I feel this is proof that W.O.W is affecting teenagers minds.

It is indeed a staged series of videos. If you need proof look at the other 6 or 8 videos they did in the series.

Even if it were real, it's not the game that would cause a child to react that way, it is a.) teenage hormones b.) lack of good parenting c.) lack of other healthy interests/hobbies with the teenager.

Video Games can be addicting to those with addictive personalities, but so could a Ball-point pen, or a Barrel of Monkeys. When something is not physically addictive, you cannot blame the object of one's obsession for being the cause or to blame for their behavior.

I grew up playing Video Games since the late 1970s. There have been points in time that I obsessed unhealthily over a particular video game or two for a short span, but I got over it as I had a rich, fulfilling life outside of video games, clear boundaries when I had parents, and peers to give me a reality check when I spent too much time in Fantasy Land in a Video Game.

In retrospect, previous generations had the same issues with Day Dreams, Books, Cars, Rock 'n Roll. Escapism from real-life to a fantasy world or some other focus of obsessive behavior has existed since the dawn of Time itself.

I let my 12 year old daughter play several MMORPGs without concern or apologies, including Lord of the Rings Online, Fusion Fall, and World of Barbie Craft. She's even played some MMORPGs that are oriented towards Mature Audiences such as Age of Conan and Darkfall. She's not adversely affected by it in any way because a.) We have prearranged limits on her play whose terms she agrees to in order to get a subscription (i.e., doing her homework first, keeping good grades, no more than 2 hours of play in a day, doing her chores and keeping her room clean) b.) It is something that we do together as a family c.) We discuss her interest in the game, and events in the game, just as we discuss the things she watches on T.V. or when she goes to the movies and d.) She has plenty of other interests and hobbies outside of these games like High Powered Rocketry, Chemistry, Hiking, Cycling, Dance, that it is rare that she actually plays these games more than 8 hours a month even though her imposed limit is 2 hours a day.

Video games, even W.O.W. and other MMORPGs are healthy for children. It teaches them social skills, teamwork, personal accountability and personal responsibility, how to set goals and achieve them, how to follow directions, how to think creatively, to respect rules and regulations, and how to find ways to have fun outside of what the game designers intended but within the rules of the game (some of my daughter's favorite things are to streak through these virtual towns naked, or have chair races, or seeking out the tallest cliff to jump off of, or running around as a chicken to confuse new players in the game). Most of all, it allow a healthy outlet for them to work off stress and frustration in their lives, it gives them an outlet in which to escape the real world when they need a break, and the in-game violence keeps them from acting out that kind of violence outside of the game as they are given a outlet to act out those darker fantasies which we all have and deny.

Granted, there are some individuals who can't distinguish right from wrong, virtual from reality, or unhealthy from healthy. However, these are individuals who have deep-seeded emotional and mental issues that pre-existed long before they ever took up a game. If they never played the game, they'd still have the same problems, they just would be projected unto another obsession.

Originally posted by AllinTheMind89
reply to post by skeetontheconspiracy

 

...are you serious? Playing a video game and actually being in a War are two COMPLETELY different things. I wouldn't want some lazy ass kid who plays COD4 all day, being in my foxhole lol. Just because he can hold up a controller for eight hours doesn't mean he can hold an M4 or M16 for the same amount of time. Seriously though, that's a ludicrous thought.

Haha.. I agree with you 100%. That kid who plays COD4 all day long, if he was in a foxhole, would lose patience after a few boring hours and probably charge outta the fox hole guns a blazing, tossing grenades like crazy, and end up dying.. His last thoughts before dying would probably be, "Wonder where I'll respawn?"

Yes, WOW affects kids' minds. So does everything else they do.

There are millions of kids playing WOW - tens of millions, probably. Out of all the tens of millions of kids playing, some of these kids have emotional problems. They're going to get into trouble somehow. If not WOW, it would be something else. WOW doesn't make them crazy. Having serious issues causes them to behave in self-defeating and, occasionally, strange ways.

In life, there are always casualties. Just as some kids succumb to accidents and illnesses, some become mentally unstable. Some will become seriously addicted to WOW - but if they didn't have WOW, it would be D&D, or Pong, or sex, or something else. It's not that any of these activities is harmful; it's that some kids are in trouble, and one of these is how they wind up showing that they've got problems.

I think the real problem with these games - and with computers in general - is that these kids are far too inactive. Oh, but that would also include adults. We consume more calories than we burn, because really, even very wild mousing just isn't going to do it. So we are becoming overweight and weak, developing diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and all the other problems associated with an overly sedentary lifestyle. But really, that's all of us, and it's not the kids's fault. They're just doing what we're teaching them to do.

reply to post by ratphour


Don't you remember? Before the round started, he selected his Assault Rifle class with Juggernaut and extra grenades perks.

reply to post by spellbound


Yes you can. It's called spanking until the buttocks bleed. If Americans do that to their stupid kids then there is hope for America. (wishful thinking)

Fortunately there's poverty. I shall delight in seeing these brats eat the same things over and over again. No TV, no internet, no fastfood, no video games. Ah, life is good.

This is the parents fault for allowing that kid to play WOW for 14 hours a day.

It has nothing to do with the game. Everything is bad in excess.

People need to learn self control when it comes to video games and entertainment in general.

If you play a game where you slaughter monsters for 14 hours a day, then yes, you will have some sort of mental breakdown if something or someone prevents you from doing that.

It's called an addiction and they come in all forms.

Don't hate the creative minds who made WOW, blame the ignorant parents who are too lazy to raise their kids so they let electronics do it for them.

~Keeper

I've been playing WoW since Sept 2005, but I've let my account expire a few times, choosing not to play for a couple months. My husband just had me re-activate my account last night actually. You don't "lose" anything when you cancel, so there's really no reason to get upset.

If the video is real, I would imagine the kid was in a "hard-core" raiding guild where players have "responsibilities" to the guild, to show up on time and stuff, it becomes like a job really. I was the priest class leader for a raiding guild shortly after Burning Crusade was released and it really took over my life for a couple months. Then I let my account expire for a while.

Anyway, I still enjoy the game sometimes, but so many players take it way too seriously.

Here's a video that I think was posted on ATS before. When your character dies in the game, you spawn as a ghost at an angelic-looking thing called the Spirit Healer and you have to run back to your body to come back to life. While you're a ghost, you hear these wispy spirit world sounds, and next to the Spirit Healer you can hear this.


It really IS in the game, I hear it all the time now. As a priest, I have a "talent" that causes me to turn into a Spirit Healer for a few seconds after dying, I hear it then too. It depends on your sound settings. I think you have to turn "Music" and "Ambience" all the way down and "Sounds" up, but I'm not too sure about that without logging on to kill my character and check.

It's quite freaky.

Yep games can really mess people, esspecialy kids up! No question about it!

I just loved it when the guy shut up right at the instant he was requested so by his father. Not REALLY a rebel as he wanted to be in W.O.W..

I also got a bit concered about his remote at the point he had it right behind him... No remote ever deserves that! Its a poor TV remote and nothing to do with W.O.W.

Anyhow i think that particular guy is much better and got over it by now.
Actually he was so messed up that he is lucky to not be of much ridicule... you can hardly make up his real face characteristics...

W.O.W. is really an addicting bit of a problem..
I remember a few years back when a girl was seeking comfort in me while her boyfriend has abandoned her for W.O.W. The bad thing is not only that the guy was playing too much but that he ended up living in a world of his own alltogether... (He was about 26-27 i think...)
Naturally the split ! The wonders of W.O.W. and what it can do 4 you....

Parents please take care of your kids.. (ATS addict speaking )

Take care all!
GTG

Okay.. This isn't from World of Warcraft, but from Final Fantasy XI Online when you load it up.



Then why do they have bosses in game that take a large amount of time to beat?

Source - 18 Hour Boss Fight on Final Fantasy XI Online

Quote from source:

Yeah, you read that right. There's a boss in Final Fantasy XI that takes 18 hours. This raises a few questions, the least of which is WTF. Secondly, why would anyone spend 18 hours on one boss? There's a reason I will never understand MMOs, and this is it. Nevertheless, the linkshell (like a guild or clan) Beyond the Limitation has since beaten Absolute Virtue.

So IMHO, it goes twofold, game developers and parents.

This old chestnut huh. I would say that 99% of people who play these games are perfectly normal, every day people that you meet often. This kids video was fake but even if it weren't then i would say it's just one kid wh isn't normal getting obsessed by something. People can get obsessed by anything and be unhealthy with it.

Basically your thread is a load of rubbish. Sorry to be rude but you've based this ona video you've seen on the internet which is widely accepted as fake and not only that you go on to expand that if one kid is a nut job that the game itself is bad.

This is the same mentality that blames video games, rap music and other rubbish for school shootings.

I have a wow account - I play a level 80 priest and at no point have i ever wanted to jam a remote control up my arse at the lack of being able to play the game.

I have also managed to hold down two jobs, full time studies, a social life and a love life.

Wow can be addictive, but so can everything else.

The real issue here is not the game, but the parenting. If you plonk your kid in front of a tv / computer all day then what do you expect?

allright first off...space punk..your link,man,i drive a renault 11, its so old like..and its my first car and i love it man.
but the parent,why not spend 20$ on spray paint,i mean..look at the graffity on it,but yea the kid needs to sleep outsife 2 months atleast..to learn some respect.
if it were me,ill go nuts with joy,ill just repaint the whole truck black with spray paint..probably for 20$
and wow...i tryed it 3-4 times on good private servers,i get tired and bored after the second week,its just too repetitive,i dont know why people get so obsessed with it,are they that weak?
i loved rpgs but i kinda "growned up",i hate it! but now its like i dont want to waste so much time leveling a stupid game character,when i can be busy
-getting a girlfriend
-hitting the gym/making my self beautifull
-getting a nice job
-doing chores and watching american dad xD


[edit on 2-8-2009 by Stillalive]

Ok
I feel the need to defend my FAVORITE game now!!

I play WOW since the day it came out. So does my husband, so does my kid (although she plays only about 2 hours a week or so). Me and my husband, we play about 3-4 hours a day, before and after work, and more on weekends. Today alone I played 8 hours, straight.

I also need to say that I'm NOT a kid, neither is my husband and neither is the majority of the people in our guild (= a team in the game with a team name, for those who don't know it very well).
Most of us are well over 30, most of us have decent jobs, kids and are married. There are as much women who play as there are men.

We stopped playing for 3 months before the latest expansion came out, because we reached end-game and it started to become boring. (yes, there do comes an end to the game for those who play a lot, lol)

So in the defence of all wow players:
-when your in a guild, the game is not anti-social, wow-ers use ingame chat or speach, teamspeak or ventrillo to communicate.
-wow-ers are team players and have to learn to function within a group to be succesfull, understanding that everyone has a specific function within that group, this is nececary to reach the goal. In wow a basic 'raid group' has 25 players. In the beginning of the game there where groups of 40 needed to down certain bosses.
- imo, wow teaches that strategy and effort is important, and not just in a game. That said, when I see another player putting up a tremendous effort to complete a certain task, that says a lot about that person and who he is in his offline life.

I've heard a lot of players state that wow (and other games) has helped them to plan and stategies towards certain goals in their offline life and it did the same for me.

I agree that you don't let young kids play for hours straight, they need to do other stuff aswell, but for myself as an adult I don't see a problem with it.
My familly used to think it was strange, an adult that is passionate about pc games, my answer is simple: I don't spend my money on booze in a local pub, or on the membership of a tennisclub, I spend it on gaming. It's a hobby and it costs time and money (and sometimes frustration) just like any other hobby.



btw, I used to play free to play online rpg's. When me and hubby quit them for wow, we sold all our high lvl chars... that's 800$.... for each char. (and we had about 3 or 4... each :p)
now that's not bad for having "an addiction"

[edit on 2/8/2009 by GypsK]

reply to post by s14mikeysr20


I played wow for about a year and a half, as did my mother, father and older sister, husband, brother and brother in law.

My mother, sister and I could tell from the similar addictive behaviors that this was doing something bad to us and we quite last winter. My husband, brother and law, younger brother and father still play. They are all addicted. I know my from seeing my own husband and brother play that this violent angry attitude is a common theme around WOW players.

Lol the kid in the original video has mental issues, just watch the other vids. fun to watch though

That or he's a good actor

[edit on 8/2/09 by MoothyKnight]

I used to play wow and I don't anymore and never will ever again. A friend started and so I decided to play with him and it was a horrible experience that ended in with me beating walls and smashing several keyboard to pieces and throwing them at walls. I have never ever been so angry or engulfed in full blown rage in my entire life then the times I've played it. Its the way the game is designed its made to drive you insane That unreal kid was nowhere near as angry as I've been..

I would participate in player vs player games in order to get equipment (armor and swords). You are forced to actively participate in what are called battlegrounds or arenas to get honor points to buy the stuff. The way they had the game set up someone could walk up to you and kill you dead over and over with no way to fight back. Here is an example a warlock comes near you he casts fear dot fear again fear again ,you die or a priest uses brainwashing on you and makes your avatar jump off a cliff ala assisted suicide. Now put up with that 60 hours a week to get one piece of equipment. By end of one week you are already on the edge of mental breakdown.

I am currently playing the mmo anarchy online and nowhere near as bad as wow. I agree 100% wow can screw you up I have broken keyboards everywhere to prove it. The game is made on purpose to drive you mad they change every damn part of it every month. If I had a kid that wanted to play wow I would never allow it but doesn't mean all these games can screw you up. I have not crushed a single keyboard since changing to a different game.

Originally posted by Copernicus

Originally posted by s14mikeysr20
At the very start of the video the brother you are talking about says his mom cancelled the account not him.
reply to post by Copernicus

 

Still makes me sick to see him enjoy his brothers pain. Kids can be cruel.
[edit on 2-8-2009 by Copernicus]

so... even though he tried to shove a remote control up his butt... you still think it's authentic and candid... not fake..?..






-

The video game is simply a stimulus, not a trainer for this behavior. People that are easily angered will act like this given the right stimulus whether or not they play video games. At anyrate, good to know the fluoride isn't working.

It's pretty obvious to me that both boys in that video need counselling. Both appear as typical spoilt teens from the instant gratification culture, with no thoughts or cares about anyone else.

Move on folks, nothing to see here other than a teenage boy who needs to learn self-control and another that needs a hard lesson to respect others.

Originally posted by Copernicus
reply to post by Kaytagg

 

Funny, but once you know its a act, it becomes less so. The guy did this as an act and put it on the internet. He didnt expect people to just buy it. Apparently a lot of people do.

Exactly.

As a HARDCORE Warcraft player (for about 3 years) I can think of some things that happen socially in the game (it can encourage racism in those with the bent, it leaves the younger generation thinking that only 15 year olds play the game (so we get lame 15 year old discussions) and that they have the right to be obnoxious to other players because "we can't reach out and slap them" (Captain Oblivious, meet Madame Game Master (no, not me. But I know how to file complaints.)

It can hook you on "just one more thing" and ruin your sleep pattern (so you have to set times for gameplay.)

It's fun, I have a lot of good friends there, lots of silly times and good discussions and lots of emotional support.

But no, the game doesn't cause anything like that unless the player is hoaxing or on a severe drug trip or has some severe mental problems (schizophrenia.)