Online gaming and you.

[Nferno]

So, I just watched Second Skin, a documentary about MMORPGs and it's players. The documentary hit home on a few points, regarding social interaction in-game, the affects on the lifestyles of hardcore gamers and their priorities in life.

One quote which got me was:

"...don't ****ing waste your day, your night, every ****ing waking moment in front of the computer, just because the game is there. Big ****ing deal, crack is out there on the streets, what's the difference if I just go and smoke that?

...Oh wait, that would actually take me physically moving and having to socialize with somebody.

Maybe a ****ing crackhead is more of a real person than a video game addict."

This coming from a 36 year old Everquest 2 addict.

So I wondered...has all the years of playing World of Warcraft made such a negative impact on my life that I could say crackhead has got one over me? Nah, doubtful.

If anything, gaming online has improved my life to a certain extent; Teaching me how to manage my time properly, how to approach strangers more easily and how pulling my weight in a group activity is vital to achieving the end-result.

Sure, I could have learned these things in real-life, and chances are I probably already did somewhere along the line. However, online gaming has helped me improve on these things further. Also, the connections I've made in-game with people are incredible and have met some of the most interesting people I know.

I've made friends in-game which I have been in contact with since I started playing, even though some of them don't play any more or have moved on to different things. It's what we've experienced together, even if not physically, that has made us a tight-knit group of bros and will probably be in contact for many years to come, even if we don't play the same game, live in the same country or have ever met in real-life.

I recall last year, on our Guild Master's 35th birthday, that we all sent money in for him to get a Figureprint of his main character because it's something he said he's always wanted, but could never afford it. Or when our Tank's mom died, but she didn't have enough dough to fly over to Ireland to go to the funeral, how guild members banded together and organized her a plane tickets both there and back. Even little in-game things, like having a very, very rare item drop and everybody passes it to a person they know has had a bad day and needs some cheering up. It's a small gesture, but it could mean a lot to the person who needs a pick-up.

It's **** like this that I don't just see every day in real-life, but see in game often. The helping-hands and compassion which people show in-game to other players, even if they've never met them before or know them in real-life. It makes me feel like I'm part of something more real than the real world because there seems to be a lot more of humanity than on the streets.

So, to avoid this post sounding more and more like a blog entry. How has online gaming impacted your life? Have you met any interesting people online which you keep in contact with?

[Griff3n]

I only really got into online gaming last month actually.. and mostly it is just StarCraft and MineCraft...

But i understand what you are saying Nferno... playing minecraft people will give you a pick if you need and are generally happy to help a project...

Starcraft definitely has a great deal of team work in it... like the guys are poning you... you can count on your teammates coming to help you out...

but it has also caused we to get agro... coz every SINGLE time I play my dad needs me/ calls me but i cant leave my teammates to battle.. and i get frustrated when i am teamed up with a solo flyer...

Gaming in general has not had the best effect on me... often it is a time consumer and aggravator.. but the feeling of accomplishment is the main reason I game as well as the feeling of knifing a guy in the back in COD :)

Been working on this... can I am started to manage by forcing myself to stop playing when it gets too much...

[Scy7he]

coz every SINGLE time I play my dad needs me/ calls me but i cant leave my teammates to battle

Amen brother :P

I pretty much moved from one F2P Mmo to another, but i usually had atleast one person who i made friends with and kept in contact with. One of my best friends is someone i met from one of the MMOs about 4 years ago, i talk to her about as much as i do to my girlfriend. Im not someone who makes friends with people easily, so its been an ideal tool to meet new people, not to mention as you said from different parts of the world whom you would never have met without the games. Which makes me quite thankful.

Unlike Nferno it hasnt taught me any life skills as such :P

[David Morrison]

TF2 is still the shizz when it comes to online gaming. This game will go down as one of the greats that valve has produced.

[Zoop]

TF2 is still the shizz when it comes to online gaming. This game will go down as one of the greats that valve has produced.

Did you even bother reading the thread?

[B4warn3d]

I met one of my good friends on WoW :) Met up with the dude 2 years ago when I went down to J-Bay. If MMORPGs have done anything to my life, It's made it much more enjoyable, Of course one needs to balance how you spend your time when playing, as locking yourself in your room, banishing yourself from the sun and reality isn't a very healthy thing to do :P

Other than that, I've had really enjoyable and good experiences when playing online. There was the occational bad troll that runs around and people who always try and **** you off. But other than that, I'm enjoying the time I spend on my mmorpgs.

If I can get registered one day to start playing ff14 I'll have a new adventure to embark.

[Bonezmann]

Where did you watch it Nferno? I'd really like to see that documentary. I played WoW for a few months this year, and I am ashamed to say that it started to overrule my life, so I've stopped for a while. The Cataclysm thread has me in arms to start again, but the 5.29Gb patch I need to download quickly fixes that. :P

I've met quite a few friends in MMO's, still have contact with some of them, other than that, it's done nothing but enstrange me from the real world, if you get what I'm trying to say... :P

[Nferno]

Current TV on TopTV

[Yuri]

When I first started playing WoW in 2006, was leveling a night elf druid and met up with another druid looking for help with a quest. The druid was a girl from England and we became good friends. Even when she stopped playing we kept in regular contact. As things would have it my pc blew up, and when I eventually got myself another one I had forgotten her email address:).

That is the one and only occasion Ive had any real interaction with any player online. I generally avoid other players as much as possible, and keep all my interactions with them strictly gameplay related. I'm a private person and don't really enjoy socializing with someone I will probably never meet.

Has WoW had any effect on my life? Ive had my phases of WoW addiction, but that just resulted in me quitting....numerous times:). But Ive learned to control my gametime, and have purposely introduced other activities into my routine to keep myself in check. And as Ive grown older (and hopefully wiser) Ive realized that the pixels on my computer screen, aren't really worth too much of my time.

[dammit]

Sounds like an interesting docci. Where'd you get hold of it, Nferno?

[B4warn3d]

Sounds like an interesting docci. Where'd you get hold of it, Nferno?

Current TV on TopTV

Here :P

[dammit]

>.< sorry

Guess I should have read all the posts. I've found it on Take2 though. Might get myself a xmas prezzie :P

[B4warn3d]

ohh! please post a link! I want to get it for me too :)

[dammit]

Here.

I think that's the same thing.

[Wah]

I actually met one of my closest friends through playing Guild Wars. We were doing a dungeon, then I joined his guild, then we met up in real life and got to know each other.

Otherwise, I think that online gaming, especially when I was playing CoD competitively, gave me some weird sort of superiority complex and I eventually became a really big prick. I've grown out of that now though. Thank god.

[onona]

This is an interesting subject and there's definitely two sides to it. It depends on what kind of a person you are.

On one hand, you have people like most of us appear to be. Using myself as an example (and I think this will ring true for most of us here), I'm really sociable, I usually go out most nights of the week with friends, I travel a lot (ie forced breaks from computers/games/etc), and do quite a lot of stuff in my free time. I play games, on average, for a few hours a day - not all online, mind you, but I do love online gaming. I usually play games until I go to bed.

On the other hand, you get people who spend their entire lives, or just about, playing. And this isn't healthy. As with most things in life, balance is important, and I think this is particularly problematic with young kids because I absolutely believe it can have a detrimental effect on their social development. Call me old fashioned (and I am sure some of you will disagree with me here), but I don't consider online relationships to be real friendships at all - and I find it quite scary that people are increasingly having only online "friendships", especially when they're young. How are people going to grow up and maintain functional relationships with real people if their only social interactions, or the majority of them, have been in online games? I'm highly skeptical.

Having said that, I think gaming in general, when played in moderation, is a great passtime and one that I would recommend to anyone. Luckily for me, quite a few of my friends play games too, so we often team up in the evenings for a few rounds of Halo, Battlefield, Rock Band, COD or anything else that's currently hot. I have a friend back in SA who I play with regularly, and it's a cool way to keep in touch and shoot the **** (so to speak) with each other.

[dammit]

On the other hand, you get people who spend their entire lives, or just about, playing. And this isn't healthy. As with most things in life, balance is important, and I think this is particularly problematic with young kids because I absolutely believe it can have a detrimental effect on their social development. Call me old fashioned (and I am sure some of you will disagree with me here), but I don't consider online relationships to be real friendships at all - and I find it quite scary that people are increasingly having only online "friendships", especially when they're young. How are people going to grow up and maintain functional relationships with real people if their only social interactions, or the majority of them, have been in online games? I'm highly skeptical.

While i do agree with you that it's not the healthiest option, I think there are a lot of situations where online friendships provide some support for people who have been outcast in some way from their primary 'in real life' social group. And this is especially true for the younger people. When a person has been socially outcast (for reasons that they have no control over) having a 'friend' online to talk to or play games with is better than nothing and will probably keep them from possible depression and suicide.

Again, i do agree that it's important to socialise with people in person for a variety of reasons. It's healthy emotionally and mentally and prepares you for the working environment where you are absolutely forced to work with other people. However, it's not always that simple, is it? :P

[onona]

Okay yeah, you make a fair point about outcasts who have no-one else. Just for me, personally, I find physical proximity in friendships very important because I am all about eye contact, body language, personal vibes. I am the type of person who likes to get a feel for others by being around them. For me, the word friendship is far deeper than it is for many people - I only consider people that I actually care about very deeply to be actual friends; everyone else is an acquaintance.

[Legion]

Okay yeah, you make a fair point about outcasts who have no-one else. Just for me, personally, I find physical proximity in friendships very important because I am all about eye contact, body language, personal vibes. I am the type of person who likes to get a feel for others by being around them. For me, the word friendship is far deeper than it is for many people - I only consider people that I actually care about very deeply to be actual friends; everyone else is an acquaintance.

I 100% agree with you!
Human contact is much more satisfying.

[Bonezmann]

Just finished watching the documentary, I loved it from beginning to end. Two people just irritated the crap out of me, the guy who went to "rehab", then got back into gaming, dragged his friend in with him, and then left the poor guy for dead while he decided to live a real life again. Prick.

The other was the woman who ran the "rehab" house/centre, she drags all "gamers" into one group, degrading us all just because her son comitted suicide while playing a game. Big ****ing deal.

To be fair, the people in this documentary are FAR more "addicted" than I ever was, I consider myself normal now. :P

As for the whole "online" friends thing, I have a few I met on the forums that invited me on facebook afterwards, although we never met, we have some really "lol" moments online.(on fb I mean, yes you know who you are "MILEY CIRUS DISNEY DAWG!") :P

Also, welcome back Onona. ;)