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using an MMO to get off drugs (need help)
oONemesisOo
Member Posts: 10
okay guys this is kinda long but it's extremley important to me.
here's the deal, for the past 2 years ive been using heroin and its starting to ruin my life, ive been a gamer all my life and put 1000's of hours into MMO's (mostly Everquest and WoW) basically what happened was heroin took over my life and im trying to get into an MMO to HELP me get off it, i know this is not a solution and I plan to get professional help but i just want something to occupy my time once im out of rehab. so what I'm looking for is an MMO that will capture my attention, keep me playing, and with a decent player base. i dont want to play WoW anymore i dont think, so any ideas to get me started would be great. thanks!
Comments
Replacing one addiction with another is a very very bad idea. The moment something happens and you lose your choice of MMO your other addiction will come right back or even worse you'll start relying on the old one to keep you going with the new one. It is not the answer. You need professional help. You can sit and tell me blah blah i know what im talking about but so do I as my brother could never figure out that you can't do this sort of thing alone and you certaintly can't replace it with something else. Especially when that something else isn't any safer or healthier.
He waited to long to get real help and kick the habit and his body gave out. Don't make the same mistake.
Replacing one addiction with another does work. Ive done it before with major success. Unfortunately there isnt any other MMO ive found more addiction then WoW.
I think all MMOs are way more fun with friends, but soloing I always enjoyed Aion and Vanguard. I was never what was known as a "vanboy", but there was something about vanguard that I really liked.
if u like PVE i would suggest WOW....especially with PVE...u have to raid(usally at night) for a certain amount of hours....figure out strats,equipment,get to know ur guildmates and make new friends......wow is very easy to get sucked in and gets addicting fast and consumes alot of ur time. honestly if i did drugs i would proubly be think the same way cause i got into wow for a number of years and almost destroyed my college experience. the game does give u a rush when u do things like a 1st kill on a boss and ur guild leader is screaming through vent ' DPS THE FUCK OUTTA HIM,WE GOT THIS"! so ya i understand ur thoughts
First off..... That was long?
Second, sorry to hear about your addiction.
Third...
I would suggest trying Fallen Earth. Or if you want real hardcore PVP, I hear Darkfall is the game to play.
i guess i worded it wrong, i plan to get professional help i just need something to occupy my time and keep my mind off it and MMO's or gaming in general is what I love. starting an MMO isnt my entire solution its just 1 part of my solution
If this thread is for real, then you shouldn't be trying to replace a drug like heroin with an MMO. It won't help. As addictive as MMOs can be, your body doesn't go into withdrawals like it will when you deny it the heroin it's addicted to. I've seen some people with no lives that are addicted to MMOs and as bad as they are, they don't hold a candle to a true heroin addict.
Your best bet is to go to a rehab center. At the rehab center you could maybe pick up an MMO during your recovery time.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, but that's my advice.
EDIT: Oops! Saw your post right above mine. Good for you getting professional help. As for another good MMO, you could try Fallen Earth, LotRO, Darkfall or EQ2.
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
If it did work, you wouldn't be doing heroin now. Personally I think your mindset is all wrong. You know you have addiction problems from lack of self discipline. Instead of dealing with your discipline, you tell yourself that your mind is wired like that and it can't be changed, which is not true. Its good your trying to get help, but your not going for the root of the issue. I have been through something similar.
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You obviously dont have a damn cracking clue what your talking about. replacing a serious drug addiction with a gaming addiction is a terrible TERRIBLE idea. You can't rely on a gaming addiction to keep you too busy to take drugs. You are a dumbass and the mods can either edit me or ban me but its the damn truth.
btw OP since you are seeking help I can see what your saying good luck in finding a game to occupy your time while you recover and get help. I'm glad to hear that.
Well, first off congrats on seeking professional help. I know how you feel exactly. I'm on heavy, heavy pain killers every day and will be for the rest of my life, due to some very horrid and rare nueral diseases.
Secondly, as far as MMO's go, if you no longer wish to play WoW, try LotRO or Eve. I know both have a decent player base, a decent community, and are good.
I wish you the best of luck.
I dont think you mentioned if youre the PvP type. If you did, forgive me.
I wouldnt play a game like wow because the majority of the content outside of raiding is easily achieved by any hardcore gamer. If youre using a game to get off of heroin, youll want one with more of a journey- like FFXI.
Of course that depends on your taste. Everyone I have met either loves XI or it was their worst mmo of all time. Because it's an older game, you can play for at least a year without doing end game content provided you dont resort to RMT. With WoW, older content is discarded as soon as the game is updated. You will most likely return to heroin out of boredom.
Now on the other hand, if you wanted to plow into things hardcore, you can jump into a top 10 guild in WoW and do hardmodes Server/Country/World first, which might help curb the drug addiction.
I wish you good luck with whatever you decide to go with. I'm sure youll find just the vice to help!
LOTRO - Great PVE, graphics story
Age of Conan - Great graphcis and it seems to be improving into a good game
Fallen Earth - Good crafting, different form many games and a ot of fun
Darkfall - Great PVP, lots of freedom, and quite unique
thanks for the serious replies guys and not telling me im a stupid junkie scum or something like that. Rehab is coming up for me and it will probably be hell but i just want to live a normal life and be a nerd again not a druggie. but as far as the MMO's go i was thinking maybe EQ2 (i acctually own it already with all the expansions except the newest one) but dont know if its very fun end game. and i also own Age of Conan but i played it around release and didnt like it. I like teamwork in my MMO's and good graphics are a plus for me since i have a nice gaming rig.
Everquest 2 has changed alot since Launch but we relatively enjoyed its early game revamp when a friend and I went back. Its end game is ... probably fairly normal to most PVE based games. Raids, high end crafting, house decorating, doing all the exploring / collecting unlocks. So it really sort of comes down to what you prefer.
You could also try DDO's its got a new freemium model. You can either play it f2p and just buy the quest lines you want (there are several free ones) or you can do the premium standard monthly fee that gets you everything plus a few store points per month you can spend.
Its got some really great puzzle, live action feel, with easy to casually find group style raiding scheme as you get towards mid to end game. Its also got built in VOIP that works pretty well. You dont have to actually use it but its nice to have turned on so you can hear others. If you do try it try to avoid grouping with the really really old school players they just bum rush all the dungeons and ruin the experience.
word of advice, cut all ties with everything that could lead you back to your addiction and find good support. If you really want to get your life back you'll have to do that. I had to do that and with the help of an in-patient rehab I got my life back after I bottomed out. I've got 10 years away from all that mess last November. Since then I've been grateful to stay clean get married to a beautiful woman and have a 2 year old boy now that I can't seem to keep him away from my Xbox 360 or PC haha. I wouldn't recommend burying your problems in a fantasy world either honestly, sounds like you probably have some real life stuff to deal with first cause I know I did. Just do what you need to for yourself. First month is hell but it does get easier if you stay with it and don't make compromises. On a lighter note: there aren't any mmo's out right now worth spending a lot of time on anyways, I've been playing RPG's that I missed.
hey guys, are there any games (besides LOTRO) that have free trials i can DL? i have an amazing connection so i can DL it fairly quick and im in the mood to try some games out tonight... so far i like this forum and im hoping to make some friends and stick around. what i really hope for is I find a game I like make some good friends on this forum and play with them.
Hmmmm DDO is starting to peak my interest (reminds me of EQ1 which i have an undying love for)
It's not gonna work man, I recommend moving to methadone, then to pot (if that's even possible from there). If it were possible through alternative means then half of the neighbor's kids that are doing it on my block would have no problem kicking it. I can't understand how it's getting so popular these days, I figured most people simply knew better. I grew up around crazy shit too, but never once did I figure watching someone smoke a line of crystal off a sheet of tin-foil as something I would like to try - same goes for black.
You need to take this seriously and do a "time out" in rehab or in a neighborhood where it's hard to find it. Otherwise, be prepared to give up.
Sorry if I seem like a dick, but I live knee deep in a town full of addicts and none of them will ever help themselves without it being forced on them via the pigs. You need stern advice, not another escapist plan. Lemme give you some words from a person I know that has a problem himself, it's really good; "Any way you transport it you are putting yourself at risk, just having your hands on it means you need to be lucky all the time. A cop needs to be lucky once."
His own advice surely didn't help him, but I can't think of better words to get you by, though as a bit of final personal advice; get away from the people who do it with you. Either you drag them out, or they drag you back in - there is never compromise.
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thanks for the advice man, at this point im willing to try this for real. im gonna go to rehab and when i get out start over fresh, go back to haning out with my gaming buddies and cut all ties with my drug buddies.
Or you can end up with something they call golden combination: Addicted to MMO and Heroin.
And than you going to be really screwed (if you even can be more screwed , seeing you are riding the horse)
Do not find a intermediate thing to help you until you go in to rehab. If you like MMOs, then definitely, stay away from them until you get through rehap and start on your new life. You are going to be making life changing decisions and once in the program of recovery, many things that you have done in the past are going to be frowned upon.
Honest, tough love advice here: Run, don't walk to a rehab facility. If you don't have insurance, demand they refer you to one. Do not stop for anything, just get to the rehap place. Stop dwadling around and get to it. The longer you sit and wait it out, the harder things are going to be. Now, turn off the computer and GTF on your way to a facility... even a hospital, they will tell you where you can admit yourself.
Now, when you've gone through the program at whatever facility, make new connections, but know that most people in recovery don't make it. Stick to solid friends, and I mean solid... ones who can take your rough days/nights, ones who will slap you across the face to get your attention if need be. And for the love of G~d, do not start with another addicting thing (like MMOs) until you are well on your way to recovery... like at least 6 months.
If you can't get to a recovery place for whatever reason right now, do something else, get a pen and paper and start drawing... go mow the lawn, trim the bushes, clean your house/apartment... take steps towards what normal people do. You can recover, you can move on and become that person you want to be... it will take time and work on yourself.
Your post made me think. I've noticed it before, but now I fully realized how MMO addiction can be very close to drug addiction and often times, MMO addicts use drugs. Escapism, not being satisfied with own life, social problems, no real life goals or even ability to reach desired goals. A social, virtual world, where you can attain a social status and goals easier and takes your thoughts away from your own life, is a place that sucks such person in very easily. You may start going to shower and clean house less often, go outside only if absolutely necessary, work or school career suffering. It's so easy to fall in this trap and I've seen it so many times.
Drugs are fundamentally the same thing, but it's a lot worse. At least in MMO's you have socializing and activity for the brain. Drugs just mess with your brain and in drugged state you're sort of all alone. Also your emotions are stronger and uncontrollable. Doing this several times a week is a path to a miserable life. I'm not talking about pot or other mild drugs necessarily.
MMO's are much lesser worse of these two. I might recommend them only if you have problems with socializing, but if you have friends to hang out in real life, do that much rather. You can play simpler single player games, they are much less addictive.
I've had and still have similar problem as you have, but I've done progress. It has taken some time though and I was in hospital for 3 months. You have full potential to do it too, just need to kick yourself in the butt. You really should go see someone who you can talk about this whole ordeal with. If hospital treatment is possible, it may be good idea as well. Personally I didn't enjoy being in confined space most of time, so didn't work for me that well.
I think the way to salvation in this case would be to start with by saying strictly no to yourself, whenever you feel like using drugs or trying to escape your thoughts in virtual world. You really gotta fight with your ego and show who's the boss. It requires a lot of energy. Don't let set backs sadden you, they are inevitable, but tomorrow is a new day... or better yet, right now is new moment to get better. Make schedule for cleaning house, personal hygiene, eating. If you feel lazy, "I don't feel like doing it right now... maybe in an hour", that's when you need to tell yourself to take care of it right now. Socializing is so important, you need at least professional person to talk about your problem. Socializing can fix so many mental problems. Lastly, get some hobbies. Preferably physical.
I do not post on this site much at all for alot of reasons but I do like hit this site most days to read up on games and some of the fun threads.
I can tell you that after 20 years of recovery finding an MMO to help fill you time is prob. not the right way to go. I am glad you are seeking help and I hope you listen to them when you get there. I spent years going to meetings ( I am a 12 step person I understand not everyone is) getting my life together and building of strong base to change my life.
I would recomend finding some good sober/clean ppl to spend time with not your computer. Once you have all that down and you are on the right track MMO's will be something to spend your time on. Yes I play MMO's but it is all about balance. I do understand you are in a world of crap right now but seek professional help and LISTEN to them or what is the point in seeking thier help is the right way to go.
When I was playing EQ2 I happen to meet a gentleman in the same situation as you. He did seek professional help and his answer was to play MMO's after a year he was still playing and was clean up till that point. as I no longer play EQ2 I'm not sure what his staus is.
MMO's aren't addicting it's the people who play them. The Dr. told him it wasn't replacing an addiction, it was to keep his idle mind from trying to get that "high" again.
Also if you do play an MMO, I would suggest trying to reach out and find some people in game who will give you positive reinforcement and help you work through the tough times.