

[Bryansix]

I have never heard WOW called Warcrack but when I was in college Evercrack (Everquest) was all the rage. Many a freshman failed out because of it.

Hehe

[everphilski]

I was one of the ones that was addicted to Evercrack but made it through school... now a successful engineer who still plays (just put my trader up in the bazaar... things never change :)

Re:Warcrack the New Evercrack?

[StikyPad]

Yeah, I actually preferred EQ, because it was NEW new. Nobody had ever done a 3D MORPG before, and it was just insane. There's nothing quite like 1000 level 1 characters running around with absolutely no clue what they're doing, or what they're supposed to do. (There wasn't the level of hand-holding back then, which was both good and bad). Later games, including the omnipotent WoW, just seem like rehashes of the same thing. Granted, EQ had become a complicated, noob unfriendly monstrosity by the time WoW came out, and many veteran players were tired of EQ, so that probably contributed to WoW's popularity.

I never really got into WoW though, despite my best efforts and friends that play religiously. I think the main reason was grouping. In EQ, grouping was essentially mandatory for efficient leveling. Grouping made gameplay more interesting, rewarding, and entertaining, although very often more frustrating. It also provided a bit of a safety net, since there was usually someone to make travel faster (teleport), ressurect, etc. In WoW, there are largely the same benefits to groups, but the benefits don't outweigh the drawback of waiting to find other players. It's simply faster to go solo for XP in almost every case. As a result, the people most desperately looking for groups are often people who can't survive on their own because they can't play their class effectively, so grouping is frequently disasterous in WoW. Even worse, when grouping IS required, people are so accustomed to soloing that they don't function well as a team. It's like watching the NBA "Dream Team" at the Olympics, where everybody's trying to be the star. I'm sure that probably changes at the higher levels, but I just didn't have the patience to continue the extremely tedious process of grinding through levels on my own.

Additionally, I suppose I had become disillusioned by the fact that any sense of accomplishment was fleeting and incomplete, with another "challenge" (aka time-sink) constantly waiting in the wings. The never-ending process of obtaining new items to enable you to fight new creatures to obtain new items to fight new creatures to obtain new items just gets old after a while. That's probably a good thing though, because for at least 5 years, I was an EQ junkie. I should thank them for making boring content, otherwise I'd probably still be one.

Re:

[Boronx]

Additionally, I suppose I had become disillusioned by the fact that any sense of accomplishment was fleeting and incomplete,

Welcome to the world of video games.

Re:

[Metasquares]

Life is kind of like that too. It's amazing how quickly years of accomplishment can be negated or pushed aside.

Oddly enough, it's when I feel that way that I start playing video games, because though the accomplishments are fleeting in the real world, they persist within the world of the game. Gaming for that purpose may be like reading fantasy novels for the same purpose: a form of escapism from an overly-stressful world.

Re:

[Boronx]

True, but even if the real world seems at times to be as meaningless or success in it as fleeting as in a video game, there's at least the possibility that we're wrong and it's not.

Re:

[Wolfkin]

"Grouping made gameplay more interesting, rewarding, and entertaining, although very often more frustrating."

Mostly the last. WoW is already plenty interesting enough solo, and I *most* *certainly* don't want my game playing to be anything like frustrating. It requires a group? I'll pass, thanks. I'm actually okay with groups where I'm just helping someone, but after about 20 bad experiences, I'm not interested in going into any instance I can't solo, and so when there are places that require a group in

Re:

[fotbr]

Sounds like me. Have a 51 hunter that I've been leveling off and on for 11 months (don't know how many hours, not going to log in to check), and have only been in three instances -- RFC, WC, and SFK. I skip quests I can't solo, unless I can group with some real-life friends that aren't assholes, don't screw up too often, and will put up with my mistakes without getting bitchy.

Re:

[StikyPad]

Thanks for reinforcing my point. There's no disincentive against grouping, so nobody does it, which only reinforces the incompetence.

As for soloing...

It's like playing a tennis ball against a brick wall, which can be fun. It can be fun, but it's not a game.
Right.
It's not a game.
No.
What you want is a partner to return the ball.

There's a reason the FPS genre almost always contains multiplayer content nowadays. WoW at least has its PvP battles, so I'll give it that.

Re:

[Xentor]

You bring up some valid points, but it's not ALL that bad. I've been playing WoW since release (Minus a 6-month hiatus when I got bored), and I've been in a lot of good groups and bad groups.

What you'll find is that every class in WoW is made to solo, specifically because there are a lot of people who just don't want to quest in groups. On the other hand, two complementary classes can perform MUCH better than any single one. A group of five, working together properly, is really a beautiful thing.

Unfortun

Re:

[brkello]

WoW is just as new to many plays as EQ was to you. I tried playing EQ and just couldn't get in to it. I played FFXI but the forcing to group to level killed the fun in that game. You had to have help to do everything. And the needed classes (like healers) were terrible people who didn't know how to play their characters because they could always find a group. WoW did suck me in. I liked the ability to level without others. I liked being able to do things by myself at my own time. I don't think you p

Re:Warcrack the New Evercrack?

[talis9]

And I failed at Uni three decades ago because I spent all my time in the common room playing cards.

Students failing is nothing new, just the reasons change. It doesn't matter if it is cards, beer, girls or computer games, students will always find something more interesting to do than go to lectures.

Re:

[Bryansix]

This is true. For instance I found sleep more interesting then going to my Freshmen English class. I got unlucky and had a professor who actually took role and I was dropped from the class. It's kind of embarrassing to have to take English twice.

Re:

[ShadowMarth]

I agree entirely. I've been hearing Evercrack for years, but Warcrack?

Re:

[ajs]

Recall that the same was true of Dungeons & Dragons in the late 70s / early 80s. Many schools saw waves of students flunk out "because of the game." In reality, of course, the students were the sort to be distracted by shiny things, and D&D happened to be there at the time, but because it was popular enough to capture many of the shiny-challenged, it seemed that it was the cause and not the symptom. The same was true for the Atari and EverQuest. Now WoW gets the nod.

When will we understand that the

Cost

[Joe The Dragon]

If it where free or cost you per hour in game then there likely less people Addicted to it as if you are paying $15 a month you feel like that need to play all the time to get most out of it.

Re:

[frosty_tsm]

Agreed. This is possibly the #1 reason I've stayed away from MMOs.

Re:Cost

[TinyManCan]

I pay a hell of a lot more than $15 a month for cable TV. That does not make me want to watch it ALL the time, and I am well aware that I am buying channels that I never, ever watch. It doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Re:

[Brown Eggs]

Wrong - I don't think cost is the key. Look at games like Maplestory or Runescape. Free games (mostly) but almost as addictive. I think it is the leveling, the competition, and all the little RPG elements that keep people coming back for more.

Re:Cost

[Feanturi]

I played MUDs back in the day. They were free and had no pretty graphics at all. They were every bit as addictive as the ones we have now. Rife with students flunking out, or people jeopardizing their jobs to play. So no, I don't buy the idea that the cost makes you want to get your money's worth.

Re:

[Jack9]

I've found that without paying for a personal trainer, I never would go to the gym.
Shame is the single most effective means of persuasion known to man (second is particular violence).
At $60 a session, I sure as fuck make my appointments and work my ass off.

YMMV

Re:

[ultranova]

Shame is the single most effective means of persuasion known to man (second is particular violence).

Nope. Sex is the most effective means of persuasion, at least judging from the amount of people who risk extreme shame and often horrendous punishments to get some.

Re:

[Jack9]

America is not unique, but in the clear minority when it comes to this. Sex as a motivator is simply a misperception.

Sex is a physical need akin to a drug addiction.
You could also say that physical drug addiction is the most effective means of persuasion, but you cannot be motivated to particular goals with that carrot (although there are certain minor tasks you can have someone do in exchange). It does not rank very high on the scale or long-term torture would consist of drug addiction and withdrawl.

Re:

[squidguy]

Bah...forget MUDs. There is a wumpus among us...

Re:

[DaveV1.0]

It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

Re:

[TrekCycling]

I was one of those people. I didn't flunk out, thankfully, but it sure had a grip on me for a while. I still worry today as someone who plays console games here and there and works in software that I spend too much time with the whole risk/reward system of gaming or programming and not enough time in the real world. I feel I do, but it's always lurking back there...

Re:

[gatzke]

Back in the mid 90s I saw MUDs take the life of a few at Georgia Tech. Decent GPA to 2.0 easy, loss of co-op position, etc.

I have periodically gotten hooked on nethack, which is just as lame as MUDs.

Hell, when I was a kid, I would play that terrible Atari 2600 PacMan for hour and hours and hours and days and days. Why?

With all the shiny graphics, this stuff is like super crack...

Re:

[kendoka]

I would disagree given that 15 bucks a month is cheap compared to even a split cable or cell-phone bill. Even if you play WoW for just four hours a week (which is pretty easy to do =)) you're spending 15 bucks a month for 20 hours of 'entertainment'. (All jokes aside as to whether one should be entertained spending most of their time walking from place to place and repeating the same moves on the same monsters endlessly.) That price makes WoW cheaper than just about anything short of kicking a soccer ball a

Re:

[theantipop]

Diablo 2. I rest my case.

treatment

[abe ferlman]

Serious question now- does anyone personally know of someone who sought treatment for WoW addiction? I don't mean you read about it in the news, I mean personally. People seek treatment when they realize they have other sorts of non-chemical addictions but even among the most obsessed WoWers I know, none of them seem to see it as a problem that requires intervention to solve.

Re:

[TheWaz]

I haven't read or know anyone needing actual medical assistance when quitting WOW. I played the game for a while and got my character to 60, and also became an officer in my guild. After a while I wasn't too thrilled with the game and went cold turkey. I think the most intervention that is needed is for mommy to come over and tell the addict that it's bedtime.

Re:

[Skuld-Chan]

Well for me - I really like to play it. I think about it at work etc - and if I have time I'll play it for 4 hours most nights - its fun what can I say?

I don't know of a single time though where I've refused to go somewhere to play wow instead. If its a nice day outside I'll be on the motorcycle tooling around town.

Re:

[ectal]

Generally, I do think people exaggerate the seriousness of "Warcraft addictions". But I have seen some people who definitely border on addictive behavior. Ignoring most of their friends for weeks at a time, skipping sleep, not working, not eating regularly, etc.

I mean, to turn your question around, have you ever heard of someone with a serious gambling problem or heavy drinking problem who was positive they didn't need any help, someone who needed help but didn't look for it?

He needs to shoot little pengiuns down a hill!

[gunny01]

He needs to ease himself back to some sort of less addcitive gaming, like Line Rider.

Re:

[Vidiot3k]

I agreed with your comment until I realized you weren't talking about cocaine.

geek rejects girlfriend for Wow?

[theStorminMormon]

That's not WoW addiction. That's stupid addiction.

-stormin

it's also par for the course

[circletimessquare]

you know you're addicted to something hard when the potential for sex becomes less attractive to you

and it happens all the time with warcrack

Re:

[Knara]

Or that the sex isn't as fun as the game. How one discerns which is actually the case, I leave to the reader as a thought experiment.

Re:

[mjhacker]

When you're married and have sex all the time anyway, MMOs seem a bit more exciting. Not that sex isn't good, but when it becomes a function as commonplace as eating, it loses its novelty.

Re:

[Miniluv]

Variety is the spice of life. Or there's always cyber: http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/2006/01/ world_of_warcra.html [typepad.com]

Re:

[Suzumushi]

When you're married and have sex all the time anyway I'm guessing you're not married...

But yes, when you start to choose spending time with WoW over spending time with your family, you've crossed a line that you shouldn't have.

Re:geek rejects girlfriend for Wow?

[Aadain2001]

I've found myself doing that once or twice long ago. I pretty much ignored my girlfriend for a few weeks back in the spring of 2005 when WoW was really starting to take off. But all it took was one go whap upside from said girlfriend to help me re-prioritize things. Now she comes before WoW, always. But even the best of people can make a stupid mistake and recover from it.

Re:geek rejects girlfriend for Wow?

[dangitman]

Now she comes before WoW, always.

So, WoW is like a post-coital cigarette?

Re:

[gray code]

Out of curiosity, would your view on the matter change any if you had a "sit around the table playing with buddies" on Thursday night instead?

Re:geek rejects girlfriend for Wow?

[megaditto]

That's what makes this an addiction: rejecting the natural rewards (food, sex, sleep) in favor of a virtual reward of some sort.

If you need help getting rid of your game addiction, try imbibing some emetic shortly after you start playing (check with your doctor). Or try taking strong laxatives each time you go on a gaming spree.

Or even simpler, buy two galons+ of whole milk, then each time you score a "kill" or whatever it is you score in those games, reward yourself by drinking a whole glass.

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

Sounds like good old-fashioned aversion therapy. And I've got to say that it doesn't sound a whole lot healthier than the behavior it seeks to rectify. On the other hand, I guess when "take a walk" doesn't work and you have to fall back on "overdose on laxatives" you really know you have a problem.

Then again, the mischievious part of me wonders if we should just let this gentle version of natural selection run its course.

-stormin

Re:

[megaditto]

Then again, the mischievious part of me wonders if we should just let this gentle version of natural selection run its course.

No we should not:
1) It would not be natural. It is man-made!
2) It is precisely the smarter, more intelligent people who have a propensity to become virtuality addicts.

Re:geek rejects girlfriend for Wow?

[theStorminMormon]

Then again, the mischievious part of me wonders if we should just let this gentle version of natural selection run its course.

No we should not:
1) It would not be natural. It is man-made!
2) It is precisely the smarter, more intelligent people who have a propensity to become virtuality addicts.

1. Yes, it is natural. Humans are natural. Unless you are supposing some fundamentalist version of creationism or other ex-nhilo origin for our species, we're basically just smart monkeys. And our use of computers is no less natural than a monkey's use of a stick or a crow's use of a rock. There's no rational basis for calling the actions or creations of human beings un-natural without recourse to superstition.

2. What does intelligence have to do with anything? Evolution has no values. It's purely about survival, adaptation, and successful procreation. The notion that we can define intelligence is barely more coherent than the idea that people or their creations are non-natural. The idea that evolution cares about intelligence is, if anything, less coherent. If intelligence helps you make tools, then great. It's a positive adaptation. If intelligence ensnares you in addiction to those tools (an addiction that clearly hampers procreation to some degree) than guess what - intelligence ceases to be an advantageous trait. Now personally I don't think it makes sense to equate intelligence with a propensity to become virtual addicts. I'd say that shows a blatant lack of intelligence in a very basic sense: the ability to make rational decisions against our own urges. But even if there is such a correlation, evolution doesn't care.

-stormin

Re:

[Shaper_pmp]

"1. Yes, it is natural. Humans are natural. Unless you are supposing some fundamentalist version of creationism or other ex-nhilo origin for our species, we're basically just smart monkeys. And our use of computers is no less natural than a monkey's use of a stick or a crow's use of a rock. There's no rational basis for calling the actions or creations of human beings un-natural without recourse to superstition."

Thank you, thank you, thank you. It's a pet hate when people indulge in pseudo-drippy-new-age "

Semantic argument

[FallLine]

There's no rational basis for calling the actions or creations of human beings un-natural without recourse to superstition.

Cool!! So you mean I can safely smoke all the crack I want because it is natural?

In all seriousness, I think what the previous poster that you attacked meant is that it is very much artificial. Highly artificial things, especially that which we have only been exposed to over a decade or two at most (never mind thousands and millions of years), is perhaps best approached with some deg

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

Cool!! So you mean I can safely smoke all the crack I want because it is natural?

You're kind of missing the point. The whole concept of "natural" is a giant cultural myth. There's this idea that things that there is a state of nature that is healthy, safe, happy, with flowers and rainbows. I'm not just attacking the characterization of games as un-natural, I'm attacking the whole stupid myth. It's the same as the old "noble savage" stereotype, but it's applied to the world around us instead of oppressed

Re:

[FallLine]

You're kind of missing the point. The whole concept of "natural" is a giant cultural myth.

No, I'm not missing the point. I agree that there are a lot of people out there that have an irrational view of what is "natural" and overplay the importance of it despite all evidence to the contrary. It is one of my pet peeves too. ("grocery store produce is engineered/bad, eat local/natural".... completely missing the point that 95% of the stuff they eat wouldn't be available were it not for modern and historica

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

On the other hand, like any other contentious issue, it is also possible to over-react to it. More specifically, some people completely fail to acknowledge that the degree of artificiality of a thing can be highly relevant.

No no no. It's not a question of over-reaction. It's a question of whether or not the term "natural" is well-defined. It's not. Therefore it's useless. I don't think you get any additional mileage by substituting "artificial". Please present me with a definition of artificial, then

Re:

[FallLine]

No no no. It's not a question of over-reaction. It's a question of whether or not the term "natural" is well-defined. It's not. Therefore it's useless. I don't think you get any additional mileage by substituting "artificial". Please present me with a definition of artificial, then we can start to talk about it. Again: it's not a question of degree. It's a question of coherence

A term does not have to be perfectly well defined to be useful, particularly when there is not a term that is an obviously superio

Re:

[Prien715]

There's no rational basis for calling the actions or creations of human beings un-natural without recourse to superstition.

Want to try and define justice with the same restrictions? Euthyphro tried [adelaide.edu.au]. By your logic, justice doesn't exist. If you're will to accept that, fine.

Also, my periodic table also has the word "natural" on it, referring to elements not occuring in nature. By your logic, my perdiodic table's is deistic or absurd.

Alternately, perhaps I can persuade you to use the term "man-made" instea

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

Want to try and define justice with the same restrictions? Euthyphro tried. By your logic, justice doesn't exist. If you're will to accept that, fine.

This is a colossally mis-aimed attack. I said that there's no way to call the actions or creations of humans non-natural. I never said they didn't exist. Why would I apply these "restrictions" to defining justice? I'm not trying to define anything. You may as well have asked me to garbiculate a froobernackle with those restrictions.

Also, my periodic table

Re:

[Prien715]

You say that one can not validly call something "natural" without implicit reference to deistic creation. I say that it's possible to refer call something "justice" without refering to similar deistic implications. In both cases, it's a reference to a definite object without a methodology of definition.

However, if you are trying to argue that the actions/creations of humans are natural because humans are natural, I would then ask you for an example of something "unnatural".

Then you would be substituting

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

However, if you are trying to argue that the actions/creations of humans are natural because humans are natural, I would then ask you for an example of something "unnatural".

That's the whole point! There is no example of something "unnatural". So the whole term is a waste.

Almost all definitions are arbitrary but useful=) There's no reason a spectrum of light between two certain wavelegnths ought to be called "blue". It's arbitrary, but useful. I don't see why this makes the word "unnatural" useless.

Right,

Re:

[Prien715]

Last comment, you accepted "man-made" as an arbitrary but useful definition of "unnatural". Why not just accept when people are talking about "unnatural", it means "man-made" (as this is a term we'd agreed as abitrary but useful (like "blue"))?

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

Because usually it's obvious from the context that they are bringing a lot of additional baggage along when they use the term "natural". Consider the original quote that started this discussion:

Then again, the mischievious part of me wonders if we should just let this gentle version of natural selection run its course.

No we should not:
1) It would not be natural. It is man-made!
2) It is precisely the smarter, more intelligent people who have a propensity to become virtuality addicts.

Notice that in this case

Re:

[Prien715]

Scientific use of the word "natural" refers to man's activities as artificial or "non-natural". See Artificial Selection [wikipedia.org] vs Natural Selection or natural climate change vs man-made climate change.

If everything were natural, "natural" would be meaningless (which I suppose, is what you're arguing).

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

I would say you are being unnecessarily strict about the use of the word 'natural', in a way that is not informative nor useful in the real world. If everything is natural, what use is the word?

That's kind of the point. It's a useless distinction. I find that most of the time when people use the word "natural" they are refering to something man-made, but they are ALSO assuming some non-existent distinction between something made by people and that natural state of things. Trouble is, people (and their ac

Re:

[theStorminMormon]

The point I'm making is simple. There are no values to evolution other than survival. The "worth" of intelligence, from the standpoint of adaptability, is entirely contingent. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. When it helps, great. When it doesn't, too bad. It's the same as, say, coloration. Sometimes green is better (say for hiding in leaves) sometimes brown is better (say for hiding in the dirt). Intelligent isn't inherently any better than stupid than brown is better than green.

Of course,

Re:

[Boronx]

It's also smart, responsible, ambitious people that use birth control most effectively.

Re:

[Morphine007]

I think you forgot a ROFLCOPTER in there somewhere too....

Re:

[Dhrakar]

Or even simpler: Don't pay the WoW bill. If you can't log in, you can't play :-) Oops! Scholo run ... bye!

Re:

[dangitman]

Or try taking strong laxatives each time you go on a gaming spree.

I don't think having fecal matter all over my chair is going to help. Could be quite unhealthy from a disease perspective.

Re:geek rejects girlfriend for Wow?

[Lord_Dweomer]

Exactly. And I post this everytime a story about MMORPG addiction is posted but for those wondering how it could possibly addict someone that badly, I STRONGLY urge you to read this excellent essay [nickyee.com] on how EQ (and games similar to it) are essentially giant virtual Skinner Boxes. Psychological addiction can be just as bad, if not worse than chemical addiction. At least with chemical addiction once its out of your system you stop craving it for the most part.

Re:

[TempeTerra]

Call me stupid, but what's the milk meant to achieve? Back when I was played WoW, I'd consider 2 litres (half a gallon or so) of flavoured milk an excellent accompaniment to an afternoon of warcraft. I never noticed any ill effects.

Re:

[Lehk228]

try making a whole gallon an addition to a single hour of anything

don't be too close to your computer when you do this

Re:

[Austerity Empowers]

Priests reject sex (jokes aside). Are they God addicts? Something about this definition smells fishy.

Re:

[steveo777]

Most of those methods don't work in the days of hi powered laptops and wireless internet.

Re:

[drsquare]

What if she's a dog?

Make Love, Not Warcraft

[javaxman]

South Park [wikipedia.org], anyone ?

I don't even play the game, but that was a god damn great episode. The referenced Wikipedia page claims Blizzard helped with the machinima ( and apparently, the delay ) in the episode.

but seriously, the point where you know you have a problem is the point at which you're picking your hobby/addiction/whatever over your S.O... time to kick either the hobby, or if they're really that unsatisfying, the S.O...

Re:

[tcopeland]

> I don't even play the game, but that was a god damn great episode.

Two favorite lines:

"This could be the end of the world... of Warcraft."

And:

"How can you kill that which has no life?"

It's not the game, it's the person.

[friendofish]

You always hear of people losing their wives "Because of WoW" or forgetting their family "Because of Everquest". No, they lost their self control, they lost their loved ones because of themselves. They are the only ones to blame.

Re:

[TrekCycling]

Of course the game is never to blame. But you could say the same thing about workaholics, gambling addicts, etc. The bottom line is that for people succeptible to addiction, certain things are more addictive than others. Would make sense that certain games are more addictive than others. Either way, when it's all said and done, it does come down to people and their psychological issues that need to be addressed seriously.

Re:

[Sabalon]

Was playing WoW Saturday while my wife was xmas shopping. Kids were done cleaning up and wanted to go outside an play. Typed /quit and out we went. Was pretty simple. Didn't take the notebook outside to play it or anything.

Then again, I'm a trial member...maybe if I was paying.... nah... kids and wife come first. Not that difficult really.

Addicting?

[theCurse]

I don't get it. I can't even get addicted to an MMO. I've played WoW, CoH, GW, and various others, and I just don't get the allure. I admit while I played them, I played them all day, ignoring sleep, food, etc., but I eventually became bored and moved on. Now you'd be hard-pressed to find me on Guild Wars, and I don't even have to pay for that.

Shouldn't there be at least 5 parts before

[Rooked_One]

submitting it to slashdot? I'm not trying to troll, I guess two parts isn't enough when it comes to something like explaining a gaming addiction...

staged addictions != news

[graycode10]

thanks zonk, it was fun to watch this man's epic journey from installing the game all the way to... his second post a few weeks later. why are we listening to a person with a character in its mid-teens and two weeks' experience? i'm willing to agree that the game can cause problems, but i'd rather hear a testimony from a person with 200 days /played, not someone who still has the crinkled cellophane on his desk and *gasp* skipped a night with his girl so that he could find his class trainer... i also like how the articles feature a night elf with a big lit doobie in his mouth. um... a real addiction is something that catches you by surprise. a staged addiction for publicity is one that you go into expecting to be addicted, complete with funny clip art and a spot on a major web page. and i'm sorry to be so bitchy, but i'm tire of people using the term 'warcrack' like they are the first person to ever do so. yes, we get it. please stop wasting our time with things like this, slapping "WoW" onto the title to get us to click on it and start our daily south park reference banter. (yes, it was a great episode) but i think i am more upset with cnet for printing this crap than i am at slashdot for linking it.

Re:

[14CharUsername]

Yeah, if my girlfriend had tickets to a musical, I'd make an excuse not to go. I guess I'm a WoW addict too, though I thought you actually had to play the game to be considered an addict.

Solution - Get a life.

[pla]

No. Seriously - I mean this as neither a troll nor flamebait - If you have started sacrificing real life experiences for virtual ones that actually cost you money...

LEAVE THE FUCKING BASEMENT!


If you have nothing better to do, great, waste a few hours playing WoW. I'll admit, I accidentally saw more than a few dawns like that in college, mudding away the night. Amusing way to pass time. But when real entertainment comes along - DO IT! You don't even need to think about which you prefer - reality wins, every time. Even something like going bowling with your Aunt Sally and ther annoying hellbrood should beat wasting your life in an online game.

Re:No original games? as if

[Kabal`]

Who says 'reality' (whatever that is?) is better. How is going bowling with Aunt Sally and her annoying hellbrood better than Warcraft? You're still playing a game (bowling vs wow) only in that situation you're with people you don't really like. I fail to see how that is any better.

Too much of ANYTHING is bad but World of Warcraft is surely 'better' than a lot of real life activities (for them), otherwise people wouldn't enjoy playing

Re:

[blahplusplus]

"LEAVE THE FUCKING BASEMENT!"

I know this was meant to be funny, but to be serious for a moment. Those who still live in the basement have more serious issues beyond WoW my friend, clinical depression and possible abuse being one of them.

The psychological rewards caused by natural selection can be ruined if a minimum of some of maslow's hierarchy of needs cannot be maintained. Because some serious exterinal or biological factors interfere with social and occupational functioning, causing unnat

Re:

[Chris Burke]

That was a great rant, Mr. Homeless Person On the Corner, but I will not give you a dollar!

Man, now I'm bummed out.

Re:

[crabpeople]

I never saw the link between depression and altruism. wow.

Makes sense why I highly value honour now.

Re:

[A_Non_Moose]

The World Health Organisation defines depression as a 'disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration'.

example: Yankee living down in the South.

If it is not caused by pathogens, how can it spread?

Uhhh, we eventually wisen up and move back to a better place, and like exposure to anything harmful/infectious...some of it always tags along.

After suffering with a low grade infection fo

Re:

[AcidLacedPenguiN]

Even something like going bowling with your Aunt Sally and ther annoying hellbrood should beat wasting your life in an online game.

That's what Wii bowling is for silly!

What an Idiot

[matt74441]

He really should have gone to the stupid musical. Everyone knows that girls will "reward" their boyfriends later for being a good sport and going, at least thats how it happened with me.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Once you start seeing sex as a reward for doing what she wants she has you by the balls.

Re:

[vaderhelmet]

That's the idea!

Played for two weeks

[Datamonstar]

.... and yes, battlegrounds are crackity crack crack! But still.. my interest is waining quickly. I've gone from 4 hours a day to only two hours this week. AND we had an ice storm today. that had everyone at home, but I still only logged three capture the flag matches before I got back to something else. I played Everquest for about 6 years and after that, you just don't want to log those sort of hours in a game anymore. Believe me. Once it's worn off it's worn off for good. It doesn't matter what the next game is going to be. Unless you happen to just LOVE mmorpg's your addiction will eventually burn out over time.

Re:

[Rayonic]

.... and yes, battlegrounds are crackity crack crack!

You'll probably love the upcoming Arena-based PVP matches. Not to mention the other stuff coming in the expansion.

Personally, I got tired of Warsong Gulch after a few days at level 19. Mostly because of the lame twinkers.

Uggh

[Krater76]

Giving up a Broadway musical for WoW? Sounds like he made the right call.

There are about a million things I would rather do than sit through a Broadway musical. Even given the choice of a colonoscopy or a Broadway musical I would still choose the colonoscopy.

Re:

[geminidomino]

Nope. I'm subscribed, and I get that message all the time.