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Are we just addicted to MMOs?
Consuetudo
Member UncommonPosts: 191
I don't really have fun in MMOs. That's a straight up fact. I DID have fun, but I don't know. Now it's trying desperately to find something I can sink an anchor into. Usually I'll spend a few lethargic days, hours at a time, pouring over forums trying to get some sort of gander of what is good, try out a few games, and, after a day or two, uninstall them.
Why do I keep returning?
I feel like I'm trying to recapture a feeling that's so amazing it can only be experienced in an MMO. A living, breathing, virtual world--whatever that means anymore. I guess I just had experiences in MMOs in times past that were so momentous that not being able to partake of the same high is depressing.
Why do I keep returning?
I feel like I'm trying to recapture a feeling that's so amazing it can only be experienced in an MMO. A living, breathing, virtual world--whatever that means anymore. I guess I just had experiences in MMOs in times past that were so momentous that not being able to partake of the same high is depressing.
Comments
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Personally I'm not playing an MMO right now because I failed to find one that could grab and hold my interest; that seems like sufficient evidence that I'm not addicted to them, regardless of the fact that I'd really like to find a good one and play it.
While I've got most of the base game done (holding off on finishing story line) and the tribal/Zion expansion my character is level 41 and doing the "Big MT" atm. Still have the great divide and abandon brotherhood bunker ahead of me.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
In my experience, the addiction can come from two sources:
1) Endless positive reinforcement - be it from leveling up, killing hard things, getting new loot or whatever, MMOs are constantly telling us that we're doing good and that makes us feel good. We get addicted to that positive reinforcement, often finding new ways to keep it going (rolling alts, comparing ourselves to others).
2) Socialising - if you get involved with a good guild or just do a lot of grouping, the social aspect can become addictive. It becomes an enjoyable little echo chamber - everyone you speak to has the same primary interest which you can chat about for ages (MMOs). Chances are, you like similar books, tv and movies. Most likely its all men, or mostly men, so conversation is easier than real life (helped by being semi-anonymous).
You can avoid part 1 by having a good real life. If your real life isn't going anywhere, that false sense of achievement granted by games feels great and can help you cope with real life. Problem is, you never get round to dealing with real life and just end up stuck in a rut for years.
The second part can be avoided by having a better social life. This is where I personally failed. When I finished uni and moved back to my hometown for work I had no social network left in my hometown. MMOs (LotRO specifically) filled that void - I could simply spend more time online, "hanging out" with other guildies. It filled a social hole in my life for many years, luckily for me it also resulted in a long term girlfriend who I met through LotRO as well as load of real life friends, but still, it delayed me from fixing my real life social life problems for a few years because gaming gave me my fix.
We're all capable of fixing the addiction though. SW:TOR broke my addiction. I played from release until just before the first expansion, however I didn't really enjoy the game at all. I started out with lots of excitement, but 1 week in I was bored stiff. 3 weeks in I was at cap. 4 weeks in I had cleared every raid on normal mode. 5 weeks in every raid on hardmode. 10 weeks in, whole guild was fully geared up....I finally realised that I'd been playing a game for nearly a year without actually enjoying it, beyond the battlegrounds, and I was only playing it because of my guild. So, I finally quit (feb2013) and haven't played an MMO since (except to try them out) as I ensure that the game itself is actually fun and well built.
But seriously, man, you got any MMOs on you? Just a Beta would be fine..
..because we're gamers, damn it!! - William Massachusetts (Log Horizon)
Teen's death at Chinese internet addiction camp sparks anger
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40920488
Same here.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Just like with all kinds of entertainment taking a break no and then makes it more fun when you actually do it.
OP: yeah, that is addiction behaviour. And if it isn't fun you should try some other form of entertainment that is fun for a while. Why not try pen and paper RPGs (unless you already play of course), it has the good things we see in MMOs (co-operation, the social experience, progression) but little of the bad stuff (unless you play with a ninja looter).
________________________________
Waiting for:
Lost Ark
New World
"once upon a midnight dreary, while i porn surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404."
mmorpg junkie since 1999
When a population of gamers likes to play MMOs for decades that has fed them more or less the very same thing, they look for that 1% difference from the basic that makes or break the genre or that one game that gives fresh air to the genre. Outside of that, the games are the very same, but with different settings, stories, and now.... different business models.
Am I addicted?
I think no...
How do I rationalize?
The fact that I can set my limit on how far I would spend in any F2P game and stick to it each and everytime and follow a basic set of rules I go by to every mmo I play (established by a friend of mine) and have not waivered.
If I was addicted,
My personal belief system would be overridden, my bank accounts would be drained, and I would find myself chanting endless praises to whoever my master may be at whatever is pouted for no reason whatsoever. Once I awaken I shall find that 6 months to possibly 2 years of my life has passed with little to, or no accomplishments outside of the realm of gaming and only myself to blame. No contact, or merit.. Just the usual toxic community that praises friendship and open hearts-turned hostile onto abandonment, regret, and turmoil of the tainted soul.
MMOs are like Marriage and Divorce.
The Honeymoon is sweet, and the aftermath is deadly. :P