World Of Warcraft, Good Or Bad?

[Joey D]

I'd really like to see you back this up. The vast majority of the gamers I know are in good shape. Meanwhile many folks that I know who are seriously obese are not gamers at all. In my experience you're way off base. I'd love to see some sort of study that backs you up.

Two seconds on Google will do wonders:

http://www.cfah.org/hbns/news/video03-17-04.cfm
Same article on WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20040318/video-games----not-tv----linked-to-obesity
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/408/60891.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070104144703.htm
http://children.webmd.com/news/20040702/video-games-tv-double-childhood-obesity-risk

Maybe it's not all video games, TV should be included as well.

 

[Kent]

I say the inability or refusal to get lost in the fantasy is the real flaw. I'd prefer kids with an active imagination to sports nuts.



I'd really like to see you back this up. The vast majority of the gamers I know are in good shape. Meanwhile many folks that I know who are seriously obese are not gamers at all. In my experience you're way off base. I'd love to see some sort of study that backs you up.

I agree with you on both of those comments.

I'm not sure I can call this a fact but I do remember it as a fact.
Children who exhibit active imaginations show greater mental capacity as adults than children who show limited imagination/ creativity.

As for the gaming-obesity ties, I doubt there is anything to that other than conjecture.

Btw, I have no problem with sports fans and I'd hate to be faced with the decision to make my child either a sports nut or a imaginitive person.

Regarding World Of Warcraft.
I think it is a good thing. 👍
I don't play the game but I can see that its affects on the industry may be positive and the enjoyment of our fellow gamers is in my opinion positive as well.

Frankly, I don't think people made negative comments regarding obesity and creativity when Halo 2's online battles took the US by storm (and I doubt we will see anything of that sort when Halo 3 rules the 360 for the next 3 years).

Basically, I just don't have a problem with WoW.

Oh, last thing... On the subject of fantasy being an escape related to personal flaws...
I seriously disagree. In fact, I feel like most people who can't enjoy some sort of fiction are the ones with some kind of flaw.
Sometimes we all need an escape.
Then again, that's coming from a guy who spent the power-outage of Hurricane Katrina reading the entire Lord Of The Rings epic.

 

[CDailey]

I play WoW, and have been playing for nearly a year. Do I have umpteen level 70 characters? No. My highest character is a level 43 mage (alliance, scilla server, name is Phedora btw ).

WoW is just a game. To accuse it of being more is wrong.

There is nothing about this game that will destroy lives. There are plenty of things with the individual players that can cause them to destroy their own life.

If I skip work to play Gran Turismo and get fired is it PD's fault? No.

MMORPGs create a social structure within the fun of the game and so people who don't know when to stop having fun or have little social skills due to whatever plagues them in real life find it to have a huge draw. The combination of the social structure and the fun makes people not recognize the loss of real-life social structure.

It would be the same as someone coming on to GTPlanet non-stop and forgetting any friends they have locally. Sure we may be a fun group of people to hang out with but we are not a replacement for your friends. The same goes for WoW. A person needs to know when to walk away.


To me this falls in the same category as video game violence. The video game does not cause someone to become unbalanced. Rather someone who is unbalanced is drawn to the game. People with a violent nature like violent video games and people with troubles handling interpersonal social activity are drawn to virtual social activity, because it feels safer. The geeky kid picked on in gym class may be pure leet in WoW and so that is where he feels cool and accepted because others don't see the geeky kid, but a level 99 troll mage, or whatever (can you tell I never played?).


There are no dangerous games, merely socially unstable people.

My thoughts exactly. +rep

As I quoted, a video game is just that: a video game. No more, no less.

Sure WoW is great fun, but everything needs to be taken in moderation. The game even tells you that during a loading screen.

Everything should be taken in moderation. (Even World of Warcraft!)

A persons inability to control themselves is what makes anything addictive.

 

[Danoff]

Thanks for the sources Joey. Here's my take on them.

From source 1

Vandewater cautions that the study reflects an association of factors, not causes. For instance, she found that electronic game use was connected to weight among girls but not among boys. That doesn’t mean that playing games made these girls heavier. It may be that overweight girls turn to electronic media because they felt socially isolated.

As a side note. This article actually says that kids that played a TON of video games tended to be fine. It was moderate gaming activity that was linked with the most obesity. Again, this is for girls.


Source 2 is an article talking about number 1

Source 3 contradicts sources 2 and 1. Source 1 says TV watching and weight are not linked, while source 3 says they are.

Source 4 assumes that there is a link (so no research on the topic at hand), and then says

The results showed that sitting while watching television and playing traditional video games expended the same amount of energy.

... which, combined with source 1 indicates that video games are not the cause, but the result. This actually fits very well with my own personal experiences with other folks who play video games.

Source 5 is the same as source 2 - which was a very limited study done in Switzerland that seems to sharply contradict your first source. Then there's this gem

In addition, the study showed that children from other countries living in Switzerland were about twice as likely to be obese as Swiss children. They say non-Swiss children watched more television and had less physical activity than Swiss children.

Not exactly convincing. Want to try again?

End result? Sources 1, 2 and 4 support my position while sources 3 and 5 (same thing) seem pretty shaky.

 

[Joey D]

Not exactly convincing. Want to try again?

Not really.

 

[Blackbird.]

Well I played the game for nearly 2 years and had one character up to level 70 and i'll have to say it does overtake your life (my fault of course) but like Danoff said earlier, because of the sheer fun. When you take down a raid boss with 25 other people working just as hard as you are it's a very rewarding and very exciting moment. I've stopped playing it one because of the monthly fee and two because it was actually changing me according to my parents, family, and friends. I still have urges to play it and i'd probably do it again if it weren't for the payment but I resist even asking. So as far as the question, like many people have said before the game is not bad nor good. It doesn't ruin lives, it's peoples choices to play hour after hour of it and ignore more important things in life for the game.

 

[ceiling_fan]

I don't play WoW because it doesn't end. When I got Final Fantasy XII, I played it 10 hours a day until I beat it. If I really get into a game, that's how it is. I wouldn't want to see myself get really into a game that does not end. I think that's one of the biggest problems for many WoW players.


Then again, neither does GT...

 

[Jimmy Enslashay]

In the case of gamers being fat and lazy, I work at EB Games. I also play first grade football, but I spend way too much time playing video games outside of it. It doesn't make me unfit or anti-social, or any of the other rubbish stereotypes.

All of the guys I work with are fit, and two of the six play football, as well. I serve hundreds of people daily, and I can safely assure you that the majority of people that I serve are not overweight.

Video games don't make you fat. What you eat makes you fat. You can play video games all the time if you want, but if you spend some of that time in which you aren't playing video games getting out (it doesn't just mean skipping or playing catch, just getting out in general), and also eating fine, then you're not going to be overweight.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with anyone that generalises video gamers as fat.

Also, as much as it isn't like basketball, etc., video gaming is an activity. If chess is considered a sport, why can't you class competitive gaming as at least a sporting activity? Just because you aren't on your feet running your ass off, doesn't mean it's not a sport. This is coming from someone who's played sport his whole life.

 

[FoolKiller]

Funny thing about thsi whole gamers are fat stereotype; most gamers I know look anorexic, and possibly malnourished. That is until they reach driking age and suddenly they have a gut that I think gaming has absolutely nothing to do with.


Hey, Joey D, I'm curious what your take is on the Wii. I work up a sweat playing Wii Sports and Tiger Woods. I even pull muscles when I overdo it. And let's not even mention the upcoming Wii Fit.

And judging by my slice, both virtual and in real life, Tiger Woods 07 is like golf.


Gaming will not make you fat, rather your lifestyle does.

 

[Max Powers]

If you think playing WoW is like playing basketball you must live one sorry life, video games are not substitutes for actual activities.

Says the person with over 15 thousand posts on an internet forum.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the game, if somebody wants to spend all of their time playing a computer game, then more power to them. But it's their choice to play the game so much, so I think it's ridiculous that people try to blame the game. Some people just have no self control.

 

[Joey D]

Hey, Joey D, I'm curious what your take is on the Wii. I work up a sweat playing Wii Sports and Tiger Woods. I even pull muscles when I overdo it. And let's not even mention the upcoming Wii Fit.

I have a Wii and I know what you mean, I've had bouts of very heated Tennis matches in Wii Sports and I could see where that would be a decent source of exercise. I think it's a step towards getting people more active, but frankly I'd rather play a real life round of golf then golf on indoors on a video game. Sure it's similar in many ways but it's still not the real thing.

I don't know what Wii Fit is, but I'm assuming it's some sort of exercise game. If you for whatever reason feel the need to play games all day then I guess you could do a lot worse then playing the Wii.

Says the person with over 15 thousand posts on an internet forum.

I have 15,000 posts? Didn't know that, I don't really care how many posts I really have. it's just another number. Plus I'm going to assume there are quite a few others with more posts then I, doesn't Dave A have like 25,000 or something? And really 15,000 posts in 5 years? Thats 3,000 posts a year or something like 8 posts a day. I go in spurts though, some weeks I'll post a lot while others not at all.

But many of the posts being while at work or school where I wouldn't be doing anything constructive anyways. The forum helps pass the time when I'm waiting the 4 hours in between classes or while I'm at work waiting for the day to end. This goes with gaming as well, I'll play SimCity or something while at school because I'm just so bored and I need something to do. But as soon as I leave at 5 or 6 pm the last thing on my mind is playing video games, especially if the weather is nice. But whatever, people can do what they want, but it's not going to change my view on gamers.

I see nothing wrong with wasting your time when you have to be somewhere and you have nothing to do. I know many of you are going to say "why aren't you working at work?" and my response to that is...I don't have to really do any work because it's so easy, I really think a caveman could do it. Granted the pay is directly related with the work's difficulty.

 

[FoolKiller]

I have a Wii and I know what you mean, I've had bouts of very heated Tennis matches in Wii Sports and I could see where that would be a decent source of exercise. I think it's a step towards getting people more active, but frankly I'd rather play a real life round of golf then golf on indoors on a video game. Sure it's similar in many ways but it's still not the real thing.

When I bought Tiger Woods it was too cold to golf, and then we have recently had record setting heat. 105 f + heart condition = no golf.

I don't know what Wii Fit is, but I'm assuming it's some sort of exercise game. If you for whatever reason feel the need to play games all day then I guess you could do a lot worse then playing the Wii.

It uses a new peripheral and focuses on core work out. The peripheral can actually measure your BMI and tracks the stats of all the users, kind of creating a BMI contest.
http://e3nin.nintendo.com/wii_fit.html


And did you know that there was a Wii Sports exercise plan now?
http://www.wiihealthy.com/?p=15

If you can lose weight while playing a game, why not? Just because it says Nintendo across the top doesn't make it worse of an exercise than basketball. It is competitive, you are moving, and you are losing weight. That and I suck at basketball, but I have well over 2000 points on Wii Tennis.

With my heart condition I am limited to what I am allowed to do (no contact sports, no heavy lifting) and with the summer heat it is limited to only being indoors. Quite frankly sitting on the exercise bike and walking the treadmill at the gym gets boring fast as the old women feel the need to turn all five TVs to Lifetime or TLC. They act almost offended when ESPN is put on. It's made even worse when it is a fantasy football show.

 

[Mark T]

I've never played WoW but I did play Star Wars Galaxies for around a year. I used to play for around 3 hours a night, which is nothing compared to some of the "hardcore gamers" who spend literally all day on a console.

I've always enjoyed playing games and I used to play them alot more than I do now, simply because of my working hours and spending time with the girlfriend. I go to the gym normally every other day, sometimes everyday. If I don't go I feel like I'm losing something or missing out, which is probably what those WoW players think when they don't play for one night.

I also DJ, which requires me to practice normally everyday. It's also really fun and that creates the addiction. My body detaches itself from the rest of the world when I'm gaming, exercising or DJing. I forget about the normal day to day worries of life.

WoW isn't a bad thing for most people. When you have a child or adult who has problems in real life they will this virtual world as a release from that which is a bad thing as the problem only escalates causing the said person to play for longer. It's a vicious circle.

WoW is a pile of rubbish anyway, but just wait until we get virtual reality where you will actually feel like your in another world.

 

[FoolKiller]

WoW is a pile of rubbish anyway, but just wait until we get virtual reality where you will actually feel like your in another world.

Why is it that I just thought of "Better Than Life"

 

[Joey D]

When I bought Tiger Woods it was too cold to golf, and then we have recently had record setting heat. 105 f + heart condition = no golf.

That is understandable, I guess while voicing my opinion I should have noted that there will always be exceptions. When it comes to a matter of personal well being I can see why you, personally, would do it.

And did you know that there was a Wii Sports exercise plan now?
http://www.wiihealthy.com/?p=15

No I didn't know that but that looks pretty cool.

 

[Danoff]

- Videogames do not make you fat.
- Videogames are way more fun than basketball and require way more imagination
- Internet-based videogames like WoW provide a new level of social interaction in gaming by allowing you to game with your friends.

...still not seeing the problem. None of the above is really even being contested.

 

[Joey D]

- Videogames do not make you fat.

In some cases they can, not all people will be affected in the same way, I understand that. But if you sit around and do nothing but play video games you have a greater risk at becoming obese.

- Videogames are way more fun than basketball and require way more imagination

According to who? I have more fun playing basketball then playing video games. Care to show me a study that shows more people say ages 12-40 enjoy playing video games over basketball? Also there are quite a few different variations of playing basketball that require imagination to think up.

- Internet-based videogames like WoW provide a new level of social interaction in gaming by allowing you to game with your friends.

Once again according to whom?

 

[Swift]

In some cases they can, not all people will be affected in the same way, I understand that. But if you sit around and do nothing but play video games you have a greater risk at becoming obese.

So are you against everything that's addicting and possibly hazardous to one's health?

According to who? I have more fun playing basketball then playing video games. Care to show me a study that shows more people say ages 12-40 enjoy playing video games over basketball? Also there are quite a few different variations of playing basketball that require imagination to think up.

Well, it really doesn't matter. It's all opinion based anyway as to what's more fun then something else. Personally, I'd play basketball until I couldn't even walk, but that's just me. I have an equally good time playing Guitar Hero or God of War.

Once again according to whom?

Not according to anyone just by the very fact and nature of the game. MMORPG's allow you to talk and play with people on the other side of the planet. It is a new form of social interaction.

 

[Joey D]

So are you against everything that's addicting and possibly hazardous to one's health?

No, I'm not even against WoW. I personally think it's not all that exciting of a game and I personally can not see how on earth it's addictive. You can do what you like but that's not going to stop others from voicing their opinions about it...unless the Do you smoke? thread was full of hypocrites.

Well, it really doesn't matter. It's all opinion based anyway as to what's more fun then something else. Personally, I'd play basketball until I couldn't even walk, but that's just me. I have an equally good time playing Guitar Hero or God of War.

Yes it does, that was an awfully bold statement to make on Danoff's part. Saying that video games are more fun then basketball seems a bit to much like he is saying that it's that way without a doubt. He or anyone for that matter might think video games are more fun then something else, but it's your own personal opinion.

Not according to anyone just by the very fact and nature of the game. MMORPG's allow you to talk and play with people on the other side of the planet. It is a new form of social interaction.

I didn't feel WoW was all that social, yes some of my friends played but we were rarely on a the same time and for the more part I just did the quests by myself. I'm sure for some it is, but once again not for everyone.

 

[Danoff]

In some cases they can, not all people will be affected in the same way, I understand that. But if you sit around and do nothing but play video games you have a greater risk at becoming obese.

Actually the research you posted claims the opposite - that those who play lots of videogames (especially boys) are no more at risk of becoming obese.

According to who? I have more fun playing basketball then playing video games. Care to show me a study that shows more people say ages 12-40 enjoy playing video games over basketball? Also there are quite a few different variations of playing basketball that require imagination to think up.

Do you really need a study for that? If we totaled the number of hours spent playing videogames by all people in the country and compared it against number of hours spent playing b-ball who would win?

Ok, what if we totaled the number of people who regularly play video games vs. the number of people who regularly play b-ball? Any doubt?

Once again according to whom?

Well that's just fact. Computer games used to be much harder to play with your friends. With the advent of massively online multiplayer games, it becomes almost trivial to get a group of your friends together to play even chatting with them directly via headset.

 

[Joey D]

Do you really need a study for that? If we totaled the number of hours spent playing videogames by all people in the country and compared it against number of hours spent playing b-ball who would win?

Ok, what if we totaled the number of people who regularly play video games vs. the number of people who regularly play b-ball? Any doubt?

Yes I have my doubts because my guess is that not everyone in the country has access to video games, but pretty much everyone has access to some sort of sporting equipment. Maybe it's not basketball, maybe it's football, baseball, or something else. But since there is no real way to say for sure just accept it that it's your observation that more play probably play video games and that you think gaming is more fun.

Well that's just fact. Computer games used to be much harder to play with your friends. With the advent of massively online multiplayer games, it becomes almost trivial to get a group of your friends together to play.

If you call it a fact then it must be right?

 

[Danoff]

But since there is no real way to say for sure just accept it that it's your observation that more play probably play video games and that you think gaming is more fun.

Ok.

If you call it a fact then it must be right?

Um... I'd like to see you actually try to dispute it.

 

[Joey D]

Um... I'd like to see you actually try to dispute it.

I could but it's only using personal experiences, which, if I'm not mistaken do not work on the opinion board. This is not meant to be sarcastic but rather an honest statement.

 

[Swift]

I could but it's only using personal experiences, which, if I'm not mistaken do not work on the opinion board. This is not meant to be sarcastic but rather an honest statement.

Wait, because you don't "think" that WoW is that social and a few million people do, we have to prove that it is? That's like saying email hasn't changed the face of business and inter-company communications just because you don't like email.

 

[Joey D]

Wait, because you don't "think" that WoW is that social and a few million people do, we have to prove that it is? That's like saying email hasn't changed the face of business and inter-company communications just because you don't like email.

What? No. That's not what I mean, I'm just saying that the game isn't social for everyone, I have a couple of examples of both personal experience and people I know but those don't count in this discussion. Not everyone feels the social aspect of the game...yes many do, but not everyone.

 

[Danoff]

What? No. That's not what I mean, I'm just saying that the game isn't social for everyone, I have a couple of examples of both personal experience and people I know but those don't count in this discussion. Not everyone feels the social aspect of the game...yes many do, but not everyone.

Well, of course you can make it anti-social. But it's far more capable of social interaction than video games used to be. If social interaction is what you're looking for out of gaming, then you should really like WoW because it's far more social (or social-capable) than earlier computer games.

 

[FoolKiller]

Once again according to whom?

Really guys, a half worded Google search could have provided this. Fortunately I read this and knew where it was.
http://gamepolitics.com/2007/07/15/...ding-homework-and-none-on-social-interaction/

In terms of social interaction, gaming fell in line with more traditional activities. If a teen played more games in a group, they tended to also do many other activities in a group, and vice-versa. The same held for teens who gamed with their parents. If the parents weren’t very involved in their children’s gaming, they tended to not participate in other family activities either

 

[Joey D]

I'm skeptical to believe gamepolitics.com since it is a pro-video gaming website. But a source is better then no source at all.

 

[Danoff]

I'm skeptical to believe gamepolitics.com since it is a pro-video gaming website. But a source is better then no source at all.

I don't need a source to prove that WoW is more capable of social interaction than early video games. The "massively multiplayer online " portion of the game description does that for me.

 

[Casio]

So who's worse:

The people who sat in the corner and read the new Harry Potter book for 10 hours a day to finish it first, or the people went on a 10 hour Wow session with there friends?

While I agree that WoW is no substitute for a game of basketball for physical fitness. It's no worse then sitting and watching NASCAR or NFL on the TV for hours, spending the day doing a puzzle or reading a book.