Hey gang,
I was talking to my partner the other night about game addiction, as we're both pretty big gamers, historically. We were talking about the absolute WORST addictions we've ever had, and it lead to some pretty eye opening stuff from both of us. She mentioned how when the Sims came out, she would just play it nonstop, even neglecting leaving the house for a few days at the weekend to play all day. I can relate to that, as a former game addict myself.
However, my tale is much more sinister.
Back in 2004, when World of Warcraft came out, I was 15. I grew up playing Warcraft 3, and when I found out there was going to be a 'World' of Warcraft, it blew my tiny little mind. What did they mean? Warcraft but...not an RTS? How was that going to work? When I heard it was going to be an RPG (I don't think the acronym MMORPG had come out back then), I figured it was going to be like those missions in RTS games where you'd control one unit, kinda like a CRPG was, think Baldur's Gate or Sword of the Betrayer.
When it actually came out...I was blown away. I even remember my first character. It was a Tauren Shaman named Snide, after Dave, funnily enough. (I might be conflating dates here, as I'm sure GB wasn't out around then when I come to think about it...well, whenever GB had launched was when I was playing WoW for the first time).
I remember finding it really weird that you had to buy the game for twenty quid (That's how much I remember buying it for in GAME), and thinking 'Wait, you need to pay monthly...how does that work?'
But nevertheless, I played it. And brother did I play it. I went from an hour a day, to three hours a day, to spending every waking minute playing. I remember my first ever level 60 was a Human Rogue called 'Sepukku' which I thought was really cool at the time.
I was playing pretty hardcore, but I never really...got that good. I never raided, I might have done a handful of AQ/ZG pick ups, but I never really did Molten Core or Blackwing Lair, because...well, I still had a life outside of woW at this point. I was in college, and had plenty of friends, a couple of who played Warcraft too.
It wasn't until my first year at University that I got PROPER stuck in. The freedom of living on my own, with my own money (back when student loans gave you an absolute FUCK LOAD of money for nothing), so I would just....play. And I mean I would PLAY. By this time, WOTLK was out, and I was into it full swing. I would go to my lectures at ten, come home at one, and play till probably....five or six AM. Then I'd wake up, pound some Thai red bull from the Chinese supermarket, and repeat the same thing over and over for months. I developed really bad habits and pretty ill health. It was around about this time I became an insomniac, a trait which I unfortunately had to deal with for several years after. I blame Warcraft in large part for this, but it WAS my own fault, so I can't really blame anyone but myself. Even now, I can go to bed at four, wake up at seven, and crack on with my day like it was no problem.
But when I say I developed really bad habits, I mean really bad ones. I became a shut-in, I couldn't physically leave the house, I developed social anxiety. My life existed on this little 14 inch PC monitor where WoW was my only portal to the outside world. I failed my first year at University because of my WoW addiction, and my parents had to come and pick me up, and take me home. I then re-applied next year and aced it. (Don't worry, I graduated, and now I'm thriving in life :D)
But those times were so dark, because of how utterly addictive Warcraft was. I was really in the throes of it, and I couldn't escape it, at all.
I know I'm not alone when I say I let a video-game completely control my life. I'd love to hear stories from the rest of you guys about how addiction in gaming changed your life, and how you overcame it.
Log in to comment