I will have a go as my life was 'interrupted' by EverQuest.
What did I lose? My friends, my job and my home. I am no writer but I will try and explain EQ and addiction from my point of view.
The simple answer is EQ or probably any good MMORPG, can be as addictive as a drug, with the same symptoms and consequences. I have played MANY MMORPG from UO to WOW, COH, Rift, GW2... but I think EQ has the most potential for harmful addiction though and I will talk about it specifically.
Simply, EQ is an unforgiving bitch. Spend two days gathering the ingredients for a cultural armour piece, hit combine... failed, not even a skill point... FUCK! Do it all again, but now you know where that Iksar blood drops so you get the pieces you need, put them in the forge, hit combine... FAILED AGAIN!! It is enough to make you cry. As strong as the feeling is when you fail it is
equally as strong as when you succeed, finally I got the Dreadscale full set!, finally I got caught the AC for his ring, finally I got the farking gobbo to drop his earring so I can sell it and be 14% closer to the haste item I want to buy... finally, finally finally....
Coupled with finally, finally finally is "Just one more..." Just one more Grachnist spawn, just one one more skill point, just one more port to earn 5pp... Just one more... One more...
Ok so how did I lose everything to EQ? Well it is fun!, fun as hell, it
feels AWESOME(see drug reference) when you get the haste item you covet or your guild kills that dragon for the first time., HUZZZAH! It feels really good. Ok so now you want to play EQ more but life is in the way, no problem, you say to myself that I will spend five hours at work and not touch EQ! I promise! And you do, you get your work done and it feels great, you reward your self for a job well done with another eight hour Grachnist camp!
But next time your work day clashes with the Vox spawn, shit! Ok, I'll do two hours rushed work, drop the dragon with my mates and call back the client and lie that it was a family emergency... But the raid goes long and you don't call back the client, you feel like shit. Damn! To feel better you log back into EQ where you can show off your new Cloak of Flames and talk with your guild mates on how best to drop Vox, Hell yah I got a skill point in brewing too! Twelve hours passes by and the you still have not called the client, shit'! I'll send him an email that I have the information he needs and he can expect my call the next morning, first thing. Except you sleep through the meeting because you were up all night with the guild trying to kill Nagafen for the first time... Solution?? A session in Sebilis will help you ignore the angry customer and now and a voice-mail from your boss asking for an explanation...
EQ is a harsh bitch that makes the rewards that much sweeter. Got real life problems? Logging in and killing pixels is a lot easier than dealing with them. At what cost? For me it was my friends, my job and when I could not pay the bills, my home. Is this what is happening with your spouse? Maybe.
Do I have a solution? No. Like a drug, he/she may have to hit bottom before he can leave it behind. Perhaps take a sledge hammer to his computer, seriously.
The good news is that unlike a drug, the withdraw is fairly painless. When my I lost my Internet connection, that was the end of EQ and the next day I got started on the LONG process of rebuilding my life.
Want some more insight? Check out the EXCELLENT two part game addiction/compulsion videos from the fine guys at Extra Credits Be sure to watch Part two as dude details his spiral into MMORPG:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5RSngCFpsc (Part one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_qlumZ5K4I (Part two)
Fesk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gl2748
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Hi,
I'm here because my bf is obsessed with p99, he spends a lot of time online, like 12hrs+ a day and i don't know what's up it's kind of terrifying actually? I understand it's an in-depth game and all that but it's affecting his real life, like just going outside and getting basic stuff done. I'm worried that he'll kind of wake up a year or two down the line and freak out about the real world carrying on without him, kind of like the film reprise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6xhnSp5Gdw
I understand this might not be the best place to ask, but can someone give me some insight into this thing that's taking over his life, advice on getting through this?
PS. I get that it can equally be a symptom of something else, i'm not blaming p99, but there must be others who've gone through this... |