Title Wars,Elitist Attitudes,and Addiction

Im a healthcare professional. I work in an ER and Ive consulted Phd's in both Mental Health and Addiction about some of my concerns.My guild is one of the oldest in the game and among our core members we have many tens of thousands of hours in-game.While initially a fan of Titles, recently as I made a list of Title " Pro's & Con's ", the list was empty of Pro's & the list of Con's was extensive. Now before I voice the many specific concerns of the Doctors Ive been in consultation with, it was suggested that I gather some feedback from the constituency. Granted a relatively small number of players utilize the board but the feedback you generate may, in review be used as we formulate our concerns regarding game design & features. Diplomacy & professionalism will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You for your time & consideration.

What is your point.

Trolling?

Because it seems so pointless.

You suffer from addiction to a game, and it is related to titles. But your request is to formulate concerns about game design & features.

My advice is to stop playing GW and ... better think before posting such an incoherent flamebait here. I am still not sure if this is just trolling or dead serious.

And I bet nobody knows what you want to talk about. Your medical status has little to do with the design features of Guild Wars.

You get words under your name! Sweet!

Seriously, it's not that much of a big deal. If it really irks you that you need 'God Walking Among Mere Mortals' (or whatever KoaBD rank 6 is (I saw one the other day actually :P)), you really have a problem.

Lol, wut?

Pro: I can /rank you
Con: You QQ about your inability to /rank me back.

I'll be honest mate...most people are addicted to this game. I stopped being addicted to the game and got addicted to the forums. You should do a survey on that.

I fail at understanding what the OP is all about

He wants people to tell what they think about titles and gw addiction and title elitists and stuff, so he can go tell his doctor friends or something... bleh.
5000hrs says im addicted, dunno why all i do is afk in GH lately.

Ohh, I guess it's too early for me.

Anyways, I'm not addicted. Barely got 2600 hours on my account. (in 12 months tho ) And since titles are a huge part of the game, the part I enjoy the most, I got nothing bad to say about them. Keeps me amused while I got nothing else to do(college work, rl stuff,..).

Titles have nothing to do with addiction to the game. With or without titles, GW may become an addiction for someone with mental health issues. Playing incessantly isn't the problem, it's merely a symptom of an underlying issue.

The question concerning titles is "Why are you going for this title?" And it can only be answered by the person doing it. It's no different than the question "Why are you playing this game?"

The problem you now face is that you have no idea about my qualifications (or if I have any at all) to make comments like the above. And that's the problem you face with any post here, what feedback you get may or may not be utter crap.

Well stated Kook, while Im certain some of your premises would be debated, thats what Im after.

ill give some info on the topic here...

yes, people are addicted to gw, and become these "elitist" players because they spent soo much effort into obtaining these titles, that they expect no less from any1 that joins their group, as if they arent dedicated enough to be apart of the team. its a sad fact.. its more strict in elite areas such as DoA and slavers. espically the pvp side for HA..

i would love if people werent this way... would make the game a tad bit more enjoyable.

I'll second this. If it wasn't for these forums I would have stopped playing Guild Wars long ago. But because of these forums I find all these ways to get all these different titles and people make it seem so easy and so that is what I do. Then I have all these half finished titles that I want to do but split my time between them all and none get done.

If this discussion is about titles and their effect on gamers, I have nothing to add. However, I do have something to say about the effect of gamers on titles, from a non-scientific viewpoint.

A title is a name. Names are transient labels that humans apply to things so that we can point and say "that is mine", for a time. A name or title means nothing in the end, and is soon forgotten when the bearer of the name turns to dust (as all things must do in the end). As to why people choose the titles they want for themselves, that is up to them to explain. It is an issue of personal identity and humanity's needs of the self and need for recognition.

However, the titles that each player chooses to gain for themselves can sometimes say a little about the player's personality and skills. For example, someone with a cartography title probably has some skill in locating things (or some skill with reading maps, depending on how the title was gained). Someone with a Drunkard title is likely to have a great deal of patience (given the techniques and the length of time required to earn this title). Someone with a Treasure Hunter or Wisdom title may have an affinity for valuable items. And so on and so forth.

its not about titles, its about electronic addiction.

More specifically Video Game Addiction.
On a balanced psyche the impact seems to be minimal or inexistent, however like in everything video game addiction can be a problem when coupled with other issues.
serious studies have yet to be realized, the fact is that parents,distributors, governments do not take video games seriously mainly because they target(ed) kids for so long and that they have the word "game" in them.

After all if its a GAME then its harmless.

the problem is everything can be addictive, some things more than others.

I thought this is about this...

well, you cannot blame your keyboard for that, cos it has a warning lable sticking on the bottom that says "Some experts believe that the use of any keyboard may cause serious injury. Consult statement on the back of this keyboard" Maybe we can blame the mouse, as the same Warning Label isn't found anywhere on the mouse.

Okay, why I thought is about RSI, because the of the Opening: I am a healthcare professional .... so RSI came into mind.... and because my wrist hurts :P

This forum has actually cut down my time playing the game ... i have to stop coming here and play the game more and argue less with total stranger which brought out the worse in me .... bad pumpkin ...

Do you mean display how many hours you have played under your character?

Titles.. the stuff that suddenly appears there without trying... upon which a little effort is excerted to max them out.

I got bored back in prophecies and capped all elite skills. When the title showed up, I decided to cap the elites in factions along the way, then finish the last few after finishing the game. The same holds true for Nightfall. Once eton came out and we couldn't display pve titles in hall of monuments during the preview event unless we had 5 maxed titles, I decided to finish all prophecies bonuses only to discover that whilst I now have 2 new titles to display, it wasn't necessary anymore.

I'm sure that by the time I'm bored of gw, I'll have maxed out a few more titles with very little effort. Working on vanquisher in nightfall atm. That's the one I'm actually working on. The sunspear one which is most likely going to get maxed out during it and the explorer title are both secondary titles.

Now.. what was that about addiction and titles again?

Oh right.. the bit that says that I have a hobby called playing gw... hmm.. I can think of worse hobbies/addictions than that one.

People are addicted to different things. The OP, to their job obviously because they spend their free time studying it. It just so happens that addiction to Guild Wars is as harmless as watching TV, so long as you have time for your job/school and family.

urg, you know next to nothing about me, yet you seem to assume a lot - So if i have a high title im addicted? or if i even like titles? what the hell are you trying to achieve anyway, you cant go and force people to stop playing cause you went around talking to people

I may seem a little harsh, but i cant see any real reason for this....

Lol, u guys take this way to serious.....in fact, should not be taken at all

lolz After recently calculating that I play an average of 7 hours a day, one could conclude that I am addicted to GW but, heck, I knew that already.

As to the relation between Titles and addiction, I'd have to say I don't see any connection there. I was addicted long before the Titles were introduced.

Titles haven't caused me to play more, although some of them (such as Protector, Survivor, etc.) have allowed me to focus on some specific goals while I am playing, thereby enhancing my enjoyment of the game to a certain degree.

While I think the OP's intent is probably sincere, I would doubt that conducting research by seeking feedback from a fansite forum is a very scientific way of going about it.

The OP isnt trying to make you all quit GW, he/she is just wondering what your view on the subject is. If you are lame enough to be offended by this, which some of you obviously are, then mabye you just need to calm down a bit, nobody made you read this thread or post in it, and if nobody amde you read it then why do some of you seem to think that the OP thinks he/she is magically going to stop you paying GW?
The ones of you who have flamed the OP might say you have no problems linked with playing too much GW but if your getting so worked up when someone is even mentioning negative effects of playing GW too much then mabye you should ease back on it a bit, you're taking it to seriously.
Just my views.

~A Leprechaun~