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Addicted To World Of “Warcrack”

Monday, August 3rd, 2009 by Chris Pirillo at 12:43pm
7 Responses (Add)

Game-addicted Gnomie Rob writes:

Hey Chris,

My name is Rob, and I’m 16 years old — soon to be 17. I have an addictive personality and when I pick up a game that I like I instantly have to be the best at it. In middle school I started with MMOs and at first I didn’t like them so much. Without me realizing it I suddenly started to like them and soon I HAD to play them.

Towards the end of middle school I started to play Halo on the Xbox 360. Like all games I tried, I played the game like it was my job and I became quite good at it, but of course at a cost. I started not going out as much, dreading sports practice because I thought I could be practicing Halo instead, and all around becoming non-social.

The most recent game I became obsessed with was World of Warcraft. I started playing again this summer (I had previously quit because I got bored of it). I am realizing now how much time I have wasted this summer to this game. I cycle between games; when one gets boring I switch to the other and I usually come back to it, thus in a never-ending cycle of being addicted. Just today I canceled my WoW subscription and deleted the account. I’m thinking of breaking the disks also, just in case!

Anyways, I find myself sitting in my chair surfing the Internet. I’m somewhat depressed at the amount of time I’ve spent on these games. I’m also depressed because I find myself with nothing to do and overwhelmed whenever I think of something I could do — I think of all of the work that goes along with it and, in turn, I don’t end up doing it. I’m afraid of failure, I guess, in trying something new.

I was wondering if you could give me some tips on what to do now that I’ve tried to give up this addiction.

I really hope you respond to this e-mail, but I know you are probably very busy.

Well, Rob, I’m submitting this to our Lockergnome community not so much because I’m too busy to respond, but the fact of the matter is that I’m not much of a gamer! Fellow Gnomies, what advice do you have for Rob?

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7 Comments

Olrik

August 4th, 2009
at 5:28am

Hello Chris and Rob,

I would like to start by expressing my opinion towards the title of this blog post. I personally think the title is already suggesting that World of Warcraft is an addictive game and in this case gets compared with Crack. A rather overexaggerated comparrison in my oppinion as it can happen with any game if you have an addictive personality like Rob.

Rob, MY best advice would be to find yourself a way to pull yourself away from the computer for a while. I personally do this with a small program that tells me every hour that I have to take a walk, do something or at least get away from the PC.

Find yourself a friend that will help you get you away from the PC and do something else, like the sports your doing :)

I don’t think I can give you any other advice. When you’re addicted to something you will have to get rid of it yourself. Others can only root for you and support you in your decision.

I hope this helps :)

Regards,
Olrik

Ken

August 4th, 2009
at 7:21am

I spent maybe 2-3 hrs on on average playing xbox360 mostly.I’m am a geek usually I know more about the tech world before most of the population. I feel wired up alot but I search for other things that interest me like video. I know how it feels to wanna play games they are interactive especially xbox live. I spent about a year playing call of duty 4. I still game but have entered full spectrum with geekdom. The best achievers in society have been so through their obsessive behavior to do the things they love to do. Look at Chris Pirillo he gets paid for being a geek. Maybe you could get into technology and get paid $$$$$$.

Bob

August 4th, 2009
at 11:38am

Have you tried Ritalin?

Larry

August 5th, 2009
at 9:32am

The first step, and perhaps the hardest, in solving a problem is understanding that you have a problem. You have already done that. I don’t know of any “magic bullet” to help. From this point on it is a matter of your own “will power”.

Find something(s), more productive, that you enjoy doing and just do it.

Dutchguy21

August 9th, 2009
at 8:17am

Hey Rob

I was in your postion once.
it seemed that the only thing I was good at was playing games but after a while I realized that pussing buttons is no skill at all!
And that reality is way more fun than Virtuel Reality.
it just takes some more effort to acomplish things.
its easy to push a mouse button for a few hours and see you ”SKILL” raise but in the end its not your skills its all digital en useless as soon as you leave your computer.
and the only people who find those skills impressive
are other gamers.
I stopped enyoying all the games I used to cherish cause it felt empty when i was playing them.

So I decided to stop playing games.
And started to train my own skills.
I started thinking who do I want to be!
These are the things that keep me busy nowadays.
and damn it feels so much more rewarding!!

1. I bought a good Amp and Electric Guitar (Ibanez) and a
Acoustic guitar (Blueridge) And started practicing for about
2 to 4 hours a day
It sound pretty bad when you first start but after about 3 to 4
weeks getting your chords right somehow becomes
natural.
(from there you can move on to the next level)
Plus getting more knowlegde about Scales and Rhytme
you start to understand how music composed and actualy
start to enjoy it more.
(cant afford lessons? http://www.justinguitar.com)

2.Exercise.
I go Rollerblading for about 2 to 6 hours a week.
its a good traning for you legs especialy when you consider.
that im Skating with leg weights these days (3,5 kilo each)
damn my legs were weak from al that time sitting in front of
the computer but thats much better now.
at first it felt unnatural to push my body so far I was not used
to itt. but in time it started to feel great to push to the limit.
things I could never do started to become easy.
Seeing yourself get stronger each week.
even silly basic things like doing a handstand or walking a
few meters on your hands. (yup doing a handstand is a skill)

3. Recently I started learning French. and im going to expand
this to other languages asoon as I get the basic of the
french language.
its kinda easy learning the basics of a different language it
takes only about 1 hour of your time before you go to bed
sleep.
About 60 procent of the english language is French its just
pronounced differently.
So if you want something useful that wil last you a lifetime
then I suggest that you get a few language packs from
Michel Thomas.
you dont even have to learn just listen and start to
understand a different language.
Spanish, Japanese, German, Dutch, ect

4 Gaining knowlegde about everyday questions.
Like what is DNA and how does it work.
how do stars form.
pretty much every question that pops in my head
during work. I just look it up on the web mostly on wikipedia.
And I learn. I actualy started to enjoy learning again.
Just try itt you will see.

5 Getting my morals up.
I like to put people who think they can do everthing they
want back in there place. Like people who try to cut a line
even if there are with a group of 5 people or more.
or people who dont stand up in a bus for an older person
or someone that cant stand that wel.
The funny thing is I actualy got in a argument with
someone in a bar who was looking for a fight.
he was kinda drunk but i looked him in the eyes and
confronted him with what the fuck he was doing and he
actualy bought me a beer. (kinda like the skill Charm)

Wel these are the things that I enjoy nowadays
And looking back i can say that I started to enjoy reallife
games dont even apeal to me anymore.
but I still play a game on the wii sometimes but only when I
have friends over.
Cause Mario Party 8 and Mario Kart are hilarious games to
play with your friends.

I hope gamers can learn from some of the things that i’ve
showed here.
Just remember your living on earth not in The world of
warcrack the MMOLR
massively multiplayer online life replacer
I’m glad I never started to play that game I’ve seen a lot of
people slip into it and soon it became the only
thing they could talk about.

Find something else that can keep you busy
Photography, Martial Arts, ballroom dancing, ect

something real and go for itt.
And remember it might take a few days or weeks to get
good at itt.

You might think your failling because of this. that your not
good at it. but thats because learning real things takes
more effort and time than clicking you mouse button 1000
times to get a level 6 fire bolt. Don”t make up excuses to
Stop doing something New cause it will feel Awkward at
first and even slightly clumpsy. but after a while you start
seeing results you will grow more confident.

You did not learn to ride a bike in a day. yet
you didnt gave up then. .
Dont sit in your chair in selfpity
Learn to learn again

If you have any question just ask me.

Don’t look back look forward.
Cause every choice you make, will affect you and people
around you.
So search your own self.

What Do You Think?