Thread: Is World of Warcraft really as addictive as crack?

  1. #1
    Banned nickname_changed's Avatar
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    Is World of Warcraft really as addictive as crack?

    http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/11/21/wow_lawsuit/

    I loved the opening paragraph of that article:
    Quote Originally Posted by Article
    Yet more parents are passing the buck and blaming computer games for the death of a teenager rather than take responsibility themselves[...]
    And also this:
    Quote Originally Posted by Article
    [...]These people didn't jump off a balcony or go on a shooting spree, but rather died from heart failure and other biological conditions associated with dehydration and extreme fatigue.
    I remember when I was little. The computer was in the living room. If I was on it for more than 3-4 hours, my mum would say "Paul, how about you go outside and play?". If I didn't, she'd make me. That's called parenting. If the PC is tucked away in their bedroom, and you let them stay locked in there for hours and hours a day, then in my books you're a bad parent, no excuses. I mean, hated being forced to leave in the middle of the game, but it's a lot more fun kicking a footy down at the park than any computer game, and a lot healthier.

  2. #2
    & the hat of GPL slaying Thantos's Avatar
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    I played it and its not that addictive IMO and I have a tendancy to get addicted to games.

  3. #3
    the hat of redundancy hat nvoigt's Avatar
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    I'm playing WoW. It was kinda addictive from Level 1 to 60. Now that I have two Chars at 60 ( Holy Priest as main and Rogue twink for mindless fun ) and their sets completed it's just logging in for MC.

    I really don't see that computer games are worse than tv in this aspect. Anyone seen a kid jumping from a roof because he thought he was Batman recently ?

    It takes a while to die of dehydration. I like WoW. I like chocolate. I like sex. I like good books. I like Dawsons Creek. I like sleeping. Didn't die of any of these yet. Maybe I'm so incredebly strong that I don't get addicted. Maybe I'm just not a total idiot. Staying up three days without water or food playing WoW killed someone. Big deal. I bet that staying up 3 days without water or food watching Dawsons Creek would have killed him as well, just more painful
    hth
    -nv

    She was so Blonde, she spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice can because it said "Concentrate."

    When in doubt, read the FAQ.
    Then ask a smart question.

  4. #4
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    There is no competition in watching Dawson's Creek.

    Ever been top-ranked on a game? Ever been in a top-ranked clan? Many people end up playing those games just to be and remain the best. They miss school, they miss work, just so their competitiors don't get more practice time than them. It's unfortunate that online games can become more than games for some people, but it does, and I think parents should make a better effort to watch how much their kids play these games.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  5. #5
    the hat of redundancy hat nvoigt's Avatar
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    The same could be said about sports

    Everything you do in moderation is fine. Everything you do excessivly is not. I could probably drop out of school to be a lazy bum, which is bad, while relaxing on the couch after a hard day of work is fine.
    hth
    -nv

    She was so Blonde, she spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice can because it said "Concentrate."

    When in doubt, read the FAQ.
    Then ask a smart question.

  6. #6
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nvoigt
    The same could be said about sports
    The only difference is, most people know they don't have what it takes to be the best at sports. Even if they tried it would take them all of 20 seconds and 5 lost balls off their butter-fingers to realize it's not worth wasting their effort on. Games on the other hand make things easier. All you need is quick eyes and quicker fingers and you can be the king of the internet. Everyone feels like their right at the top, no matter how far off they actually are, and people like the feeling of being really good at something, no matter how trivial that thing is.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

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    "Mortal Kombat Special Edition is the best video game ever made."

    "I disagree; it's a very good game, but I think Donkey Kong is the best video game ever made."

    "Donkey Kong sucks!"

    "You know something? YOU SUCK!"

    Frisbee can kick Mortal Kombat Special Edition's butt and wipe the floor with Donkey Kong any day.

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    the hat of redundancy hat nvoigt's Avatar
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    All you need is quick eyes and quicker fingers and you can be the king of the internet.
    And where is the difference to sports where you need quick eyes and quick feet ?

    Everyone feels like their right at the top, no matter how far off they actually are, and people like the feeling of being really good at something, no matter how trivial that thing is.
    Same thing for sports. Can you say Curling ? Who invented that kind of "sport" ? Bored housewives ?


    I don't see a difference between dropping out of college to be a sport star, not getting done anything and retiring at 25 with a knee injury and a bad back or dropping out of college to waste your life playing games. College is a healthy dose of education. Running a mile or more is a healthy dose of sport. Playing games in the evening is a healthy dose of entertainment. Dropping one part entirely for another is somewhat extreme from my point of view.
    hth
    -nv

    She was so Blonde, she spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice can because it said "Concentrate."

    When in doubt, read the FAQ.
    Then ask a smart question.

  9. #9
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nvoigt
    And where is the difference to sports where you need quick eyes and quick feet ?
    Compare a top gamer like that loser Fatal1ty to a top sports star and that becomes pretty apparent.

  10. #10
    the hat of redundancy hat nvoigt's Avatar
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    A top sports star is world famous and has to hire people to keep his bank account in check while I don't even know who Fatal1ty is. Probably he is practicing his 2674 ( double leet ) skills in his mothers basement.
    hth
    -nv

    She was so Blonde, she spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice can because it said "Concentrate."

    When in doubt, read the FAQ.
    Then ask a smart question.

  11. #11
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Yeah and making $150k a year doing it.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  12. #12
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    > I don't even know who Fatal1ty is.

    Consider yourself lucky.

    Quote Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom
    Yeah and making $150k a year doing it.
    I saw an interview with him and he said he had made a whole 100K over 3 years of gaming. I make a hell of a lot more than that, and I take myself way less seriously than that dumbass. Also, he did indeed live in his parents' basement.

  13. #13
    & the hat of GPL slaying Thantos's Avatar
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    I've done high end raiding on two different games now. I left WoW before I got in a raiding guild ( grumbles about hunters being over populated ). This is after getting a level 60 and a level 48ish character.

    In EverQuest (EQ) I was in the #3 guild for the server which was somewhere in the top 20 server wide. In City Of Heroes (CoH) my Supergroup only had one other guild as competition and we juggled the #1 serverwide spot depending on who got the kill on the new change first.

    I've done the 5+ hour raids. In EQ I raided with a Korea based guild while here in Cali. Which meant 4am raids.

    I did this while going to school, kicking butt in school, tutoring, programming, etc.

    Contray to public belief high end raiding in a MMORPG doesn't require you to do nothing but play the game. In fact once you get to that level you've developed the skills needed to do somethings a lot faster then the "lesser" players. Case in point: CoH has/had a singular raidable mob. We could take him down with about 30ish people in about 15 minutes. After a group from the public sector found an easy way to take him down using large numbers of people there were open raids that needed over 100 people and it took them over 2 hours to do it.

    So no I don't think MMORPGs are as addictive as people make them out to be. I do concede that to certain people with certain conditions it could be. But is it really the game's fault if those people play it?

  14. #14
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    > But is it really the game's fault if those people play it?

    I don't think you're going to find much disagreement on a programming board in a thread where no one has less than a few hundred posts

  15. #15
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Yes, as I said initially, I don't blame the games, I blame parents. It's not a matter of monitoring their every move, it's just a matter of checking up on how their spending their day every so often. Even if a kid comes home from school, does his homework, takes out the trash, then uses the rest of his day to play a game, he's playing too much. They'll get into a really bad habit that they'll have trouble shaking.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

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