Topic : 06/03 Virtual Chaos

I am neither patronizing nor agreeing with either side in this argument but instead like to bring to light another problem. I believe that a show such as Dr. Phil would be more respectable if it presented two sides of a case and allowed the viewer to make a decision based on what they have seen, but instead I find this show to be quite often one sided and therefore bias. This gives birth to generations of people who do not think on their own and are instead told what to be thought. This unfortunately has always occurred in history and will surely continue in the future.  

 I beseech the followers of the Dr. Phil show to ask themselves: Is watching Dr. Phil for an hour a day not an addiction in itself?  

Are you saying gamers are lazy and fat? If so, Your wrong. Gaming promoted me to do the things that your daughter does. Its kind of like way back... When sesame park promoted you to go out and chill with friends.

But i guess its different for me, Im young.

I really did enjoy the show today and I think that the general message we should take away is BALANCE.

I can admit that I was addicted to video games when I was a kid.  Though, in those days video games helped me escape the real life problems I had.  Bullying, being picked on, and worse.  I used to be afraid of going to school everyday, when I was a kid.  So games, along with God, my family, and other things helped me get through life.  Then in high school games became an addiction.  However, that was because I had no idenity.  I was depressed a lot and so games helped me forget about my life.  I think that my addiction was brought on because of my social life as a kid, not having much of one.  When I got into college, I was free completely free from my former social problems and so I was on the journey of finding myself.  Once I began to accept my life and like who I truly was(thanks in part on Dr, Phil's book, "Self Matters"), my addiction went away.

I guess the point Im trying to make is that we have to make real life number one.  I still play video games, but I go to work and focus on building my career as a novelist.  Video games don't control me, because I have a clean grasp on reality and I love my real life.  Video games can fill a void in your life, but so can many other activites.  The goal should be to get rid of that void and not allow yourself to become addicted to whatever.

So, if you are addicted to playing video games and don't know how to get control back, ask yourself some questions about your real life.  You might not like your real life or not even like yourself.  I'd say read Dr. Phil's book, "Self Matters."  Becuase, if you don't like who you are or your life, then it could be a lack of self worth.

I'll stop with just asking that as a society, let's not start blaming video games.  Scapegoating won't solve the problem.  We need to take personal responsibility for our actions.  If you or someone you know has an addiction then you need to get help.  The help is there, you just have to be willing to make the tough choices to get it.  When I used to play World of Warcraft, my guildmates had a saying:  "Real life is greater then WoW."  Well, we used a > to say it, but you get the picture.  Being a responsible gamer means that you don't put games or anything above family and reality.

WoW and other fantasy games are weird. (no affence)

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I understand your point about the whole your 14 thing, but soon enough, you woulnt be able to control your addiction (like me). You will try to stop, but then end up playing again, untill your like 35.

(ha, im only 2 years older then you, and i'm starting to sound like gaming runied my life)

I am 17 yrs old i have the IQ of  156 and the simple fact is that the real problem is the fact that there is bad parents out there that allow there 8 yr old kids play  mature rated games which by law you must be 18 to buy so when all these little kids grow up and get there drivers licenses and decide i wanna try wat i did in that video game they will kill people.  i trully find video games mentaly stimulating because it gets your mind goin in ways that othere things cant do and i just be the fact that the parents get the computer in a open setting because there are alot of little kids swearing and using vulgar language.

       Good Post, Donna, you would be someone that I'd prefer as a guildmaster.

     To everyone else, the community is the basis of a players gameplay if your community is full of trainers, KSers, ninja looters, and so on; the gameplay is poorer than it would be with few to none players like Donna. I'll allow her to explain the EQ lingo. Sorry, Donna.

       I lucked out with my server choice on the PS2 version of Everquest; Mar's Fist did have quite a few people like Donna.

      To name a few: Ultimosou, Bissey/I believe Wifey, Evelyn, Caliestya, Igon, Monet, Zoinie, Carelene, Stebbons, Lazlo, Gigaka, Precious, and I know there's others that I forgot their names. (Watch someone's toon's name I forgot will notice this and tease me a bit about it, lol. Sorry my memory isn't perfect).

      When you play for a while, you get a pretty good idea on the players personality.

      While I'm thinking about it. Would you pickup a guy or gal at a bar, off the train, plane, or etc? If you answered yes, you would have committed picked up someone; you would know even less of than meeting someone from one of these games. It takes a long time to feel comfortable meeting someone from online. Think about it.