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I am hoping the game will eventually die out like Everquest as it is 4 years old now. Its hard to believe after this long its popularity is actually still on the rise.
Diablo 2 (another Blizzard game) is nearing 10 years old, and still has millions of people playing it. It actually made the top 10 PC sales late last year after Diablo 3 was announced. Diablo 2 had many of these same stories about it back in the early part of the decade.
Some people visit Loserville and like it so much they make it their home.
My dad is 51 years old and still plays video games, which hes been doing since the late 70's when he was in his early 20's and electronic gaming was in its infancy. He has also raised a family, been married 25 years, bought two houses, many cars, and has worked almost long enough to retire from 2 jobs.
I think too many people view video games as things for losers, kids, or people who cannot function in life. Many very successful people in life play video games, and there is nothing "loser" about it, until it takes your life over. Then again, the same thing can be said for almost ANY activity.
Some people visit Loserville and like it so much they make it their home.
Not sure how playing video games makes you a loser...
IMO, a loser is someone letting an interest consume their life to the point that you neglect personal relationships or responsibilities.
Another definition of loser IMO is someone who puts things down or refuses to try anything that the rest of the herd consider "uncool" and sticks to the boring, predictable routine and watches American Idol, buys Nickleback CDs and hasn't read a book since 1994....
Although best-selling online role-playing game World of Warcraft boasts over ten million subscribers, it's also leaving in its wake an increasing list of casualties.
Even though she's never played the game, 28 year-old Jocelyn is one of the fallen. A well-spoken California resident, she divorced her husband of six years after he developed a crippling addiction to the smash online RPG.
I do know someone who got a divorce because of warcraft, but when I asked my friend (the woman), she complained that her husband did not want to spend time with her or even have sex, so she spent more time on WoW than with her husband.
she feels that if her husband would have spent time with her, and not the job more, he and she would still be married.
Why do people get so defensive about WoW? No one said that it's directly WoW's fault that a marriage failed. It's simply a statement about an activity and someone who refuses to get out of abusing it that resulted in the marriage being destroyed.
In other words, all of the following are equivalent in that one person gets sucked in by something and chooses not to seek help:
Crack destroyed my marriage.
Cocaine destroyed my marriage.
Alcohol destroyed my marriage.
Gambling destroyed my marriage.
WoW destroyed my marriage.
Yet I never hear people defending the activity in the first four statements, all of which can be done in moderation (though the first two are hard to do in moderation, in theory it is possible).
Drinking or gambling can be fun if done in moderation, as is the case with WoW, but when it takes over a person's life, or it is being abused by children, it is a problem and should be dealt with by a responsible adult.
Why do people get so defensive about WoW? No one said that it's directly WoW's fault that a marriage failed. It's simply a statement about an activity and someone who refuses to get out of abusing it that resulted in the marriage being destroyed.
In other words, all of the following are equivalent in that one person gets sucked in by something and chooses not to seek help:
Crack destroyed my marriage.
Cocaine destroyed my marriage.
Alcohol destroyed my marriage.
Gambling destroyed my marriage.
WoW destroyed my marriage.
Yet I never hear people defending the activity in the first four statements, all of which can be done in moderation (though the first two are hard to do in moderation, in theory it is possible).
Drinking or gambling can be fun if done in moderation, as is the case with WoW, but when it takes over a person's life, or it is being abused by children, it is a problem and should be dealt with by a responsible adult.
WOW, Crack, Alcohol, Gambling are not the reason the marriages broke up. They are inanimate objects. The problem is with the PERSON. Why blame an object when the person using that object in a self destructive way is the problem
This is a hard one for me, because I agree and disagree with a bunch of little things that you guys are saying.
Is WoW to blame? No, but it is a contributing factor. And the makers know this. They are putting sugar our in front of a 3 year old. Should they be blamed for this? It is hard to say, but this is not something I would hold them LIABLE to.
You do not blame Jim Beam for the Alcoholic, but to deny the alcohols effect on the addict is also being blind.
My only disappointment with games like these are simple. Grind fests and monthly charges. I am not saying there is not good content, or that it is free to maintain the servers, but when you charge for everything, it is discouraging when you look at the bottom line (and you also REALLY do not want to not play when you are paying! It is like WASTING MONEY!!!! ).
Now, as for people spending too much time. I am also wondering about the enablers. How many of these people, especially the 20 year olds, can afford the 18 hours a day of play IF THEY HAVE NO JOB? Who is giving them the money? the credit cards? Isn't there an easy way to intervene by cutting the internet connection to the house? Stopping their WoW account, or, worst comes to worst, removing the circuit breaker to their gaming room?
It is like that 1000 pound guy a while back that could not get out of bed. WHO KEPT FEEDING HIM?
Finally, the idea that it is a family event. That is tough, being a team player myself (and missing companions/co-op in Fallout3, Oblivion, and other RPG's). I would love to play some TF2 with my son one of these days (he is only 7 months...) but I would also like to go skiing with him. Biking, rollerblading, hell, jumping off rooves....
Well, maybe not the last one (although I do remember doing things like that when I was a kid!!!! ).
I want him to not only play the latest Mario, but to get OUT and be active. I want to take him to Colorado, to Vancouver, to Tokyo. I want him to see these things. It is too easy to forget about mundane life when you are trapped in fantasy land, and having it played out in front of you on the screen instead of READING it (or, hell, going TO New Zealand).
Just remember, sometimes it is better to go out and climb a tree than stay in and raid an Orc clan while drinking Mountain Dew.
(PS, I want my Starcraft 2 already!!! And no sequel to WCIII FT??!?!?! )
Won't say that WoW is stupid. I'm sure it's great if you are into it and like it.
D&D was mentioned earlier. Frankly...I never got it...nor did I have the patience to figure it all out. When I was a kid I would rather have gone outside and played ball.
I understand WoW just as much as D&D. I'm just not going to dedicate that much of my life to something like this.
I tried D&D several times when I was a kid. Never got past making the characters!
We would spend several hours making up names, backstory, equiping them, and begging each otehr to increase this stat or that, and then when it came time to start, we would be bored with it and go outside or do something else.
I thought it was a great imaginitive game, but the time it took was prohibitive, and I prefered playing or reading over it. I could never understand the guys that would get so into it that tehy did the whole lead figurine thing and the rest, but I would bet money that that is a similar personality to the obcessives that forfeit their lives for this game.
I think it is a combination. If you like video games in general, have a rather obcessive personality (get too "into" things from time to time), like the genre (fantasy), and LIKE to get immersed in other worlds for whatever reason (usually because you are not thrilled with your own) then you are probably high risk.....
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