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Has WoW affected your college life? Tell me about it.
Smacky The Frog
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm working on an article for my college's magazine about World of Warcraft addiction. What I need are some stories from addicted college kids about how WoW has affected your life, good or bad. If anybody has some interesting stories or quips to tell, please share them here. I'm trying to take a humorous tone with the article, but anything you could provide would be a great help.
If you post here, I won't publish your quote without first asking for your consent.
If you post here, I won't publish your quote without first asking for your consent.
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Then for Halloween the guild was just starting to learn a new boss, friends were planning to do some night-long activities. If I had found out about the Halloween party the day of or day before I would have gone to the raid but because I had a couple weeks notice I didn't feel like I would be ditching the raid if I told them early enough.
A few of my friends, in game and real life, have quit (raiding at least) because they didn't want to feel guilty or give an excuse if they didn't feel like playing a video game.
edit: Also I don't see WoW any different than say, coming home after school and watching TV or surfing the internet for 4 hours before going to bed, I wouldn't let homework slide because a really good movie is on and I won't let it slide if I have a night of Archimonde attempts. It just requires better use of my time at school and away from raids.
I guess I'm one of the few that does all my work before turning on a computer?
I do this also.
I find it way more satisfying to finish all my work first and then I can play WoW without having to worry about anything.
Whereas if you don't, and it's fucking midnight and you have a fucking project or a paper to write.
That ain't fun.
Besides situations like that, it didn't really have an affect on me more than anything else did. I'm very easily distracted. I'd get home from uni and start up WoW immediately, and six hours later realise I should've been working on an assignment or something. But that was never limited to WoW for me. I'll go read, or watch TV, or just sit here browsing forums, if it means avoiding doing work. I really have to force myself to knuckle down and get things done.
It did have a noticeable negative affect on my social life, but I don't know if that's really relevant to your article.
This past wednsday I was supposed to be working on a research paper, but I decided to run Wailing Cavens instead.
Around 8pm this girl im dating sends me a text:
Her: "Hey, I know ur doing homework tonite, but I had a really really rough day at work, mind If I cum over for a bit?"
Me: No reply.
8:20 - She calls, I pick up
ME: Yeah, Im really busy, tonights no good *WOW noises in the background*
HER: Are you playing Warcraft???
ME: Yup
HER: I thought you had homework you had to do?
ME: Yeah, Im blowing it off
HER: Whatever. *click*
8:29 - *RING RING*
HER: Ok, do you think you can take a break just for a couple of hours?
ME: Thats really not a good idea, Ive been drinking Capt Morgan ever since I got home, and I probably shouldnt drive
(truth): I was hardly buzzed, but its rude to leave a party in the middle of an instance
HER: Well maybe I could get my roommate to give me a ride over there?
ME: Nah, dont worry about it
HER: .......................................
ME: ............................................
HER ........................................
ME: Hello?
HER: You know I want to have sex right?
ME: Yeah, I figured
HER: *sigh* Whatever. *click*
8:42 -*RING RING RING*
HER: Hey, my roommate says she'll give me a ride over there
ME: Nah thats cool, Im probably just going to go to bed after this anyway, Im worn out
HER: Are you sure, becuase she says she wants to come up and hang out with us for a bit?
it should be noted that her roommate is bisexual and quite promiscuous
ME: Nah, I'll just see you guys this weekend
HER: OH...MY...GOD! *click*
12:15am
I finish running Wailing Caverns for the second time and am getting ready for bed when I get this text message: You have no idea what you missed out on
I lay there in bed staring at the ceiling coming to terms with the fact that not only is my GPA going to suffer but I also gave up a potential 3-way just to play a video game.....but smiled in the knowledge that my lvl 19 shaman now has a full Armor of the Fang set.
Worth it? I think so8-)
Signed.
I can't say it really affected my academics in a negative way. Because decisions about how to spend time aren't between homework and WoW or social life and WoW or whatever and WoW; it's about academics vs. not-academics. WoW filled some of the not-academics time.
Also, Victor... somethin' wrong wit'chu, kid.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
You're gonna regret that in 2 levels when that's all garbage. But meh, whatever floats ur dinghy.
I played WoW after college, I've taken a day or two off work to play. But one of my friends flunked outta school(this was his reattempt to finish undergrad) and another avoided going to work most days to play for weeks until quitting/getting fired(who knows what it was). Neither of them really do much of anything now, work-wise. This is really starting to sound like one of those stupid anti-weed commercials...but myself and a few others friends would always try to get them to quit, hell I unsubscribed when the flunkage/firing occurred, to no avail...I don't speak with those two much anymore.
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that was before I transferred schools, so I think I would have been horribly anti social there regardless, and I was, freshman year, sans MMOs.
World of Warcraft taught me, rather, encouraged me to learn how to carefully do exactly as much work as I needed to pass a class with the least effort possible. Something that has been paying off to this day. The ability to score a 95+ on anything I put effort towards also helps.
Simple as that. I guess I have better self control than others.
3.0 gpa history major. Check how many hours I put in below, (most are spent bazaared)
Final Fantasy XI -> Carbuncle - Samash
There's no way this can possibly be real.
Not for a man with a penis. Who's younger than sixty.
I'm sad I wandered into this thread.
i don't believe you
edit: and not in a "omg i cant believe you geez!" kind of way
i mean i think you're full of shit
there is no fucking way WoW is that bad
unless you have issues to begin with
To me it was a godsend. I know it obliterated my "real" social life, but my mortgage, tuition, etc. were driving me steadily into debt. Social lives are expensive and I realized i needed to take the time to soak up hours so I didn't graduate broke. I still managed a 3.3 with a little over 5 hours sleep a night steadily for the two years I spent focusing on my major.
I made great friends whom I share something in common with (other than a love of beer) and I don't consider it a loss at all. Eventually I pulled out, but school was ending and I decided to move forward in life a bit before going back to MMO's. I plan to move to WAR in hopes to find a casual PvP setting where I can go out, PvP and get rewarded for it in 30min-1hr. time frames.
Man. That's wrong! Ofcourse, your choice, if you should speak the truth.
steam
Back on topic: WoW has slightly affected my schooling. When I say slightly I mean it. I don't play much and I don't raid much. I prefer games I can jump into and leave quickly should I find myself getting bored, or having to go somewhere immediately. Somehow though, I pulled straight C's out of all my classes and I know it has nothing to do with WoW because I spent all weekend working on an animation and I got no feedback as to why it got a C. My illustration class got a C because I went less than half the time, but only because I hate the teacher.
I can also relate to losing a great relationship while under the addiction of WoW. I was dating a girl from my junior year of highschool until the end of my second year in college. It ended up being roughly 3.6 years of dating total. I remember her calling me up and asking, "Can I come over after work and talk?"
I said, "Sure." When she showed up I was running ST on my mage, I said my girlfriend arrived and I need about 10 minutes, maybe more, and I'll be back. They said ok. I come back 10 minutes later saying I got dumped so lets go fucking pwn this instance. It didn't even phase me, like, at all.
Short answer: yes
condolences if it was recent
It happened more than a year and a half ago, and I honestly don't know why she dumped me. Her reason was she "needed some space to do her own thing". Which I know is a lie, and a terrible one at that.
This is the biggest problem with WoW (and many other MMORPGs), in my opinion. If you want to really succeed at raiding, you have to be in a serious, organized guild, which means if you miss raids you feel like you're letting your friends down.
I quit once because of this, and unless I somehow find a really great, relaxed group of people, I'll probably never join a raiding guild again. There are too many strings attached, and they screw up your life (college or otherwise).
so not negatively, no.
EDIT: And I also don't believe victor, because wailing caverns is something people look for excuses to get out of.
I was having a conversation similar to this in college this week . Someone had made the comment like warcraft addiction etc. I kind of cringe whenever people want to characterize something like warcraft with the term addiction. I had a roommate for 2 years that was a great friend of mine , I watched him go from being a successful tournament poker player to degenerate gambler. In about 3 months he went completely broke , girl left him , estranged a bunch of his friends including me, and he was completely humiliated and embarrassed about the whole thing, he recovered from it but we all had our doubts. Anyone that has ever had someone close to them struggle with addiction has seen what addiction is like.
You can't get behind the wheel of a car and plow headfirst 80 mph into a family of four while going the wrong way on the interstate.
You're never going to have to steal to support your "habit"
You're not going to get arrested and thrown in prison for having warcraft in your possession, or for distribution.
you're never gonna prostitute you're body for some leet epix.
the thing is that alot of people may say they can't quit but the fact is that if there was a game they enjoyed better they'd play that instead. An addict needs his cocaine , an alcoholic needs his liquor, a gamer is never gonna have delirium tremens for missing his raid times.
When I was on a serious skydiving team we put everything second because we wanted to go to nationals , we didn't but we lived the hardcore life for almost a year training . It was nothing to owe 2000$ (1999 money) at the end of the month to the dropzone. we all skipped out early on work, blew off girlfriends, wives, friends etc. But were we addicted? no we were "committed athletes" "dedicated contenders"
College kids have had excuses to blow off homework forever. Point the finger at a video game and say " it's not my fault" if you want but to me that just sounds like a weak ass excuse.
I'll certainly say it's one of the safer addictions, but not without its danger.
Sorry I can't actually contribute though. I've only played WoW for two months, tops.
Does somebody have a link to that girl that actually did whore herself out for epix? I think it was an epic flying mount, though I'm sure she wasn't the only one.
This is pretty much the attitude I have when I see people whining about how WoW has ruined their lives abloobloobloo. If you don't have the willpower to stop playing a video-game and get some goddamn work done then it's not the game's fault, it's your stupid broken brain. Man up and accept the responsibility for your own actions instead of blaming it on some big evil corporation.
God.
And yeah, Victor's clearly living in a fantasy world.
And certainly, MMOs are much more addictive than "standard" video games.
Experiences, guy . . . you've got to have them.
you're sitting there thinking man if i was alone i could finish this up lickety split and go to kara
Addiction is addiction. The fact that a WoW player isn't going to flameout so "magically" as these other "real" addicts takes nothing away from the fact that there are people TRULY addicted to the game, who compartmentalize EVERYTHING around it, instead of the other way around. Youre saying "hey lets not marginalize real addicts", but you're actually doing just that. ANYTHING can be an addiction, and I'm sure there are meth/coke addicts who laugh at the gambling-addicts.
Having said that - in no way is any male in college going to turn down a three-way, NOR would a female not only be cool with him doing so over WOW, but also try MULTIPLE TIMES to get the guy in the sack.
I don't think it's fair to say that because someone is addicted to a video game that they carry the same psychology to be addicted to gambling or some sort of drug.
It's more like whatever they are addicted to fulfills some basic need or desire that the user has, and what needs a person has that need an addiction to fulfill them depends completely on the person.
That's like saying someone who eats three meals a day is a addicted to food and could therefore be addicted to anything else as a result of psychological weakness. Uhh, he eats food because he has to live. He plays WoW because... social component? Empowerment? Escaping the daily grind of his lower-middle class life?
Your pick.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
Like how I dropped drinking with smoking.
Don't think I've ever passed anything up to game either, unless it was something I wanted to avoid anyways.