* Duncor is a long time forum member who has decided to contribute an article to help those that cannot help themselves. This is step one of what will probably be a hundred step process of weening an addict off of WoW… kidding?
The MMO genre seems to be the redheaded stepchild of gaming these days. Not necessarily in terms of dollars, (hello! 10 Million WoW players!) but in terms of perception of the individual player. Whenever you mention to a person that you play an MMO, they always seem to think you’re some ultra-nerd that bursts into flames if you come into direct contact with the sun, or wet yourself if a girl even says hello to you. Well, I would like to tell all of you that is simply not the case.
I would like to, but that would be a lie.
Not to say that all of us are pale, pants-wetting, mole people, but the stereotype is not completely unfounded. MMO’s draw a certain kind of personality in a player that can lead to nocturnal mole men tendencies. A MMO, like all RPGs, is primarily about progressing your little character from dirt covered, rat slayer to shiny armored butt kickers. They are designed so that you have to spend hours and hours slashing and burning your way to the top. The more time you put into it, the more you get out of it.
Where the MMO really grabs people though, is the social aspect of a massive community of players in a persistent world. Imagine playing a game like Mass Effect, but all your friends are playing with you, at the same time. Except for your buddy Shaun, who didn’t want to play on the Horde because he wanted to play some stupid Gnome warlock and every time you see him running around you wave at him and he kills you. Warlocks are so overpowered.
Umm…What was I talking about? Oh yes, MMO stereotypes. The large communities and massive time sink of MMO’s grab hold of people who are more inclined to give up certain human activities like work, school, dating, walking, and showering. The gaming community allows you tomeet a bunch of new friends, you’ll only ever talk to in-game. These people eventually begin to replace any real, or perceived, need for social interaction. Players eventually play so much, they don’t even miss those things they’ve given up. They’ll rationalize dropping out of college and spending two years doing nothing with their life, but they’ll know that their rogue just got this really great dagger!
As a result of the communities and the investment required, MMO’s are a very hard thing to do in moderation. Many people play them and don’t find themselves trapped in there parents house living off pizza bites and mountain dew, but those who have the predisposition towards being an anti-social vampire, can find themselves hunched over the keyboard for much of their young adult lives.
Are you one of these people? Take it from me, you can pull yourself out. Here’s my advice for weening yourself off of MMO’s forever.
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9 responses so far ↓
1 Monkeyboo2 // Jan 31, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I was an addict once. But fortunately for me my account was ‘hacked’. I recovered it but have not had much motivation to play ever since ( i lost all items- 100’s and 100’s of mil).
I was already a great gears of war player so played alot more of that and became pro. Since then Runescape has been completely ruined and i’m not looking back, so i go Pro at more games; Shadowrun, Halo 3, COD4.
I don’t play as much game hours as when i played RS, and i even make some money and get better grades.
I find that people don’t really move on to one MMO to another. Once the one you played your heart out on is gone; you don’t wana go play essentially the same idea and get screwed over again.
Once you’ve quit an MMO i find you’ve quit MMO’s forever and move on to bigger and possibly better things.
2 crashcrazy // Jan 31, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Never Really liked WOW but I would find myself sitting through a Resistance Fall Of Man Binge from time to time.
3 Rcwpong // Jan 31, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Oh you can binge at any game. It doesn’t have to be an MMO. But if you get into the raiding game and get to a point where if you don’t log in 4 to 5 times a week for 4 hours every night that you screw over 24 or 39 other people…you schedule your life around it.
No one’s going to skip going to a brand new movie with friends or a guys night out to make it to Sarcastic gamernight. But they would feel obligated to stay home and raid if their guildmates from WoW were going raiding that night. Especially if it meant you’d get that much closer to killing whatever silly new boss they’ve drummed up for you to learn.
4 Fleeka // Jan 31, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I played wow for 6 months. Then stopped.
No substitution, cold turkey of all games for about a week going up to christmas and then I got my 360 which I play a bit.
But yeah, most games get boring for me after about 6-8 months, bar one series (Banjo-kazooie. Second game I ever got for home consoles and I still haven’t finished it, but it holds a place in my heart.) MMO’s just seem to be click and move, so it got really boring but I agree with your hypothesis, games are more fun with friends around to play with. In my last few weeks of wow I would log on, see none of my friends were on, log off again and go play some halo 2 or katamari.
5 smon jiff // Jan 31, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I had a friend that moved away for about 3 Months and when he got back he had played like 35 solid days worth of WoW, and i’m talking 840 hours totaling 35 days, not just playing for an hour a day for thirty days.
6 Harag // Jan 31, 2008 at 7:25 pm
@ monkeyboo2
comparing runescape to wow is like comparing the first doom game to halo 3 there is no comparison its a completely different game
wow provides exactly what duncor has said and more
i have played wow for 3 years the first year cost me a daughter and future wife and it didnt matter i was addicted now i take it much more moderation and even have my g\f playing with me and exactly what he said in his first step is what i did i played console games why ? because u can pick em up and put em down you dont need to play daily to keep competitive.
the storys you hear about things like ppl breaking into peoples houses and breaking a guys legs for griefing (repetedly killing) a guys wife are not jokes this stuff really happens
mmo’s can be as much fun and entertaining as they are detrimental and draining on you mentally
7 commander121 // Feb 1, 2008 at 2:31 am
ive been down the mmo addiction road and it is just a dead end trust me. i played city f heroes for about a year and that ruined alot. but after that year i didnt have enough money to buy another game time card so two weeks later when i finally had the the money i stood in the store staring at the box for like 10 minutes without moving then put the box back and walked out of the store. i have never played a mmo since and i want to keep it that way.
8 Bloody Kisses // Feb 1, 2008 at 4:21 am
I have played WoW since September of last year. I enjoy it, I am in a great guild, and I leveled myself to 66. I only play during the day, as I am a mother of a very active 10 year old. She takes precedence over everything. I always keep that perspective and laugh because in my mind, it’s just a game and has no bearing in the real world.
9 GreenEyedPsyko // Feb 1, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Sadly i played runescape for about a year and a half when i was like 12 or something. luckily i got out of it. It worked out good though… i sold my account to some loser kid i know for $150. but yeah, i have no desire to play any more MMO’s. I’ll stick to COD4, Halo3, etc. looking forward to the new games coming out especially the new splinter cell.
still trying to get rid of assassins creed for a decent price
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