WoW addiction?

[thahat]

played for half a year,
had some fun with it,
no i was not addicted, but tim did seem to fucking FLY -looked to me like an hour of play, but was actualy 5-8, that kind of idea-
quit it after i thought well fuck me this might get quite addicting XD
and yes, i can see the addiction, especialy cause i know a bunch of those kind of people who became WOW zombies.
and yes, they are zombies, they eat, sleap, work, and play wow.
the end.

 

[ethaninja]

I remember when it first came out, I saw my brother playing it, (when I heard about World of Warcraft, I thought it was going to be another Strategy)jumping over fences and slaying shit, building armor, etc. So after about 6 months of watching him playing it I decided to try it out. I admit I was pretty hooked. Then after people started running around in their underpants, and doing absolutely nothing, stealing my kills etc, I just gave up on it saying... I'm not paying x amount of $$$ to watch other people play etc.

Matter of fact, that was one of the first games that turned me off mmo games to begin with. I would revisit the game for about 2 months every year give or take, but only to be reminded of why I quit in the first place.

 

[Croix Sinistre]

i played it for hours each day while in iraq. I never played it before, and i haven't played it since i got back. It was useful to kill lots and lots of time, i got pretty into it too, it was by no means a casual thing for me.

I don't think i was addicted, though I did crave it while i wasn't playing it, but really i think i craved how much time it would kill and how i could count another day closer to redeployment. Honestly, i was the sheer amount of stuff you could do and be which drew me into it, and i dont doubt thats why other people play it consistently for hours a day. I believe it plays into the same emotions which trigger 'non-gamer' people to check their farmville every few minutes: the pursuit for 'more'

For someone to be addicted to anything there has to be some period of 'recovery' where they must draw down the activity, or attempt to keep themselves from it. I had no such period, i simply stopped playing; the reason being that where i had so much time to fill while in Iraq, now when i'm back in the states i have more things to occupy my time, thus negating the need for a 'time waster'.

 

[GreatVladmir]

Played for roughly afew months now

Its been good, ok some people are jack-asses, but the majority of people are either nice or just keep there heads down n level.

Yes, I'm an addict, only game I play now days.

I can see people who enjoy WRPG's n grinding through them getting addicted, but people who play RPG's for epic story telling, a plot or away to get round grinding, they wont get addicted.

 

[Audio]

1: on and off for 5 years (more off then on).
2: A very strange feeling of being really bored but compelled to keep playing. What makes me discard the game is the attitude of the people playing. I had been playing not long after it first came out in Uk. Yet because I don't have all the good stuff or the recent achievements, i am treated as a liability.
The big blow to the game for me was seeing this happen to a friend i just made. The higher their stats..the more arrogant they get. After that i thought...will i change if i ever get that far? I also noticed some people getting that way...they knew more about the dungeon so they get angry when we do act like they expect.

3: I might have considered myself addicted during one summer, but the fact that I dont take the game seriously tells me otherwise. (i end up playing through boredom then anything else)

4: I believe that the addiction is partly to do with the fantasy genre (elves, dwarves & magic) and popularity. The clever thing Blizzard have snuck in is how they reward the players. Special drops makes the player feel stronger and encourages them to push onwards. However the lack of special stuff makes the rest keep playing untill they do. (they might feel that they cant progress till it's done)
These little things keep the player locked in and since it is a 'World' you meet other people...which takes away the feeling of being alone. That in itself is enough to keep a majority of people playing.


sorry if i wrote too much..i like psychology x)

 

[Haagrum]

I'm doing a report on WoW addiction for my Media Production class, and I need various opinions/etc. If anyone would answer these questions for me/discuss it'd be greatly appreciated. c:

-

How long did you play or have you been playing World of Warcraft for?

Played it for three years. Have been clean for a year.

In that time, what have your experiences been?

Varied - started out very interesting, lost any desire to level another character once I started raiding and MTing for my guild. The people I met kept me playing and have become RL friends, who I still catch up with outside the game despite time differences and geographical distances.

Can you see yourself being addicted?

I wouldn't call it addicted, but I was certainly over-playing. I went through a few rough patches (personally and professionally) over those three years and having a core group of mates online all over the world to blow off steam with helped me get through.

I played it a lot more than I probably should have, even though we always held fast to the rule that "Real Life Comes First". Some days I'd just plough through instance after instance, daily quest after daily quest, because I could. I would organise parts of my social schedule around raiding (because I had to match a 14/16 hour time difference). I guess that blurs the lines between addiction and dedicated game-playing. In either case, I'm glad to have stopped, if only because of the amount of time I was putting into it.

Can you see how others become addicted to it?

Absolutely. When you've had a lousy day, or you're just feeling down about something, escaping into a world where you're in control of everything you do can feel better than life.

Hope that's useful to you.

 

[theincurabletragedy]

Hope that's useful to you.

That's awesomely useful, thanks.
I have all I need for the report now, thankyou all. Anyone else care to share, just to pique my curiosity?

 

[B2kCyclops]

1.
I've been playing WoW since Beta. Since 2005 only in winter/when the weather sucks.
In 2009 I didn't play at all.
2.
Overall good, since it's foremost just a game and there are always ways to avoid the "bad" things.
But thanks to (mostly) Blizzard's ignorance, carelessnes and arrogance towards players and the game itself, I heavy-heartedly abandoned my oficcial account and switched to a private server in january...
3.
At times I was more or less addicted to WoW.
I rather spend my time with WoW than with my Girlfriend. Ahem...
Hence the decision to only play WoW at times when I spend most of my time in front of my PC anyways. Works fine for me, and keeps me away from my other (Sex,Drugs&R'n'R-related) "addictions" ;-)
4.
Yes, very much.
Everything you invest much time and passion in can become an addiction.
Even solo PC games without the MMO-part can become addictive.
Just take a look at all the casual-games like Bejeweled or Peggle.
Or classic PC-RPGs like Neverwinter Nights (approx. 120h,with addons,for playing through once) or sandbox-games like the GTA-series or the Bethesda-games(Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout3).
And if I remember the times the Gameboy was new, some people (not just kids) spend weeks playing with it nonstop.

 

[ffs-dontcare]

I'm doing a report on WoW addiction for my Media Production class, and I need various opinions/etc. If anyone would answer these questions for me/discuss it'd be greatly appreciated. c:

Mmkay.

How long did you play or have you been playing World of Warcraft for?

I've been playing WoW intermittently since early 2005. Since I was in high school from 2005-2006, I couldn't really afford to play regularly, so I could only really play during the Christmas season and maybe in the middle of the year if I somehow got my hands on extra money during that time. This "playing schedule", as it were, continued all the way up to late 2009, which is when I finally decided to stop being an altoholic and focus on just one character. This was when I finally started started buying game cards regularly. I play nearly every night.

In that time, what have your experiences been?

I have watched as the WoW community withered and died as more and more retards joined the show. I watched as the idiots clogged up the player-base and chased away the genuine players as they themselves grew in number. I have fond memories of my time on the Boulderfist US realm [http://www.wowwiki.com/Server:Boulderfist_US], and the history of the WoWWiki page reflects this. I wrote this version of the page [http://www.wowwiki.com/index.php?title=Server:Boulderfist_US&oldid=152205#Server_Facts] in 2006 while my account was inactive, which quickly got the attention of the Boulderfist forum regulars. As WoW enjoyed a TRUE community back then, others soon began adding to the page which I had started and soon it became something amazing [http://www.wowwiki.com/index.php?title=Server:Boulderfist_US&oldid=1616195#Server_Facts]. It was our fun project. We had no intention of taking the game seriously.

Unfortunately, as time went on, the server became populated with overly "srs" morons and the WoWWiki page became what it is today after they came in and changed it to make it look more... serious.

After 2008, the fun we had as a massive community stopped but the game itself still provided me with plenty of enjoyment.

Can you see yourself being addicted?

Nah. I don't even bother playing if I don't feel like it. I only play 5 nights a week on average and even then I do what I want rather than tie myself down to a hardcore raiding guild with a strict-ass leader who takes the customization out of talent builds because he wants to face-roll everything 3 specific nights a week like a job. It's a game, it's supposed to be fun after all. If I kept playing through pointless tedium, then yes, there might be signs of an addiction but as it stands, I am currently not addicted nor have I ever been to the best of my knowledge.

Can you see how others become addicted to it?

Maybe. I've never actually known someone who was addicted but I can see how it might get addicting for certain players.

 

[Kaltazraza]

I have played wow almost since it's beginning, although I have had some 1months breaks. And isn't playing much now, because of hollidays and such.
I have been in endgame-guilds in all vanilla, tbc, and wotlk, although I never reached the very last bosses.
I have been/still is addicted to WoW, but from time to time I play more.
Some of my friends play way too much after my head, they have endgame-raiding on multiple characters, they forget to write their homework sometimes, and are unable to concentrate in class(nor do I concentrate but still).

 

[LordFisheh]

1. I've been playing for about 3-4 year now, and no end in sight!

2. Generally good experiences, though I only really got into endgame content this expansion. I still stay far, far away from pvp though .

3. I can't see myself becoming addicted as i feel no crushing need to play. Normally I spend more time on it that some might say I should, but in the end, there's no reason that their ways of passing time are inherently better. Right now I have exams, so I'm hardly playing at all.

4. Yes, but only in those with an addictive personality. My friends who play don't have any problems, and in no way is WoW the addictive dangerous narcotic that people make out. Those who get obsessed and begin to fail at life could just as easily become obsessed with gambling, or drinking, or sandcastles. If they want to while themselves away at it, it's their own damn fault. People need to stop blaming the game.

 

[JasonKaotic]

-I stopped playing after about 3 years, sometime near the end of last year

-If you mean what did I think of it, it changed a bit. I started off like "WHOAH THIS IS AMAZING I NEED TO GET THE FULL GAME", got the game, "wooo I like this game", played for a while longer and got bored of it, had a really long break (a few months), carried on, then kept breaking then playing again until I finally hit lv80, played a bit more for about a month, got completely bored, then stopped playing and cancelled the subscription. Although I'm considering getting it back at some point.

-Nope. I've always spent pretty much my whole life indoors/on the computer, so nothing realy changed. But msn will always be a priority for me, so I wouldn't get addicted. MAH FRIENDS MUST BE TALKED TO.

-Yeah. I think some of them may be misunderstood though, it is a game you have to put a lot of time into (it takes a few months to hit the level cap if you put full focus into it, years if you're a casual player like me), but it is definately exaggerated how many people become addicted.

 

[FactualSquirrel]

How long did you play or have you been playing World of Warcraft for?
About an hour, I'm not sure if I count for this

In that time, what have your experiences been?
Getting bored out of my mind, so I went to do homework

Can you see yourself being addicted?
No, never.

Can you see how others become addicted to it?
Not at all, it's beyond me.

 

[Chunko]

I'm doing a report on WoW addiction for my Media Production class, and I need various opinions/etc. If anyone would answer these questions for me/discuss it'd be greatly appreciated. c:

-

How long did you play or have you been playing World of Warcraft for?

In that time, what have your experiences been?

Can you see yourself being addicted?

Can you see how others become addicted to it?

I feel like WoW can create "Simulated Addiction" I played it for about 3 years. I was not reliant on a rush of adrenaline and it did not dominate my life. People thought I was addicted to it because in order to level up I would have to play a lot. And in order to complete instances I would need to play for hours on end. But I definitely was not addicted because I still got straight As, and had no trouble balancing other commitments. Additionally I would often go weeks without even playing. I was not addicted, but I can't say the same thing about other people.

 

[ArianaUO321]

I'm doing a report on WoW addiction for my Media Production class, and I need various opinions/etc. If anyone would answer these questions for me/discuss it'd be greatly appreciated. c:

-

How long did you play or have you been playing World of Warcraft for?

In that time, what have your experiences been?

Can you see yourself being addicted?

Can you see how others become addicted to it?

Roughly four years or so.

Up and down, spent a lot of time in PvP (Entirely Horde side, mind you), with WotLK, I've gotten into raiding, and rather enjoy that. I will say though, whether or not the WoW experience is good or not, depends entirely on who is online.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I would say I'm addicted or not. I mean, the sheer amount of "Played" time I have amounts to almost a full year, but in truth? I don't really find the game to be all that great. In fact, I would more say I'm addicted to the friends I have on the game, than the actual game itself. If I hop on, and nobody is on there to hang out with, I generally just turn the game off and go do something else, because in my opinion? That is a horrible game if you are playing solo. If you are playing with a friend though? Its an entirely different story and a lot of fun. Also, being a roleplayer in that game on the Moon Guard server (Yeah, laugh it up, I don't care), it gives a bit more options for things to do.

I can understand how others can get addicted to it, definitely. Certain things in that game would appeal to certain different kinds of people. I don't fully understand how some people can enjoy the game solo, however.

 

[Yureina]

How long did you play or have you been playing World of Warcraft for?

I played from July 2005 to around 3 weeks ago, which makes for about 5 years. I don't plan on coming back to play WoW however.

In that time, what have your experiences been?

I could write essays on this, but i'll keep it short. Pretty much everything under the sun that one could imagine in an online game. Sometimes I was an average player acting as a bystander who was only interested in my own personal affairs (leveling and raiding, or just simply solo play), while at other times I made decisions that had server-wide consequences (I opened the AQ gates on one server and totally dominated another's economy). My social experiences were varied as well, ranging from some of the friendliest people I have met in the world to some pretty hardcore bully types to some of the most morally depaved people I have ever seen. You could say I saw it all and more in 5 years and 12 different servers, from the lowest rungs of single-play to a roleplaying organizer to a member of one of the world's top 100 guilds.

Can you see yourself being addicted?

I was, for a time. The major reason was that there was a time in my life where I had some serious issues, and my time online allowed me to fill a very serious void in my life. Basically whenever my real life situation started to lose meaning, or in some cases I had a very personal reason to play WoW (AQ gates and some very intense conflicts), then I tended to lose myself in the game world. But that was not addiction to a game per se. It was rather a use for the game's environment and, most of all, its community and what that brings that allowed me to get sucked in for a few periods.

Can you see how others become addicted to it?

For the reasons I mentioned above, yes. If someone has deficiencies in their real life situation, then they can find something in WoW that can fulfill that personal need. Ultimately, I think it has less to do with the game and more to do with the person itself. Someone with purpose aside from that game is far less likely at getting sucked in than someone who plays games constantly, but otherwise has little else that they see as "important" in their life. Or it can be escapism too. Either way, a game becomes an addiction in my eyes when someone is trying to make up for something that they are missing in their real life. That's just my perspective.

Hope that helps. I can say more as well, though some stuff, especially about my experiences, I am not keen on posting explicit references to on an open forum. Some of the things I did when I played could remain controversial you could say, and the show is not yet over with me still holding my WoW account ready for use.

- Rei

 

[JasonKaotic]

oh by the way, I couldn't help but notice the name. Do you like Into Eternity?!?! :O:O
(sorry for going off-topic there)

 

[Willwillwritehiswill]

How long did you play or have you been playing World of Warcraft for?
Off and on since late 2007

In that time, what have your experiences been?
Started on a fresh server with an RL friend. We leveled together. When i was travelling new zealand, it was fun to log in and chat with him.

Can you see yourself being addicted?
No. it's a video game and as such will never take priority over real life things.

Can you see how others become addicted to it?
Incredibly weak willed people can become addicted to anything, so yes, i suppose it's possible. i've never experienced it myself.