Gaming Addiction

desib77

Just curious, has anyone ever dealt with a gaming addiction or had someone they love that is addicted to online gaming? (World of Warcraft in particular) How did you handle it?

drwtsn32

They don't call it World of Warcrack for nuthin'....

Personally I don't touch games like that (MMORPGs) with a ten foot pole. I remember back in the early 90's there was an online gaming service called The Sierra Network that had an online role playing game. It was very addictive and I would spend probably 80+ hours per month playing it.

If it becomes a problem, I think it may need to be dealt with like any other addiction that disrupts family life.

desib77

My husband plays and it has gotten more and more consuming. It is starting to affect every aspect of our lives and I don't even think he realizes it.

Steve_C

I work with a guy who told me he had an addiction for a couple of years, spending so much time playing that he lost his girlfriend, and came close to losing his job. He finally realized his situation. To prevent himself from playing, he changed his password to a very long, random series of numbers, then immediately burned the paper he wrote the password on.

OP: Sorry, I guess this doesn't help your situation, since my coworker realized the problem himself and dealt with it. I found this online; perhaps it can help: http://www.video-game-addiction.org/internet-addictions-adults.html

SacrificialLoon

I used to play EQ for hours on end years ago. When I first stared I was in that "well I'm a JW but I don't go to the meetings anymore" mode, and I was a little apprehensive about playing it because of all the spells, and undead! I got over that though, and played a gnome cleric.

SacrificialLoon

In regards to the addiction part yeah it is addicting. They've perfected keeping that carrot in front of you to keep you playing, and paying that monthly fee; in addition there's the social aspect that keeps you hooked. You may be bored to tears, but you feel the need to stick around to help your 'friends' to get what they need. Being a cleric in EQ this happened to me a lot since raids depended on there being enough clerics to keep everyone's characters alive, so a lot of times I ended up playing a lot longer than I would've otherwise.

MegaDude

Been there, done that.

I've played some truly great games and remember them with fondness. I've gotten addicted and known other gaming addicts. My friend took his games and gave them to his father to put in his safe so they weren't available. I threw mine away. I then repurchased a couple of them, I began playing them too much again and I threw them away again. I just enjoyed them way too much and they were taking over my life.

mindmelda

We all play World of Warcrack in my family, but the only time it got excessive for us was when my husband was temporarily out of work.

He was using it as a substitute, but he's working again and he's back to just a few hours here and there.

Actually it beats going to the meetings and I've actually met quite a few nice people to play with.

My son comes closest to being "addicted" and he's 16, and has Aspergers Syndrome or High Functioning Autism. People with Aspergers tend to be fixated anyway (it's a symptom of autism, the whole spectrum)., so he does everything that way, not just games. It's intrinsic to the condition, so we stop him if he plays too long. Make him go mow the lawn or something. *G*

I play a holy paladin in WOW, which is a Warrior Priest. A paladin is someone who fights in the name of their faith, a Holy Knight, in mythological tradition. St. George who slew the dragon, and Sir Galahad who sought the Holy Grail were paladins. My character or "toon" as they're called is of the Dranei race.

I call them, "Holy goat demons" because they used to be literally be evil creatures from another realm, but became peaceful and loving and now are the most spiritual race in Azeroth. (The Dranei in the game greet everyone with "May the Light Bless you" or "Be kind to those less fortunate" and are extremely warm, tolerant and humorous. I think I like playing them because I wish I knew more people like that in real life.)

They now fight all the evil creatures and monsters on Azeroth and have a special resistance to their evil "shadow magic". They have horns and goat feet...half human, half goat and are various shades of blue in color.

These games have a whole LOTR-like backstory that goes with it, which makes it even more fun for me. I was always a student of myths and such, fascinated with the subject.

I think it kind of helped me get rid of my JW superstitions about demons to play this game, read high fantasy, and nothing bad ever happened...no demons, nothing.

It's part of how I figured out that was all hogwash.

beksbks

I used to play Asheron's Call. It was my first experience at playing an online game. We hadn't had a computer for long either, so the whole thing was pretty addictive. Eventually I got bored. I've tried WoW, and just don't get into it. Honey Bunny plays most evenings. But after dinner, I'm sitting here on my comp and he's sitting next to me on his. Sometimes we'll watch a movie while we sit here. He tells me stuff that goes on in his game, and I read him some of the more interesting posts here.

beksbks

I wonder if people look at watching that many hours of television as an addiction?

Gaming Addiction

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