Curse

Saborath Gilgalad · Oct 21, 2008, 09:32 PM // 21:32

Age:20

39 months 4000 hours
It was a couple of summers ago when factions was first released. I had a summer class that I needed to complete to graduate however, instead I for some reason thought faction farming all day so my alliance could own Cavalon was more important so I did that instead of the class work. So I almost failed the class and probadly would have if we hadn't gotten Cavalon half way through the summer which allowed to complete the work barely. I've learned that lesson and now RL stuff comes before GW.

Also less serious, I would stay up everyday so I could GVG with my guild and only get about 4 hours of sleep, this lasted about 4-5 months, and I would be very tired in college and sometimes I just wouldn't go to class because I was tired.

TheDragonmaster · Oct 21, 2008, 09:42 PM // 21:42

I'm eighteen, and I have been playing Guild Wars for 1796 hours over the past 33 months, according to the /age command (I swear it's a lot of AFK time as well though

).

I'd say GW hasn't changed my personality or IRL social life much, but it has surely changed my view on the MMORPG player base (which was mostly based on *a certain other popular computer game* at the time I started playing GW). I wouldn't say GW has helped me in my social life, even though I have a richer social life now than when I started to play it, but it has not impeded it in any way I can think of.

Hope your paper goes as planned!

TheDragonmaster

PS.
I wrote a whole page of whining about how the game is not the same anymore and that I will quit playing GW and not buy GW2 when it comes out, but I subsequently deleted it, since it has nothing to do with the topic of this thread.
DS.

Tyla · Oct 21, 2008, 09:42 PM // 21:42

15 years old, roughly 6k hours in roughly 31 months.

I don't really have much on in my life, so I have enough spare time to comprehend the time I play. Saying that, my activity has decreased heavily since I got Starcraft and Saints' Row 2. I should be paying attention to other stuff though, but meh.

Absinth187 · Oct 21, 2008, 09:47 PM // 21:47

30

Played somewhere around 3800 hrs over 37 or so months

I haven't gotten carried away with playing here and there, but make it a point to put family/friends/work first. Playing GW has been a great stress reliever for the most part, so I guess it's been a positive impact overall.

Dallcingi · Oct 21, 2008, 10:14 PM // 22:14

i fail at school, i am a happier person, i make fun of people, no relationship yet
spent over 2k hours over like 3 years
im 17 now

Xsiriss · Oct 21, 2008, 10:14 PM // 22:14

15 here. Got GW when factions came out and then got prophecies a few months later, got realy hooked and bought the others on release. GW was my first MMORPG and sure as hell made a mark on me

At first GW was my life, I split up with my gf to play it, neglected friends to play it, didn't do any schoolwork for like a year a, so overall it messed me up. Then I just stopped playing for around half a year for no reason. When I got back to it I was like wooo the GW I remember and found a ton of crap I could do. Now it's just meh think i'l ab or get my sin through eotn. I go on everday for sure but only for a few hours as opposed to getting the old 'you have been playing for 10 hours,please take a break.'

So yes GW impacts you, if you're not careful it will mess you up bigtime.

obsidian ectoplasm · Oct 21, 2008, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Hey, I'm 14 years old.

I have been playing GW since the release of NF.

clocked around 3k hours since that time.

GW has deffanitly changed my life,

before GW i wasent good at school, I have never had the motivation to actually try, now I'm at the age where I have realized life isn't about computer games :P

But now it seems that because I have been to busy with GW, now when I actually want to try at school, I just cant do it,

I have gone through some pretty hard times, major depression ect ect.

at times like that, GW seemed to be the only thing that always helped, everything else was giving me problems

so I used GW as an escape

but yeah... now if i have homework i just kinda leave it alone and instead i play GW :P

and same with friends, lets say if i a friend calls up, i will say something like i have plans, but instead i will be on GW lol

My mother is one of those parents that hates Computers with passion,

I think alot of people get the wrong idea with these games,

for eg. tbh I think I have gained better communication and such, from this game, more than school

anyway good luck with your project

and long live GW!

Red Sonya · Oct 21, 2008, 10:48 PM // 22:48

I'm 52 and played GW since june of the year it came out. It has made me addicted to stomping people who play rangers and sins. I spend countless hours making up new an improved builds that will kill them faster. I don't know why I hate rangers and sins so much, well, yes I do, sins suk and rangers have always been izzys favorites and he never nerfs them enough. So, I have to invent builds to bypass their unlimited energy and interupting and dazing. Sins are pretty easy, just blind those fools and then they are easy to take down. See I can't stand cowards in real life and rangers and sins are the cowards of the county of Guild Wars so I goes after them first and most of all. When I play pvp and there are no monks on the opposing team I always say kill the rangers and sins first.

Samscwamch · Oct 21, 2008, 10:49 PM // 22:49

Well I'm 17, played for like 32 months with 2100 hours logged. And i can honestly say Guildwars has NOT effected my life at all. I play it on my spare time this can be an hour to a whole day, i learned to prioritize when i started highschool :P

Snow Bunny · Oct 21, 2008, 10:49 PM // 22:49

~3000 hours over 30 months, retired from GW, 20 years old

5'11, 160 lbs. I have a girlfriend, many other friends, work out frequently.

Guild Wars is not a positive force in my life; this can be said for most video games.

I remember I would play for ~4-6 hours a day. I found myself taking time away from studies, interpersonal time, and just general relaxation.

Having retired, I can truthfully say it's much better to not be playing for 4 hours a day, or even 1 hour a day.

pz out

snaek · Oct 21, 2008, 10:50 PM // 22:50

Quote:

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

physically....for wut i lack in the # of pushups i can do, my gw chara makes up in the # of skill points she has
relationships....everyone i kno in life is on my friends list in gw
emotionally....whenever my chara dies, i cry on the inside

IXI Nine IXI · Oct 21, 2008, 11:04 PM // 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by obsidian ectoplasm

for eg. tbh I think I have gained better communication and such, from this game, more than school

Glad you mentioned this, just read a little bit of a report done by berekly college that did say that MMORPGS actually do seem to help a lot of people communicate better and for the most part do not affect peoples social abilities.

Glad to hear that most of you aren't suffering any long term negative affects from MMORPGS other than a little lack of sleep here and there. (I used to be on for an avg. of 8 hours a day, sometimes I would go as high as 15 hours a day. So bad of me to do that! lol)

I know that the begininng of guild wars didn't focus on grind as much as other MMORPG's so if you have any stories from other more grindy games I would welcome those as well.

Thank you guys again for all the comments. I really do appreciate them and am using them as some informal polling style data.

garethporlest18 · Oct 21, 2008, 11:24 PM // 23:24

Hmm 21 here. 10,000 something hours over 39 months.

2005 through most of 2006, GW was affecting my life somewhat.. I wasn't camping or golfing as much, didn't like being away from my PC for too long. It had more to do with what was in the game rather than the game itself though. Then that all slowly dissapated. I do still long in many hours, but I'm not always at the computer. Sometimes I'll get held up talking in a chat and be there for 4 hours or so now n days but when I'm asked to go out or have something to do I never place GW first anymore. Since I've been using it as a chatroom for the past year in a half that's not really a problem for me anymore.

But with the people I've met in Guild Wars I've learned many new things that'll help me out later in life. Oh yeah when I had a job GW didn't affect me much either. Never came before the job.

maraxusofk · Oct 21, 2008, 11:39 PM // 23:39

ive been playing for 3 years until i quit back in march. i think i have about 3k hours logged.

gw has made me lose faith in humanity since i had never before witnessed so many bad mouthed, immature people in one setting. xbox live further reinforced my belief.

-Sonata- · Oct 21, 2008, 11:49 PM // 23:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by IXI Nine IXI

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

Physically? No. I still keep up my daily active life. I don't think I could blame Guild Wars for any physical ailments anymore than I could blame the occasional Friday Night outing.

Relationships? No.

Emotionally? I suppose in that, not just in Guild Wars, but in other games as well, I've had the pleasure of meeting some great people from all over the world. It's been a learning experience and I'm grateful for it. I still find it to be an amazing thing that in the comfort of my home I can converse with other people from all over the globe.

Quote:

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

30

Quote:

How long have you been playing?

I haven't checked my game age in some time, but my best guess would be 23 months.

realtalk916 · Oct 22, 2008, 12:06 AM // 00:06

as far as MMORPGS, gw is great, i played for two years, sorta got hooked. but as a new comer to a MMORPG, my first was maple story. AND YES it affected my life much. Now i know MS aint that great of a game, but for a free MMORPG and the first time being able to play an rpg and compete with leveling against others, as well as chatting and making friends, and makin ur avatar look hella sexy. mannn maplestory too kvoer my life, i wouldnt sleep as much, id sneak around at night to play, id skip school sometimes, and while in school , id always plan on what i'd do as soon as i logged in when i got home. When i walked home id do more thinkin. Hours would go by, and itd feel like a mere one hour, when really itd be night. The next day. same thing. I totally was hooked. Yes i had no life, as Fangblade, the level 200 guy. same kinda stuff. MMORPGS will hook you, until you get to a point where you can keep it under control. I think the main reason ppl gethooked, is cause they wanna be the best. For instance when GW2 comes out, all of us Gw1 playersare going to be hooked, playing it the start of day 1, just trying to be at the top. and you all know im right. dont disagree. maybe theres a few exceptions of people who wont, for the most part, i know ur all like me, and i know i'll be doing that too.

im 18 btw, i was 16 when i started maplestory

McMullen · Oct 22, 2008, 12:14 AM // 00:14

Been playing for 2600 hours in 40 months. 20 Years old.
Physically: Not much difference, I've put on some weight since I started playing MMORPG's in general (bearing in mind that's about 7 years ago) but I'm guessing that's because I was a growing lad.

Relationships: I don't think it has any influence on relationships at all. Although I wouldn't consider myself as a "hardcore player" (for example some guy has clocked nearly 4 times more hours up than me in the same period of time.)
There is the occasional "give me 5 more minutes, I need to finish this" moment which can cause a bit of tension between people though

Emotionally: This is the big one, I feel I've gradually become more relaxed, laid back. I never take anything serious ingame and it's slowly rubbed off onto real life which comes in handy since my job involves working with the public (who are bastards).

Oh, bit random but it might help... When I started playing my first MMORPG (RuneScape.. woop!) I was hooked, I would happily park my arse in front of the computer for 5 hours straight playing that game. Fortunately I rarely peak at 2 hours in one go now.

JaxDarkwing · Oct 22, 2008, 01:19 AM // 01:19

Ok I am a 55 year old female and I am totally obsessed with this game. More than 4k hours in 14 months of playing. It's all I want to do. When I am not playing I think about the game a lot...I have even dreamed about it a few times. So I am hooked on GW. I have and have completed all 4 games btw.

illidan009 · Oct 22, 2008, 02:20 AM // 02:20

17 here.
635 hours over 32 months.
Since I don't play much(as you can tell most of the ppl here play A LOT more than I do, even ones that have had the game for a shorter period of time...), no effect on friends/relationships. Great game, great way to relax, sometimes meet cool ppl, or just idiots I can screw around with.
Physically: play tennis a lot, recently basketball too...not OMG BUFF but I got some lean muscles

.
Oh yea forgot still pwning school. Straight A's in one of the top 10 high schools in America... IB program ftl kills free time ><

Welcome to GW/Guru/Teh Community!!

daze · Oct 22, 2008, 03:03 AM // 03:03

Im 27 years old han have been playing for over 2 years.. I have about 7k hours logged in the game.

My girlfriend is jealous of Guild Wars because id rather spend time with it than her.

I used to smoke crack and i smoked crack for almost a year when i was living in my apartment. I have to say that mixing crack with pot and smoking it is not near as addictive as Guild Wars.

I have called in "sick" to work multiple times for various events in Guild Wars. (festivals, double LB/SS, double rep weekends.)

I used to love playing other games on my PC. I modded out my Xbox so i could copy games to it and run emulators on it. I own a Wii, PS3, Xbox, and a 360. Now all they do is collect dust because guild wars has monopolized my gaming time.

Hi, My name is David and im a Guild Wars addict.