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Dangers of Video Games
My daughter Karla sent me this article. I have always forbidden video games in my home. There was a season that I allowed my son to play under certain conditions which he could not uphold. Since that time video games have been banned from my home. Read the following article and give me some feedback:
Wedding Woes: The Dark Side of Warcraft
Popular online PC game is causing marital discord.
By Mike Smith
Although best-selling online role-playing game World of Warcraft boasts over ten million subscribers, it's also leaving in its wake an increasing list of casualties.
Even though she's never played the game, 28 year-old Jocelyn is one of the fallen. A well-spoken California resident, she divorced her husband of six years after he developed a crippling addiction to the smash online RPG.
"He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he'd play until three a.m. Weekends were worse -- it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night," she told Yahoo! Games in an interview. "It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life."
Jocelyn had been friends with her ex-husband Peter since the age of 13, but it took only nine months for her marriage to collapse.
"I bought the game for him for Christmas 2004, when it first came out. By May we had our first serious discussion about where our marriage was going, and by September I had moved out," she said.
Jocelyn recalled one particular incident that was typical of Peter's habits. "I had set aside 30 minutes for us to watch a television show together, and he couldn't. He was stuck on a raid, and completely failed to understand why I was upset," she said.
Peter's domestic duties also suffered. He stopped paying bills, she says, and refused to do his share of the housework.
Jocelyn doesn't hesitate to cite Warcraft as the main reason for her divorce and remains emotional about its impact on her marriage. "I'm real, and you're giving me up for a fantasy land. You're destroying your life, your six-year marriage, and you're giving it up for something that isn't even real."
Despite their differences, the couple remains friends, and although Peter still plays World of Warcraft, Jocelyn says he made an effort to cut down after their split.
A gamer herself, Jocelyn briefly worked for World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment, although not on the title that proved so damaging to her relationship. "I recognized that this was a game that would never end, and that's why I chose not to play it," she said.
"They build it in such a way that you have to keep putting more and more time into it to maintain your status. I remember thinking when I was married that it was downright exploitative to people who couldn't control themselves in that way. It's set up like a drug."
Asked if she would consider marrying another Warcraft player, Jocelyn laughed. "That's actually one of my primary criteria now -- I don't want to marry someone who is a gamer."
Wedding Woes: The Dark Side of Warcraft
Popular online PC game is causing marital discord.
By Mike Smith
Although best-selling online role-playing game World of Warcraft boasts over ten million subscribers, it's also leaving in its wake an increasing list of casualties.
Even though she's never played the game, 28 year-old Jocelyn is one of the fallen. A well-spoken California resident, she divorced her husband of six years after he developed a crippling addiction to the smash online RPG.
"He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he'd play until three a.m. Weekends were worse -- it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night," she told Yahoo! Games in an interview. "It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life."
Jocelyn had been friends with her ex-husband Peter since the age of 13, but it took only nine months for her marriage to collapse.
"I bought the game for him for Christmas 2004, when it first came out. By May we had our first serious discussion about where our marriage was going, and by September I had moved out," she said.
Jocelyn recalled one particular incident that was typical of Peter's habits. "I had set aside 30 minutes for us to watch a television show together, and he couldn't. He was stuck on a raid, and completely failed to understand why I was upset," she said.
Peter's domestic duties also suffered. He stopped paying bills, she says, and refused to do his share of the housework.
Jocelyn doesn't hesitate to cite Warcraft as the main reason for her divorce and remains emotional about its impact on her marriage. "I'm real, and you're giving me up for a fantasy land. You're destroying your life, your six-year marriage, and you're giving it up for something that isn't even real."
Despite their differences, the couple remains friends, and although Peter still plays World of Warcraft, Jocelyn says he made an effort to cut down after their split.
A gamer herself, Jocelyn briefly worked for World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment, although not on the title that proved so damaging to her relationship. "I recognized that this was a game that would never end, and that's why I chose not to play it," she said.
"They build it in such a way that you have to keep putting more and more time into it to maintain your status. I remember thinking when I was married that it was downright exploitative to people who couldn't control themselves in that way. It's set up like a drug."
Asked if she would consider marrying another Warcraft player, Jocelyn laughed. "That's actually one of my primary criteria now -- I don't want to marry someone who is a gamer."
Tags: Addiction, Dangers of Video Games, Video Game Addiction
Views: 199
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris on -
Why is she blaming the video game? Her husband is responsible for his own actions.
It is like she is ridding him of all guilt and saying that he had no choice, the game forced him at gun point to play?
This story as a basis for attacking video games is ridiculous. I can understand if you don't like violence in 'certain' games, but demonizing video games over this woman's story is utterly mad.
It says more about the character of her husband than the game itself. If anything should be attacked, it is her husband's complete and willing disregard for her. That is if she is being completely truthful on her side of the story.
This is just a very bad example to use as an arguement against video games though, and I leave you with that.
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Permalink Reply by Chris on
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I understand your frustration, but what does WoW have to do with your ex-husband?
You are basically asserting that the video game somehow made him do something he otherwise would not have? That is absurd. It was your husband's character to begin with, and you said it yourself he wasn't a good man. If he had the motive to cheat on you, or leave you in his head.. he would have done it anyway.
It may have instead been a chick at the bar, or a co-worker. WoW didn't magically just pair him with a woman to purposely break up your marriage.
You should focus on what was wrong with the man you chose, so you can prevent the same mistake from happening to the best of your ability.
Banning video games from your kids for no good reason is not helping. I can understand time restrictions, making sure they do their homework, and other responsibilities. That is true with any extra-curricular activities, but there is nothing evil about video games.
Maybe you should try playing the Wii with your boys, perhaps you'll find that besides being fun, it is a family activity, just like board games of old.
I was a huge video game player as a kid, and today I'm making my own indie video games as a living.
I've been doing my own laundry, cleaning up after myself, cooking for myself, working and paying my own bills for several years. As a college student now, I don't have to force myself to study, I want to study. I'm enthusiastic about learning.
This comes from someone who played RTS games for 8 hours straight as a kid.
The only issue raised with video games is discipline. But that doesn't make video games evil or wrong. It makes the person wrong for neglecting priorities. What if a mother was neglecting cooking for her kids because she was spending too much time protesting abortion; would you blame the pro-life movement for her stupid decision?
Anyway, by banning video games from your house, you might make them want to play them more.
Unless of course you're instilling fear.
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Permalink Reply by Chris on
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With kids it is a different story. They lack responsibility and usually don't do things on their own at first. So I'm not disagreeing with you there.
My disagreement, which was with the main story of the thread, is with adults. If you're a full grown adult, you're responsible for your own actions. I don't blame video games because they are not a drug.
If we were discussing Heroine or Nicotine addiction, I'd split the blame 50/50 between the drug and the user. But video games are no more addicting than movies, books, and the internet.
There is nothing wrong with spending huge amounts of time playing games, so long as the player isn't neglecting responsibility. Trust me, I've played many video games. Some have been very fun.
Same with books. I stayed up one night just to read an entire book, cause I was so hooked.
I've never skipped my responsibilities. That is irresponsible. Sounds like bad spouses.
Probably wasn't meant to be.
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Permalink Reply by Roxanne Brooke Coldiron on -
It was recently in the news that a woman killed her baby because the baby interrupted her Farmville playing by crying! Video game addiction is evil!
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Permalink Reply by Trever G. on -
Any addiction is evil other than being addicted to love (God). However the games are not evil.
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Permalink Reply by Jason on -
I agree with Trever that Farmville does not qualify as a video game. It's scary to think that anyone would do that to their child... but with the world we live in today, nothing should surprise me. I also agree that an addiction to anything is evil. That being said, many video games are made for adults. When I have children, I will certainly be strict as to what kind of games they play and how long they can play. I find that the Nintendo Wii is more of a family gaming system while the PS3 and XBox 360 are consoles that have more games targeting adults.
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Permalink Reply by David Callis on -
I had to stop playing that game because i started to feel demons all around me when i played it and this game is very demonic, but not all games are bad.
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Permalink Reply by Rajdeep Garthapuri on -
Person spends all day watching / playing game X.
They spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to buy things related to their favorite characters in the game, and pay to go watch this game.
This person encourages their children to play the game. They talk about the game with their friends all the time.
They would get angry if their wife interrupted their game.
The person I am talking about is a Baseball fan.
Don't blame the games. Blame the "player."
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