| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 9/17/2006 12:22:24 AM | hi
i play a rpg on line and have for several years and have even taken breaks from it but just have a problem giving it up completely is it just me or is there a real problem with this for other folks as well.
dont get me wrong i used to love logging in and just spending my time chattering with all the friends i have made in there but now .. sigh .. time has taken alot of friends from the game and or servers i have played on and now with what few are left i log in and just feel sad and lost , i dont know if it is because of the lack of friends or if it is just my heart breaking for the lack of real friendships .
i am a soft hearted person so please dont slam me for asking im really wanting to know if im alone in how i feel and if i am not alone how do others cope with the heartbreak of leaving the games they play as well as what few friends that are left .
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| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 9/26/2006 10:16:56 PM | | I don't rpg online, but my son & all his friends seem to do that--also my niece & her hubby. It is very addictive. I know that they have varied from one game to another & are now beta-testing a new game. But, I have yet to figure out how he is ever going to find "the one" if he's sitting at the computer...it also doesn't do much for his waistline. Most of his friends are into the same game and they are in guilds (or something like that) together playing, and they gather on wednesdays for actual gameplaying at some location--so there actually is human contact sometimes. But STILL..it is primarily a male dominated addiction. Get outta the house, I know it is cliche....but that's the only solution. | |
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cj361
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Joined: 9/20/2007
Msg: 5 | |
| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 10/4/2007 9:20:16 PM | | I know this is an old post, and I'm new to POF so I'm reading up alot. I'm a former gamer.. true hard core gamer. mmorpg's, pen and paper games, etc. And if you're unable to stop playing, if you find yourself thinking and planning what you can do and what you're going to do as soon as you get home, or if you aren't even waiting till you get home, there is a real problem. There are alot of studies out there that are finally revealing how online gaming is an ADDICTION for some personality types. Its alot of fun, there is a social aspect to it that allows for acceptance based on something other than what you look like or what your social standing is that fills the needs of so many people. But it can ruin a life too. Talk to friends or family that aren't involved in your game life (because other gamers will think the same way you do about it) about getting help getting out of the house and doing things that are not related to the game and help putting it into perspective. As a game, not life. I missed my 20's .. all of them.. by being wrapped up in a game world and preferring that to experiencing all the things we're meant to experience IRL. | |
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cj361
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Joined: 9/20/2007
Msg: 6 | |
| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 10/4/2007 9:23:27 PM | | btw, it does hurt and people don't realize how real feelings get wrapped up in the game environment. Seek companionship from people outside of the game and you'll find that it will slowly lose its grasp. But no, you're not alone in how you're feeling. It does get better. I still think about the games I played and the people I knew, and I'm going on 2 years of not playing and I'm at a point where I don't miss it. Have hope | |
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| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 10/8/2007 2:25:17 PM | I get really wrapped up in too. I think the thing to look at is ...do you still have friends you actually do things with in r/l. One day I didn't want to go out because I would miss game reset.
Limit yourself. That's what I have learned to do. If you are making more emails than contact though, it's time to really quit. I think a lot of people (me anyway), do this because they have trouble establishing relationships in real life. There is a lot less rejection and dissapointment, and a certain amount of distance in online relationships. | |
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| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 10/8/2007 3:32:05 PM | I have an online game i been playing for the past couple of years but still cant quite give up.
Then again this game helps me deal with stress and is fun.
Its also a game that you can make some real life money form playing it if your creative and imaginite enough.
Considering im gonna be starting a business in this game to do just that im not likely to give up on it for a long while yet.
As it is my character is worth $2,000 and is appreciating in value :)
I have lots of other games that i cat give up either including some off-line games.
Not quite an addiction but somethign i enjoy too much to give up.
I see an addiction as somehting that is causing your life to be miserable and your no longer happy with but yet cant quit. | |
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| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 11/10/2007 1:10:02 AM | I know revisiting an old post.
Can't say I'm addicted to games, just addicted to problem/puzzle solving. I play a few online games, but never ones I have to pay a fee for since I will lose interest in the game by next billing cycle. I rotate between rpg's, strategy, fps, rts....
omg who am I kidding I just like to keep my brain working on several things at once just so I have a chance to get a word in edgewise. for example ATM I am cooking dinner, making soap, watching the tv, trolling the forums, researching some chem stuff, and pretending I'm working on my website. | |
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| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 3/31/2008 8:05:06 AM | | I used to be VERY addicted to World of Warcraft (my screen name here is also a reference to that other life). For a couple of years, I spent 3-4 hours every day in the game, because there were so many things that took up so much time to develop your game character. But last winter my job got insanely busy, and I had to leave the game completely for about a month. I've kind of escaped the gravitational pull of this very addictive game now as a result. I now only play once a week, sometimes even skipping a week. My guild is very understanding and has not booted me, mainly because I suspect they just enjoy having me around. I tend to make people laugh. I guess I am lucky in that I have been well-grounded in the real world enough to know when to back off the game. Some people are not so lucky, some lose their jobs, their marriages, or flunk out because of an rpg. When you think about it, it's almost like being an alcoholic or a druggie, although I have never been either. I guess you just have to keep in mind what is truly important in life, like keeping your job and paying the bills, etc. Having gone through the experience, I can guess at the mechanics of the addiction process: it takes lots of play time to make significnt progress with your game character, and you don't want to fall behind. Kind of like "keeping up with the Joneses". I would suspect that the more competitive a person tends to be, the more likely they are to get sucked into this electronic rat race. So in summary, I am kind of like the OP, I used to be addicted, but have now backed off to a more sustainable amount of gameplay. I also don't want to give it up completely. | |
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| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 4/8/2008 6:53:52 PM | I'd say that, yes, a lot of people in Oregon and elsewhere probably do have "problems" with internet or internet-gaming addiction. And the problems may get worse as time goes on. Or they may get better? Who knows.
The web is an interesting place, and it's turning into something of a "virtual community." I think that's the gist of so-called "web 2.0"
IE, turning web sites into "communities" where people can make friends, socially network and do many of the things they either used to do, or can't do in real life. Whether this becomes problematic remains to be seen. IE, if people withdraw from the real world into the make-believe world online (hmm, that just came out, and I didn't really mean it that way; though I suppose "make-believe" & "virtual" are close enough to synonyms). It could turn into a problem. As with anything, I suppose it's possible to become "addicted." I used to be quite addicted to a game called "Utopia" back in college and slightly thereafter. But inevitably, I either lost interest or many of the friends I'd made were killed off in the game and/or emigrated to other kingdoms. In many ways it lost its appeal once that core group of friends was no longer really available. I've lost touch with pretty much all of them now. Not pretty much... I've lost track of all of them.
If I had the time, and a good enough high end computer, and enough money to live on for a while, I'd so completely get lost in some MMORPGs for a few months, at least... Sadly, I haven't the time to get re-addicted. Hehe. Suffice it to say, you're probably not alone out there. Have to be careful about being an addictive personality though. I know I've got to be careful about it. It can take a while to break an addiction like that (the brain chemistry for online addiction and "regular" addictions aren't all that dissimilar; IE they activate the pleasure center a bit, and give a bit of a high to the brain and that's a powerful thing). Sometimes you have to just go cold-turkey and find something else to occupy the time.
~MG | |
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| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 4/8/2008 6:58:40 PM | Agreed with NightElfWarrior. Sometimes it takes an involuntary break in the addiction cycle to step back, reassess the situation, and back off a bit. IE, when I used to plat Utopia, I'd sometimes be up until 2-3 am playing the game (checking in every few hours to "fine tune" my province or wait for my "attack" to go through). It was only when work picked up or I was otherwise engaged for long periods that I began to notice that Utopia just wasn't as important anymore, and I'd already lost contact with a number of the friends I'd made in the game. After that, I rarely checked back in anymore. Plus work had picked up, and I had no free time for it.
But yeah, gotta' be careful and know what's important in life.
~MG | |
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Kosake
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Joined: 10/17/2006
Msg: 14 | |
| anyone in oregon that can not stop playing online games?
Posted: 4/22/2008 11:14:52 PM | Sweetwhispers, i know what you mean.
I play MMORPG's, and i have for a long time, probably way too long. From what I have found, it is just your heart yearning for some tangable friends. Someone to call you up, and tell you to get off the damn games and go hang out or do something! Hell, i've been in the same situation and trust me, i know there is little to nothing to do in this state unless you drink obsessively.
Hang in there because there will always be a bright spot in the sky, despite the constant rain and snow!  | |
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