Evercrack.
To us gamers, computer games, especially good ones, are like crack. We constantly search for new highs, sometimes in old games, but mostly in new ones. Once you realize this, you can imagine what kind of effect this may have on your social life. If you are having your spouse, mommy or daddy read this column, make them go away now. This is not a nice article. It talks about Evercrack, Diabloholics, WoWwhores and EvE-players who are constantly plugged in via a connection through their left eyeball (who needs depth vision for pc games anyway?). [sarcasm]It talks about the health benefits of PC-gaming, and development of social skills[/sarcasm].
I’ll admit it. Somewhere last week I tried to install Diablo II onto my PC. You see, my excuse was that since I am getting my wisdom teeth removed on the right side, I would not sleep several nights (due to cooling the jaw, trust me, my teeth are not to be messed with, they have long roots, it’s going be cutting and bruising, and a very, very fat check if not immediately cooled), and during that time I would need entertainment. This was an excuse. So I picked up my DII CDs, installed DII, and then proceeded to LoD. And there foresight failed me, as Tolkien so aptly put it, and I ran into some unforeseen troubles. The installation procedure started to copy from the DII Play disc, copied about 75% of what it was supposed to copy, and THEN, and only THEN it told me that my play disc was not a Diablo II Play Disc. Imagine that. Yes, it’s a copy! Of course it is! I smashed my original CD’s four years ago in a desperate attempt to cure myself or at least keep me away from it long enough to finish my first research report for my university education. Needless to say, the day the report was done (two months later) I had a friend of mine burn me new copies, and I got at it again. Those copies worked like a charm… and a year and half later I did it again (smash them, I mean), to finish more and to be rid of it once and for all. So… why do I still have copies? You may guess, but only once. I tried to get rid of DII again and again, and once I got married, I kind of swore not to touch it. Yeah right, as if… In all honesty, about around the time of the 25th of February this year, when my first column appeared I bailed on DII, deinstalled it and that was that. Really, it was, at least until I either a) spend cash on new CD’s or b) acquire someone else his CD’s or better, less crappy copies. Of course, as soon as my jaw has healed I will again lack the time for online play because of my 40 hour job, a wife, several hobbies and a social life, and thus I will not play. We’ve been over that in “That other half” I think, and rather clearly at that. But the desire to play occasionally flares up in me. Not to gather items, or to gain power, or even to pk people, but simply to play Diablo and enjoy some good old fashion hordes-of-monster bashing.
Computer addicts show the typical signs of all addictions: Delirious when they get some, stressed when they get none, and they cannot live without their games, internet or whatever. A day without feels like a day lost to them. Me… I’m just addicted to games, not to computers. It’s just that the computer is such a handy tool when it comes to gaming (another excuse ^_^).
Lets be honest here: If you play the same game more than 15 hours a week for extended periods of time, you stand a good chance of being an addict. Perhaps not in a major way, there’s plenty of people out there that play 40 hours a week next to their 40 hour a week job, but it is the same thing as with alcohol: average 2 glasses per day? Addict! But those habits are easy to kick. So, how do you determine you are a computer gaming addict? Ask yourself, are you cranky if someone interrupts your four hour gaming session once? Indeed, do you often have four hour gaming sessions? Could you imagine a life without game A or B? If something goes terribly wrong in game A or B, do you take that out on your mom, your dad, your dog, your children or your spouse? Starts with an A, ends on ddict. You know it. And you LOVE it. Don’t deny, confess your sins to me.
So, what kind of effect does this have on you and your social life? If you work say 40 hours a week, and play say 40 hours a week, and sleep say 35 hours a week, then you’ve just used up all but 53 hours of that week already. Obviously, the true addict exchanges roughly 5-20 hours of sleep for more gaming, causing him to turn into a pale shade of his former self. 12 more for personal hygiene, 16 for eating, 1 hour per day for work traveling, that’s another 12+16+5 = 33. Leaves you with 20 hours, and o/c you need to shop for food etc… you see where this is going right? Your social life drops to 0. Also, because of your gaming habits, you have nothing to talk about to other people. So you turn into this social no-no on parties who can only talk in leetspeek and doesn’t know a thing on say, the local politics, soccer, football, baseball, environmental issues or the comedy of the past year. In effect, you are turning yourself into a social loner. And don’t come with “but my online friends are real…” as soon as real life slaps them in the face, they’re gone. Also, depending on the people you “hang with” on the net, your social skills might actually decrease. Your interaction with the opposite sex (let’s face it, most of the gamers are still males here) and thus your skill in interacting with the opposite sex will suffer. All these things might slowly drive you into isolation, and you’ll always be searching for a new fix. I know what I am talking about, because for a while I didn’t like to go outside. My wife never noticed, as we were both involved in some personal agony, but I’m mightily sure she knows I like my games. However, I noticed myself that things were going wrong, and decided to undertake some action.
So, if you are ever in the real world, and you see a pale, skinny guy move about, sunlight burning him, mumbling to himself, please, be gentle to him, because he might be your best friend online. That, or you are looking in amirror.
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