WOW I don't play a lot!

[jackfaire]

If you tell anyone that you play an online roleplaying game like WOW they automatically assume that the only thing you do in your free time is play.

Why is it so hard for people to believe that I play a bit here and there and never let it take over my life as for gods sakes it's a game people!

It's like anything else. I don't go to the ballpark and hit my balls around for days at a time. I don't play other video games 24/7. I don't watch a whole season of a tv show in one sitting.

So don't assume I am gonna conk out on some game simply because it is WOW. It seems like this huge stigma attaches to playing the game that isn't there for even other games as much. Even people who like video games for adults seem to think something wrong with online ones.

I don't get the difference.

[Kimmik]

FOR THE HORDE!!!! oh sorry..

It is because like most things a few bad apples and we are all that way. Me and the hubby play WOW and I play L2. For me it is a stress relief (I am a UD Rogue killing things is a very good stress relief). It is also a chat room... no not general, the guild I play with is from all over the world mostly aussie and yanks.

When people get on you about that remind them you dont stop playing cause you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing.

I also dont exists because there are no girls on the interweb.

[Greenday]

It's because 99.99999999999999% of people who play WoW do NOTHING but play it. I know people who had lives. Then they started playing WoW and dropped off the face of the other. I don't know one single person who plays WoW and does something other than playing it in their free time.

[Slytovhand]

I was a guild 2IC.. along with a couple of others. Within the space of about 2 weeks, 3 of us stopped playing cos we were bored with it. And we only got 2IC status cos the GM didn't play all that much.

So, yeah, it's even possible to play to a good level without it taking up your entire life... (although, I was constantly late for work because of it )

[jackfaire]

I don't know one single person who plays WoW and does something other than playing it in their free time.

*Nods* I can understand it but people should take my word for it especially when I am somewhere doing obviously non related things

[Boozy]

I don't know one single person who plays WoW and does something other than playing it in their free time.

As someone who's never played, does anyone know why this might be? Why would WOW be more addictive than any other video game, for example?

Mr. Boozy has gotten hooked on some new XBox game on occasion, but within a few days he's either finished or bored of it and has moved on to other hobbies like reading, walking the dogs, and listening to me bitch about co-workers.

So what is it about WOW that hooks people?

[jackfaire]

So what is it about WOW that hooks people?

I honestly have no idea. I play but it is something I do like watching a tv show not something I do all the time or the only thing I do.

[Cassandra]

WOW is so addicting because it takes forever to complete even the smallest tasks in game. My hubby used to play WOW and EQ (EverQuest) all the time. He saw it as not only stress relief, but as an escape from the daily grind. Then, because he's a retail manager, work began to take up more of his time. I don't play but I have watched him play a few times. It literally takes 3-4 hours to collect all the herbs/flowers you need to cast a particular spell in order to beat the next mob.

We went to a meet and greet at a friend's place in Florida a couple years ago for the guild he's in on EQ and everyone was in agreement, it is a sort of crack. You start out curious about it then you end up spending hours and hours logged in. All of the people at this event were adults in their 20's on up to 50's and they all had decent careers and families. These games take a lot of your time, but you can camp and walk away from it for a few days and not worry.

I never got into these games because they are just not my thing. I like console games more. But I do see how one can spend an entire day in game.

[EricKei]

So what is it about WOW that hooks people?

These games take a lot of your time, but you can camp and walk away from it for a few days and not worry.

Cassandra summed it up quite nicely. I've only played FFXI, L2, DDO, Dofus, and few of the free ones, but the way they get you is that there's always some more -- some little thing to do to keep you enticed. You can always get a little bit better. The games are designed to keep you coming back for more. Also, the fact that they encourage groupthink and group play adds to it -- "all of your friends" play it, and you don't wanna let them down, do you? It's like Civilization (Just...one...more...turn...) on a massive scale.

He saw it as not only stress relief, but as an escape from the daily grind.

Completely different meaning of the word "grind", here, but it looks like he left one grind for another.

[jackfaire]

Also, the fact that they encourage groupthink and group play adds to it -- "all of your friends" play it, and you don't wanna let them down, do you? .

The funny thing is I don't play well with others and do as many quests solo as possible I just don't like grouping. I hate group think.

[Fire_on_High]

It's like anything else. I don't go to the ballpark and hit my balls around for days at a time.

I expect that's be rather painful after a bit.

[Bloodsoul]

I was somewhat of a betatester for the Lord of the Rings Online when it was still new. Hell, I might still play occasionally if it weren't for the fact that I was running it on a less than optimal laptop (I haven't installed it on my new one but I believe I've a lifetime membership thingy so nothing's stopping me). I've no interest in WoW (though I'd like to try the old Warcraft games at some point).

If anything, the only online RPG I have any interest in would be that Dragonball Z one that is (was?) in development. I am SO playing a human named "Farmer." Now, where's Raditz? Time for some payback...

...ah, well, I waisted enough time on Xbox LIVE playing SoulCalibur IV, anyway.

[muses_nightmare]

I was playing Dungeons and Dragons online for awhile, and it was fun, but my boyfriend would bug me every single time I played acting like that was all I was doing. Though I think he did it more just to bother me than actually being serious. I did get bored of it after awhile though. I'm not a huge gamer, so yeah.

[MaggieTheCat]

WOW is so addicting because it takes forever to complete even the smallest tasks in game. My hubby used to play WOW and EQ (EverQuest) all the time. He saw it as not only stress relief, but as an escape from the daily grind. Then, because he's a retail manager, work began to take up more of his time. I don't play but I have watched him play a few times. It literally takes 3-4 hours to collect all the herbs/flowers you need to cast a particular spell in order to beat the next mob.

I've never played EQ, but it doesn't take hours to do everything in WoW. In fact, that's one reason why my husband and I play WoW instead of Final Fantasy XI (another MMORPG.) We like FF11 better, but the way it's set up, you NEED a party of (I think) 6 players to do pretty much anything worthwhile, and a party of 6 good players who weren't going to screw something up was HARD to find. You could spend literally hours just trying to put a party together, because you also needed to have certain roles fulfilled (you couldn't just have a party of 6 damage dealers; you needed at least a healer and a tank, and preferably other utility roles.)

In WoW, you can solo at least 75% of the game if you wanted to. Sure, there are dungeons and raids which you need parties for. My husband and I are level 74 and have never once been in a party of more than 3 people (and even that's rare, usually only if someone begs us for help) or done a dungeon or a raid. We do the normal quests together and play very, very casually. We don't get absorbed into it. Sure, we might play for 3-4 hours one night, but for the next 5 nights we'll probably do something different. It's just one of the many things, like watching TV, reading books, playing other video/board/tabletop games, and hanging out with our friends, that we do together as a couple.

With the stuff we do, it's also much faster paced than something like FF11. We can log in for 1 hour and get anywhere from 2-5 quests done. Sure, some things might take longer, but if you only had an hour or two of free time for FF11, you pretty much couldn't play, because it would take that long just to get your party set up.

Anyway, to the OP, I know what you mean. When some of our friends realized that we play WoW, they were like, "Oh man, we're never gonna see those two again! They're gonna get lost in the game and never hang out with us anymore!" Imagine their surprise when we told them that we've been playing for almost 2 years now and never once has our social life noticed or suffered because WoW came first.

[jackfaire]

Imagine their surprise when we told them that we've been playing for almost 2 years now and never once has our social life noticed or suffered because WoW came first.

*nods* Yeah my social life has suffered but not because of WOW mostly just because lack of money to go out and most of my friends aren't in this area.