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World of Warcraft is Bad for You!

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19 2007 3:00 AM

Submitted by Sid. Edited By erin_broadley.

TAGS: video games, bingeing



I love video games as much as many of you do. Hell, I spent the last six months of my life up until my big move west working in a video game store, and playing video games between classes.

Early on, I vowed not to become one of those World of "Warcrack" addicts after dating a fellow whose idea of a date was me coming over and watching him play said game, along with Halo 2 (he made me stand in a line with him for 3 hours for the midnight release of it, where I had at least seven dudes from the line recognize me from SG), and along with Unreal Tournament, which to this day makes me dizzy watching someone play. Besides being put off by the game because of these boring "dates", I was not willing to pay a monthly fee on top of paying the initial $50 for the game, and after playing a trial version, I decided I'd rather stick to D&D anyway. No offense to WoW players, it just wasn't my cup of tea.

However, this article is not about my game play, but rather of those who over-do it.


A man in southern China appears to have died of exhaustion after a three-day Internet gaming binge, state media said Monday.

The 30-year-old man fainted at a cyber cafe in the city of Guangzhou Saturday afternoon after he had been playing games online for three days, the Beijing News reported.

The report did not say what the man, whose name was not given, was playing.



Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Games Digest reports:


This certainly isn’t the first time people have died as a result of obsessive video game binges, although so far all of the incidents have occurred outside Europe and North America. So -- keeping playing safe, kids and always remember to, y’know, eat and stuff.



And you may laugh at the last line of the above quote. I mean, I seriously can't fathom being so wrapped up in a video game where I can't bring my WoW character into a pub, or hit the "pause" button in Halo, or just not continue right away after an untimely death in Unreal, or what-have-you, but one 24-year old South Korean man, died from just that in 2002.


Police said Kim had been virtually glued to the computer since for 86 hours and had not slept or eaten.



And 10 days after Kim's death, 27-year old Lien Wen-cheng died after playing games for 32 hours in Taiwan.

Upon researching the writing of this article, the longest I could find anybody playing video games, in this case, Starcraft, and dying as a result was a whopping 50 hours. Dag, yo!

So be careful game addicts!

And if you're going to "binge" on your video games, make sure you stock up on those energy drinks, I recommend either:

Mountain Dew Game Fuel (in the Halo 3 can)


or, my personal favorite:

Bawls


Sid is glad that Trevor and I are lucky enough to have a cat who warns us if we've played too much by knocking the controllers out of our hands.

 

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TheWriter

TheWriter

Fort Worth, TX
June 2006

SEP 19, 2007 10:50 AM

I'm familiar with the kind of gamer you're talking about. But I think we've all had friends and significant others who think that the only thing worth doing together is gaming. I believe, however, that this is the exception, rather than the rule. I would love to find a gal who pops onto WoW to run an instance with me from time to time, but I'd hardly consider that a date.

My idea of a perfect girl is one who prefers lunch and a matinee so we can make it back in time for our Eberron game. And I'd never cancel just because my Kara raid got pushed back.

/2 wtb [Casual Nerd Girl], pst

Taxidermyd

Taxidermyd

Los Angeles, CA
February 2007

SEP 19, 2007 11:51 AM

I'm aware of my addiction to Warcraft especially, but I need the escape from my brain it offers. I am concerned that I have 66 days of actual in game play. That means over two months of my real life was lived within that game. I don't know whether to laugh or cry about it. Maybe just hang my head in a bit of shame.

DisposableHero

DisposableHero

Modesto, CA
November 2005

SEP 19, 2007 11:54 AM

yeah, my new addiction in gaming is Team Fortress 2. i've played for about 11 or so hours in the last day and a half. w00t! of course i take adequate breaks and drink water and eat. i'm not retarded. haha.

mariomariomario

mariomariomario

Salt Lake City, UT
October 2006

SEP 19, 2007 12:05 PM

Has anyone else not heard of the woman who traded sex for in game money? She posted on Craigslist or something like that. Now THAT is fucked up. puke

MrCrisp

MrCrisp

Charleston, SC
August 2004

SEP 19, 2007 12:51 PM

thefreak said:
Also, I'm surprised no one has made a "CAN NE1 PLZ REZ ME?" joke yet. Shame. wink

-TM



LF HEALER FOR NON-STOP GAMING BINGE, PST

Deflicted

Deflicted

Wichita Falls, TX
July 2006

SEP 19, 2007 01:13 PM

it is called pizza delivery people!

Mercie

Mercie

SUICIDEGIRL

Maryland, USA

SEP 19, 2007 01:16 PM

86 hours. 50 hours. spleesh. My best friend played WoW, and he had to quit during his college semesters because he would play for a good 12 to 18 hours. He always made sure he ate though. Being an insomniac, he wasn't too far from not sleeping anyway. So it seemed like a good idea for a time killer. tongue

I have a WoW tattoo, and I play here and there, but it's NOTHING like these dudes.

Stop farming and get some goddamn burritos and sleep, fools.

Mercie

Mercie

SUICIDEGIRL

Maryland, USA

SEP 19, 2007 01:18 PM

PS - met a bartender last night who plays WoW. He said he'd throw some gold me way if I started back up again on his server... oh the temptation! biggrin heh.

Mercie

Mercie

SUICIDEGIRL

Maryland, USA

SEP 19, 2007 01:19 PM

TheWriter said:
I'm familiar with the kind of gamer you're talking about. But I think we've all had friends and significant others who think that the only thing worth doing together is gaming. I believe, however, that this is the exception, rather than the rule. I would love to find a gal who pops onto WoW to run an instance with me from time to time, but I'd hardly consider that a date.

My idea of a perfect girl is one who prefers lunch and a matinee so we can make it back in time for our Eberron game. And I'd never cancel just because my Kara raid got pushed back.

/2 wtb [Casual Nerd Girl], pst



you wouldn't cancel for Kara?? I would. psh. wink

giga_geo

giga_geo

San Francisco, CA
November 2002

SEP 19, 2007 02:15 PM

my two roommates failed out of college because of WOW.

and i don't think they regret it for a second.

Camdoon

Camdoon

Stanton, KY
September 2007

SEP 19, 2007 02:45 PM



ongoingnightmare said:

proud to be a damm good WoW player and addict



I heard that man! WoW FTW, who needs a damn social life ARRR!!!

.......i cry at night.....

autarchist

autarchist

Seattle, WA
June 2007

SEP 19, 2007 03:00 PM



I heard that man! WoW FTW, who needs a damn social life ARRR!!!

.......i cry at night.....



Haha. Keep it real! biggrin

I'm not hooked....I can quit anytime...just ...one ...last ...fix...

thefreak

thefreak

NEWSWIRE

Gardner, MA

SEP 19, 2007 05:04 PM

mariomariomario said:
Has anyone else not heard of the woman who traded sex for in game money? She posted on Craigslist or something like that. Now THAT is fucked up. puke


The story was actually published on the Newswire back in April.

-TM

d20

d20

San Francisco, CA
September 2003

SEP 19, 2007 05:08 PM

MrCrisp said:

thefreak said:
Also, I'm surprised no one has made a "CAN NE1 PLZ REZ ME?" joke yet. Shame. wink

-TM



LF HEALER FOR NON-STOP GAMING BINGE, PST



you only get to stop when Ceallach is 70 and Kara keyed. hop to it!

Kindle

Kindle

Seattle, WA
March 2006

SEP 19, 2007 05:10 PM

mariomariomario said:
Has anyone else not heard of the woman who traded sex for in game money? She posted on Craigslist or something like that. Now THAT is fucked up. puke



Dedication at it's best

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