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Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

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Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#71

Post by StuffMaster »

tomrod wrote: post #40
tomku wrote: post #12

As somebody who went through nearly the exact same experience with a different game several years ago, it's really disappointing (and unhelpful) to see so much emphasis put on the game. Starcraft 2 didn't destroy his life, his lack of self-control did. There are millions of people playing Starcraft 2 worldwide who did not do what he did. Taking action to overcome the Starcraft addiction is a good first step, but it w…

>What pushed me to quitting wasn't any sudden realization, but just a slow-building frustration with the whole idea of MMORPGs Same thing built up with Minecraft for me. What a lost amount of time :/. So fun at the time, but there is only so many Legos I can afford to spend time on.

I've always considered WoW and Minecraft to be drugs...and I don't do drugs. Simple as that.

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#72

Post by malkia »

Should I feel terrible now?

I work in the team, making one of the the best selling fps games.

Then again I don't like playing fps games, I'm just supporting tools code.

I don't like multiplayer games at all, especially mmorpgs ones. I do love hot-seat multiplayer games like Heroes of Might and Magic - it's great fun. People in the same room, taking turns, and in the mean time having laugh and jokes (and smelly clothes, also a bit drunk after 24hr marathons)

For single player - old quest games, and JRPGs took many hours of my life...

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#73

Post by Shenglong »

mrbonner wrote: post #63
tomku wrote: post #12

As somebody who went through nearly the exact same experience with a different game several years ago, it's really disappointing (and unhelpful) to see so much emphasis put on the game. Starcraft 2 didn't destroy his life, his lack of self-control did. There are millions of people playing Starcraft 2 worldwide who did not do what he did. Taking action to overcome the Starcraft addiction is a good first step, but it w…

How in the world, somebody with that kind of martial arts training, got in the best fitness of his life became addict to alcohol and weed and games? Doesn't martial arts requires tons of disciplines?

Martial arts, like most things in life, optimally require two things: talent and discipline. Rarely though, do you find someone with both. Yet with either one, you can get pretty good at something.

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#74

Post by Karunamon »

CarlTheAwesome wrote: post #65
potatolicious wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between Starcraft and heroin is that the vast majority of Starcraft users do not become addicts. In fact, only a very, very small portion of users do - heroin has no claims to the same. This also brings social gaming in as a concern - what is the moral stance on games what have been specifically and deliberately engineered with said biological and psychological pathways in mind, with addiction as an in…

It's morally wrong to trick someone biological and psychological in order for them to play games in order to generate income for a game company. But I think there's a way to balance between making users like the game thus generate income for the company and making users biologically and psychologically rely on the game.

>It's morally wrong to trick someone biological and psychological in order for them to play games in order to generate income for a game company.

Biologically perhaps, psychologically no. This "trick" you speak of is the sense of progression and rewards given that makes a game fun to play.

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#75

Post by dromidas »

CarlTheAwesome wrote: post #65
potatolicious wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference between Starcraft and heroin is that the vast majority of Starcraft users do not become addicts. In fact, only a very, very small portion of users do - heroin has no claims to the same. This also brings social gaming in as a concern - what is the moral stance on games what have been specifically and deliberately engineered with said biological and psychological pathways in mind, with addiction as an in…

It's morally wrong to trick someone biological and psychological in order for them to play games in order to generate income for a game company. But I think there's a way to balance between making users like the game thus generate income for the company and making users biologically and psychologically rely on the game.

In the end, is there really any difference between making a game that is fun and a game that is addicting? I really don't think there is even if they went in with the idea of "lets make this game addicting".

I've never once seen a game that is not fun, but is addicting. Although my friends have said Master of Orion 3 fits that description, but I never actually saw them ever play it so I think it was a joke.

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#76

Post by liedra »

tomku wrote: post #12

As somebody who went through nearly the exact same experience with a different game several years ago, it's really disappointing (and unhelpful) to see so much emphasis put on the game. Starcraft 2 didn't destroy his life, his lack of self-control did. There are millions of people playing Starcraft 2 worldwide who did not do what he did. Taking action to overcome the Starcraft addiction is a good first step, but it w…

I was also probably addicted to FFXI (played from the release of CoP til 2009ish), so hey fellow ex-FFXIer. I pulled myself out of it when I realised I wasn't getting any of my PhD done and then went and managed to pull that off with the remaining time I had left. Now I won't play any MMOs because I'm concerned that I might fall back into old habits. I play D3 and other games that I can dip in and out of, but no mass organised stuff like FFXI needed.

The addiction for me was more of the organisation of stuff - I co-ran one of the most successful linkshells (guild) on my server for a while, and was in charge of many raids - I loved it and was good at it. I'd probably make a great middle manager or something, heh. (No thanks.)

Anyway yeah, it's possible to "get out" and still reclaim your life. I have a tenured position at a university now and completed two successful postdocs since I quit. I don't regret having played though - I met some excellent people through FFXI, many of whom are still very close friends today. It's just a matter of having the ability to self assess where you are and the guts to pull yourself out of it if you realise that there's an issue. I know I can do that now, but I also don't want the temptation to fall back in.

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#77

Post by TheComedian »

tsotha wrote: post #55
luu wrote: post #18

This article has a lot of things which sound fake. Here's one: I was 6'2'', 168 lbs, 1% body fat When I was climbing competitively, I once had my bodyfat measured (by DEXA) as just under 3%. For climbing, pretty much any weight (even most muscle) is just dead weight, so climbers are as skinny and lean as any athletes out there, and I only very rarely ran into people as lean as me. I've known a lot of bodybuilders and…

At 1% you're literally on death's door. He's either exaggerating or just making this story up from whole cloth. My guess is it's one of those cases of "the older I get the better I was".

Agreed, 1% body fat is extremely dangerous and your body does not have enough fat for it to go about its normal processes. It is certainly not sustainable for any period of time. Professional bodybuilders have trouble getting down to ~3% body-fat for their competitions and they only have to hold that level for a day or 2.

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#78

Post by alberich »

This is bizarre, really. You known, while being addicted to something may be a big problem, the OP sounds much more depressed than addicted. Come one, 21 years old and his life is destroyed? how come? He even has money for beer and cigarretes? The guy should take a walk into some hospital to watch people that are screwed up really bad, both physically and mentally.

And I don't mean to be moralist, even if I sound like one. The main problem is that he must get up and decide to change his life, see that he is a perfectly normal young guy. If he can't quit playing by himself, why don't he look for help? A psychologist or even a psychiatrist may be of great help, but they sure wont come to his home from out of nowhere.

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#79

Post by [deleted] »

alttab wrote: post #52
tomrod wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What pushed me to quitting wasn't any sudden realization, but just a slow-building frustration with the whole idea of MMORPGs Same thing built up with Minecraft for me. What a lost amount of time :/. So fun at the time, but there is only so many Legos I can afford to spend time on.

I stay away from any game with "craft" in the name - knowing that I have a hard time not not playing video games with no end. Then very recently I had my second back surgery. I purchased Minecraft for Xbox 360 as I knew I'd be able to lay in bed and play for hours on end, which is what I'd have to do to recover anyway. Well, a week and a half later I pretty much mastered it, and purchased the PC version because it ha…

[deleted]

Re: Once a somebody, now a nobody: Starcraft 2 has destroyed my life

#80

Post by dredmorbius »

tomku wrote: post #70
dredmorbius wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could make the same argument that a lack of self-control destroys the lives of heroin addicts. That self-control is based, however, on biological and physiological pathways. Dopamine receptors, and anomalies with the dopamine system, in particular, can leave people vulnerable to various addictive habits: http://www.people.co.uk/lifestyle/real-life/2010/10/03/ms-tu...

I think that lack of self-control is a critical part in both heroin addicts and game addicts, but the heroin jump-starts the addictive cycle within your brain directly while the gaming takes a slower and more indirect route.

I'll absolutely agree to differences of degree between addictions. I'll also absolutely agree to differences of susceptibility between people.

At the same time, there's a huge, active, and concerted effort in many areas of commerce to leverage dopamine and related pathways to create habitual consumptive patterns. Games, TV shows, junk food, cigarettes, gambling, narcotics, online activities (HN included), and other factors.

Any time you hear about 'gamification', hearing something described as "crack", or other tricks for sites or apps, you're looking about influencing the dopamine system.

It's something which I'm becoming increasingly convinced is a case where commercial/corporate interests and profit seeking are at odds with greater societal well-being.

But that's just me.

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