Inter-sections.net : Destroying the World (of Warcraft)

Comment on Destroying the World (of Warcraft) by Musashi

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:45:33 +0000

I swore I wouldn’t get involved in anything addictive online after my first bout of BBS usage. Since the BBS were in the states, I’d be up well past 3am just to chat and argue on various forums. Hence when I’d see all my friends getting involved with MUDs I steered well clear… Throughout the rest of Uni career, I simply refused to install any games on general principal - I knew I lacked the will power to control it, so it is better to avoid the dark-side. Consequently, as soon as I completed Uni, numerous games were installed on to my PC immediately. :-) However, I’ve still avoided any of the MMORGS due to the way people’s entire lives get wrapped up in them. Playing Quake online, even with a clan could be comfortably controlled and limited to 1-2hrs on Weekdays, and 4hrs+ on weekends etc… Same applies to most PS3 games where you can simply save your position and start again the following night.

In short then; if I can’t maintain positive control over it, and the activity cuts into other important activities, that activity will be avoided. Sometimes I’ll slip up and need to remind myself to snap out of it - usually, I know myself well enough to avoid the crap to start with: So STOP TELLING ME TO START WATCHING BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!!!

Comment on Destroying the World (of Warcraft) by daniel

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:49:11 +0000

Seriously, though, you should start watching Battlestar Galactica :-)

(to be fair, since it’s not interactive, BSG has a hard limit on how much time you can waste on it - also, i’d have to say it’s quite an insightful series, so not really a “waste” of time in the same way that, say, WoW is)

Comment on Destroying the World (of Warcraft) by Mike Morcum

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:38:18 +0000

Im still hooked to wow. gawd damnit. its a great game, but i just cant stop playing. My windows are closed all day. =/

Comment on Destroying the World (of Warcraft) by Salah

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:34:02 +0000

I had a similar experience with diablo back in the days. Spent so much time on it. Looking back, I do not consider it a waste of time though.. It is good to have that kind of unhealthy addictive experience at least once in your life.

It must have served as a vaccine of sorts, because since Diablo I have been successful at dodging the MMO bullet almost entirely.

My only experience with WoW for instance was a little lvl14 druid a few years ago, but I dropped the ball pretty fast when I thought about the insane ammount of time and dedication it would take to fully develop the character.

I think we are similar in that we crave story telling and stimuli for imagination. Books and movies are good. But there is something about experiencing an interactive story in the form of a game that a movie or a book will never achieve.

But I guess we don’t need MMOs for that when there are some excelent RPGs (Fallout, Mass Effect, etc) out there. They are few and far between, but they serve as a good, healthier alternative to MMOs. As you said, it puts a cap on how much time we spend on them, and leaves space for other, more essential things.

Comment on Destroying the World (of Warcraft) by Justin

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:32:19 +0000

Really funny for me to read this, the similarities to my own life are quite remarkable. I was hooked early on by the same kind of games, MMOs like Asheron’s Call and Dark Age of Camelot were the most destructive to my life, but Diablo 2 comes in a close second. I too eventually decided that it had to stop and I gained the willpower to say no to such games.

What amazes me the most about your recent experience is when you reached a point where you couldn’t imagine your life without the game. I hit that point a year ago, only it was with alcohol and not video games. I felt the exact same way you described.

When the realization came to me that I might have a problem with drinking and that I should quit, an overwhelming feeling of loss and impossibility came over me. How could I give up drinking? What would I do on vacation? What would I do at my wedding? And while I knew in the back of my head, “it’s just a drink”, I can’t explain just how hard the idea was to even consider.

It is eerie how similar addictions of all kinds seem to be, and how hard it can be to explain the subtle ways in which they can control you. Anyways, welcome back, been hoping you’d return and finish off the hyperbrain series. :)

Comment on Destroying the World (of Warcraft) by Taped

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:48:12 +0000

I have a friend who plans to quit WoW and just sell his account for real money. I have nothing against people who buy or sell the accounts as long as they don’t get it back once they’ve sold it. Blizzard’s EULA is way to confusing and even if I don’t agree with it, I don’t have a choice but agree for me to get what I paid for. Apparently, there’s an article I read that agreed with me.

Comment on Destroying the World (of Warcraft) by Taped

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:49:18 +0000

Great, I was able to find the article I was talking about. http://www.feelgr8.co.uk/articles/31339.html.