Curse

Laibeus Lord · Apr 07, 2006, 03:13 AM // 03:13

Still, the media bloated the story. You can't "just" die because you played an online game for 3 days straight. That's just weird. The media and police didn't conduct proper investigation, like if the person is sick, or was injected by some poison, etc.

Cacheelma · Apr 07, 2006, 03:56 AM // 03:56

[QUOTE=Laibeus Lord]
We may soon see an integrated MSN Messenger in Guild Wars. Which was first introduced in Lineage 2 Chronicle 4. ^_^
QUOTE]

If by Chronicle 4 you practically mean "Chronicle 3" then you got that quite right.

*end of sarcasm*

Gaile Gray · Apr 07, 2006, 04:30 AM // 04:30

It's fun to joke about this one. I've been suggesting all sorts of silly subliminal advertising and secret marketing deals all day. But the reason for the time comment isn't regionally based (China or otherwise) and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with in-game elements like item or gold drops! We're not penalizing people for playing more -- No way, no how!

The message is simply a little social responsibility, I guess you'd call it, to let a player know, "Hey, d00d, it's been 7 hours; do your kidneys a favour and take a potty break!"

So, just a message, no outcomes. I think you'll see a time for one hour and two hours, and then at three it might add a bit such as "You might consider taking a break."

skretth · Apr 07, 2006, 04:37 AM // 04:37

so there is no form of auto kick at all?
after xx amount of hours?
or do i leave my char online untill the next update

Hellspawn Of D D M · Apr 07, 2006, 04:39 AM // 04:39

Guild/alliance advertisement removed by Dralspire

skretth · Apr 07, 2006, 04:50 AM // 04:50

and this has WHAT to do with the

"You have been playing for 8hrs. Please logout and experience life."

messages?

Jessyi · Apr 07, 2006, 05:02 AM // 05:02

Well...whatever the reason the timer notifications were introduced...I just have one question:

How come we're not allowed to live in a world where if people kill themselves by sitting in one place and playing a game for three days you can laugh about it until you pass out?

...I tend to think that if someone ignores common sense, thier senses, and all life outside thier room/internet cafe/dank pizza box filled pit, that maybe, just *MAYBE* all the in-game notices in the world won't save them?

-Jessyi

Vana The Everyoung · Apr 07, 2006, 05:06 AM // 05:06

way to hijack the topic Hellspawn

I like the new feature it's amazing how fast time fly’s when you are having fun, yesterday I got the 3 hr message and I was sure that I had only just started my uw run.

FYI
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8888579/

Quote:

SEOUL, South Korea - A South Korean man who played computer games for 50 hours almost non-stop died of heart failure minutes after finishing his mammoth session in an Internet cafe, authorities said on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old man, identified only by his family name Lee, had been playing online battle simulation games at the cybercafe in the southeastern city of Taegu, police said.

Lee had planted himself in front of a computer monitor to play online games on Aug. 3. He only left the spot over the next three days to go to the toilet and take brief naps on a makeshift bed, they said.

"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official said by telephone.

Lee had recently quit his job to spend more time playing games, the daily JoongAng Ilbo reported after interviewing former work colleagues and staff at the Internet cafe.

After he failed to return home, Lee's mother asked his former colleagues to find him. When they reached the cafe, Lee said he would finish the game and then go home, the paper reported.

He died a few minutes later, it said.

South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world, has a large and highly developed game industry

In regards to the discussion about the boy who died after playing online for over 3 days, taken from http://www.sleep-deprivation.com/html/dangers.php3

Quote:

The Causes, Effects and Dangers of Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation is a common condition that afflicts 47 million American adults, or almost a quarter of the adult population. Symptoms can interfere with memory, energy levels, mental abilities, and emotional mood. A study conducted by the University of Chicago Medical Center in 1999 indicates that the condition drastically affects the body's ability to metabolize glucose, leading to symptoms that mimic early-stage diabetes.

Most people are familiar with Insomnia as one of the causes of sleep deprivation, but few are aware that Insomnia is not a sleep disorder, but simply a symptom of a sleep disorder or other problems. If you suffer from Insomnia, click here to learn about an Insomnia Clinical Trial.

Symptoms

Exhaustion, fatigue and lack of physical energy are common sleep deprivation symptoms. Exhaustion and fatigue affect our emotional moods, causing pessimism, sadness, stress and anger. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) has suggested that social problems such as road rage may be caused, in part, by a national epidemic of sleepiness.

The brain's frontal cortex relies on sleep to function effectively. Insufficient rest adversely affects the frontal cortex's ability to control speech, access memory, and solve problems. The effect on physical energy is also startling: otherwise healthy people quickly show symptoms of age and early diabetes as glucose metabolism falls by up to forty percent. These physical reactions disappear when the test subject is allowed to rest properly. Driving and other activities can become dangerous without sufficient rest.

FYI
How Much Do You Need?

Different people require different amounts of rest. While the majority of adults should spend between eight to nine hours asleep, a small number of people function perfectly well on only three to four hours of rest. The time a person spends asleep also changes with age:

Zero to 24 months: Thirteen to seventeen hours.
Two year olds: Nine to thirteen hours.
Ten year olds: Ten to eleven hours.
Sixteen to 65 years: Six to nine hours.
Over 65 years: Six to eight hours.

skretth · Apr 07, 2006, 05:09 AM // 05:09

so 3hrs sleep nightly is bad?

I BLAME GW!!!!

Asrial · Apr 07, 2006, 05:13 AM // 05:13

To those saying it's annoying...

Wow. It happens once an hour. You can't be serious....

JiggyFly · Apr 07, 2006, 05:27 AM // 05:27

This timer is so going down, it thinks it can get me off Guild Wars does it? We shall see.

skretth · Apr 07, 2006, 06:03 AM // 06:03

@Jiggy :: How long does it say for you.

@Asrial :: Not so much that its annoying, but its something new to talk and argueabout since there havent been skill changes.. When the season is over everyone will complain about teh new changes.

Hired Blade · Apr 07, 2006, 07:01 AM // 07:01

Thats all I need someting telling me how much time I wasted!!! =)

Manic Smile · Apr 07, 2006, 07:43 AM // 07:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vilaptca

I bet after so many hours, it steals your IP, they have a program locate where you are from, and then call 911 over where you live.

/signed

Edge Martinez · Apr 07, 2006, 08:20 AM // 08:20

They'd help us more by dialing us up a pizza from Dominos than calling 911. At least the pizza will get there reasonably fast, and usually the delivery guy won't shoot you for taking out your wallet.

MasterDinadan · Apr 07, 2006, 08:27 AM // 08:27

Doesn't matter to ANet if you don't log on that much. You already gave them your money when you bought the game. They keep that money whether you play often or not

Now, they want to give a good gameplay experience so that people will buy new installments (like Factions)

So what happens without the message? Bob loses track of time and ends up playing Guild Wars all night long. Bob looks and the clock and says "Shoot! It's 5 AM. This game is addictive. I had better stop playing it before I get too obsessed with it." Bob stops playing the game and neglects to buy any more installments. ANet loses

Giving periodic notices may encourage people to stop playing for extended periods of time during a single session, but it doesn't discourage them from resuming their game in a new session later on.

Think... if you play like 10 hours a day for several weeks, you'll get bored of the game before another expansion even comes close to release! Now if you only play a couple hours a day, you havn't gotten around to accomplishing everything in the game by the time the expansion comes, you'll be likely to buy it as you still have an interest in playing the game

Hypothetical situations of course. In reality, I expect this little notice to have very little effect on the success of their future Guild Wars installments, but it's still a nice feature to have.

jules · Apr 07, 2006, 09:17 AM // 09:17

lol at Hellspawn.. What a way to hijack a thread.

Faowri · Apr 07, 2006, 11:06 AM // 11:06

Though I recognise the idea behind it, the feature just strikes me as being impractical for a number of reasons. The resetting on character changes means the time is often inaccurate, and I also don't know many people who actually turn off Guild Wars when they do take a break from the gaming. So if at the 3hr message, you decide to heed the message and go grab a bite to eat, a drink etc. for 20 minutes, you come back having left your character on afk, and you're still getting the message every hour as though you hadn't taken a break.

Little niggles, perhaps, but there's surely a more efficient and practical way of implementing the idea. A clock that you can reset (when you do take a break) and store (for when you're switching characters/logging out and back in again straight away) yourself, perhaps. As it stands, sure, a little hourly message is not doing anyone any harm, but I still think it could be more practical and take into account the way gamers really behave, not just how long the game's been running for.

Xenrath · Apr 07, 2006, 11:10 AM // 11:10

If you look in the screenshot forum, there's at least one person who claims to play 12+ hours a day. Seriously, not only do you risk messing your eyes up, but your health and general wellbeing (not to mention social life if any exists) can and will suffer, so this can't hurt to help remind people.

Ctb · Apr 07, 2006, 01:42 PM // 13:42

Quote:

We all probably remember that old lady that sued McDonalds and got millions!! because she put hot coffee between her legs at the drive thru and then spilled it on her coochie and burned the whole area.

I don't mean to go offtopic, but I hate seeing this comment. She won the case because there are reasonable expectations as to how dangerous a product is and how it should be handled. This product, however, was significantly more dangerous than a normal consumer would expect (the coffee is stored literally a degree or two from boiling, which is much hotter than a cup of instant coffee is after only 10 seconds in the cup).

It would be like buying a tube of toothpaste with mercury in it. You should expect that swallowing toothpaste may make your stomach upset. You would not reasonably expect, however, that it might kill you, and if you knew that it might, you'd take proper precautions to prevent it. So, if you die in the course of brushing your teeth, the company can't just say "well, you shouldn't swallow toothpaste". True, but you also shouldn't expect that doing so might kill you.

In other words, if you spill a hot cup of coffee, you should expect that it will hurt you. However, this woman suffered extreme burns that required skin grafts, which is not what a customer would reaonsbly expect to happen, so the customer would not take precautions to guard against such a thing. In that regard, McDonald's failed to warn customers of the abnormally high danger of its product, and that's why they lost the case.

Also, she didn't get millions. The jury awarded millions, but the judge cut it WAY down to something like 700 grand, which covered the medical care and some punitive damages. That's standard practice in this type of case, especially when a big company is involved. The jury will suggest that the plaintiff be awarded some outrageous sum of money, and the judge will weigh that against case law and the actual facts and almost always cut it way down to something far more reasonable.