How Warcraft Doesn't Have To Wreck Lives 274
robustyoungsoul writes "From the same guild leadership as the fellow who started an internet storm with his post about his experience in WoW comes a different point of view: it doesn't have to consume your life." From the article: "I got a Masters degree in policy from one of the most difficult schools in the country while at the same time playing WoW and working a part time job. I would come home from a busy day and think about how to use what I learned to make the guild work better. It was a way for me to practice what I was learning and to discover what was involved with leading people (mostly getting all the blame and no thanks, it seems :P). I've learned the lessons of clear communication, sacrifice, compassion, tough love ... and balance. I plan to use these skills in my professional life. So in short, I play the game because I get something tangible out of it."
yeah OK (Score:0, Insightful)
All it takes is (Score:5, Insightful)
Balance (Score:5, Insightful)
+1, Obvious.
It's all about balance, people. I love my gaming time, but I don't give up food, sleep, work, etc. just to play my two MMORPGs (SWG and Eve Online). Maybe it's just that my games don't require 4 hour instances at the end game or maybe I just know when I'm tired, hungry, or have other commitments.
Sometimes you just have to say "Hey guys, I'm starving/tired/going to do something else for a while, see you later."
I got a masters in Aerospace (Score:4, Insightful)
It's been said before... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Balance (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Balance (Score:2, Insightful)
Fun, but I just can't see myself getting addicted to it. People on there 10 hours a day clearly aren't working full time, then coming home to cook dinner and chop firewood like I am. Priorities, anyone?
Re:Simple (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Uh huh... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:How Warcraft Doesn't Have to Wreck Lives... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I got a masters in Aerospace (Score:5, Insightful)
This isn't as simple as "self control" (Score:5, Insightful)
First, WoW is beautiful. Yes, it's cartoonish, but it's got character and depth. I, for one, just like seeing new things, exploring new places. There comes a point within WoW that you can't do anything new unless you get to the end game content. All of which requires heavy guild involvement... to the point mentioned in the first article. Strat can be beautiful, and I regret never seeing Naxx (and only once getting into AQ). But unless I was willing to devote myself heart and soul to a guild - I was relegated to pick-up groups for the "lesser" instances... and forget ever seeing AQ40 or Molten Core. Once you reach these points, starting over isn't an option. You've seen it, you've done it. And no matter how you've convinced yourself that you're not grinding levels in Loch Modan, starting over only offers an extreme amount of drudgery. (Switching from Alliance to Horde only delays the inevitable)
Second, WoW is just to easy to level up. Too many times you hear about people getting to 60 without a clue of what to do next. You get this consistent endorphin rush every time you "ding". And that's great. It helps keep you moving forward through some of the dull spots (think levels 37-40). But once you've hit 60 you've invested a huge amount of time in a character... whether that's hours upon hours a day for a couple months, or a relaxed pace over a year. It feels like you're abandoning your alter ego to just quit playing. You want to push forward, but you can't. Hence, you've got to run after epic loot and instances.
And Third... friends. I've made a lot of friends in-game. We've been through a lot together (all of us utterly refusing to ever step foot in Gnomeregan again). And many of them (especially the married couples that both play) want to continue forward. Once again, you're relegated to the outside... shoved off unless you want to grind for Cenarion rep in Silithus.
All three of these led to my WoW burnout. I was bumped from my "elite" guild because I didn't want to spend 20 hours a week on top of job and social life. Getting put back in the "feeder" guild, while it sounds fine, just felt awful. My friends had all moved on, and I was shoved aside and forgotten (much like the original article). Eventually, I've found another server (too many familiar faces on the old one) and a nice, casual guild. But then again... the first guild started out nice and casual as well...
It's the gamers fault. (Score:4, Insightful)
That said, however, I certainly don't think Blizzard or any other developer is responsible for anyone who gets addictive. These companies want players subscribed for a couple of years, but I doubt it's anyone's intention that they have players addicted to these games like they were drugs.
It's easy for someone to say they can stop playing whenever they want. There are also people who think playing games 40 hours a week is casual gaming. The point is that for someone who has become truly addicted they've lost all self-control. They can't stop. They feel agitated when they're not playing; the game is constantly on their mind. What they need is help, in one form or another.
Regardless of the nature of the addiction, it ultimately is that player's fault. They made the decision to install the game and start playing. The fact that they lost themselves to the game is ultimately their own fault.
My concern is that there are lawyers out there already licking their chops. It's only a matter of time before we start seeing lawsuits against these developers.
Much like the lawsuits against the tobacco companies. In at least the past 20 years we've known smoking is bad. Even if these people didn't know when they started, they must have learned since then. Why didn't they find a way to stop? The company may have been questionable to selling such a product, but ultimately it's the consumer's fault. I mean, using the rationale for suing those companies we might as well sue all automakers for enabling us to put ourselves in harm's way.
The question here isn't whether games like WoW are addictive, because they clearly are. It's whether people are going to be mature and responsible enough to acknowledge their own fault in all this. Unfortunately, as history has shown in this culture of the victim, too many people are going blame everyone but themselves.
And just wait until gaming reaches a point where it's photo-realistic, approaching something like the realism of the holodeck. We haven't seen anything yet.
Re:Simple (Score:2, Insightful)
You do not know about addiction (Score:3, Insightful)
No, it really isn't, not at all. the inability to limit yourself is a lack of moderation, not addiction.
Playing WoW for 3 hours does not qualify you to speak about addiction, it simply points to the fact you have a very poor sense of time.
I spent every day of my form the age of 21 to the age of 29 shooting Heroin. That is addiction. I stole form friends family and strangers to get more drugs. I lied to everybody in my life to try and hide my problem. I got divorced because of it, I got fired because of it and I lost numerous friends to suicide, overdose, and murder because of it.
By the way, very often I was able to limit myself; I was able to put enough away for morning so I could start the cycle all over again.
Before you claim to know about addiction ask yourself, have you ever mugged somebody to get money to play WoW? Have you ever done a B&E to get money to play WoW. Have you ever seen your life go down the drain because of WoW and say "fuck it, I would rather play WoW then be married anyway"
Calling the kid who plays to much WoW an addict is an insult to addicts all over the world. I personally have never gotten a chick to suck me off by telling her is she sucks my cock I will give her some WoW.
Addiction is about a singular obsession and compulsion, not a poor sense of time.
(I've been clean for 3 years now)
Re:Balance (Score:1, Insightful)
In other words, in a lot of other countries where you don't hear so much whining about "addiction" and "imbalance", people generally look at folks like yesterday's case study in pathetic and say "quit being such a whiny knob and take a little responsibility for yourself for once" rather than jumping and down and pointing fingers at everyone except the guy who refuses to exercise any restraint.
Sorry, but I'm getting more than a little fed up with this childish "Wah wah EQ/WoW/EQ2 ruined my life" nonsense and venting it seemd to be pretty on-topic in regards to your post about self-control in various cultures.
Re:Balance (Score:3, Insightful)
How is it creative when all the characters are the same and and are all chasing the same equipment?
it seems MMO's are only a problem (Score:2, Insightful)
All of this has already happened w/ EverCrack, more than 4 years ago
We knew of all the problems back then, no one cared
EverCrack Addiction: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/28/earlysh
http://pc.ign.com/articles/356/356673p1.html [ign.com]
Re:Balance (Score:1, Insightful)
Just because the car can top 120mph, does that mean you have to drive at top speeds?
Just because the Deal is buy 5 get 1 free, do you have to spend the money to have 6?
Do not blame the game for your sense of competition.
Re:Simple (Score:1, Insightful)
Tell that to the wives of the addicts
Re:Balance (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Simple (Score:3, Insightful)
Nope, not my problem.
Also, who are you to tell somebody what to do with their life? I know people that play WoW all day and some that just play an hour a night.
Re:Simple (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Balance (Score:3, Insightful)
I've been playing WoW for a year and my "main" is still only a level 37. I have four "alts" all scattered between level 12 and 25.
I play almost exclusively solo. My two highest level characters are in a guild, but only because it's run by my best RL friend and he doesn't expect me to raid or contribute to the guild, it's simply a way for me to avoid "sign my charter" requests.
Although I understand why Blizzard doesn't cater to us solo/casual players "un-addictable" types, I still really wish they would add more content for us.
Re:Simple (Score:3, Insightful)
BTW, I play in a high-end raiding guild, and we are quite functional with 3-hour raids, 4 times a week. Still a lot, but nothing like these mythical '8-hour 60-man' endeavors you're pulling out of your ass.
Re:Simple (Score:2, Insightful)
Great, way to haul out a republican/libertiarian/conservative knee-jerk. Go you! You can meaninglessly repeat what other people have told you!
Also, who are you to tell somebody what to do with their life?
I'm not telling anybody how to live their lives. But, i think that people should be aware of the consequences of their behavior, and i don't think that a lot of people think through their actions, or, particularly in the case of addictive behaviors, the risk of certain behaviors snowballing out of control. And while that may sound like a slippery slope while we're talking about people in such a blandly general way, this is an issue about individual people. If your friend has blown you off every friday for three weeks so he can go level, i'd be slightly concerned. There is in fact a difference between telling people how to live their life, and making sure that they are aware of the potential consequences of their actions.
That is unless you think that doctors are unduly burdening their patients, when the tell them to eat more healthily or they're going to have a heart attack. (or better yet, that alcoholism runs in their family and that drinking alcohol is a really bad idea for them)
A visit to the dump - a reality check (Score:4, Insightful)
I went over to visit him the other day. I must say that I was totally grossed out. He owns his own house, but could no longer open the front door. I had to come in the back through the kitchen. There were dirty dishes piled all over and he didn't even have a clean glass to offer me a drink. There was trash piled everywhere and a little path through the rest of his house. He had two office rolling chairs to sit in. Everything else was covered with trash. He was sleeping on the floor and there were dirty clothes strewn everywhere.
When I went to use the bathroom, there were dozens of empty toilet paper rolls strewn around the floor. When I lifted the lid on the toilet to take a leak, there was a huge turd plugging the drain. I tried to lift the plunger next to the toilet out of it's bucket, but it was stuck to the bucket. I was just thoroughly disgusted. I stayed for a little while longer. On my way out, I told him that he needed to unplug, go buy some trash bags and throw this crap away. He blushed and said he knew. I said yeah, but obviously he wasn't doing anything about it and somebody needed to say something. I doubt I got through to him, but don't know if I can go back.
For every 6 out of 7 MMORPG players that are leading productive, healthly lives, there are those ones that have lost total control of their lives. They have forgotten about the real world and let everything go. They need serious help! I just don't know who is going to give it to them. I don't know if I can help or would just be wasting my time going back to him. I've tried to help others before and get them cleaned up and the next time you go back they're just as bad or worse. How do you help a friend in dire need of a reality check?
Re:It's the gamers fault. (Score:3, Insightful)
There is a strong genetic component to many aspects of human behavior, and addictive personalities is very likely one of them. Arguing that all responsibility for regulating behavior rests on the individual is tantamount to saying that it is right and just to doom people with a certain genetic profile to a far worse life than they could have if society provided some support for them.
In closing, I believe that cheap holodeck technology will be the downfall of humankind.
Re:It's the gamers fault. (Score:1, Insightful)
I don't get why you have to shit on people. Yes, it's great to live responsibly. I enjoy it, personally, but not everyone has my upbringing, education, and foresight. I can sneer at people without my good fortune, or I can think about ways to prevent them being exploited. I think it's hilarious that the right wingers who espouse Christianity and family values and personal responsibility ignore the whole concept of compassion and helping your community.
Instead they bewail the end of civilization and the evils of a "nanny state". I sometimes wonder what these people would be like if they bought a house not subject to a nanny state's regulations... and it fell on their heads. Well, I guess they would accept it as their own fault. Ha ha ha.
Re:Balance (Score:4, Insightful)
So. Don't go after that loot.
That brand new 30" LCD is too expensive. The BMW is too expensive. Being well equpped in WoW is too expensive. People make their choices. Some people (like me) chose to play WoW a lot but not THAT much. I've been playing since soon after it came out and I'm just starting into ZG and MC. Tradeoffs will always exist. Make the choices you want to make.
Re:Balance (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Simple (Score:3, Insightful)
And if you really want to call a product recall as a punishment, it's punishment for a critically and fatally flawed product design or implimentation. I don't think people should be concerned about the damage to a company responsible for messing up that badly. Again, lets think about the responsibility that companies have.