World of Warcraft 'more addictive than cocaine'

OK, I'm going in. I bought WOW at Wallyworld today and I want to see what all the fuss is about. I just got laid off from my job so I'm getting $300 a week to sit on my butt, It's a good time to find a new addiction.

Any tips, hints, strategies, things to avoid, etc, etc, etc.......

I'll load the game up in the morning and see what happens.....

Wish me luck

Originally posted by mrwupy
OK, I'm going in. I bought WOW at Wallyworld today and I want to see what all the fuss is about. I just got laid off from my job so I'm getting $300 a week to sit on my butt, It's a good time to find a new addiction.

Any tips, hints, strategies, things to avoid, etc, etc, etc.......

I'll load the game up in the morning and see what happens.....

Wish me luck

Did you check wowdetox.com i think you find a lot of tips there
See you in 4 years.

I just do not understand how people can get addicted to this game.

It's all about self-control, really. I've had the game for about 3.5 years now and there's no way in hell i'm even CLOSE to being addicted to it. I started my character the first day I bought the game and it is only now level 65. There have been a few times (like right now for instance) where I haven't been able to play for a few days, weeks and even months and I am not suffering one little bit. It is a game, it will be there when I get back to it.

That wowdetox.com website is an absolute joke. People are spending too much time on computer games and then trying to take the blame from themselves and put it on to Blizzard.

ADULTS are saying, "It's not MY fault I've sat on my butt for the past few years infront of the computer, neglecting my relationship/work/school/social life/health. It's BLIZZARDS fault for making a game that is too fun."

What a load of crap. Several of my friends also play WoW and not a single one is ditching any important aspects of their lives just to get a few more hours in. It's called Self Control, people.

Comparing it to coc aine is ridiculous. How many people do you hear about breaking into homes and stealing goods just so they can get their next WoW fix? When was the last time you saw a person standing in a club with dozens of game cards, dealing them out to the innocent "addictive personality" types?

I think people need to stop trying to remove the personal responsibilty, grow up and take control of their gaming.

I will, of course, admit the game really is fun, and I'm looking forward to being able to play it again. But it is never, ever going to replace my girlfriend, my job or my life.

(Btw: Delongethor - Undead Mage. Lvl 65. Dark Iron )

I'm genuinely glad that most of these games became on-line multi-players. If I could get broadband where I live, I think I'd be in serious trouble.

reply to post by Toy_soldier


Yeah, I've had the game since it came out as well, and am only up to lvl70. Hardly seems like an addiction going weeks or months without playing it.

I also agree that this is an attempt to project any responsibility onto Blizzard instead of the players taking it upon themselves to take breaks and remember to live. How utterly ridiculous to even say that a game is forcing you to do anything. :shk:

ps: (Fiore - Night Elf Warrior: Kul Tiras PvE)

Of course! I forgot - I should add....

Neformore - Level 80 Holy Paladin - EU Terenas - Retribution

I've played WoW off and on since the day it came out 5 years ago...but I never got addicted. Hell, I've never even got a character up to max level. lol I recently got back into it and joined a guild (a good one finally, with genuinely nice people, not just power gamers), and I'm doing new things in the game that I hadn't done the 5 years prior. I feel like a noob! haha

At any rate, I really think the community, and competition are what keeps people addicted to this. First, you build real relationships with people you've never met (i know, sounds weird huh?), but for some people, that's the only social interaction they get. In school/work/life you could be a nobody, but in WoW (or other games of this type), you can be somebody. You get praise and recognition for the things you do in the game...which is where the competition comes in. You just keep going at it until you're the best, and with being the best, you get recognition. Of course, not everyone can be the best, but that is the goal for a lot of these people.

I can totally understand the addiction, however, I saw someone say "Where were the parents?" and that hits the nail right on the head. There is no reason for something like this to happen. It is the parents fault, hands down. Now if you're 18+ and doing this, then it's your own dumb ass fault. lol

Frankly, I get burned out and have to leave it for a while...it eventually becomes the same thing over and over again. I don't need the community or the competition. I play the game because it's fun, and it's the most polished game of its genre. But even fun things get old after a while...and once it's no fun, it simply becomes work. Evidently some people enjoy the "grind" so-to-speak as much as the community/competition.

There can be an upside to games like this, though, if done right. It can actually teach leadership, and organization skills. So it's not all bad...

btw, I'm currently playing a lvl 51 Blood Elf Rogue on the Moonguard server. Her name is Corathola, look me up if you play on that server! hahaha

reply to post by Divinorumus

Say, does anyone know if this game will play on Vista 64?

Yes, it will.

My number one tip: Take up gathering professions to make gold. Skinning and mining can fund your characters all the way to the top.

I've got WoW on Vista 64bit. you may have to use their online downloader however. I had issues with the install.
If you install on a Vista 64bit, make sure you install to C: and not C:\Program Files. It'll royally mess up.

Professions are your friend. The gathering professions make the most (besides Alchemy, I'm sure). I think fishing makes a good deal as well.

When I had no job, but was looking, I'd work on my characters after I came home.. I now have 2 level 80s (Druid and Death Knight), a 72 hunter, and a 74 warlock. Admittedly, I get bored fast, and have been leveling a paladin =P

Originally posted by Merigold
reply to post by Divinorumus

 

Say, does anyone know if this game will play on Vista 64?

Yes, it will.

My number one tip: Take up gathering professions to make gold. Skinning and mining can fund your characters all the way to the top.

I do skinning and herbalism, I can make about 30G per stack of herbs like Purple Lotus and Firebloom. And usually anywhere from 5 - 20G for stacks of leather. Plus the herbalism skill gives you a self heal ability that has saved my butt on LOTS of occasions.

Heck I'm trying. I installed the game, went through the create account crap and when I finally got past that, it started a 262 mb download for some kind of patch. 262 mb's is one hell of a patch!

Hopefully sometime today I'll get to start my free 30 day trial which came with buying the game.

This waiting is getting old though

Originally posted by Chiiru

If you install on a Vista 64bit, make sure you install to C: and not C:\Program Files. It'll royally mess up.

I wish I had read that a couple of hours ago. I'm on my second install and now going through a mountain of patches.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever get to play the actual game

[edit on 10-3-2009 by mrwupy]

reply to post by mrwupy


Oh man, get used to it

The patch downloading gets pretty old but they usually have some awesome changes in-game with every patch. Though, since you haven't played it yet the amazing effect of the changes may be lost on you

Good luck with the game! I suggest you take what you've read on this thread and on wowdetox.com as cautionary tales.

World of Warcraft > World of Warcrack.

Originally posted by niteboy82
reply to post by Toy_soldier

 

I also agree that this is an attempt to project any responsibility onto Blizzard instead of the players taking it upon themselves to take breaks and remember to live. How utterly ridiculous to even say that a game is forcing you to do anything. :shk:

Well there seem to by quite a lot of people who confess that they actualy are addicted to this game, so these people say, how ridiculous it may sound to you, that they do have a very hard time breaking themselves away from their game.

I have been playing computer games for about 20 years now and i sure had my periods where i was greatly attracted to some games, there have been quite a few long sessions in my game history.
So i can see where some of these people are comming from.

Not every body can deal with all those temptations all the time all their life.
It is not for nothing that there are some many people addicted to all kinds of things in life.
For an outsider these thing might look stupid but for some one on the inside it surely is not.
For them it doesnt matter if you understand them or not in that sense, for them the addiction is very real.

And reading from the wow detox website i did not see many post of people trying to blame blizzard, i think mostly they blamed themselves.

But there is an other angle to.
While playing "exciting" computer games, the brain releases all kind of chemicals, some of them can be compared with drugs like mentioned in the op.
These chemicals can have a great role in these addictions, much greater then most people realise i think.

I was once a video gamer. I can play them now without worrying about playing too often. I simply think the outside air and real world interaction is better.

I'm too embarrassed to display photos of my gaming years. Lets put it this way...I was a fat obese child. I quit being an avid gamer and lost a lot of weight. I now enjoy physical activity such as hiking,cycling, swimming.

It's a damn shame we lose our children to consumer based entertainment.

I say bring back pinball and analogue games