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Monday, November 06, 2006
World of Warcraft all or nothing?
I have a Google Alert set to "World of Warcraft", so Google sends me always the latest news on the game. Recently they started adding a section of the latest blog entries, from Google Blog Search, to the alert e-mail. And that made me find this interesting blog post of World of Warcraft addiction:
The author played World of Warcraft, found it too addictive, and went cold turkey. Quote: "I loved every guilty minute of World of Warcraft, and yet I knew I couldn’t go on playing it. I was playing for hours every day, and my appetite was insatiable. There are so many better things to do in the world besides sit in front of the computer all day playing video games. There is awesome stuff out there, like riding your mountain bike and seeing live music and cooking thai food and hiking through clouds in a freezing drizzle."
But now he finds that this plan isn't really working out, because he finds himself bored in the evenings. Quote: "I can live without World of Warcraft, but I can’t live without… well… I suppose I can’t live without long, dark and rainy evenings with nothing to do between 5:00 and midnight. Yeah, I’m not gonna lie to you, this kinda sucks. Even the financial aspect of canceling my account has completely backfired. Now that I’m not paying $15 a month for WoW, I’m looking at $1,500 televisions to fill the void. Yup, in lieu of a subscription to Warcraft, that TV will pay for itself in eight years."
And that is exactly why I am thinking that World of Warcraft isn't bad for you. Because, face it, how many evenings in your life do you spend with "awesome stuff" like "riding your mountain bike and seeing live music and cooking thai food and hiking through clouds in a freezing drizzle", or whatever *you* consider awesome? And how many evenings do you just spend watching TV, if you don't play video games? Dane says "Video games are addictive by design. They are the Soma of our century." Right. So you better give them up and watch TV, the Soma of the last half-century? That doesn't make sense to me.
Obviously the sensible thing to do is to not neglect your job, your family, and all the "awesome stuff". But chances are that after taking care of all that, you will still end up with several hours per week with nothing to do. And in that time you could read a book, build a model railroad, watch TV, or play World of Warcraft. There is nothing that would make World of Warcraft worse than anything else in that list, or any other possible hobby I didn't list. If you start neglecting any of the real life stuff for WoW, then you can call yourself addicted. But if you just really, really prefer playing WoW to watching TV, I wouldn't be worried. Just the opposite, playing a troll hunter is a lot more social and interactive than playing a couch potato.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:34 AM Permanent Link
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I am one of your regular french reader. You can observe the same phenomenon about addiction on the other side of the Atlantic...
On this french blog, the guy is talking about his depression playing WoW, and how he totally spoiled his life in four chapters. These kinds of evidences are very interesting considering you can compare them to drug addicts ones. Maybe you speak french or have a friend able to ;-)
http://hikikomori.skyblog.com/
On this french blog, the guy is talking about his depression playing WoW, and how he totally spoiled his life in four chapters. These kinds of evidences are very interesting considering you can compare them to drug addicts ones. Maybe you speak french or have a friend able to ;-)
http://hikikomori.skyblog.com/
# posted by 
: 6/11/06 10:03
: 6/11/06 10:03
Any hobby is "Addictive by Design".
You can never "win" at golf either (Well, you can if you are playing Golf PvP but generally PvE is the norm and even PvP has some element of PvE - it is still YOUR score vs the course). But you still go back and play the SAME 18 holes, in the hope that you might do it in 1 less shot. And you spend a fortune in doing so. Addictive ? Hell, yes.
So why do people moan about the addictive nature of video games, rather than golf ? If it the accessibility ? The ease of entry ?
You can never "win" at golf either (Well, you can if you are playing Golf PvP but generally PvE is the norm and even PvP has some element of PvE - it is still YOUR score vs the course). But you still go back and play the SAME 18 holes, in the hope that you might do it in 1 less shot. And you spend a fortune in doing so. Addictive ? Hell, yes.
So why do people moan about the addictive nature of video games, rather than golf ? If it the accessibility ? The ease of entry ?
# posted by : 6/11/06 11:29
: 6/11/06 11:29
Well golf doesn't have the "push button get pellet" attribute that WoW seems to have. Little steps are rewarded, then they make you work a little more, then a little more. It's not merely "not winnable" like Sim City, but there is always a carrot on a stick just out of reach.
I don't think WoW is bad either, most hobbies are just escapism. But sometimes I do wonder if there isn't something to the make up of WoW that other types of games don't have.
I don't think WoW is bad either, most hobbies are just escapism. But sometimes I do wonder if there isn't something to the make up of WoW that other types of games don't have.
# posted by : 6/11/06 16:20
: 6/11/06 16:20
No problem, I can read French (and German, and English, and sometimes even l33t). The blog wasn't about WoW, but about OGame, but of course the "addiction" aspect is the same. But what I'm saying here is that ANYTHING can be an addiction, if you overdo it. If somebody spent all his waking hours reading the bible, neglecting his job, studies, family, and friends for the sake of this one occupation, for months and months, I would consider him addicted as well. And I'm sure that somewhere out there there is such a guy. But do you hear anyone calling for banning the bible because of that? No, because it is not the fault of the activity that the obsessive character chose, but his own fault.
Unlike drugs, where there is a biological, physical addiction to the drug, all these modern "insert latest fad here" addictions are just weak-willed people trying to escape reality by doing *anything* else. If WoW is down for 36 hours (which happens often enough), you don't get millions of people collapsing in cold turkey all over the world. Instead you get a lot of people taking a shower, and cleaning up the worst mess in their appartment, and cursing a lot. That is not a medical condition.
Unlike drugs, where there is a biological, physical addiction to the drug, all these modern "insert latest fad here" addictions are just weak-willed people trying to escape reality by doing *anything* else. If WoW is down for 36 hours (which happens often enough), you don't get millions of people collapsing in cold turkey all over the world. Instead you get a lot of people taking a shower, and cleaning up the worst mess in their appartment, and cursing a lot. That is not a medical condition.
What a refreshing counterpoint from the (admittedly I'm included) posts of "WoW is bad and I should quit but I keep playing"!
Warcraft is the opium of those people who do not dare risk using the real opium of the people: opium.
Admittedly golf does not have as many levels, but the idea is the same. You practice doing the SAME THING over and over again, all that changes is the look of the hole and possibly where you are standing. You get your handicap to a point where you can join the club (and your friends) *DING* (insert photoshop of Tiger Woods levelling up WOW-stylee) - and it all starts again. You are now on the bottom rung of the ladder again. You are forced to play matches against people to keep your ranking etc (in danger of torturing the metaphor to death, so will stop). Your handicap improves but you you STILL hit a little ball into a little hole.
Interesting point about "Opium of the people". In context, what Marx was saying when he said religion was the Opium of the people was not that religious addiction itself was bad, but that as religion was an natural product of a deeper unhappiness with the world, it was also rallying against those things that made us unhappy in the first place.
Opium is an escape from the pains and reality of life, and Marx thought religion was too. Is WoW really in that league ? Are we really saying that instead of banning it, we should treat the deeper unhappiness of our lives ? Or is that a bit much for what is (for me at least) essentially bit of fun ?
Sadly, it does seem like a minority of people playing the game see it as a major achievment in their lives. I may not being doing well at school, or in their lives/job - but hey I can pwn anyone on my sever at PVP.
Interesting point about "Opium of the people". In context, what Marx was saying when he said religion was the Opium of the people was not that religious addiction itself was bad, but that as religion was an natural product of a deeper unhappiness with the world, it was also rallying against those things that made us unhappy in the first place.
Opium is an escape from the pains and reality of life, and Marx thought religion was too. Is WoW really in that league ? Are we really saying that instead of banning it, we should treat the deeper unhappiness of our lives ? Or is that a bit much for what is (for me at least) essentially bit of fun ?
Sadly, it does seem like a minority of people playing the game see it as a major achievment in their lives. I may not being doing well at school, or in their lives/job - but hey I can pwn anyone on my sever at PVP.
# posted by : 7/11/06 09:34
: 7/11/06 09:34
Opium never has been the opium of the people. Because when Marx said that religion was the opium of the people, he implied that opium was the drug of choice for the rich people, while the much poorer "people" needed a cheap substitute. Today he'd probably call it the cocain of the people.
The real drug of the people is probably meth, not opium. I'm not an expert on drug prices, but with opium coming all the way from Afghanistan and meth being made in rural US garages out of cough sirop, I think "the people" still can't afford opium.
The Soma I was referring too is a fictional drug from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It was not only making the masses happy, it also had no negative side effects, and no physical addiction effects. But of course the psychological addiction to a pill that makes you happy with no negative side effects would be rather strong.
The real drug of the people is probably meth, not opium. I'm not an expert on drug prices, but with opium coming all the way from Afghanistan and meth being made in rural US garages out of cough sirop, I think "the people" still can't afford opium.
The Soma I was referring too is a fictional drug from Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It was not only making the masses happy, it also had no negative side effects, and no physical addiction effects. But of course the psychological addiction to a pill that makes you happy with no negative side effects would be rather strong.
That cheap (VERY cheap) subsitute being Laudunum, which is based on Opium. Cheaper than any alcohol at the time. And it kept the masses so happy, we brits even grabbed Hong Kong to ensure its continued supply.
Happy and sleepy - is there any better way to control your populace ? Better than many of todays drugs of choice, which appear to turn you into a maniac.
Happy and sleepy - is there any better way to control your populace ? Better than many of todays drugs of choice, which appear to turn you into a maniac.
# posted by : 7/11/06 12:28
: 7/11/06 12:28
After the initial crash and withdrawl, my weaning from World of Warcraft seems to be going fairly well. Instead of buying a television I turned my couch around, so instead of facing my empty living room it now looks out my picture window... with the epic rains we've been having out here in Oregon, I'm currently watching the Hood River belch all sorts of muddy detritus out into the Columbia River.
...of course, this all goes to hell after dark, at which point I find myself presented with the odd situation of staring at my reflection in the window. Fortunately, now that I'm no longer investing as much time into World of Warcraft, I find myself writing more, practicing my bass more, and unsticking projects that had fallen victim to procrastination.
...of course, this all goes to hell after dark, at which point I find myself presented with the odd situation of staring at my reflection in the window. Fortunately, now that I'm no longer investing as much time into World of Warcraft, I find myself writing more, practicing my bass more, and unsticking projects that had fallen victim to procrastination.
# posted by : 8/11/06 00:29
: 8/11/06 00:29
http://digg.com/videos/gaming/My_opinion_to_World_of_Warcraft_after_one_year
and http://www.quazen.com/Games/Computer-Games/World-of-Warcraft---reasons-to-play,-reasons-to-stop.13704
just like I've felt...
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and http://www.quazen.com/Games/Computer-Games/World-of-Warcraft---reasons-to-play,-reasons-to-stop.13704
just like I've felt...
# posted by : 25/1/07 08:04
: 25/1/07 08:04<< Home
