The view from MMO addiction

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-10-18 12:20pm

This is..kinda sad, as in the actully sad way.

When he quit, I asked him if he would write a guest blog post about the experience. What follows is a cautionary tale about the pull an escape from reality can have on you.

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60 levels, 30+ epics, a few really good "real life" friends, a seat on the oldest and largest guild on our server's council, 70+ days "/played," and one "real" year later...

Mr. Yeager asked me to write this "guest blog" for him. I figured I should oblige him this request - it was none other than Mr. Yeager who first introduced me to (begged for me to buy, actually :-p) the World of Warcraft. It was the "perfect storm" for me; a time in my life when I was unemployed, living at my family's house far from my friends, and had just finished my engineering degree and was taking a little time to find a job. I had a lot of free time on my hands and WoW gave me a place to spend it.

This could be a many page epic tale, but I figure I'd give you the brief history and pertinent information. The guild Mr. Yeager got me into and with which I became an officer is the oldest and largest on the server I played on. It is around 18 months old and extremely well-versed in endgame instances. I was both the "mage class lead" and an officer. I have many very good friends I met through WoW (in real life - no kidding) and even have been "involved" with another councilor in real life (yes, I know, I'm weird for meeting girls through an online video game but honestly, ask Mr. Yeager, she's head and shoulders better than all the girls I met DJing, waiting tables, in college, and bartending at clubs in Philly). But I digress...

I just left WoW permanently. I was a leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the world, a well-equipped and well-versed mage, and considered myself to have many close friends in my guild. Why did I leave? Simple: Blizzard has created an alternate universe where we don't have to be ourselves when we don't want to be. From my vantage point as a guild decision maker, I've seen it destroy more families and friendships and take a huge toll on individuals than any drug on the market today, and that means a lot coming from an ex-club DJ.

It took a huge personal toll on me. To illustrate the impact it had, let's look at me one year later. When I started playing, I was working towards getting into the best shape of my life (and making good progress, too). Now a year later, I'm about 30 pounds heavier that I was back then, and it is not muscle. I had a lot of hobbies including DJing (which I was pretty accomplished at) and music as well as writing and martial arts. I haven't touched a record or my guitar for over a year and I think if I tried any Kung Fu my gut would throw my back out. Finally, and most significantly, I had a very satisfying social life before. My friends and I would go out and there were things to do every night of the week. Now a year later, I realize my true friends are the greatest people in the world because the fact I came out of my room, turned the lights on, and watched a movie with them still means something. They still are having a great time teasing me at my expense, however, which shows they still love me and they haven't changed.

These changes are miniscule, however, compared to what has happened in quite a few other people's lives. Some background... Blizzard created a game that you simply can not win. Not only that, the only way to "get better" is to play more and more. In order to progress, you have to farm your little heart out in one way or another: either weeks at a time PvPing to make your rank or weeks at a time getting materials for and "conquering" raid instances, or dungeons where you get "epic loot" (pixilated things that increase your abilities, therefore making you "better"). And what do you do after these mighty dungeons fall before you and your friend's wrath? Go back the next week (not sooner, Blizzard made sure you can only raid the best instances once a week) and do it again (imagine if Alexander the Great had to push across the Middle East every damn week).

What does this mean? Well, to our average "serious" player this equates to anywhere between 12 hours (for the casual and usually "useless" player) to honestly 10 hours a day, seven days a week for those "hardcore" gamers. During my stint, I was playing about 30 hours a week (and still finding it hard to keep up with my farming) and logging on during my work day in order to keep up with all the guild happenings and to do my scheduling and tracking for the raids. A lot of time went into the development of new policies which took our friendly and family-oriented guild further and further away from its roots but closer to the end goal. Honestly, what that end goal is I'm not totally sure - there is truly no end to the game and every time you feel like you're satisfied with your progress, another aspect of the game is revealed and, well, you just aren't as cool as you can be again.

There are three problems that arise from WoW: the time it requires to do anything "important" is astounding, it gives people a false sense of accomplishment, and when you're a leader, and get wrapped up in it, no matter how much you care or want people to care, you're doing the wrong thing.

First off, let's go back to the time it takes to accomplish anything in the game. To really be successful, you need to at least invest 12 hours a week, and that is bare minimum. From a leadership perspective, that 12 hours would be laughed at. That's the guy who comes unprepared to raid and has to leave half way through because he has work in the morning or is going out or some other thing that shows "lack of commitment". To the extreme there is the guildie who is always on and ready to help. The "good guildie" who plays about 10 hours a day and seven days a week. Yes, that's almost two full-time jobs. Funny, no one ever asks any questions, though.

The worst though are the people you know have time commitments. People with families and significant others. I am not one to judge a person's situation, but when a father/husband plays a video game all night long, seven days a week, after getting home from work, very involved instances that soak up hours and require concentration, it makes me queasy that I encouraged that. Others include the kids you know aren't doing their homework and confide in you they are failing out of high school or college but don't want to miss their chance at loot, the long-term girl/boyfriend who is skipping out on a date (or their anniversary - I've seen it) to play (and in some cases flirt constantly), the professional taking yet another day off from work to farm mats or grind their reputations up with in-game factions to get "valuable" quest rewards, etc... I'm not one to tell people how to spend their time, but it gets ridiculous when you take a step back.

The game also provides people with a false sense of security, accomplishment, and purpose. Anyone can be a superhero here if they have the time to put in. Not only that, a few times I've seen this breed the "rockstar" personality in people who have no confidence at all in real life. Don't get me wrong, building confidence is a good thing and something, if honed appropriately, the game can do very right. But in more than a few cases, very immature people with bad attitudes are catered to (even after insulting or degrading others "in public") because they are "better" than the rest. Usually this means they played a lot more and have better gear. I'd really hate to see how this "I'm better than you attitude" plays out in real life where it means jack how epic your loot is - when you say the wrong thing to the wrong person it's going to have repercussions and you can't just log out to avoid the effects of your actions.

And people put everything on the line for these accomplishments with which they associate much value. I know of children and spouses being forced to play and grind for their parents, threats of divorce, rampant neglect, failing grades in school, and thousands of dollars spent on "outsourcing" foreign help. For what, you ask? Honor. The desire to be the best for at least one week. To get the best loot in the game. What do these "heroes" receive? Why, cheers and accolades of course as they parade along in their new shiny gear... which is obsolete the first time they step into one of the premier instances. The accomplishment and sacrifice itself are meaningless a few days later. Then it's usually off to the races again.

Finally, when you're a leader there is a call (or more appropriately a demand) for success. Usually those you represent want to keep progressing. They want to keep improving. They want more access to the best things. It is on you to provide it. In my experience, when you fail to progress fast enough, waves ripple throughout the guild and people become dissatisfied. It's your fault, no matter what. Everything you've done to keep things fair and provide for everyone does not mean a damn thing. A few will stand up for you, but when you have 150 people who all want 150 different things, you end up listening to 150 voices complaining about the job you're doing. This volunteer job usually takes at least 10 extra hours a week (on top of regular playing). Towards the end of my year of service, I apparently couldn't do anything right with my class. I had to rotate people to make sure everyone was getting a fair shot. I wrote actual mathematical proofs the allowed for fair and effective (yes, both) raid distribution according to efficiency, speed, and guild class population. I even rotated myself more than any other class member. People still took it upon themselves to tell me what I was doing wrong (constantly) and how their way was more fair (usually for them).

The thing that kicked me in the ass more than anything else was I really cared if my guildies were getting what they wanted out of the experience. I truly thought my efforts would make them happy. I wanted to make a difference to them. The greedy and socially phobic high school kid I thought I could help through the game, all of the couples (both married and not) who were falling apart because of the game I thought I could rescue, the girl who was deeply wounded by a guy who left her for the game but was herself addicted I thought I could save, not to mention a host of others, I thought my efforts were helping. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks: I was providing them with an escape from their problems and nurturing the very thing that was holding them back. Oh yeah, it hit me like a ton of bricks after I had changed so much and lost enough of myself that the most wonderful girl I ever met broke up with me.

I remember clearly after fumbling around life for a few weeks that I dragged myself into the bathroom to get ready for work. I was tired because I was up until close to 2 AM raiding. Every week I read though email or I would run into one of my "real" friends and I'd hear "Andy, what's up, I haven't seen you in a while." I looked in the mirror and in a cinemaesque turn of events and a biblical moment of clarity, told myself "I haven't seen me in a while either."

That did it. I wanted to do the things I wanted to do again and be with the people who appreciated me even if I abandoned them for a year and sucked to high heaven as a friend. The prodigal son returned and my friends were happy. The best advice I got was from the girl who dumped me for being a jackass (and after I decided to really quit and be "myself again" became one of, if not my best friend in the entire world), who said "your real friends like you even when you screw up." It's true.

Funny side note was the reaction I got from the guild that I spent a year pouring my heart and soul into. I made my post in the guild forums saying I was leaving (half of it RPing - something that doesn't happen after you start raiding) and that it was time for me to move on. Three days later I didn't exist any more. The machine kept on moving without this gear. A few people asked me over email (and when I logged on to clean out the old bank) when I was coming back (I'm not going to). There are a few others I keep in contact with and am planning on going to visit sooner or later so I can hang out in person and they can finally meet me. But in the end being forgotten about so soon after still left a bittersweet taste. But one that was a lot easier to swallow than the one I chugged down every day for the better part of a year.

Don't get me wrong, WoW did a lot of things right. At times it was a fun game that allowed me to keep in contact with friends who lived far away. More importantly it introduced me to some of the best real life friends I've ever met. However, it did take an undeniable toll on me and is taking a far greater one on many, many people when taken too far.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-18 12:46pm

I can empathise with his story, and I know one of my friends is essentially a WoW addict. It is sad.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2006-10-18 12:50pm

Quality blog.

Stofsk wrote:I can empathise with his story, and I know one of my friends is essentially a WoW addict. It is sad.

Aye, I too know a person like that. He has about 150 or so days accumulated for total online time.

DarkSilver · Post by **DarkSilver** » 2006-10-18 12:51pm

sounds alot like me back in my old Ultima Online days....the game was alot more important than most of my RL stuff to me, my schoolwork suffered, and i failed out because of a MMO-addiction.

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2006-10-18 01:39pm

I failed a semester of college due to EQ and gaming related addiction.

Luckily, my parents scared the crap out of me by threatening to pull me out of college and I got off my ass and learned how to control my urges.

I had a few relapses with WoW but I've been pretty good about it for a year now. I find that if you take some time off from playing the game religiously, it loses alot of the luster that makes you want to play all the time.

Alferd Packer · Post by **Alferd Packer** » 2006-10-18 01:42pm

I'm lucky. I played UO for about six months before I got sick of it, EQ for about the same amount of time, and I was in the WoW beta. When I played, though, I was hooked. I loved playing each game. Even now, every once in a while, I get the urge to go back and play WoW. But I exercise self control, recognize that I have a wife and we have precious little time together as it is, and I don't bother. If I were single, though, I'd probably play at least one MMO.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-10-18 02:03pm

Makes me kinda glad I never got into the whole MMORPG thing.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-10-18 03:47pm

MMOs are very often like casinos in that they urge you to pay regular sums for unsure results. WOW raids are very similar to slot machines. Each time you do them there is a small chance that you can get something that is beneficial for you in the game. Of course, the problem after that is the use for the items that you get in the raids. The only real use for them is in PVP, where if the skills are roughly equal, the gear is what tilts the odds in your favor. If a player has little interest in PVP, then there IS no benefit to the gear, and so Blizzard releases a new batch of content with better equipment than before, etc. and so on.

ThatGuyFromThatPlace · Post by **ThatGuyFromThatPlace** » 2006-10-18 04:09pm

I used to play EQ but I couldn't keep up with the monthly fee+keeping up witht he bajillions of expansions (In a year I went form being tottally up-to-date expansion wise ot being 10+ behind).

I still sometimes get a free trial of whatver the hawt ne MMO is, but they all pale in comparison to my memories of Ever-Crack. I still pine for my main char...

Fiji_Fury · Post by **Fiji_Fury** » 2006-10-18 04:57pm

I've played WoW in the past. I've had many friends who have played WoW too, and even when I played I thought some of them took things way too far.

One friend I had simply couldn't get a girlfriend because of his commitments to the game. He'd spend so much time interacting with strangers online and running those stupid raids that he didn't have enough time to do much more than minimal school, minimal work and minimal sleep. It was simply unhealthy for him on a lot of levels.

I had another friend who lost a girlfriend while playing WoW (not because of it mind you) and buried himself in the game to deal with it. Shortly after that I never saw him except for the odd time when I'd swing by his place on the off chance he wanted to go for a beer or play some soccer.

I played occassionally and came to a stop when it was obvious that I got some momentary gratification from the game, but that it was taking up increasing amounts of my free time. I didn't lose friends, sleep (well at least not much), work or anything else over playing, but I wanted to do more things with my time than sit in front of a computer and pretend to be a hero. Hell, I still enjoy lots of games for the same reason, but I'll play them casually too. WoW just started asking for too much of my time; much more than it was ever going to be worth. That fact combined with a monthly fee for playing the damn game led me to toss it.

Whenever I see the amount of social damage (and I presume psychological too) that others do to themselves with ANY game, it makes me shudder.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-10-18 05:11pm

ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:I used to play EQ but I couldn't keep up with the monthly fee+keeping up witht he bajillions of expansions (In a year I went form being tottally up-to-date expansion wise ot being 10+ behind).

I still sometimes get a free trial of whatver the hawt ne MMO is, but they all pale in comparison to my memories of Ever-Crack. I still pine for my main char...

That doesn't make any damn sense at all. While EQ came out with an assload of expansion packs, no WAY did they all come out in one year.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2006-10-18 05:23pm

Ha, this guy speaks the truth. When my best pal got WoW and introduced it to all of us, most of my buddies got it and disappeared of the face of the Earth. It sucked. One of my best pals, Ben, I only see a handful of times a year now because he spends all day on his 1337 lvl 60 char, "sitting on top of the bank and doing nothing all day." That's right, when he's not raiding he does... nothing... in game. What a bizzare pattern of behavior this game breeds...

salm · Post by **salm** » 2006-10-18 05:47pm

With a friend of mine it´s worse. He started with WoW and spent huge amounts of time leveling up. After a year or so he moved on because WoW didn´t give him the right kick anymore and he no plays texas hold em online for money every day and wastes away loads of money.

Ted C · Post by **Ted C** » 2006-10-18 06:01pm

Hmm...

I gave up on WoW months ago because I wasn't willing to devote enough time to it to justify (to me) the monthly fees.

Crazy.

ThatGuyFromThatPlace · Post by **ThatGuyFromThatPlace** » 2006-10-18 09:49pm

Hotfoot wrote:
ThatGuyFromThatPlace wrote:I used to play EQ but I couldn't keep up with the monthly fee+keeping up witht he bajillions of expansions (In a year I went form being tottally up-to-date expansion wise ot being 10+ behind).

I still sometimes get a free trial of whatver the hawt ne MMO is, but they all pale in comparison to my memories of Ever-Crack. I still pine for my main char...
That doesn't make any damn sense at all. While EQ came out with an assload of expansion packs, no WAY did they all come out in one year.

Wlel,t he last I bought was Planes of Power, just before I quit Lost Dungeons came out, then Legacy of Ykesha, then gates of Discord, followed by Omens of War and then Dragins of Norrath before I stopped paying attention. The rest as they say is Hyperbole.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2006-10-18 11:57pm

I can't seem to bring myself to play WoW for more than a few hours on end, even if I have nothing better to do. I've had days where that and sleep were my only options because I had no other commitments, and I felt like crap because of it. Of course, it would probably be different if I was in some hardcore raiding guild, as the one I'm in now spends about 10 hours a week raiding and has yet to clear Molten Core.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-10-18 11:59pm

I'm like that with EVE. EVE is more interesting than 'roffle raid', but I still can't bring myself to play it for more than a few hours every few days.

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2006-10-19 01:31am

I was playing WoW for a while there and started thinking "You know, this isn't actually fun."

There's no big payoff, you just have to keep playing until you're either bored or dead, whichever comes first.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-10-19 01:38am

I knew a few people who are now WoW heads. They say they're not addicted. Hell, they're probably not, but they are way more boring than they ever were before.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-19 01:39am

Spyder wrote:I was playing WoW for a while there and started thinking "You know, this isn't actually fun."

There's no big payoff, you just have to keep playing until you're either bored or dead, whichever comes first.

I think the payoff comes with the socialising. You hook up with friends and cooperate to defeat yet-another Den of Evil. This comes from Blizzard's ingenious method of making the classes underpowered, so that you actually need a team. If you play Diablo 2 you could solo it in all but some of the really fucking hard Hell levels (y'know, the lightning enchanted super fast, super strong arseholes who sit at the foot of the stairs and get you before you even have a chance to blink or piss your pants... it's even better when you play Hardcore). But from what I understand about WoW if you solo it you're begging for pain.

I much prefer the action-RPGs that cater to single player as well as multiplayer. MMORPGs just don't have anything for me.

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2006-10-19 01:44am

weemadando wrote:They say they're not addicted.

Yeah right.

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2006-10-19 01:47am

[19:49] Spyderizer: j/k So how's things going up there anyway?
[19:50] Minion: HAHA
[19:50] Minion: its ok
[19:50] Minion: napier kinda sucks

[19:50] Minion: but the people are cool
[19:51] Spyderizer: Yeah, I still don't know that many people here.
[19:51] Minion: get wow

[19:52] Minion: move a character to jubethos
[19:52] Minion: w00t
[19:52] Spyderizer: I'm not convinced that would help.
[19:52] Minion: yeah not knowing people sucks man
[19:52] Minion: yeah it wouldnt

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-10-19 01:51am

Darth Garden Gnome wrote:
weemadando wrote:They say they're not addicted.
Yeah right.

Well, the fact that they can't pull themselves away from an MMO to either LAN or do PnP gaming regularly is a give-away too.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-19 01:54am

weemadando wrote:
Darth Garden Gnome wrote:
weemadando wrote:They say they're not addicted.
Yeah right.
Well, the fact that they can't pull themselves away from an MMO to either LAN or do PnP gaming regularly is a give-away too.

As my friend would say, "Petrol's expensive."

I mean, he's already paying $20 a month to play the game. He can't come over for LANing or PnP?

Crom · Post by **Crom** » 2006-10-19 02:45am

I have never played an MMO simply because I seem to be horribly susceptible to RPG addiction. I lost several months, recently, to Baldur's Gate II, which is not the first time a fairly old CRPG has consumed my life.

I have some friends who are really into WoW and want me to play. I told them that, with my job, I barely have time enough to practice playing the guitar. I'm definitely telling them no now.