SaitoH said:
Zaptruder: You seem to be talking about people with addiction issues. Those people aren't respresentitive of the average MMO player.
this is exactly my point. Zaptruder is basically saying "MMORPGs suck because a certain kind of player can play them in a certain type of way and look back on it and regret it." I mean that's not what he acts like he's saying, but each time, that's what he's saying.
As I said, MMORPGs have a nature about them to keep you coming back. Of course they do. Anything with a monthly fee has that. It HAS to have that. Why do you pay for cable? So you can get BSG and Sopranos every week. Why do you pay for internet? So you can get porn. Every form of entertainment of luxury with a recurring fee is built upon the fact that it needs something for you to come back to every month. In this sense, MMORPGs are no more "dangerous" or "sinister" than your subscription to Playboy.
The problem comes directly from addictive personality types. People with no willpower. The "just one more" syndrome of MMORPGs isn't any worse than gambling, drinking, or really anything where you have fun. The problem lies within the fact that some personalities are willing to sacrifice important things to get "just one more". The activity doesn't cause this. No one is at the craps table holding a gun to your head. No one is at your computer desk strapping you down. It is YOUR decision on whether you are responsible or not.
Now sure you could say game companies could limit you. Say you can only login for 2 hours a night. But then you enter a whole new situation where you are paying the company your hard earned money and being told that you can't play (essentially).
Anyway, I digress. I think everyone here is on the same page. Even Zaptruder. I just think he really does have an agenda and is trying to turn everything into "It's the games' fault" at every opportunity he has.
What's funny is that I am CERTAIN there have been many instances of some wife leaving her husband because he won't stop playing console RPGs to spend time with her, and others who have left their husband because he won't stop surfing for porn, and others who lef ttheir husband's because they spent more time with their baseball card collection than they did with the little woman. This is about people with no self control indulging to the point of sacrificing other things in their life. This is not limited to MMORPGs, not even within just the gaming community.
Hell, never once did I say I regretted playing WoW. I regretted what I gave up to play it last time, but that is MY fault, not WoW's. Luckily it wasn't serious and I can attempt to change it (or leave again) this time around.