Hi, I just found this site - and wanted to drop you a note saying it's great that a place like this exists.
A year ago I would have laughed if anybody suggested that gaming could become an addiction as powerful as a narcotic - but that was before I had been introduced to online rpg's.
I picked up a copy of WoW (having played earlier warcraft games, never online though) - and spent the next 10 months exploring a whole world, fighting monsters, and making new friends. I played about 6 - 8 hours every day, and WoW became the focus of my life. I got friends hooked on the game and they became as obsessed as I was. If a friend didn't play I lost contact with that person.
After a while I realized that it was having a negative influence on my life - my studies where getting nowhere (I'm a university masters student), and I lost contact with both my gaming an non-gaming friends (doing a dungeon together is not really having social contact - at least not as much as actually spending time together). It was scary to see my "quality of life" being reduced by a computer game.
Luckily i sat down one day and thought about this - and decided to quit playing. Haven't been online for two months now, and it feels great . Kinda feels like getting your life back.
Most of my gamer friends still play, some in a pretty controlled fashion (2 - 4 hours a day), some as much as 8 hours a day. I'm a bit concerned about some of them - but I don't feel I'm the right person to start lecturing them about how they live their life. I'm just hoping they will also get enough soon, and start doing something else with their time.
I'm afraid this problem will only grow worse as games become more refined and user friendly - and the increasing trend of letting people use real money to buy stuff in the games adds a whole new risk to the whole thing.
So, to all people involved in this effort: Keep up the good work!
-Bernard
Hi,
Thanks for the praise for OLGA/anon
I am a newbie here but I was relieved to find this place. I had quit WoW 4 months ago and was still in a turmoil.
The 12 steps really does work
I hope you will stay
Kind regards,
Helene
A A A A A unique feeling that I find I often get when reading posts here...I feel like I could have written the post I'm reading; the words other people write about how gaming has effected them seem so familiar to me. Knowing there are other people out there who can understand what IaEU(tm)ve gone through, and that I can understand what theyaEU(tm)re going throughaEU|it helps me to realize that the huge fear I had while I was a gaming addict (that I was alone in all the ways I was suffering because of gaming too much) wasnaEU(tm)t true. IaEU(tm)m extremely happy I found this place too.
A A A A I can relate to having gamer friendsaEU|heck, theyaEU(tm)re my roommates right now. 3 people (occasionally the 4aEU(tm)th too) are into WoW, and I donaEU(tm)t know how, or if I should approach them about it. Why should I question how they spend their free time, etc. They know that IaEU(tm)ve been down the road of addiction with gaming and if I start to talk about how IaEU(tm)m afraid of how itaEU(tm)ll effect them, itaEU(tm)d be easy to pass off my advice as me being paranoid aEU~just because IaEU(tm)ve been addictedaEU(tm).
A A A A Glad you found this place Bernard, and itaEU(tm)s nice to meet you.
- Max
Edited by: Auriex at: 11/11/05 3:48