Posted on 11/04/2005 5:00:46 AM PST by Callahan
BEIJING, Nov. 1 -- The recent deaths of two net gamers have once again raised the issue of the impact of addiction on the online gaming community, and the health risks involved.
A young girl nicknamed "Snowly" died last month after playing the online game "World of Warcraft" for several continuous days during the national day holiday. Snowly's friends, who share the same game community, say that Snowly was a very diligent member and a key official of their community, who was always connected to the Internet.
Several days before Snowly's death, the girl was said to be preparing for a relatively difficult part of the game and had very little rest. She told her friends that she felt very tired.
A big online funeral was held for Snowly one week after her death. But the event was sadly overshadowed by the death of another game enthusiast nicknamed "Nan Ren Gu Shi".
Thereafter, several online game communities have posted announcements to urge their members to pay attention to their heath.
Meanwhile 7 major domestic game makers have agreed to install an anti-obsession system on eleven online game products. The system entered a trial period on October 20.
Note to self: Find reciept for now-useless "HamiltonJay" tombstone...
We have LAN parties about twice a year - we usually play Warcraft III (mod games), FPS variants, etc.
I'm not a big fan of GuildWars. My Guildmates love it, though. I don't think it's this version of a mmorp that I dislike, but rather the whole concept of mmorp alltogether.
Just takes up too much time - I have a wife and a daughter, a boat, and am a huge college football fan.
I prefer real life.
I have one of those, too.
Combat customization is where the game shines - you only get to choose eight powers to go into missions or group challenges out of the powers you gather while playing. That gives you a lot of tweaking and min/maxing possibilities, especially when coming up with personal combos and even more deadly team combos.
I tried it a while, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I'm playing City of Heroes/Villains now, and Masterminds are really fun to play. I'll always have a special place in my heart for Gemstone III, too, though I think I've finally kicked that habit (Gemstone IV helped with that - ick. Why, Simutronics, why?)
Amazing, I have an "anti-obsession" system for video games too. It's called a life.
My 11 year old son is just getting into 'Rose Online' - www.roseon.com. It's free to play and doesn't require a software purchase. The graphics are more anime-like but he seems to enjoy it. And at this price(free), if he tires of it in a few months, who cares.
Speaking as someone of the wifely persuasion, that only worked until my husband got me hooked.
LOL. My husband got me hooked when I was on maternity leave last time, but when I went back to work, I didn't have the time to stay up playing it at night anymore.
I've been looking at WoW in light of whats been going on with SWG.
LOL
D'oh! Me too!
Yeah, lvl 65 elite fiance for me is tough to avoid sometimes. Aggro range is huge.
Same, my wife spawn cons red and has a huge aggro range. That and having two teenage children and a job. Real life is my anti-obsession as well. That and fear of the red con wife...
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