Curse

IXI Nine IXI · Oct 21, 2008, 05:36 PM // 17:36

Hi all, I'm fairly new to the forums, but have been a Guild Wars player for a couple years(formerly a PvE pro, now a GvG scrub) and a forum lurker for a year or so. So hi and nice to meet you.

Now on to the point of this thread. I'm doing a research paper in school on how MMORPGS affect people. So I'm asking you all for some help. Here's is what I need from you.

In your honest opinion has Guild Wars affected your life Physically/Relationships/Emotionally, and if so how, has it changed? (Examples would be helpful)

Your age (I'm guessing that playing video games affects people in different ways dependinng on their age)

How long have you been playing?

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me

sph0nz · Oct 21, 2008, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Of course guild wars has affected my life; anybody who plays guild wars will be impacted in their lives. There is no question to that; the real question is how much guild wars has affected lives.

21 here. I've been playing since the last BWE with 6,217 hours logged over 41 months.

At one time, I actually neglected doing things other than playing guild wars. For example, I would tell a friend I didn't feel like hanging out, and in retrospect I feel it was foolish of me. Presently, I'm not playing nearly as much as I used to, but I still log on nearly every day. I don't feel as motivated to play without the friends I brought to the game. I can be certain that I wouldn't cancel plans to play guild wars because there are plenty of things that are more important.

*Darcy* · Oct 21, 2008, 05:59 PM // 17:59

I have been playing for 31 months with one account.

I play with family members often so it is nice to have extended our area of mutual interest.

I read less than before I started playing GW. I'm down to 2-3 books a week instead of one a day.

I'm over 50.

jiggles · Oct 21, 2008, 06:37 PM // 18:37

i dont have a life

41 months playing

im being deadly serious

Parson Brown · Oct 21, 2008, 06:44 PM // 18:44

I'm 35 and I've played 3,600 hours over 39 months. I've gone to work tired more than once, and took one day off from work to play the Factions preorder bonus day, but other than that I don't feel GW has adversely affected my life.

Just a warning with asking people for self-assessment... The individual is usually the last to see that something is negatively impacting their life.

Nessar · Oct 21, 2008, 06:47 PM // 18:47

Well lets see...

20 months played, 5.3k hours on one account
I'm 16yr old...

I'm homeschooled so I have tons of time to play GW xD. But still have homework and all that stuff to do. GW doesn't get in the way of homework nor my social life. If friends wanna hang out then I'll go hang out with them. But since a lot of my friends play GW, my social life isn't really a problem.
I've done a ton in GW soooo it doesn't really affect whatever plans I would have. Unless its a weekend and I'm going somewhere.

So in conclusion, Hai I'm Ashley, I have no life and play GW all day

Cept I dont really play, it's more like sitting around talking to friends

I guess I should put even when I was in school, gw didnt infer as much with my life. Except my grades dropping a bit, but that got fixed.

Tharg · Oct 21, 2008, 06:59 PM // 18:59

I have to make it a point not to play too much, although it's very easy to get hooked. When GW came out I played for about 1.5 years but it started to hurt my family life. My wife and kids (7 and 5 then) really hated it. I sold my account on eBay. I had Prophecies and Factions then and mainly played a Monk.

When Nightfall came out I bought it (re-joined my old Guild) and played it 'carefully' - finished it with a few characters. Then I returned to monking, did NF again - bought and re-did Prophecies. Then bought and re-did Factions. Then bought and did EotN...

I am now working on titles...

And yes, my family is complaining that I play too much. At work I read too much on the web about GW. I am not 'back' at the old level but it is costing me too much of my Real Life. At least this time I realize it and have somewhat of control.

I am now 46 years old. Good luck with your project!

GWEXTREEMFAN · Oct 21, 2008, 07:10 PM // 19:10

16 here
played gw pretty much from the start
i played pretty much 4h a day <- didn't have a life
now i play 1 or 2 h a week still love the game
i play american football have a girlfriend and love going out
gw is awesome and i love playing it
oh and before i forget ^^ i lost 15kg after cutting my gaming time and doing sport.

hope it helps^^

and good luck

and tell me how it went ^^ pm or so

Capua · Oct 21, 2008, 07:11 PM // 19:11

I am 15 and i've been playing alittle over 12 months

Guild Wars has an effect on my life, but not so much that i alienate people and don't do my school work. I think i've found a comfortable balance, though at first it was difficult to juggle school and friends.

Hope this helps

IXI Nine IXI · Oct 21, 2008, 07:18 PM // 19:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parson Brown

I'm 35 and I've played 3,600 hours over 39 months. I've gone to work tired more than once, and took one day off from work to play the Factions preorder bonus day, but other than that I don't feel GW has adversely affected my life.

Just a warning with asking people for self-assessment... The individual is usually the last to see that something is negatively impacting their life.

I did the same thing wiith EOTN pre order weekend. Felt like a huge nerd lol!

Well for the record I know that it negatively affected aspects of my life at first, but now I've settled down a bit with my playing

. I can say that because thanks to the power of the internet no one REALLY knows me so I can be honest and I'm hoping for the same from others.

Edit: Post I was responding to was deleted.

FlamingMetroid · Oct 21, 2008, 07:27 PM // 19:27

I use GW as a substitute for actual human interaction, true story.

Jecht Scye · Oct 21, 2008, 08:09 PM // 20:09

Physically: Went from 235lbs. (Muscle) to 195lbs. (Meh 1/2 muscle, 1/2 skinny). Skin is a bit more pale XD, but not to the point were it's even close to a problem. As far as relationships, my fiancee plays. She actually has more hours logged than me, and we play together so I suppose that is a good thing. Emotionally? I guess it helps me unwind from classes.

Age: 22

Playing since BWE of Prophecies. About 3,500 logged on all characters.

Sight of Eagles · Oct 21, 2008, 08:13 PM // 20:13

uh, 32 months, and 1.3k hours.. sue me, i'm a lightweight xD

Gw hasn't had too much of an affect on my life. I made a point of it to only play on weekends, as school was far more important. Subsequently, I've just been accepted to study medicine

thor hammerbane · Oct 21, 2008, 08:31 PM // 20:31

41 Months-->2,435 Hours
I'm 17

No real effect on relationships, I only play in my leisure time when I'm not out with friends.

Dronte · Oct 21, 2008, 08:46 PM // 20:46

31 months ~1500-2000 hours clean play time, it doesnt affect anything in my real life, my playtime is really variable, sometimes 0h/day, sometimes ~6-7h when I dont have anything else to do. I still prefer going out and having a life ^^

Kerwyn Nasilan · Oct 21, 2008, 08:47 PM // 20:47

15
bout 3k hours (I would say 1.5-2 actual play) and abot 3 years
I played it often but not so much lately, I am not a very social person and it has not distracted me form that, occasional skipping homework to play, but I would find something else to procrastinate

Kusandaa · Oct 21, 2008, 08:56 PM // 20:56

I've been playing for 39 months, on and off, 8.8k hours total (mostly off during summers where I actually have a job). I'm 23, university student, married to a gamer who doesn't mind my gaming habits. I weigh ~180lbs for 6 feet, so I'm relatively healthy I guess?

I've never had gaming problems, but I've had 2 occasions where my family deeply believed I had problems . 2 (long) stories:

- I slowly slipped into depression between October and December 2007 due to studies-related stress and some sort of midlife-crisis, at 22 years old (I was 22 back then). Gaming was mostly an escape, and I went back to a normal RL schedule in January. My gameplay hours dropped drastically in January, and I had no problems coping with it at all.

- Broke my leg in February - was forced to have treatments in a remote hospital which got me to leave my apartment, my husband, my friends and classes for 3 months. Gaming was, once again, my escape from IRL stuff (family-related issues) which stopped partially when my husband joined me there, and completely stopped by the time I found a job, in July. Went from a solid 10+ hours/day to ~2-6 hours/day when I'd come back from work. Once again, no problems gaming less.

During those times my mother was dead sure I had gaming problems and was starting to pressure me to consult. I had to sit down with her for 2 hours to explain her my case, and she stopped bugging me after. Try not having anything to do for 3 months, you'd be very glad you have games. I couldn't even take a bath without help, leaving the house was out of question unless it was for physiotherapy and given all my social life was in Montreal, and I was far from it... well... GW kept me sane I guess.

Over the years, GW has let me improve my leadership and people skill abilities. Because 3 years of coordinating people on a game is a very good experience... I can deal with managing groups far better than what I would have done without that experience. Plus, I've made a pretty good online social network from it.

Numa Pompilius · Oct 21, 2008, 09:00 PM // 21:00

No serious effects, but a couple of thousand hours which could have been spent doing something else/more productive has been drained away by Guild Wars these last three years. I do get a little bit angsty from time to time when I think of all the things I could have done instead of playing GW. On the other hand: I watch much less TV now.

SmokingHotImolation · Oct 21, 2008, 09:12 PM // 21:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by sph0nz

Of course guild wars has affected my life; anybody who plays guild wars will be impacted in their lives. There is no question to that; the real question is how much guild wars has affected lives.

21 here. I've been playing since the last BWE with 6,217 hours logged over 41 months.

At one time, I actually neglected doing things other than playing guild wars. For example, I would tell a friend I didn't feel like hanging out, and in retrospect I feel it was foolish of me. Presently, I'm not playing nearly as much as I used to, but I still log on nearly every day. I don't feel as motivated to play without the friends I brought to the game. I can be certain that I wouldn't cancel plans to play guild wars because there are plenty of things that are more important.

Youre not the only one,
I used to prioriate GW very high, i always made sure when i planned my homeworks, that i had some time for Guild warzz

blood4blood · Oct 21, 2008, 09:31 PM // 21:31

37 years old, played for 3 years. GW is a great, fun game, but my priorities are still for my family (wife & daughter) first, then other real life issues (job, house, etc.), then gaming. Since I got GW to play with my wife, and she still plays too, it isn't a big problem (although I game a lot more than she does...but I sleep less lol).