Can you leave it all behind?

Tonight i watched an episode of south park. it was the eppisode about world of warcraft..

while guild wars and world of warcraft are completly different. The point the show made was perfectly clear.

Although i only play a few hours a night. I began to think about the possibility of me being addicted to this game.

Are we wasting our lives in front of a computer playing a game for nothing?

I have made online pals that i will never meet in person. Are they worth anything?

I have made countless ammounts of money in the game.. yet to a non player... these items and plat are worthless.. am i placing to much value in these digitized goods?

is it a sign of addiction when the possibily of quitting the game seems almost too unreal to happen?

think about your lives and how much time you spend playing this game..

these online games eat you alive...

will i be able to just stop when the time comes? who knows.

Will you?

For me it's not the game that brings me back, it's the people.

I'm playing it for the people and the competition. If I wasn't in the guild I'm in now, I probably wouldn't be playing.

You could ask that question of any game, really, I wouldn't see this as any new development.

Yes, I can stop cold turkey. I have gone through months of hardcore online gaming at a time since '99, but I can always walk away and not play a thing for six months (which I do fairly often).

I haven't played GW since March and I have 1,700+ hours logged. I'll be starting up again shortly though (online gaming is a good winter passtime).

I dropped it for several months waiting for a chance to soup up my computer....


I don't play with anyone else, I'm not in a guild, and I don't do PvP.
"I play for the people" is a big N/A for me (and not Necro/Assassin )

I didn't buy the copy of the game I have now (Christmas present), I haven't/probably won't be buying Factions, and Nightfall is doubtful, as fun as the preview was.

I haven't made any real-world investment in this game besides time. Therefore I don't feel any kind of subconscious connection to the game (aside from my warrior playstyle reflecting my personality).

Basically, I'm playing until I run out of things to do in PvE, or until I hit a point in PvE that I cannot get through no matter what I do (starting to think that about Sanctum Cay, but that's another story...)

Guildies are the only reason i continue to play GuildWars.

Theres no real need to stop gaming altogether, most players just play another game when they lost interest. Theres always something new waiting to be the next big thing in the market. If you are refering to GW in particular, as some and even the dev have mentioned in interview before, GW wont last forever....

Meh, you can ask that about any hobby. Can an avid reader put a book down and not read anything but traffic signs for 2 months? Can a golfer stay away from the green? Can a yoga fanatic be a couch potato for 3 weeks without freaking out?

A hobby is only an addiction when it's a problem. When your work, school, family life or social life suffers, or when you experience health problems. Once there are any signs of that, then you have to re-evaluate your life.

But there is nothing wrong with playing video games for a few hours a day, and if you get enjoyment, and in MMORPGs social interaction out of it, then it's just as much (or as less) waste of time as any other hobby.
I think GW stimulates the mind, you have to think about your class, build, stats, skills, team mates, enemies and so on, and I can't see anything wrong with that

Can I walk away from the game, or from gaming in general? Sure, there are more important things in life. But some entertainment and relaxation for a while every day can make these important things easier to deal with, since I am more relaxed

All people value their time spent differently, whether it be for pleasure or for productivity, it is based on our own perceptions of importance. Afterall, when we die, what is it all worth?

What is tangible in life that we may take with us into oblivion? Time and chance happens to us all, just as mountains will erode, so will our existence here on earth. A Saint's lifetime differs not from anyone here on this forum, after a thousand years, neither of our names or accomplishments will be remembered. As Marcus Arelius wrote in Meditations, "the yawning gulf of time behind you and before you at another infinity to come. In this eternity, the life of a baby of three days and the life of a nestor of three centuries are as one."

Our life is too short to worry about how other people judge our time, you spend it pursuing the things you desire, and nothing, not even the whole world, can tell you otherwise.

GW is basiclly replacing my TV time. if i wouldnt be playing GW i would be watching TV, and its hard to say which is more adictive or damaging.

honestly if not for my guildies i wouldn't be playing as much. Yes, i would be playing but defenetly not evryday. I met some amazing and special people that i wouldnt want to loose contact with even after GW servers will shut down

to be honest, lately 70% of my time in GW i spend sitting in Guild hall and chatting with guildies. Occasionally i help with missions or some farming builds, but i have as much fun sitting in GH...

make your conclusions...

Seriously though that has to be the funniest South Park ever.... heh the whole killing boars thing made me remember why I quit WoW in the first place

I work 5 days I a week.
Most of the time I play the game is before I eat and after.
(Not more than 2 hours a day).!!
Its fore me some think do relaxes.
“Being addicted to this game.” I say no, I have a hobby and friends.
They go fore playing. Than I don’t pay whit real money items ore armor ore something like that.
If you do that ore lave you hobby ore friends fore gaming, than you are addicted to this game.

/agreed

Addicted...Who knows? What I do know is that thousands of people where I live are addicted to drugs, alcohol and, to some extent, food. If you are addicted to a game, you're one of the luckier ones.

You will eventually die no matter how you consume your time so everything feels useless anyway. Our planet will be gone sooner or later disintegrating generations of work and making it look like that humans never existed in first place. However, human brains need impulses and everyone has his own way to produce them meaning that people like different things.

/very agreed

before i used to play gw i used to go to raves. god im happy i stoped!

im addicted.. but its not hurting anyone, its a great way for me to spend my time, Im sure the time will come where I get bored and move on, but I dont think that will be soon

I sure as hell don't play this game for people... I play because I have fun.

I think the real question here is: Should you really take everything southpark says as god given truth? I mean... you act as if playing a game means you have no life, yet it took SOUTHPARK for you to reach this conclusion?

Please...

Quoted for truth.

Gaming is my favorite hobby. I call it my "anti-drug".
At the end of a looooooooong day I can log on, get into the game, think of other things, and relax just to get away from the stresses of the day even if its for a couple of hours.

And there are those who are in chronic pain, autistic, disabled, etc., who also log on and play because it takes their mind off their pain, discomfort, etc., they meet people on-line, join guilds and chat with their guildies, if they do not feel like actually "playing". I also know of people who were alcohol addicted who quit drinking and have stayed sober playing this game, stating that playing this game for them was the "lesser of two evils", considers it as a sort of therapy so I guess the bottom line would be "to each his own".

As long as the game does not disrupt your life or harm others, why not play?

Cheers

There are a lot worse habits/addictions out in the world than playing a game for a few hours a night. If you're worried about an addiction to game playing, try to take a break from it 1-2 nights a week. As long as you handle all other responsibilities in your life (work, school, relationships, etc.), then, IMO, you don't really have a problem...