News WoW add-on is the fastest selling game in history

To all the people who complain about the addictiveness... Come on people, it's a game... I've played my fair portion of Diablo (all the versions/expansions) and I still managed to have a social life.

Gaming is addictive (HL2, Quake,...) all have the same effect, the problem is between the keyboard and the chair.

And about sexual predators and other stuff, maybe they should ban IRC, MSN, ... too, because AFAIK there are more "predators" lurking over there...

 

I agree with Glider, its all down to PEBKAC unfortunately. However a game should only let you play for a certain amount within a period.

But I just know how to socialise whilst playing games, hell we set up LANs for AOE2.

 

I know several people that have a WoW addiction, and one of them has even started another addiction, to suplement his habit, since he can't naturaly stay awake long enough. What is the world coming to?

You know you've spent too much time playing WoW when...
Your child dies whilst playing.

 

I got the free trial off my friend, and played for the 10 days, or whatever it is.

I had fun, and got up to lvl 15 or something with my priest, but then it ran out. I was a bit gutted that I couldn't keep playing, and I was a bit down for a while, but then I got on with my life.

I reckon its the prospect of losing money if you don't play that keeps people going: I have plenty of friends who are heavily into Guild Wars - which is non subscription, you buy the disk and play for ever - unlike WoW which is a kidney a month, or something.

The difference is, that if you don't play Guild Wars, you're not "losing" your money, whereas with WoW, by not playing it - you're not spending your money effectively.

...do you see what I'm saying? Kind of confused me...

CC

 

Quite like the population split idea, will we get a choice do you know? ie how will guilds be affected?

Some people take the game too far, guy on our realm was 70 within 5 days (afaik the guy who mate 70 in 27 hours had his account nuked? Not sure tho...)

Ref "addiction"
That's their choice at the end of the day. It's their life that's being ruined if you're not happy with it then frankly get over it. It's not your problem. If you don't like people smoking, then you don't stand next to them when they're having a *** do you then whinge cos they're smoking.... As long as their "addiction" doesn't adversely affect their/your life then leave them in peace.
That's a selfish way to look at it in some respects, but firmly believe with many addictions that it's all down to choice and willpower. You CHOSE to become addicted, and you should therefore have the CHOICE not to be. Maybe that's a naive view but people are mostly fully aware of the risks/addictive nature before they start.

I've been playing more than i'd like lately (mostly due to TBC + a more "lax" period at uni at the mo). I do know however that at any point I can put the game down, and go do some work.

 

Yeah, I know it's "their choice" - but frankly, if you can see your mate's future going down the drain and you're not worrying about it, then you must be a pretty cold, heartless basket.

CC

 

just like how people choose to be addicted to drugs too, which is why theyre so legal. and why ciggarette companys arent gettin in any trouble for selling an adicting product that harms you...and gambling addictions arent a problem that anyone should deal with.. or getting younger kids hooked that dont know any better or dont have the mind to combat such an addiction...oh, wait a second.

something doesnt have to be chemical to be addictive. and if its "just" a mental addiction, its still just as harmfull and bad.

 

It pee's me off when people get addicted to something (alchol, drugs, smoking) which results in some damage cominig to them (ie liver disease, lung cancer etc) then go and sue the manufacturer. Of course its their fault for making an addictive product. It wasn't you who went out to buy it was it? It was thrust apon you while you slept one night...
They make the products, the health warnings are made apparant (if you don't know the damage which can be done then tbfh you deserve everthing you get...) and yet they get sued/blamed when people get ill...
Society we live in seem's plenty happy to blame other people when stuff goes wrong. No one seems willing to blame themselves.

Mental addictions as you say are just as bad. But IMO should be easier to "kick" as there's no physical/chemical factor in there too.

People have choices. It's easy to "blame" the game, or the drugs, or the people who make them. But at the end of the day, you chose to start in the first place.

This probably isn't the place to discuss this sorta thing tho.
If you have problems with your mates being addicted then speak to them about it.

 

just because you have the mental willpower to resist addictions, and the foresight to look at consequences befroe you start something doesnt mean that everyone does.

when a 12 year old kid starts smoking ciggarettes i highly doubt hes looking at the warning label on the carton, and since its illegal for him to smoke then its doubly not the manufacturers fault right? same with alcohol, someone who casually drinks but then gets depressed and begins to drink more and more and more till he has a problem, im sure that person stopped beforehand and thought, maybe i should do some research and read some warnings before i drown out my problems with alcohol.... walking into a casino, they dont give you a lecture about the possibility that you could become addicted.

even still, i dont think WoW comes with a warning label telling you that its addictive, and that it could cause you to become a social recluse and quit all progress in your life.

they dont thrust the products on you and make you play them, thats true. but they definately advertise them, and make them appealing and addicting. and they definately dont make consequences known as much as they tell you how much fun it is. someone makes a product that harms you, surely thats the fault of the person who made it. what if they made atoy that hurt children? i guess they shouldnt be accountable since it was a choice that got it into the child's hands.

and like i said, speaking to my mates is easier said than done, because they believe they have no problem and that what they do is just as valid as anyones everyday life.

i have a feeling sometime in the future, mabey a long time maybe not, there will be warnings and limitations on games like this

 

heres an idea, an ad for WoW that shows the games graphics, adn explains the game and how many subscribers and how fun it is, and then it shows a buncha college kids drop out and quit their jobs to play day and night. show them get all out of shape and un healthy

an alcohol commercial that shows the typical group of people at a party and whatnot, then show a guy in the hospital for a liver problem...

a ciggarette commercial that ends with a guy dieing of cancer.

but youre right, maybe this is getting off topic... GOOD JOB BLIZZARD IN HAVING THE FASTEST SELLING GAME EVER and selling it to a large number of sad addicted drones

 

Ban games!
Ban cigarettes!
Ban Drugs!
Ban the internet!

Hell, even ban food, if you eat too much you'll get fat, and die because of that...
Oh, I forgot, ban water, you can drown in it...
Maybe you should ban cars too, they kill...
Hmm, ban breathing too, you never know what's in there...[/sarcasm]

If you aren't mature enough to decide for yourself how far you can go, you have it coming... Don't blame WoW for being addictive, blame the one's who addicted to it for being a dumbass...

And your argument about 12-15 year old guys/gals getting hooked... 2 words: Parent Responsibility

 

Agree ref the points on depression etc. Sometimes you may not realise your falling down a slippery slope. When you're at the bottom though, and you know you are guess its harder to get yourself out. Still though, with willpower etc it should be possible if you want it enough.

What would you deem a suitable limitation?

Well said mate Summed me waffle up rather nicely!

 

I would personally say a maximum of 4 hours straight game play. No more than 16 hours in a 24 hour period.

 

Dude, most people who start a game like WoW know that it can suck up their lives. Changing the life-ruining aspect isn't very hard, you just stop playing. The game might be giving them some very nice easy dopamine, but they're not physically addicted to anything the game itself offers other than that easy dopamine. They just need to stop being wusses frankly and stop playing so much.

Oh ffs dude, stop assigning all the blame to the evil computer games company and realise that the people you're talking about are weak. WoW doesn't do any of that, they do that. They make the concious choice to do that every single day when they get up. Yes, it may be a cycle that they're psychologically find hard to break out of, but it's not addication, and kicking the "WoW habit" would be far far easier than kicking any real addiction. It simply requires them to not play so much. If they actually want to, theres nothing stopping them.

You're actually condoning something like that? Dude people have choice! You don't take away choice from people just so that the pathetic morons who're too damn stupid to move their arse and keep a life up are having a hard time. Don't ruin the good for good people, for the sake of crap people.

 

lol... That's not realistic. 24 hour's over a 36 hour period maybe, but 4 hours straight no way. Some people only play at weekends or in the evening's, you'd be affecting them too. Or would they be classed as addicted playing 6-11, or all day saturday....?
From a game point of view, some of the instances take that long if not longer. Same with battlegrounds if you get unlucky.

 

theres a difference, one type of product is designed/or has the tendency of being addictive, and the other doenst. you can misuse any product out there, but youre not going to claim that a steak is addictive and forces you to get fat. ciggarettes on the other hand...

and as far as a limitation goes... i dont know.. i guess i would limit it to the average ammount of time a typical person has after coming home from work/school till a typical bed time to get a good nights rest. maybe with different numbers on weekends

 

and again i have to reiterate, to those saying that this is all about their choice and they can easily choose to stop. thats easy for you to say if youre the kind of person who doesnt get that way or you have a lot of will power. the people with so-called addictive personalitys might have a different viewpoint. so dont outlaw it but let theses problems be known.

and if the limitations are reasonable, then its not ruining it for anyone. unless youre addicted and you think you need to play for 20 out of 24 hours in a day.. maybe you want to have a lan party with your friends at which you would play longer than the standard limitation. so maybe there should be a system for that too. but a limitation system would only be in extreme cases and i dont see that kind of time limitation happening. i see warning labels and age limitations.

 

The 4 hour limit is more for eyesight problems, hell at work we are strongly reccomended to take a 15 minute break every hour of work. I don't get away from my machine that much, too much work, I do 4 hour stints before my eyes hurt and I goto chat to some mates.

 

about that, we're at an interesting time for parent responsibility as far as computers go. with that girl and her internet predator friend. the parents had NO IDEA that was happening...infact, the mother thought she had her daughter banned from using the internet and never knew she was on. the technology has passed up the parents ability, and its difficult to watch their children. for a person like me it was easy to find out, but im young enough to know.

 

The internet predator problem is just that the communication between the kids and the parents isn't there. I have a very strong relationship with my mum, I tell her a lot about what I'm doing and so on and it makes her feel more secure that I know how to behave and what to do.

Thats what everything boils down to, communication.