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Getting Off NetHack?
thetan asks: "Like a lot of Slashdot readers, I've played a little NetHack as a teenager. Alright, quite a lot - but it was no big deal and I just sort of grew out of it. Now I'm not proud of this, but I got my gf hooked and she's been using daily for a few years now. After she tired of the game, I tried sating the monkey on her back with new fixes like Angband and ADOM. Now, I no longer want be a party to her addiction and self-destruction. She acknowledges the problem but is not yet ready to take that first step. What can I do to help ween her off? Could interactive fiction act as a methadone - or does it result in just as much harm? What other strategies have users employed to get clean? Does anyone know of NetHack addiction support groups or a 12-step? I'm desperate to get her back!"
To heck with getting her back: introduce her to the world of MMORPGs or even MUDs, if the command line is her thing. Or try the Champions of Norrath/Baldurs Gate multiplayer slashemups for the consoles. Find a Diablo collector's chest for the PC. My wife and I had a lot of fun in all of the above, before she went back to finish her PhD (she is now restricted to 15 minute doses of Nintendogs for her gaming fix during the week and we get in some Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms on weekends along with my son.
Trying to reject the fantasy adventure bug is just silly... use it as a point of common interest. If you insist on allowing her to continue adventuring alone, my wife loves the Heros of Might and Magic/Age of Magic type games on her laptop when traveling. I think you would be ill advised to get between your girlfriend and her enjoyment though. It will be far *more* damaging to *your* enjoyment than just going with the flow.
Sig under construction since 1998.
You must kill her.
Get a dog. Name him 'little-d'.
Dress yourself up as a giant '@' sign.
Approach your girlfriend and let the fun begin.
If she jumps your bones, all is well.
If she attacks you, don't worry, the dog will jump in and protect you.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Unless she decides that she wants to stop playing (which she apparently hasn't) there is nothing you can do to make her stop. Your only hope is to persuade her to voluntarily alter her behavior. Maybe an intervention is in order.
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
The fact that you've found a girl who doesn't get that weird look in her eye when you tell her your playing Nethack is not something to be overlooked. An above poster is on the right track: Don't try to fight it, build on it. Get her into MUDs, maybe buy her Neverwinter Nights and find a few persistent world servers she can try out, introduce her to MMORPGs if she's doing well on lighter stuff.
See, by trying to break her of video games, you're basically trying to create a typical girlfriend. If you succeed, it'll only be a matter of time before she starts complaining that you spend more time raiding with your guild than you do taking her out, or that you should find a more grown-up hobby than games. Before you know it, you'll be married and your video games will be up in a garage sale like so many gamers before you.
... she's wasting her time and not advancing herself during that time, which is probably the biggest downside to drug addition at first, but at least when she's over it, she won't have brain or liver damage. Also has the advantage of being able to "sober-up" at any point in time if an important interruption comes along. Try having work call after a couple of bong hits and compare that with having them call during a video game.
It's cool that you genuinely care about your girlfriend's well-being, but go watch an episode of Jerry Springer and see if you've got it so bad. Everyone needs their vice... at least she's chose one of the better ones.
EverQuest Widows Discussion Board
On-Line Gamers Anonymous
Best of luck.
No? Then no problem, your a geek and weren't going to get any anyway.
But if your desperate I suggest sneaking up on her when she is asleep and tying her to the bed and giving her more sex then a woman can handle. Let all the frustation of you years of being a geek virgin out and rock her boat.
Either it will give her a new appreciation of dating a geek (unlikely but you never know) or it will get you arrested and thrown in jail. Wich is still good since you at least lost your cherry and will soon loose another as you meet your new cell mate.
Anyone else thinks the chances of the original question being real are less then zero? Any real geek with a nethack addicted girlfriend would be to busy thanking god on his knees to post on /.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
You are right to be fairly concerned about this. I had a serious addiction to MMO's (1 year logged online in 3 years real time) and the only real way to quit as far as I can tell is to go cold turkey. Every person I know that shifted to a "toned down" game ended up coming back to the original game or finding a new game to fully dedicate themselves to. For me, I sold my character and took the money I made to go live in Italy for a year with my gf (now wife). I put myself in a situation where the only interaction I had with the computer was checking my email at the internet cafe and it helped break my cycle of addiction.
When I got back to the states and felt the urge to play I just turned that energy into something that was more productive/social (I went to grad school, started playing basketball at the local gym, etc...). I don't really have a suggestion about how you should go about doing it because I don't know your friend, but the key is finding a variety of replacement activities (not just one as that will probably become another addiction if that is the only focus).
As in, move over to a multplayer roguelike.
http://www.mangband.org/
Because an addiction shared is an addiction you can feel slightly less bad about.
You need to immediately switch her to a dworvak keyboard, preferably one that is ergonomic. It's tough love, but this will force her to pursue other entertainment sources and increase her typing speed.
If that doesn't work, your last option is to go keyboardless. I suggest a mac, with the single button mouse. Be gentle with her, this is not an easy habit to break.
If all else fails you have one last hope... CoreWars.
1) She has to recognize that she has a problem.
2) She has to realize, that her willpower alone isn't enough to overcome the problem.
3) She has to recognize that only Yendor has the power to solve her problem.
4-12) Play more Nethack.
It's simple, the solution is to encourage the addiction.
Nethack is a wonderfully rich and complex game, but its depths are not infinite, just much greater than the norm. I don't play much Nethack anymore because, well, because I've ascended many of the character classes now, including the most challenging ones. That doesn't make the game less interesting, but ultimately you do start wanting something more, even from Nethack.
Once you finally learn the most relevent tricks, winning at Nethack isn't even hard. (Price IDing, strategies for early wishes, learning not to starve in the upper levels, figuring out how to make holy water and remembering to pray each help a lot.) So, point her to rec.games.roguelike.nethack, and to the many game spoiler sites on the Internet (in Nethack's case those sites are a lot more necessary to play than other games).
Then, once she's finally burnt out on the game, make sure she doesn't learn C and start adding onto the game herself. Then you might never get her back.
Your girlfriend is in a dark room. She is most likely being eaten by a grue.
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass
First of all, have you tried just asking her to stop using it so much? You didn't say if you want her to spend more time with you, or more time doing other things, or what, but in many relationships you can just ask the other person to change a behavior and they will. You can ask her to quit cold-turkey, or just step it down a little bit. If it's a big deal in your relationship, make that clear to her. If she won't change, try counseling or leave her.
If she wants to quit and can't, or you're concerned that her use is causing her harm, get real help. Computer addiction is real, and psychologists know how to treat it or at least can refer you to someone who does. It may not seem like a serious problem to you, but for some people they just can't quit without help.
I'd be wary of Interactive Fiction written by a Nethack addict.
You are in a room. Exits lead north and east.
You can see a *.
Suddenly a D attacks you!
>_
or...
It is very dark. Better be careful or you might be eaten by a g.
Agreed, I find that sex life and MMORPG life are inversely perportional. Untill you get married and/or have a child. At which point both drop dramaticly.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Have you considered introducing her to Jack Thompson as a form of radical intervention?
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
at least she's not out there doing drugs, right? there are many worse things to be hooked on than a game. games are relatively harmless, and she's hooked on ONE game: a free one at that, so she's not wasting any money on her hobby, just time.
whats so wrong with letting her do something that gives her pleasure? why do you feel the need to meddle in other people's leisure-time hobbies? are you jealous that she spends more time with nethack than she does you? I think that you need to ask yourself these questions first.
I think you should be happy that she's found a fun, free (so long as she sticks to nethack), and geeky hobby. most guys would jump at the opportunity to have a game-addicted girlfriend. why aren't you?
Leisure Suit Larry
But you have to act it out with her. She gets her fix, you get yours.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
Yep, nothing says "romance" like asking Slashdot geeks for personal advice.
Puzzle Pirates has lots of recovering Nethack addicts. Plus it's a very soothing sort of an MMORPG. The game even sends you little messages saying you've probably been playing too long and perhaps you need some fresh air. Of course, it's also quite addicting. But you can't have everything.
Assuming that you're being serious, the first step is for her to recognise her addiction and voluntarily choose to address it. Encourage her to consider what the addiction is doing to her and people around her; but she must decide that something should be done.
Then seek professional help. Psychologists are trained to deal with addiction issues; not only treating the addiction, but also helping the person to integrate back into their family and social environment. A psychologist will also be able to help you understand what you should be doing to support her (in fact, you may even consider visiting one for advise on how to encourage her to seek help).
i-name =twylite [http://public.xdi.org/=twylite], see idcommons.net
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys.
1) It should be pretty clear I was being more than a little facetious. To those who shared the genuine stories of serious gaming addicition and offered advice - the problem is nowhere near as dire as that. But I hope anyone who is in that situation gets the help they need.
2) Yes, I appreciate having a geek-oriented girlfriend. No, I won't be passing on her details to anyone else >:-(
3) I will suggest broadening her gaming interests. We'll look into some of the titles suggested. Thanks for those.
4) NetHack is a wonderful game. But, please, be careful.
Cheers,
-Greg.