Yeah, it is dangerous to get obsessed with RPGs, or video games, or fantasy novels, or chocolate sprinkles, or... It's dangerous to get obsessed with anything. Obsession is a bad thing, some people get a little focused on certain things people can get obsessed with, though.
For understandable reasons. It's especially concerning if you're dealing with a kid with a tendency toward obsession. But at least Mom's giving them a chance.
For understandable reasons. It's especially concerning if you're dealing with a kid with a tendency toward obsession. But at least Mom's giving them a chance.
7 comments:
Obsession...sounds familiar. I know a couple of "World of Warcraft" widows/widowers, as well as one couple who met and got married as a result of WoW (which wouldn't really bother me so much, but in the months I knew him he never gave any indication that he and his wife shared anything in common except for "Warcraft").
And, um, did your parents really have to put a ban on "Garfield and Friends"? 8(
Webcomics. *eyes his Bookmarks folder* Though technically it's for the review site. Technically. ^^;;
Rob H., who was a D&D-holic
@Dan: And then there are the stories of people proposing through video games. People get very strange sometimes.
And, yeah, actually it was just Garfield the comic, not the cartoon as that wasn't on TV at the time. Let's just say that I discovered that Garfield is fun to read but probably wouldn't be nearly as likable in real life.
Also, the ban was temporary.
@Robert: Yeah. That too. And manga. And anime. Oh good grief, the anime. I haven't crunched the numbers, but I'm pretty sure crack really would be cheaper.
Only was? How'd you kick the habit?
My name is Dan, and I am an RPGaholic (reformed, Robert, no one is ever really cured) though I did manage to mostly kick the habit years ago. Now I just use 'em as inspirational materials for use with my various writing projects. Yeah, that's it... '^_^
@Brigid: People are strange! :P I think that the guy I mentioned did propose to his wife in-game; Heck, sometime after WotC introduced the "Open Gaming License" for their D20 system, I even saw a "Sex in D&D" rulebook at my local Borders (eww). So very creepy...
I was a DM for over a decade. I started suffering burnout. The people in my group who insisted on interrupting my old game to run quick mini-games (and disrupt my pacing - what was originally one of the best games they ever were in, at the end, fizzled because I'd lost the spark... I literally believe if they hadn't interrupted with their "minigames" I'd have ended on the good note) fizzled. Wasn't truly bad but still was a lackluster end.
Well anyway, those same people who so badly wanted to run a game in the middle of The Big One said they didn't want to. But wanted another game. So I ran another. And another after that. Both fizzled out. The divorce of my best friend and his ex killed the gaming group (with the ex getting most of the friends/gaming group, myself and one new player being given to my friend in the split).
And after it was over? For a couple years after, even thinking of running a game would result in a quick onset migraine. Something literally had burnt out in me. I couldn't GM. Oddly, I could still write, and did. Though I half-wonder if the GM burnout is part of the reason for my reviews going from daily to intermittent.
I've occasionally considered running a game these days... and don't get the migraine any longer. But creating a new gaming group is not exactly easy, and I'm not entirely sure what I'd want to do for a game any longer. And to be honest... if I never ran another game again, I probably wouldn't miss much. (And I've very rarely been a player in games; I keep wanting to meddle in the storyline as a player. It's the writer in me.)
Rob H.
I actually know people who have done that, although it was mainly games like LOTR: BFME and Counterstrike. Oh, and CoD.
As for obsession...I can relate. Thank God no one had to ban anything since most of the things that I love are for free online (e.g. Mary Quite Contrary, deviantART). Although my Dad now disconnects the internet to prevent late-night browsing -_-
What really unnerves me though is the rare instances where people get violent to feed their habit.
For example, just recently a Vietnamese teen murdered a little girl so that he could have money to play an RPG online.
@Journo: Well, that's creepy. The bit about someone committing murder to play an online game. Yeesh.
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