http://www.jsonline.com/news/State/mar02/31536.asp
A fairly interesting article, written by someone who obviously did their homework, but has little to no understanding of internet game addiction.
-Todrael
Internet Addictions in the News
-
Guest
Dude. Just what the krunk IS sexual anorexia? Never mind, I looked it up. http://www.sexhelp.com/what_is_sex_anorexia.cfm
There ya go. Now...I think it has been the usual stance of we gamers to look at this and say "People who do that sort of thing are usually already mentally unbalanced. Someone who is healthy upstairs will possess the ability to seperate the fantasy from the reality." A true statement. However: I also think that people who are mentally unbalanced should indeed be warned away from these games. I don't like seeing someone gush embarrasingly any more then the next person. In fact, now that I think about, how many MUDders can honestly say they never have considered the game above RL considerations.
Priorities are very important, and online gaming can fit into a healthy lifestyle. However, when it becomes a time-cancer, devouring hours better spent in other persuits, it is time to shut off the computer and say hello to some real people.
I'm such a hypocrite.
Sarauble
UNIX sys-admin in training, non-BOFH route.
There ya go. Now...I think it has been the usual stance of we gamers to look at this and say "People who do that sort of thing are usually already mentally unbalanced. Someone who is healthy upstairs will possess the ability to seperate the fantasy from the reality." A true statement. However: I also think that people who are mentally unbalanced should indeed be warned away from these games. I don't like seeing someone gush embarrasingly any more then the next person. In fact, now that I think about, how many MUDders can honestly say they never have considered the game above RL considerations.
Priorities are very important, and online gaming can fit into a healthy lifestyle. However, when it becomes a time-cancer, devouring hours better spent in other persuits, it is time to shut off the computer and say hello to some real people.
I'm such a hypocrite.
Sarauble
UNIX sys-admin in training, non-BOFH route.
Just another scapegoat for society to point blame at.
Imagine it.
The kid probably Glorishan'd into a zone he didn't know and lost his "insert choice weapon here" because he fumbled right before he recalled.
"Oh no! The "weapon" is gone! What will I do! I know. Let's off myself."
Yah. Right.
The kid was probably abused by his parents and just couldn't handle it anymore.
(DISCLAIMER:If you are being abused and are reading this? Don't kill yourself, seek help!
)
Eli
Imagine it.
The kid probably Glorishan'd into a zone he didn't know and lost his "insert choice weapon here" because he fumbled right before he recalled.
"Oh no! The "weapon" is gone! What will I do! I know. Let's off myself."
Yah. Right.
The kid was probably abused by his parents and just couldn't handle it anymore.
(DISCLAIMER:If you are being abused and are reading this? Don't kill yourself, seek help!
)Eli
First of all, I don't die. Secondly, I agree that the online gaming industrty can't be help accountable for this person's death, especially since it is stated 'withing' the same article that he was suffering from depression. Sure, he played the game for his last few hours. Who is able to determine 'why' he killed himself? Did he play those last few hours because he knew he was going to end it, and wanted to find a few more hours of enjoyment before passing? Or, in the event that an event having taken place in an online game pushed him over the edge, I think that most people would agree that this person was mentally unstable in the first place. Can the online gaming industry be blamed for this? I think not.
Glorishan
Glorishan
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Glorishan:
First of all, I don't die. </font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Now, I never said you did! I merely said he must have pulled a "Glorishan"
[This message has been edited by Elisten (edited 04-01-2002).]
First of all, I don't die. </font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Now, I never said you did! I merely said he must have pulled a "Glorishan"
[This message has been edited by Elisten (edited 04-01-2002).]
What really irks me is when people like the mother feel like they have to punish the gaming companies for being evil, so that they won't have to feel like maybe they failed somewhere. The guy's schizophrenic and depressed before he starts playing the game, and yet she wants to blame his death on the game? She should try looking at it in a different light... maybe that game bought him another year of life while he lost himself in his fantasy, instead of putting the gun in his mouth before.
Question:
Can I sue to get warning labels put on people like Elizabeth Woolley?
Something like.....
"Warning, knocking this bi*ch up may result in your life being ruined by her need to blame others, poor parenting skills, stupidity, lack of decency, and any conceived loser offspring not having the will or drive to succeed in life. Do so at your own risk, but man, she ain't worth it!"
I play soj3 all the time, funny how I still can socialize, hang with friends, and am getting two degrees in Math and CS in May....gimme a friggin break.
Can I sue to get warning labels put on people like Elizabeth Woolley?
Something like.....
"Warning, knocking this bi*ch up may result in your life being ruined by her need to blame others, poor parenting skills, stupidity, lack of decency, and any conceived loser offspring not having the will or drive to succeed in life. Do so at your own risk, but man, she ain't worth it!"
I play soj3 all the time, funny how I still can socialize, hang with friends, and am getting two degrees in Math and CS in May....gimme a friggin break.
Holy sh*t.....
On a side note, upon looking further at the article, that's in Wisconsin and I even have an ex gf who grew up in Osceola so know it in passing.....Not all Wisconsinites are as dumb as Woolley just to clarify. We prefer our addictions to be alcohol, not online gaming. She prolly wanted him to die from liver problems instead. :P
On a side note, upon looking further at the article, that's in Wisconsin and I even have an ex gf who grew up in Osceola so know it in passing.....Not all Wisconsinites are as dumb as Woolley just to clarify. We prefer our addictions to be alcohol, not online gaming. She prolly wanted him to die from liver problems instead. :P
Thanks to tod for posting this.
What I find most laughable is the councilor's assertion that the game is DESIGNED to be addictive. I'm sorry... I know of people addicted to tetris... yet I see no class action lawsuit. I know of people addicted to SC, to Diablo... you name it.
Heck, someone could probably argue that sex is addictive... and by an extension of the logic mentioned in the article, all members of the opposite gender should come with warning labels?
What I find most laughable is the councilor's assertion that the game is DESIGNED to be addictive. I'm sorry... I know of people addicted to tetris... yet I see no class action lawsuit. I know of people addicted to SC, to Diablo... you name it.
Heck, someone could probably argue that sex is addictive... and by an extension of the logic mentioned in the article, all members of the opposite gender should come with warning labels?
Here it is, straight from the article.
"Elizabeth Woolley remembers when her son was betrayed by an EverQuest associate he had been adventuring with for six months. Shawn's online brother-in-arms stole all the money from his character and refused to give it back.
"He was so upset, he was in tears," she said. "He was so depressed, and I was trying to say, 'Shawn, it's only a game.' I said he couldn't trust those people."
Nothing about being sorry that there are people who do this to others in the world. All she did was dismiss him, dismiss his feelings. He'd been diagnosed as depressed and having a limited range of emotions - so the first thing she does is tell him that one of the few he has is wrong.
No wonder he didn't feel he had something to hang onto in Real Life.
"Elizabeth Woolley remembers when her son was betrayed by an EverQuest associate he had been adventuring with for six months. Shawn's online brother-in-arms stole all the money from his character and refused to give it back.
"He was so upset, he was in tears," she said. "He was so depressed, and I was trying to say, 'Shawn, it's only a game.' I said he couldn't trust those people."
Nothing about being sorry that there are people who do this to others in the world. All she did was dismiss him, dismiss his feelings. He'd been diagnosed as depressed and having a limited range of emotions - so the first thing she does is tell him that one of the few he has is wrong.
No wonder he didn't feel he had something to hang onto in Real Life.
Since the beginning of DnD and roleplaying the people who typically play them are social outcasts. I know I went through a stupid stage where I did nothing but MUD from 10-12 hours a day. It has nothing to do with the game and everything to do with the person.
I threw away a huge chunk of my life on Soj2 because I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to realize that I was killing myself. It draws you in and its this downward spiral...and at some point you just crash...and at the moment you choose to let it go, let it take you completely, or something terrible like kill yourself.
Its a horrible feeling to be dependant on an online game. I woke up every day and the first thoughts in my head were "I hate my life". It wasn't because of the game...in fact i think that a few people on Sojourn were a positive step in getting out of it. I had just broken up with a girl i'd been dating for a long time, lost my best friend of 10 years, and moved to a new college with little to do at.
Fura is totally right that dismissing his feelings was horrible. To someone whos stuck in the game it IS real and means more then things that happen outside of it. Providing that person with things to do irl helps them more then a game. Drag them away if you have to...dont let them sit there and waste their life.
I threw away a huge chunk of my life on Soj2 because I was too busy feeling sorry for myself to realize that I was killing myself. It draws you in and its this downward spiral...and at some point you just crash...and at the moment you choose to let it go, let it take you completely, or something terrible like kill yourself.
Its a horrible feeling to be dependant on an online game. I woke up every day and the first thoughts in my head were "I hate my life". It wasn't because of the game...in fact i think that a few people on Sojourn were a positive step in getting out of it. I had just broken up with a girl i'd been dating for a long time, lost my best friend of 10 years, and moved to a new college with little to do at.
Fura is totally right that dismissing his feelings was horrible. To someone whos stuck in the game it IS real and means more then things that happen outside of it. Providing that person with things to do irl helps them more then a game. Drag them away if you have to...dont let them sit there and waste their life.
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">"The manufacturer of EverQuest purposely made it in such a way that it is more intriguing to the addict,"</font>
Ahem... DUH. Entertainment is supposed to be enjoyable. And enjoyable things are addictive. Like sports, legos, taking walks, shopping, and sex. If it wasn't, then we wouldn't seek it out so often, and it wouldn't make our lives fun...Pretty dull if you ask me.
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