theres this guy at work, we call him foots, his dick is 14 inches long limp. he's ugly as ★■◆●, but he gets all the bitches.
some of you may not want to hear that, but the saying is true.
Massively multiplayer games, addiction, and friendship.
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Lothar
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JMEaT, glad to hear you quit. Sounds like it was time.
My wife and I have dealt with over-gaming in a slightly different way -- we bought a little kitchen timer, and whenever we play a game (especially a co-op game) we set the timer for a pre-determined time (never more than 2 hours). When it goes off, we finish the current level or quest, and we stop.
We also don't play every day -- if either one of us would rather not, we don't.
Oh, and I have to disagree with Cops and Tricord's statement that friends online aren't real friends. See, for example, www.tomandcatherine.com :)
(Off topic: Topher: you written anything up about your ascensions? I always like to read about other people's ascensions.)
My wife and I have dealt with over-gaming in a slightly different way -- we bought a little kitchen timer, and whenever we play a game (especially a co-op game) we set the timer for a pre-determined time (never more than 2 hours). When it goes off, we finish the current level or quest, and we stop.
We also don't play every day -- if either one of us would rather not, we don't.
Oh, and I have to disagree with Cops and Tricord's statement that friends online aren't real friends. See, for example, www.tomandcatherine.com :)
(Off topic: Topher: you written anything up about your ascensions? I always like to read about other people's ascensions.)
i work in a chemical plant, you think i dont shower before i leave?Duper wrote:kurupt wrote:theres this guy at work, we call him foots, his dick is 14 inches long limp.
and you know this how???? ..er.. wait .. I'm not sure I want to know that either.
...don't mind me .. uh, I was just leaving.
he's like 65 so i dont know if he can still swing the lumber, but i imagine its like 20 inches hard
kurupt wrote:i work in a chemical plant, you think i dont shower before i leave?Duper wrote:kurupt wrote:theres this guy at work, we call him foots, his dick is 14 inches long limp.
and you know this how???? ..er.. wait .. I'm not sure I want to know that either.
...don't mind me .. uh, I was just leaving.
like that is common knowledge.
65 huh? your genitals do keep growning as you get older. so thats not too surprising. ....sure it's not due to your line fo work? I think i saw something like that on the Simmson's once. er... not that this has anything to do with addictive games.
back on topic.....
The Story of my life.
Back in 1997, I had a life. I was active in my religion, and I didn't own a computer. Then, one day, a friend of mine gave me a 386, and soon I upgraded and bought a Pentium 90 from another friend. Then I got involved in the internet, first accessing it with the 14.4 modem, then later a 56k, and most recently, DSL. It began with browsing websites, then moved up to reading web forums, then getting involved in IRC chat rooms, finally, I discovered online gaming.
Some time after becoming involved in Descent and Kali, I discovered Ultima Online. This was my first taste of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing games. (MMORPG's) I soon discovered that my Pentium 90 was no longer sufficient to the task, and I purchased a Pentium II 300 MHZ machine to handle my new gaming habit. While I only made a few friends in UO, I soon left it to play a new game called EverQuest.
EverQuest became my primary online addiction. Forsaking religious activities, slacking off at work, leaving other online communities for long periods of time, (sorry Kali) I immersed myself into EQ. I played it for over three years, quitting many many times. Finally, it got so bad that I eventually lost my job, and was evicted from my apartment, and I pretty much lost everything.
I moved from where I had been living in Red Bluff down to Hemet, California. I was there only a week when my relatives there committed me to a Mental Health Institution. I spent 17 hours in a place that taught me that I didn't want to end up in a Mental Health Institution. I left there the next day, a vagabond and a wanderer, and traveled north to my relatives on the Coast, in Santa Maria.
From there, I rebuilt my life from scratch, first living with my grandmother, then my aunt and unkle, and finally renting a room from a condo owner. I got a new job delivering pizza, and later a full time job working for McDonald's. I had come full circle and started all over in life. That's when I resumed playing EverQuest. It seemed that I didn't learn anything at all from my experience in life.
Finally, at one point I decided to move back to Red Bluff and start over, again. I was tired of living on minimum wage and not even being in my own apartment. I was in Red Bluff staying with my Grandparents for a month when I responded to a job offer in the Bay Area. I moved down to Antioch, and this is where I am now.
Even starting over for a second time, with a great driving job, I still got entangled in EverQuest. At that time I upgraded once again to a Pentium IV, 3.06 to handle my upgraded gaming addiction. Finally, I quit that game and thought my problems with online gaming was over. But alas, I bought a new game called Eve-Online. It was a completely different kind of game, being a Sci-Fi adventure in a foreign Galaxy. I met up with a close-knit group of friends in a guild calling themselves SEKura Corp.
The founding fathers of this Corporation all knew one another in real life, and they recruited me and brought me into their fold and I learned their hierarchy. Soon, I moved up their ranks and achieved the status of Director, which in other games could be considered an Officer. Finally, the guild leader and I consulted with one another, tired of that game and its vicious cycles of death and futility, and we decided to move on to another game: Star Wars Galaxies.
We began our new journey in a Galaxy Far Far Away in November of last year. The two of us, the guild leader, and I formed new characters in this new game, soon to be followed by other former members of the defunct SEKura Corporation. Eventually, we formed a powerful guild in the game, and began inviting more and more people to join our guild, which founded our own city on one of the moons in the game.
Meanwhile, in real life, my new job was suffering because I was paying more attention to SWG's than my real life obligations. It got to the point that I would stay home and not leave to do my job until late in the morning, or some days not leaving at all. I never lost the job because I didn't have to clock in anywhere, nor did I have to report to anyone. I essentially took advantage of my freedom to pursue this game that had no real value.
As I was playing this game, I also bought another game and played it simultaneously: Final Fantasy XI. I didn't play that game very far, only to quit playing it when my character reached level 18. Shortly after quiting that game, I quit Star Wars Galaxies. It was a very difficult thing to do, as I left a very high position in the guild, being second in command of a very powerful Imperial Guild, and holding the position of Director of Civil Engineering and responsible for the design and layout of our city, Cabal.
I discarded all of that because I realized that I had no life outside of the computer. I was working solely to support my internet gaming addiction. When I finally quit, I was utterly alone and broke down emotionally. I had drawn so close to these people I never met, only to find myself completely alone, it was truly devastating. That's when I decided enough was enough, and I got back to paying the proper attention to my work and putting my religion back in the place in my life that it deserved.
Online gaming addiction from MMORPG's is extremely dangerous to a persons mental welfare and status in life. I highly recommend anyone caught up in it to break free. Anyone who hasn't been entrapped by this I strongly advise you to steer clear. Descent and its successors isn't one of these kinds of games. It is the persistant worlds that we have to watch out for, because if you let them, they will become your reality, and making something fictional a reality is the first step in suffering from delusional insanity.
Back in 1997, I had a life. I was active in my religion, and I didn't own a computer. Then, one day, a friend of mine gave me a 386, and soon I upgraded and bought a Pentium 90 from another friend. Then I got involved in the internet, first accessing it with the 14.4 modem, then later a 56k, and most recently, DSL. It began with browsing websites, then moved up to reading web forums, then getting involved in IRC chat rooms, finally, I discovered online gaming.
Some time after becoming involved in Descent and Kali, I discovered Ultima Online. This was my first taste of Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing games. (MMORPG's) I soon discovered that my Pentium 90 was no longer sufficient to the task, and I purchased a Pentium II 300 MHZ machine to handle my new gaming habit. While I only made a few friends in UO, I soon left it to play a new game called EverQuest.
EverQuest became my primary online addiction. Forsaking religious activities, slacking off at work, leaving other online communities for long periods of time, (sorry Kali) I immersed myself into EQ. I played it for over three years, quitting many many times. Finally, it got so bad that I eventually lost my job, and was evicted from my apartment, and I pretty much lost everything.
I moved from where I had been living in Red Bluff down to Hemet, California. I was there only a week when my relatives there committed me to a Mental Health Institution. I spent 17 hours in a place that taught me that I didn't want to end up in a Mental Health Institution. I left there the next day, a vagabond and a wanderer, and traveled north to my relatives on the Coast, in Santa Maria.
From there, I rebuilt my life from scratch, first living with my grandmother, then my aunt and unkle, and finally renting a room from a condo owner. I got a new job delivering pizza, and later a full time job working for McDonald's. I had come full circle and started all over in life. That's when I resumed playing EverQuest. It seemed that I didn't learn anything at all from my experience in life.
Finally, at one point I decided to move back to Red Bluff and start over, again. I was tired of living on minimum wage and not even being in my own apartment. I was in Red Bluff staying with my Grandparents for a month when I responded to a job offer in the Bay Area. I moved down to Antioch, and this is where I am now.
Even starting over for a second time, with a great driving job, I still got entangled in EverQuest. At that time I upgraded once again to a Pentium IV, 3.06 to handle my upgraded gaming addiction. Finally, I quit that game and thought my problems with online gaming was over. But alas, I bought a new game called Eve-Online. It was a completely different kind of game, being a Sci-Fi adventure in a foreign Galaxy. I met up with a close-knit group of friends in a guild calling themselves SEKura Corp.
The founding fathers of this Corporation all knew one another in real life, and they recruited me and brought me into their fold and I learned their hierarchy. Soon, I moved up their ranks and achieved the status of Director, which in other games could be considered an Officer. Finally, the guild leader and I consulted with one another, tired of that game and its vicious cycles of death and futility, and we decided to move on to another game: Star Wars Galaxies.
We began our new journey in a Galaxy Far Far Away in November of last year. The two of us, the guild leader, and I formed new characters in this new game, soon to be followed by other former members of the defunct SEKura Corporation. Eventually, we formed a powerful guild in the game, and began inviting more and more people to join our guild, which founded our own city on one of the moons in the game.
Meanwhile, in real life, my new job was suffering because I was paying more attention to SWG's than my real life obligations. It got to the point that I would stay home and not leave to do my job until late in the morning, or some days not leaving at all. I never lost the job because I didn't have to clock in anywhere, nor did I have to report to anyone. I essentially took advantage of my freedom to pursue this game that had no real value.
As I was playing this game, I also bought another game and played it simultaneously: Final Fantasy XI. I didn't play that game very far, only to quit playing it when my character reached level 18. Shortly after quiting that game, I quit Star Wars Galaxies. It was a very difficult thing to do, as I left a very high position in the guild, being second in command of a very powerful Imperial Guild, and holding the position of Director of Civil Engineering and responsible for the design and layout of our city, Cabal.
I discarded all of that because I realized that I had no life outside of the computer. I was working solely to support my internet gaming addiction. When I finally quit, I was utterly alone and broke down emotionally. I had drawn so close to these people I never met, only to find myself completely alone, it was truly devastating. That's when I decided enough was enough, and I got back to paying the proper attention to my work and putting my religion back in the place in my life that it deserved.
Online gaming addiction from MMORPG's is extremely dangerous to a persons mental welfare and status in life. I highly recommend anyone caught up in it to break free. Anyone who hasn't been entrapped by this I strongly advise you to steer clear. Descent and its successors isn't one of these kinds of games. It is the persistant worlds that we have to watch out for, because if you let them, they will become your reality, and making something fictional a reality is the first step in suffering from delusional insanity.
Very wise words, Lobber. Thank you for sharing them. I have begun attending church myself with a friend I've known a long time. Seems like the appropriate thing to fill the place.
It is in no way easy. It is actually one of the most difficult things I have ever done, and am still in the process of doing. There are days when I feel like reinstalling the game and picking back up. But I can't do that. I'd be letting more then myself down.
It is in no way easy. It is actually one of the most difficult things I have ever done, and am still in the process of doing. There are days when I feel like reinstalling the game and picking back up. But I can't do that. I'd be letting more then myself down.
Wow, Lobber. It sounds like you've had a really rough time. Good for you for finally being able to get yourself out of that lifestyle. After reading that, I'm very thankful that I have no desire whatsoever to play any RPG, much less one that is MMO. I could easily see myself getting drawn down the same path. As it is, I devote a lot of time to computer affairs, from reading forums to playing Descent/Freespace; I'm just thankful it isn't anything more.
Yes, it has been rough, but I feel that things are much better now than seven years ago. I'm older, wiser, and in a more secure position. I feel like everything that has lead up to this point in time was preparing me for "real life." I am now living in "real life." Moving to the big city to make a decent living, and earning twice what I used to before, and being able to fully support myself gives me a great sense of self esteem. Now if only I could lose 50lbs and find a suitable mate.