Slashdot Mirror
Profile of a Hard-Core Gamer
brettlbecker writes "The NYTimes is running a story on Richard L. Stenlund, or, as players of MMORPG Anarchy Online undoubtedly know him, Thedeacon. Quote from the article: "Thedeacon is a celebrity. Mr. Stenlund, meanwhile, feels trapped - trapped in a town too far from big cities where big things happen, trapped in a hand-to-mouth existence, trapped in a mean little culture of cheap thrills and fast-food television." Infamy, perversion, bankruptcy, virtual protests, online counseling. How much do *you* accomplish in 7 hours a day?"
Anarchy online
Martin
Anarchy Online is a game much like Everquest. But it has kinda of a twist to it. The players make up the story line. There is a war going on, between 2 divisions, the Omni, and the Clan. The players have been given the foundation of the starting storyline, but the players (with the help of some special events) keep the story going by fighting the opposing side. It is based on a more technologicly advanced culture. Good place to read into the game's story line, look here.
Every Super Villan uses Linux.
There are three popular and accepted definitions of an addict. The first is that they pursue their habit to the point where it has a strong negative impact on the rest of their life. The second is that if the person tries, in all earnestness, to give up the activity and finds themselves unable, they are an addict. The third is that they experience significant and measurable withdrawal symptoms when denied the substance or activity.
Medically the second and third are used, with the added caveat that it is not an activity or substance normally considered to be necessary for survival (otherwise we are all food, oxygen and sleep addicts). I should point out now that current psychology and medicine have given up on the distinction between physical and psychological addiction. There is no measurable difference between the two. Even activities such as computer gaming which are non-invasive promote distinct electrical and chemical activities in the brain which can be as strong a basis for addiction as anything.
In answer to your question, I would be pretty sure that anyone who describes themselves as a "hard-core gamer" probably is an addict in the medical sense. In common parlance however, we don't tend to call people addicts to accepted forms of entertainment unless they also fulfill the first requirement. So the actual answer (as addict is commonly used by non-medical people) is that the difference between a hard-core gamer and a gaming addict is that the addicts gaming has a negative impact on his life as a whole (failing school, losing their job, poor eating habits) whereas the hard-core gamer is still relatively well adjusted.
lysergically yours
I play Anarchy Online, and Thedeacon is a dick in game. I'm surprised that an article was written about him rather than a guild leader.
The only reason that his org Storm is so powerful is because it has 503 members who try to level as fast as possible, then they complain when they reach the top level and have nothing to do. Hence the:
For more than a year, Meta-Physicist players have lobbied Funcom to enhance their profession, widely considered the weakest in the game. Frightened by the prospect that Meta-Physicists would continue to be left behind, Thedeacon spent two weeks organizing a protest march, held last weekend.
Welcome to a MMOG, I guess.
I've been in the genre, so to speak, for my fair share of time. I've been playing computer games since I was five. I taught myself to read playing Dragon Warrior and how to count by adding up my coins in Mario. As far as online games go, I've played them since their birth. I've been around in some form in The Realm, M59, UO, EQ, AO (left AC and AC2 alone ... won't buy a M$ game, sorry) and I'm currently devoting my time to Shadowbane where I run the guild Requiem.
I'll be the first to admit, addiction is a *serious* issue with online games. Thankfully I have a strong grip on reality thanks to a very large social network of friends who do *not* play these games. If I've been on the computer too long they usually come to my house and kidnap me. =) However, I've been there for those 8 hour days of clearing Plane of Fear, it happens.
But before you start hurling insults (especially those of you who merely troll Slashdot for 8 hours a day!!!) not everyone who devotes a lot of time to an online game are addicts or pathetic. I'll give you that there are a lot of emotionally unstable people who should not be playing these games (and they are fairly easy to spot within the games) yet I'll share with you my experience when I was playing a lot.
When I was 15 I found out I had a severe case of scoliosis. They tried bracing me for over a year with no helpful effects, in fact my condition got worse. By the time I was 17 I had a 59 degree curve in my lower back and a 53 degree curve in my upper back with a 39 degree curve right at my neck. Let me assure you, this was not a pleasant experience. Surgury was the only option I had left.
I was left with close to zero flexibility in my back as 90% of my vertibre are now fused together and braced by 2 titanium rods. Not to mention I was wheelchaired for 3 months and extremely weak for an entire year.
I did my school work from home, but usually finished it quickly with no problem (public high school is unfortunately a joke.) This left me with a lot of time to either dull my mind watching TV, or playing with my computer.
Everquest was my only outlet for meaningful social interaction, especially in the early hours of the morning while all of my "real" friends were sleeping. But I wasn't sleeping, when you can't most of your back, you don't sleep well. My character, Ordieth Lightblade, was at times a popular character. So I understand why these people play these games.
Before you judge, consider that many of these "powergamers" usually fall into a few categories.
1.) Minors - I'd say the majority of power gamers are between the ages of 12-17. Yes, many many many 12 year olds play these games, sometimes with their parents. Frankly, it only takes the intelligence of a 12 year old to play EQ. Most of these kids (I was one of them, started EQ when I was 16) don't have jobs, and are not in school all that much, don't have cars, etc. Therefore they have plenty of time.
2.) Disabled/Unemployed - I'm always amazed when I start talking to people in EQ/SB at the number of unemployed people that play simply because they are either too depressed to keep looking for another crappy job or they know they can squeak out another 6 months on unemployment pay. =) As for us disabled, most are too ashamed to admit it, but there is a large group of paralyzed, impaired, deaf/dumb, etc players. Of course those of us with disabilites will be drawn to a fantasy world where everyone is the same. Everyone can talk, walk, run, be the hero, etc. I know EQ helped me during my hardest times.
3.) True Addicts: I've also met a few of these. I suppose these should almost go under disabilities, mental ones to be precise. Most of the people I find that are totally addicted are this way due to some sort of mental fixation. Where as the people in the above categories were playing for social/pass the time reasons, these people play because they have either passed out of reality into fantasy and believe this is their life, or they simply cannot function without it anymore. I m
-Ordieth Radiskull: "Is it boiling hot?"
Actually the person featured in the article has a few things to say:
= 11d03b3f2a2d89b880b547768512bc25&threadid=1434 07
Let me tell you something. The article about me written by Seth Schiesel, AKA Amis (his ingame name) is such a roving pack of lies slandering the person I really am in real life that I'm flat out disgusted by the whole thing.
right now I'm too stunned and upset at the amount of lies, miscontext, misquotes and outright slander posted on the article to even log in.
I'll be filing a lawsuit against the New York Times for slander, as many of the things put in that article about my real life (and even ingame) are so horribly untrue or twisted and the truth stretched to paint me in a much much different light than the person I really am.
He paints me as a shy, akward, socially inept reclusive nerd which is such a contrast to the person I really am. I make racy jokes, but he paints me as a virtual rapist. I'm broke in RL, but he paints me as a suicidal, emotionally unstable man that lives in the slums (I live in a good neighborhood) and can't afford to buy food. This article is absolutely ruinous to myself, my business, my future. It's the lowest form of slander imaginable.
Even the pictures used were horrible. The first is dark and brooding and in the second picture I was about to bust out laughing, which also looks a hell of alot like crying and is just a flat out BAD pic.
Please keep any jokes off this thread as I feel serious about this. I can see some pretty horrid real life repercussions as a result of this article.
So much of what I said to him in the four days that he was here was taken FAR out of context and quotes that I had supposedly said were either entirely made up or the wording was changed to change the focus of what I was saying.
Sound familiar? Well about a month ago, another NY Times reporter by the name of Jayson Blair did the exact same thing. I just never had any idea something like this would happen to me. He told me that he was doing a general article about the community of AO through my eyes. Instead, a pack of lies gets slammed on the world's largest newspaper about me. The entire focus of the article was misrepresented.
The writer, Seth Schiesel is a reporter for the NY Times and his ingame character is named "Amis", a high level Omni MP. The article was so vicious and untrue at some points that it seems to have been written with malice in mind.
I'm so humiliated at some of the things said in that article. it shocks and amazes me how someone can so callously and deliberately say such untruths. I'm painted as a socially inept reject that never leaves his home, which is the opposite of who I really am.
It's one thing to flame someone ingame, but this goes way beyond that and extends into my personal life.....worst of all, 80% of what he says is an outright lie. The other 20% is an exaggeration or was taken out of context.
While it may not seem bad to many of you, if you knew me in real life, you'd know why I was so upset right now.
thanks alot Amis (his ingame name). Never figured to be stabbed in back like this.
Read for yourself here: http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?s
(about seven posts down)
_f