[ SECRET POST #381 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #381 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 08 pages, 200 secrets from Secret Submission Post #055.
Secrets Not Posted: 0 broken links, [ 1 2 ] not!secrets, [ 1 2 ] not!fandom, [ 1 ] too big, [ 1 ] personal attack.
Next Secret Post: Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008.
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[sincere]

No, you just missed the part where the secret poster basically implied that everyone she knew who played the game was addicted to WoW, and that if they disagree with her analysis, they therefore prove that they are addicted, because that's how an addict would react. I'm afraid that kind of logic doesn't fly with me. I'm pretty sure people who are not addicted would also deny being addicted if falsely accused.

I am 100% aware that people have thrown away their lives on WoW. But there are people who overindulge in everything -- not just EVIL things like gambling or drinking, but even innocent healthy things like sport or appreciating pretty hair. All I'm saying is that I think in the case of WoW, those people, and the people around them, need to accept that it's a problem in them as much as in the game.

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[kinneas.livejournal.com]

I agree with your blame placement assessment completely, for what it's worth.

Interpretation is subjective, and I haven't seen anything in the secrets or the rest of her signed comments that implies she means every single person that plays the game. Furthermore, her logic fails only when used as a test for determining addiction. She is fundamentally right that if you asked someone already truly addicted, they would deny it.

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[sincere]

I never really thought that she implied it of everyone -- I just think it's a gross generality to say, "These people failed life and it's all because of WoW." As long as we're willing to accept that the game itself is not the source of all evil, forcing them at gunpoint (or arrowpoint, as it were) to beat their wives, I'm okay with saying that WoW is a dangerous thing for the weak-willed.

While I totally acknowledge that it probably wasn't her intent to insinuate that WoW forces everyone who comes into contact with it to do evil, my initial comment was simply speaking my mind in reaction to what I read. Even if not hers, it is, unfortunately, a commonly-held opinion. :\

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[(Anonymous)]

But when she's saying "people I know", she could well mean the very people who have ruined their lives in the examples mentioned in the bullet points. Isn't this entire secret about people who actually have an addiction to WoW? Besides, thinking that the game contributes to people's problems doesn't necessarily mean that you deny a person's involvement in their own mess.

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[sincere]

I have no problem with that -- it's entirely possible that she does only know WoW players who are addicts, and while I still find the logic she uses to accuse them circular, it's pretty much a fact that WoW has been a significant factor in a lot of people's lives going downhill. I'm not going to argue against that.

Although for the record, I think saying "This game ruins lives" is a little dramatic if you're claiming that actually, this person had some willpower problems to begin with, but whatever THIS GAME RUINS LIVES. The game didn't force anyone to beat their wife or neglect their jobs until they got fired; heck, Blizzard gets the same fee whether you play five hours a week or forty-five. All WoW is is a timesink, something that does go on interminably and never runs out of replay value, and if someone don't have the willpower to say, "Okay, I'm done with this now, there are responsible things I have to do," then that person is going to be in trouble.

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[(Anonymous)]

I actually see no logical flaw, and I think what it is is that we're getting different readings out of that last remark. You're seeing, "I know these people are WoW addicts because whenever I accuse them of being addicts they lash out at me, ergo they are addicts." I, on the other hand, am seeing, "I know these people are addicts because I have seen them ruin their lives (going into debt, losing jobs, turning into irredeemable assholes, etc.) but I'm afraid of calling them out on it because reactions of addicts are scary." Neither is necessarily truer than the other; that's just my view because my personal experience seems to support it.

WoW -- and any agent in an addiction -- cannot be blamed for everything, but I do think that the nature of the game contributes largely to the problem. There are many other games of its type, but WoW is the chief offender - why? Because it's the time investment needed in order to get any sense of satisfaction is excessive? Because it has no end? Because it saddles people with a sense of responsibility toward irrelevant things (becoming leader or whatever)? Any of those factor, if mitigated, might greatly reduce the detrimental effect, who knows. It's true, lack of self-control and addictive tendencies are people's downfall, but people are also more likely become addicted to highly addictive things, and that's an argument you can make for many different types of addiction, at varying degrees.

In the end, it comes down to how you view the situation. I do think the OP is exaggerating and slightly overemotional, but if you've been personally affected by the life-ruining power of WoW (weak-willed friends and all), it's not supernatural to want to yell, "I wish this fucking game never existed."

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[xanykaos.livejournal.com]

No, you just missed the part where the secret poster basically implied that everyone she knew who played the game was addicted to WoW, and that if they disagree with her analysis, they therefore prove that they are addicted, because that's how an addict would react.

Wow, I missed that part too. Maybe because I actually know at least one of the people the poster is talking about and I know that that person is on the road to addiction (and has a relatively addictive personality), and we can't actually confront her about it, so we just get to watch it get worse.

She said the game ruins lives. This is true. Just take a look at a lot of the comments about that post. She said she can't confront the people she knows who play it; likely the people she's talking about are addicts. Why confront someone who plays it normally but isn't obsessed and doesn't talk about it constantly. I think you guys are either being crazy-oversensitive, or just delibrately trying to be insulted because it was a negative post about something you like.

The game isn't 100% responsible, but it's the vehicle for addiction, just like alcohol or gambling or television or sex or any other addiction. All of those things, without moderation, ruin lives.

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[loticae.livejournal.com]

GFT

Re: 12, 14, 28, 34

[loticae.livejournal.com]

QFT, even. :V