Must watch video about MMO's; Documentary “Gamers”

B2BigAl said:
Thanks for posting this. My little brother just started playing wow, against my advice, and in the span of just a couple of months he has become a complete addict. I tried explaining to my parents how incredibly addictive these games can be, but they think I'm blowing it put of proportion. Maybe this will open their eyes before it's too late.
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You are blowing it out of proportion. My advice to you is to figure out why your parents aren't being good parents. I'm assuming that when you say little brother, you mean someone under age. If that's the case, your parents should be setting limits as to how long he spends on the computer, whether in WoW, on the internet, or what have you. We had to do the same for my son until he learned how to balance house work, school work and computer use.

ex0du5 said:
I know quite a few people through work that would think spending more than 1 hour a night on video games is ridiculous. However, these are people that seem to think they have their schedules booked to the brim and can't handle any more. As a single, recently graduated student, I have quite a bit of free time on my hands. I get home at 6:30 and go to bed at 12:30 or so. I eat when I get home, but otherwise, my obligations are next to nothing. If I had obligations, I can imagine it would be difficult to dedicate 3 hours, 3 nights a week to raiding, but at the moment, my schedule allows for it. Of course, that's not to say I couldn't be doing other things with my time, that people might consider more constructive (for whatever reason): reading a book, playing the drums or piano, or hell, some people would consider watching TV more constructive. I see these activities as all being the same thing: fun and entertainment. No activity has more merrit than the other.
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How someone uses their spare time is completely up to them, as long as they're not hurting anyone else. Whether I spend time with my family, play WoW, read, watch TV or whatever, it's my time and I'll do with it what I want. I see so many people posting how they wasted so much time playing WoW and they regretted it, but I don't feel that way at all. I get on when I feel like it, I play for a while and I log out. If I wasn't playing WoW, I'd likely be reading a book, playing another game, or watching TV. Who can judge which use of the time is better but the person using the time?
 
I think this only affects a small portion of gamers. Everyone can be addicted to something and we all know the saying "TOO MUCH ONE ONE THING IS ALWAYS BAD" I play MMORPG's but for fun only. The day it's not fun is the day I stop playing.

Im a dad, and have 2 littl ones, this is usually how my days go, get home around 6 pm, have dinner with the family. Talk to my daughters and ask how their school day went. Help in homework if they need it. Some days we play some Wizard 101 for an hour some days we dont. We watch something on TV together. At around 8:30, they go take their showers and ready for bed. At that tiime I play my games to about 10 pm. 3 times a week a stop at 9:30 and do my 30 minute exercise on the elliptical. Take a shower, during the time I am playing my games, the wife watches her soap operas so it's a win/win. From 10pm to 11:00 pm is our time. Thats how weekdays usually work. I get up at 7am to go to work the following day.

The RL friends I play with know that I have a family and they respect it. They know I can only put in about 2 hours a day on the weekday. Weekends is my time to shine I wake up real early and game in the morning when everyone is alsleep. Through out the day I will play for an hour here and there depending what the family is up too.

That my experience in MMORPGS.


Now dont get me wrong before the girls where born, I will get home and start playing Dark Age of Camelot, and play till 2 am every night. I remember I would run to the kitched and eat real fast and go back to my games. At that time I had no daughters and my wife would be watching more soap operas. So it just comes to the actual person on what they want from life and how they are going to control it.
 
I am in a progressive Wow raiding guild and have been for 5 years now. 5 Years ago I was just finishing college. In the time I have been "addicted" to raiding I have ruined my life by... marrying the love of my life, having a beautiful daughter, developing a very successful career with several promotions, and now I'm about to completely ruin my life by buying my first home. :rolleyes:

I never put much faith into these studies. The game is only as addicting as you let it. It will only destroy your life if you let it. Many people including myself are successful and play MMOs.
 
Intel_Hydralisk said:
Don't need a documentary to tell me that... I see it everyday when I look into my roommate's room. I can't physically walk in there without stepping in garbage and almost puking from the smell. He gained 150 lbs and almost failed out of school. I try to wake him up everyday and get him to go to his classes after he finally re-enrolled.
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That's sad. I used to play MMO's sometime ago and realized what a monumental waste of time they are. Once it felt like a second job I quit.
 
fattypants said:
A few years ago, I quit WoW when I finally realized that I am one of those people who are susceptible to addictive games. That flaw in my personality resulted in me making the conscious decision never to play any game again that I wasn't just willing to drop and take off for dinner with my wife (who suffered through my addiction!).

I'll check this out tonight.
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Congrats and you married a keeper. I did they same. I only play games that have a pause button now. Having a two year old also cuts down on my play time which I'm OK with anyway because watching my little man discover the world is extremely entertaining.
 
I'm reading some of these replies and I think people here chiming in how 'its only addicting if you let it blah blah, my life is great, I didn't let it suck me in blah blah', just don't understand addiction.

Do some research and educate yourself on addiction. I'll give a simpler example: subtract mmorpg with the word Gambling and you will understand its not something many people have control over.In fact they lose control due to impulses and many other factors. There are chemicals in your brain that are released during these addict behaviors.



Most people are immune to this type of addiction, however certain people's brains are wired are more susceptible to letting their addictions ruin their lives.
 
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I tried to figure out what mmorpg minus gambling was, but I couldn't figure out how to convert letters to numbers.

Some of these quotes are just silly:

It is estimated that at least 90% of Americans have at least one form of soft addiction in their lives. Nadine Kaslow, PhD, professor of psychology and behavioral sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, has commented on the issue, saying that while it is healthy to relieve stress with behaviors like drinking coffee and watching television, when they become habitual they become problematic to one's health and happiness.

Cyber-psychologist Kimberly Young, director of the Center for Online Addiction, has addressed Internet addiction, one of the most common types of "soft addictions". Young has likened excessive Internet use to pathological gambling.
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Calling anything 'habitual' an addiction and a problem to health and happiness is downright insulting. So is comparing Internet use to pathological gambling.
 
ex0du5 said:
I tried to figure out what mmorpg minus gambling was, but I couldn't figure out how to convert letters to numbers.

Some of these quotes are just silly:



Calling anything 'habitual' an addiction and a problem to health and happiness is downright insulting. So is comparing Internet use to pathological gambling.
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So is discrediting studies done by people with actual credentials in the field of study. You win the internets brah.
 
Studies have been done by every kind of professional in every single field on every single side of the arguments. Any study can be skewed or purpotrated to suit an argument.

90% of people have addictive personalities, just as 90% of kids these days have ADHD.
 
This is too good. You are absolutely correct. I shall take your word over the countless studies done on addiction and even take your lack of links provided that supports all your counter arguments verbatim. In short I'll shall just accept your word over all these doctors and psychiatrists.
My mistake, carry on.
 
bigdogchris said:
But how many stories have you heard/read about people who lost their friends, family, jobs, education, etc., because of watching TV? It happens a lot more often in these MMO's. Maybe you can play for two hours and easily turn it off and walk away but a lot of other people can't.
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I'm sure people have lost many things due to television. When I was a kid, I would pretend to be sick to watch Dragonball all day, because I was 'addicted' to the show. It's odd however, that once I got through the show, my addiction suddenly disappeared! This has nothing to do about addiction, and everything to do with self control. People blame the products and the addiction. The problem is the person, not the product.

Why don't you hear about this happening with television? Because these studies would never get published, as the publishing businesses rely on television.

But anyways, there are still people going on about the television addiction:

http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/television-addiction.htm

I'm just giving you the flip side. I think argument for psychological addiction is a cop out.
 
wtburnette said:
You are blowing it out of proportion. My advice to you is to figure out why your parents aren't being good parents. I'm assuming that when you say little brother, you mean someone under age. If that's the case, your parents should be setting limits as to how long he spends on the computer, whether in WoW, on the internet, or what have you. We had to do the same for my son until he learned how to balance house work, school work and computer use.
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I'm 32 years old with children of my own, not some little kid, and you don't know jack shit about my family, so don't preach to me pal. My brother is 13 years old, and has completely withdrawn from real life in the past 3 months. We used to hang out every weekend, and now I haven't seen the kid once since he started playing that fucking retarded game. He doesn't go out of the house, he doesn't hang out with his friends, all he wants to do is play WoW. My parents are in their 50's, and they don't understand anything about MMO's or gaming addiction. I've seen it first hand and I know what the ramifications are, so I'm trying to get the message across to them that it is a serious problem, so that they will start making him balance his life out. You obviously think it's a problem yourself, because you had to discipline your own children for it. If it's not a big deal, then why aren't you letting your kids play WoW all day then, huh? If it's no big deal, then why did you have to intervene in the first place? I'm not blowing anything out of proportion, it's a real problem with real consequences that need to be addressed.
 
B2BigAl said:
I'm 32 years old with children of my own, not some little kid, and you don't know jack shit about my family, so don't preach to me pal. My brother is 13 years old, and has completely withdrawn from real life in the past 3 months. We used to hang out every weekend, and now I haven't seen the kid once since he started playing that fucking retarded game. He doesn't go out of the house, he doesn't hang out with his friends, all he wants to do is play WoW. My parents are in their 50's, and they don't understand anything about MMO's or gaming addiction. I've seen it first hand and I know what the ramifications are, so I'm trying to get the message across to them that it is a serious problem, so that they will start making him balance his life out. You obviously think it's a problem yourself, because you had to discipline your own children for it. If it's not a big deal, then why aren't you letting your kids play WoW all day then, huh? If it's no big deal, then why did you have to intervene in the first place? I'm not blowing anything out of proportion, it's a real problem with real consequences that need to be addressed.
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Great comment. It is the young kids and teenagers that are far more succeptable to being addicting to MMO's. I personally do not think grade school kids should be playing WoW, and depending on personality, possibly not until after college.
 
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B2BigAl said:
I'm 32 years old with children of my own, not some little kid, and you don't know jack shit about my family, so don't preach to me pal. My brother is 13 years old, and has completely withdrawn from real life in the past 3 months. We used to hang out every weekend, and now I haven't seen the kid once since he started playing that fucking retarded game. He doesn't go out of the house, he doesn't hang out with his friends, all he wants to do is play WoW. My parents are in their 50's, and they don't understand anything about MMO's or gaming addiction. I've seen it first hand and I know what the ramifications are, so I'm trying to get the message across to them that it is a serious problem, so that they will start making him balance his life out. You obviously think it's a problem yourself, because you had to discipline your own children for it. If it's not a big deal, then why aren't you letting your kids play WoW all day then, huh? If it's no big deal, then why did you have to intervene in the first place? I'm not blowing anything out of proportion, it's a real problem with real consequences that need to be addressed.
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It really seems like there are other factors that are contributing to this WoW/MMO addiction. You can't blame it entirely on the game...it really sounds like there is something else going on (ie. tension within the family, age difference, disconnection, adolescence, social presence among peers, etc). Use a scapegoat if you will, but in the end it comes down to authority not taking the responsibility in controlling the environment either within ones personal self or others "playing" the guardianship role.
 
I don't think I'll be able to watch this all the way through. Too much gaming to do to devote an hour.

btw within the first ten minutes this pops up on the screen.

"Guilds are large groups of players. The MMO version of a street gang."


really?
 
00PS said:
It really seems like there are other factors that are contributing to this WoW/MMO addiction. You can't blame it entirely on the game...it really sounds like there is something else going on (ie. tension within the family, age difference, disconnection, adolescence, social presence among peers, etc). Use a scapegoat if you will, but in the end it comes down to authority not taking the responsibility in controlling the environment either within ones personal self or others "playing" the guardianship role.
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I agree with this, I think some people have personalities and even physiology which make them prone to addictive behaviour of various types. If it wasn't MMOs they would probably obsess over something else, it points to a root problem of which addiction is simply a symptom. You don't treat symptoms, you treat causes and the symptoms naturally go away.

There's not always a lot you can do about a persons physiology, if they get a high release of chemicals that make them feel good when they do certain things then they're naturally going to prefer them activities. However I think most of these "addictions" stem from social issues, MMOs are the ultimate escapism, kids spending lots of time there might be struggling with real life, it can be tough being a kid with many pressures, expectations on kids is at an all time high with things like education, peer pressure, bullying etc.
 
PrincessFrosty said:
I agree with this, I think some people have personalities and even physiology which make them prone to addictive behaviour of various types. If it wasn't MMOs they would probably obsess over something else, it points to a root problem of which addiction is simply a symptom. You don't treat symptoms, you treat causes and the symptoms naturally go away.

There's not always a lot you can do about a persons physiology, if they get a high release of chemicals that make them feel good when they do certain things then they're naturally going to prefer them activities. However I think most of these "addictions" stem from social issues, MMOs are the ultimate escapism, kids spending lots of time there might be struggling with real life, it can be tough being a kid with many pressures, expectations on kids is at an all time high with things like education, peer pressure, bullying etc.
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Agreed.

It's similar to ADHD. Anyone with any type of degree who works with kids (particularly educators) are so quick to slap the ADHD label on any child, especially boys, that they see who cannot color inside the lines or can't complete a multi-step math equation. The underlying problem is that how we do know these kids really have ADHD or whatever they want to call it? Eight year old boys are supposed to run around and eat candy and play tag and be rambunctious, that is just human nature. Human beings by nature are not born to sit still in a classroom for six hours a day learning writing and arithmetic skills, that is something we are conditioned into doing, yet it seems that child psychiatrists and grade-school teachers these days simply don't want to put forth the effort to reach out to the child and discover why they truly cannot focus and instead would rather just slap an ADHD tag on the kid, give him some Ritalin, and call it a day. In other words, they just want to say, "Hey, not my problem".

Sure, we can say that MMOs are addictive by nature. It's easy for someone to say "I can't help that I'm addicted to such-and-such", and in many cases, there truly may be some chemical reaction that is completely out of their control. A lot of times, though, it's simply a case of the person not wanting to own up and take responsibility for their actions, so instead they play the blame game.

Of course, I'm speaking generally here and I don't mean to be a dick or to call every addict a weak, feeble-minded fraud, but I'm just sayin'.
 
svalbard said:
Yeah. People get all emo about it but if that is the biggest problem in someones life it's a pretty easy fix.

How many people watch TV 2-4 hours everyday?

At least in WOW you are interacting socially, if you are in a guild, and if you do high end content you actually have to use your brain to succeed (unlike TV).

If you play WOW INSTEAD of watching TV it's actually a brain upgrade. :p
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Just because you watch shit like LOST and Family Guy doesn't mean there aren't intellectually engaging shows on television. The only thing you'll get better at from raiding is doing more raids.
 
There are very few intellectually engaging shows on television, and not many people watch the ones that are. The Wire and The West Wing are the only intellectually engaging fictions I've seen on television.

That doesn't matter though. We watch TV for fun. We play games for fun. Saying one activity is better than the other because it's more intellectually engaging is moot.
 
I'm not comparing the mediums of TV and gaming, I'm comparing the medium of TV and WoW as another poster claimed WoW is a "brain upgrade" in comparison to TV watching whereas I'd argue TV can be very intellectual and WoW is more of a brain drain than anything. As far as low brow television vs WoW I'd say they're both cancers to their field of media and the people who consume them.
 
Mr. Susan said:
I'm not comparing the mediums of TV and gaming, I'm comparing the medium of TV and WoW as another poster claimed WoW is a "brain upgrade" in comparison to TV watching whereas I'd argue TV can be very intellectual and WoW is more of a brain drain than anything. As far as low brow television vs WoW I'd say they're both cancers to their field of media and the people who consume them.
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I agree that there are many programs on TV that stimulate the brain in a positive way. You just have to find them.

However, I will also say that raiding does improve things such as your coordination, team-building, and communication skills. Raiding sounds simple on paper, but getting 24 people on the same page and to carry out the correct functions at the correct time is not exactly simple. Raiding can improve many skills that can also be helpful in real life.

I'm not saying that if you raid 24/7 you'll automatically be super coordinated and successful in real life. The improvements you'll see will be minimal at best, but still, it's something.
 
SLiGuy said:
I agree that there are many programs on TV that stimulate the brain in a positive way. You just have to find them.

However, I will also say that raiding does improve things such as your coordination, team-building, and communication skills. Raiding sounds simple on paper, but getting 24 people on the same page and to carry out the correct functions at the correct time is not exactly simple. Raiding can improve many skills that can also be helpful in real life.

I'm not saying that if you raid 24/7 you'll automatically be super coordinated and successful in real life. The improvements you'll see will be minimal at best, but still, it's something.
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I totally agree with this post. Playing WoW helped me hone my managerial skills due to me leading raids and planning events for my guild. Also, school, family, friends was put ahead of WoW.

I think self control and priorities are the biggest culprits. Parents need to let kids know what is important and what isn't.
 
It seems somewhat difficult to understand why some people are addicted to video games while others aren't. I think it has a lot to do with how people perceive value in them. Game design has evolved a lot over the decades. These days, we have persistent progressive worlds where people *expend* many hours on (note I'm not using the word "invest"). Couple that with a recurring subscription, it's hard to think of it simply as a transitory video game.
 
I haven't had a chance to read through the entire thread ( just page 1 ) but, this hits home for me. I have been addicted to video games since I started playing MMOs (started with SWG, then transitioned to WoW when it came out). I own my own business, but I sort of do the bare minimum more often than not, because I want to play video games instead. This has been a persistent problem for me for the last 8 years, to the point I dislike talking about it like a normal addict..

Someone whom I have great respect for sat down and had a chat with me earlier this year and sort of 'set me straight' so to speak. It was hard to swallow at the time, but straightening up and gaming significantly less, focusing on my business, has overall led me to being more happy every day and able to do more things that actually matter. I still game, but only 12hrs/week instead of typically 8-12 hrs a day like usual.

For me it's easy to get sucked in, I do my work on the computer, I play games on the computer, so generally I'd do the thing that seems more fun. I'm worried about SW:TOR screwing me up again but I plan to set a schedule and keep myself straightened. I don't want to say gaming has negatively affected my life, I've met a lot of awesome people online and had a lot of fun, but I know I'd be in a much better place right now if I was more disciplined. The hardest part is replacing the free time with something more productive.. for me it's been reading books relating to business systems I'm working with, watching/reading news and playing with my dog. :)
 
Zorachus said:
Watch this, and you will cancel WoW tonight :confused:
http://leakerz.net/wp/2011/02/28/documentary-gamers/

Shows you how bad MMO's steal your life away, as you just sit there in a chair for hours on end, staring at a monitor, and punching your keyboard and mouse like a monkey on crack :eek:

I unplugged a month after Cataclysm, and couldn't be happier. 6 years was way too long, but then again I was never hardcore, was a casual on again off again player. But it is scary to see how people can get sucked away into the "world". I feel bad for young kids that get turned onto it, and don't realize how bad they can get addicted.

Just wait, in another decade or two, when true virtual reality gaming is out, and imagine a WoW style game made in the year 2030, with photo realistic graphics, and wearing a helmet to see the game world 360 degrees. Talk about addicting :(
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Thanks for the chuckle. If those are the most extreme characters the film maker could find, I think my wife and I are pretty safe. :D
 
I don't need to see a video about it either. I played WoW just like I play virtually every other game: I played it until I hit the level cap, started a few alts and played them a little, then I quit after each expansion. I saw all of the content and then I stopped. That's how these games work for me. I can't get into them like a multiplayer FPS where I hone my own personal skill over hours of painstaking playtime. I just get so bored with an MMO because... quite frankly, the gameplay in them is boring once the progression slows down.
 
I don't dare play MMORPG because I know in a game without limits... I won't ever stop. So I just simply steer clear of them, no matter how appealing, or how much my friends like them...
 
orks and dorks = totally gay and will destroy your life and eat your soul...

I know people that have dropped out of school/quit their jobs to play orks and dorks. Also a girl that abandoned her child and stopped taking care of him so she could sit and play orks and dorks 24/7. Ended up leaving the kid with her parents so she could live with some guy that played the game when they cut off the internet at her parents house.

but I have changed my mind about these sort of games somewhat.

I have a friend that played a lot of the fruitbar mmo type stuff... But ended up getting in much much much more trouble IRL with the law and ended up in prison a few times. He would have been much better off just sitting in front of the computer 24/7. Actually have two friends with this problem. Can't get in too much trouble playing an online game.

Also have met some folks that are disabled or have trouble getting around and actually experiencing life as well as they otherwise could so it gives them a bit of stimulation.
 
Zorachus said:
Watch this, and you will cancel WoW tonight :confused:
http://leakerz.net/wp/2011/02/28/documentary-gamers/

Shows you how bad MMO's steal your life away, as you just sit there in a chair for hours on end, staring at a monitor, and punching your keyboard and mouse like a monkey on crack :eek:

(
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I definitely see how this can be "pathetic" to play a game that much, but every time I try to think about how bad it is, I can only think of the DECADES (40+ years, easily) of people who just MINDLESSLY, UNTHOUGHTFULLY sat as couch potatoes in front of a colorless/dull colored TV watching IDIOTIC made up TV shows...... millions, if not billions of people have done that on earth, and were totally unproductive in the end. But millions of these same people will sit there and continue to do this, while they talk shit about a guy on a computer, mostly because they cannot use a computer themselves....

At least with a video game, or MMORPG game at least, you have SOMETHING to show for it. People actually buy MMORPG 80 level nerd accounts as well... for hundreds of dollars, believe it or not.......plus, TV watching couch potatoes DO NOT use their brains as they "waste their life" (while video gamers/internet addicts actually have to use their brain and also improve hand/eye coordinations and typing skills, which are very useful skills in some job markets in this world). Not only do they not get exercise for their body while mindlessly watching TV, they do not exercise their brain.

..........and no, I don't play MMORPGs, just sick of hypocritical people who talk shit about people being addicted to technology, only as they sit there in front of a fucking TV doing the same thing basically..... :rolleyes:
 
Its like any thing else out there. Some people will get uncontrollably addicted others not so much. I just found wow incredibly boring, With games like DAOC you could jump on once a week or for an hour or two a night and have a great time pvping, with wow you have to play constantly to stay in top shape for pvp or pve its just a bad system.

However you cant demonize mmo's all together, Some people cant just have one beer that doesn't make beer evil, it all comes down to the individual. If a person cant give something up they need to look at them selves before they go off blaming a company, game, product or what not.
 
Mr. Susan said:
Just because you watch shit like LOST and Family Guy doesn't mean there aren't intellectually engaging shows on television. The only thing you'll get better at from raiding is doing more raids.
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Ummm, hit a nerve did I? LOL :p

First, I never said what shows I watch. Second, the posters below you made valid points, without being emo, proving your assertion "The only thing you'll get better at from raiding is doing more raids" to be wrong.

So... nice double fail on your part. :D

I can tell by your flawed reasoning that you may need to watch more "intellectually engaging shows" on TV. It seems to be doing wonders for you so far... :rolleyes:
 
Okay, I used to laugh at "Rent to PWN" games. Never really could justify them.

Then I went about looking at how much actual cash I was laying out in my "free time" to keep myself entertained.

By comparison, an MMO sub is chump change.

Currently I'm playing City of Heroes, and have been for the better part of 3 years now.

Believe it or not, I'm actually MORE social online than I am IRL. I have zero social commitments, I don't date (women usually take one look at me and run in the opposite direction...screaming more often than not), and I don't drink, smoke, or go out "clubbing".

As such, I have copious quantities of free time, even working 60+ hours a week. So I put in what some might consider "a lot of time" gaming (10-15 hours a week).

It's my time, and it's not like I'm going to go out and get another job or become some social lion if I'm not gaming. My life is fairly uncomplicated, and I'm not in any sort of hurry to change it. If that means I stay single till I fall over dead, so be it. I'd rather have a long happy life as a single person and "excessive" gamer than make myself (and someone else) miserable until we shot each other to death.
 
i have no respect for these people who willingly destroy their life just so they can play a crappy game all day all week. MMOs are the sewers of gaming.
 
I wanted to watch it, but when it popped up explaining guilds saying, "They are like street gangs" I switched it off.

It's just hard to go into something and not feel like it has a bias when you see that kind of shit.
 
You guys offended by the Guilds = street gang analogy miss his attempt at a little off hand humor.

This was a very good doc on MMOs and gaming. It does touch on the addictive potential of these games, but it wasn't the focus of the film, that was only a portion of the whole story.

It talked about the gaming culture as a whole and the development of MMOs. How much money is involved from both the consumer end and the development side.

What struck me was the passion that so many bring to MMOs. Was everyone in attendance at Blizz Con a hopeless addict? They are certainly devoted and passionate about the game. There has to be a difference between passion and addiction. Are they all wasting their precious time?

Gaming is very deep and complex. Gaming is powerful the way it is able to instill such devotion and passion in so many millions of people. Anything with that kind of power can be dangerous, and needs to be kept in check, under our personal control, subject to our will and better judgment.

Personally I thought the most troubled person in the film was the guy interviewed on the bench that was so adamantly opposed to any kind of video gaming. He made what seem to be valid points, but I thought he was kind of scary, not quite right in the head. Some of the self admitted troubled gamers interviewed seemed more stable than he.
 
Chas said:
Okay, I used to laugh at "Rent to PWN" games. Never really could justify them.

Then I went about looking at how much actual cash I was laying out in my "free time" to keep myself entertained.

By comparison, an MMO sub is chump change.

Currently I'm playing City of Heroes, and have been for the better part of 3 years now.

Believe it or not, I'm actually MORE social online than I am IRL. I have zero social commitments, I don't date (women usually take one look at me and run in the opposite direction...screaming more often than not), and I don't drink, smoke, or go out "clubbing".

As such, I have copious quantities of free time, even working 60+ hours a week. So I put in what some might consider "a lot of time" gaming (10-15 hours a week).

It's my time, and it's not like I'm going to go out and get another job or become some social lion if I'm not gaming. My life is fairly uncomplicated, and I'm not in any sort of hurry to change it. If that means I stay single till I fall over dead, so be it. I'd rather have a long happy life as a single person and "excessive" gamer than make myself (and someone else) miserable until we shot each other to death.
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Words of wisdom.

I often wonder if I am the only one in the world who has "reflected deeply" on what truly leads to happiness or not. The easiest way I have found to clearly see it is to ask oneself "If I was alone on planet Earth what would I do just for the pure joy of doing it?"

So many of the things we blindly strive to obtain end up making us miserable (mortgage on an unnecessarily huge home, high paying stressful job, car payments on a flashy car, hot high maintenance wife...) in the long run. And are mostly done to impress others (status/ ego) both of which increase our long term happiness by ZERO percent.

In my experience the ones who laugh the hardest have actually achieved the least success and seem to honestly believe the above mentioned things will make them happy. It is truly sad. Ever wonder why celebs often crash and burn? They have peered behind the curtain and seen the lie. They have accomplished fame and fortune and they are no more happy than before. This is the dirty secret of our "buy your happiness" culture.

Do luxuries and status symbols make you happy? Yes. But studies have shown within 3-12 months later you return to your "baseline happiness". In other words that house you just took out a 20 year mortgage for will make you happy for a year, then you are a slave to it for 19. Lottery millionaires are a heavily studied group and the evidence is 1 year after they are LESS happy than before they won. Wrap your mind around that one.

It turns out the key to lasting happiness is not GETTING things but AVOIDING things. And being aware of how fortunate you are to be able to do so.
Such things as:

Sickness
Debt
Fear
Envy
Hunger
Homelessness

Show me a man who is geniunely thankful for being free of those things (on a daily basis) and you have a man who is happier than the majority of "rich and successful" people who are not. That is true success since everything you might think you do for some complicated reason actually comes down to:

1) Avoid pain.
2) Obtain pleasure.

Why foolishly mock those who have simplified and maximized the process?
Why make your own happiness attached to difficult accomplishments and expensive things? Does that sound wise?
 
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