|
hacknee posted:My two little brothers are addicted to WoW and it's no wonder they never stop suckling the cold mechanical teats of their computers if this is an example of the type of mindset a WoW player gets. The thing about MMOs, and WoW is the best example of it, is that they are built to promote addiction. The game works on an exponentially decreasing scale of time to reward. To get to level 10 takes only 3 hours or so; to get to 20, on the other hand, takes about a day. And about 9 days for 50. At the highest levels, the game sucks time like a black hole for just the slightest increase in power. People get addicted to gambling for the same reasons they get addicted to MMOs: the potential reward of a possible payout is there, but the game is heavily stacked against winning. That's not to say that you can't play it without getting addicted, but the game itself is designed to draw you in and keep you there. My advice to the OP is that WoW is ruining your life and you need to quit until you can find some kind of balance.
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2007 18:31
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 22:45 |
|
|
Old Carbuncle posted:Do you have the same attitude towards other peoples hobbies? Such as someone who builds ships inside tiny glass bottles, or paints? It's a hobby the same way gambling is a hobby. Not to say you can't do either with some measure of control, but you have to take a hard look at yourself. Is it a hobby or an addiction? If you're struggling to keep up a relationship or a job, here is a hint: it's not a hobby.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2007 19:14
|
|
|
Old Carbuncle posted:Everything in moderation, even hobbies, but that doesnt mean WoW isnt a hobby or in any way less (un)productive than any other, and it certainly doesnt mean he has to stop playing entirely There's a difference between a productive hobby and an unproductive one. Everybody has (or should have) both. Learning an instrument, doing a sport, reading, painting, rebuilding old cars, whatever: there's a tangible end product in these tasks, or at the least you are improving yourself. Then there are the time wasters: TV, myspace/facebook/something awful posting, videogames. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these activities, since everyone does something like this, but very few of them say they're hobbies. What would you say if someone told you their hobby was checking myspace? You'd think they're pretty pathetic. It doesn't have to do with the activity itself, but rather how you view that activity with regard to your own identity. When you define yourself by your time-wasting activities, you've essentially just made your identity nothing. You may think that something like reading is just as much a waste of time as gaming. Yes, some of these are arbitrary social distinctions, but they are nevertheless real distinctions. The cachet of a level 70 WoW character exists only to a small in-group, but to be well-read is prized in just about all aspects of educated society. And hey, I've been posting here for some seven years, and a ton of those posts are in games, so it's not like I'm taking an elitist position here.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2007 19:38
|
|