Nov 17 2008
The Six Most Soul-Sucking Video Games
How many hours did you spend playing Wrath of the Lich King this weekend? 10? 20? More? The latest World of Warcraft expansion is a re-up for players looking for a new quest and leveling fix. There have been many tales of chronic video game addiction in the news the past few years, but I thought it was time now for a look back to see what the most soul-sucking video games really are.
6) Halo
Pwn.
I’d say about 90% of the time, gamers play Halo for casual fun, which is of course, what video games are meant to be. However, there is a contingent who plays it obsessively, and an even smaller percentage that are just completely consumed by it. These are the people who play in tournaments for money, and if you happen to stumble into a game with them, you’ll have more fun sticking your 360 controller in a blender.
My friend used to take my headset and talk to four-star level fifty generals, saying things like, “Do you know what a vagina looks like?” It’s funny, but the thing is, people don’t realize exactly how much time it takes to play 10,000 games of Halo. Let’s say each game is 10 minutes long plus five minutes of in-between match making time. That’s 2,500 hours, or over 100 24-hour days of Halo. That’s probably how turn into this kid (turn the volume down for some super NSFW language):
Vidoes like this kind of work against the whole “video games don’t affect child development” claim.
5) Counterstrike
8 v 1? No problem for a pro.
Counterstrike has about the same level of addiction as Halo, except it’s even harder to play it casually. More often than not you won’t find a safe haven for new players (or noobs as you’ll undoubtedly be called). You have to be really damn good to even start to have fun, whereas in Halo you can just dick around on Vahalla in the Warthog turret if you want.
Not sure if you’re addicted? Well, it’s apparently a condition so widespread they’ve even developed a quiz for it here, with questions like “Does your clan have scrims?” and “Do you think of CS as a sport rather than a game?” Mmhm, and how many members of the cheerleading squad do you think the captain of the Counterstrike team lays in a given week?
4) Diablo
If this screenshot gives you an erection, you may have a problem.
Now we’re getting in deep. No more of this FPS baby stuff, this is some hardcore role-playing addictive shit. Any game with levels is inherently dangerous, especially one like Diablo where it takes as long to get from level 98 to 99 as it did from levels 1 to 98. You don’t want to mess around with something like that.
And now with Diablo III on the horizon, I fear I won’t be able to resist the call, as two months of my life were blacked out of my life from Diablo II, before I uninstalled the game when I realized I was missing out on better things. I came across a sad forum post while looking up info for this article. It reads:
“I’ve been addicted to Diablo 2 for the longest time, pretty much done everything you can do in that game, but I think it’s time to move on.”
I thought this would be followed by something like, “I’ve realized there’s a lot more to live than clicking a mouse 500,000 times,” but alas, it continued:
“Can anyone suggest something similar to Diablo 2 that still has the hacking/slashing and lots of different weapons/armors/etc? Must have free multiplayer.”
Sigh. Another soul lost.
3) Starcraft
It’s more exciting than it looks, I promise.
You might be noticing a pattern here with Blizzard games, a company that might be compared with Phillip Morris soon enough. I also loved Starcraft, but was never dangerously obsessed with it. Unfortunately that can’t be said for those else where, especially overseas.
In Korea, Starcraft is like a religion, and one player, Lee Seung Seop sacrificed everything for it. He sat down at a PC internet café to play Starcraft, fifty hours later, he was dead. During the marathon session he didn’t sleep, barely ate or drank, and his body simply gave out. And so we have our first video game induced death, unfortunately, there are more to come.
2) Everquest
Um, who needs real girls when you can have this? Hello?
Before World of Warcraft, there was Everquest, which became so addictive it was renamed “Evercrack” by the faithful. At it’s peak over 400,000 players were online, numbers that now seem relatively low compared to WoW’s numbers today. But at the time it was just as dangerous, held responsible for claiming at least two lives.
One is a Tampa, FL case where a father was so obsessed with the game that he neglected his infant and it died. The second is the tragic suicide of 21 year-old Shawn Wooley, who was playing the game up until a few minutes before he shot himself. His mother claimed he was playing twelve hours a day, and because he was epileptic, the game often caused him to suffer seizures. She recognized his addiction to it, and although she sought him help, there was nothing to be done.
“It’s like any other addiction,” Elizabeth Woolley. “Either you die, go insane or you quit. My son died.”
Everquest fully opened up the MMORPG philosophy of “games without an end,” which some argue almost unfairly hooks people to play until their lives are in shambles. Everquest paved the way for the final game on our list, which should be no surprise to anyone:
1) World of Warcraft
Why?
Ten million players currently subscribe to World of Warcraft, blowing Everquest’s old numbers out of the water. The game is currently at the height of its popularity, and the release of its latest Lich King expansion was the inspiration for this post. The game has truly perfected the art of the neverending game, with players sacrificing marriages, jobs and friends in pursuit of …what exactly?
There are many sad tales of WoW addiction spread across the internet. In Korea, a couple was charged with manslaughter after they lost track of time during a marathon WoW session and left their infant alone who accidentally suffocated. Another story involves two gamers who died a few years ago training for a difficult quest for days at a time. An online WoW memorial service was held for them, like they were soldiers fallen in battle. A screenshot of the funeral is below:
How about in their memory, go outside.
But many will claim that these deadly incidents are isolated, and it’s true, there aren’t tons of cases where people actually die from playing the game (although the fact that there are even some should be a bit jarring). However, the real results can be seen as more widespread, across average people who have seen their lives consumed by the game. And with 10M players in a game that requires and enormous time commitment, you can bet these cases are much more prevalent. I suggest you read this post called “My Boyfriend Won’t Quit World of Warcraft” if you want to see the kind of thing I’m talking about.
It’s strange to see someone’s behavior change through a game like this. The symptoms of withdrawal are much like those of a drug addict just begging for another hit. Listen to this incredibly disturbing video of a teenager crying and begging his parents to let him keep playing WoW. A lot of people think that it’s funny, but I’ll be honest, it literally sent chills down my spine.
I’ve stayed far away from WoW thus far. Not just because my computer is steam-powered and couldn’t run it if I tried, but because of my brief stint of addiction to an “endless” game like Diablo, I wouldn’t trust myself near it.
I know there are perfectly fun and safe ways to play games like World of Warcraft, but just be careful it doesn’t become more than a game. The same is true for all of these games, including some I’ve undoubtedly missed. Hell, I’m sure Tetris can rule your life if you play it enough. Remember, if you’re doing ANYthing for 10 hours a day, it’s probably not good for you.
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soul sucking… lineage2 anyone?
4 - Civ
3 - Civ II
2 - Civ III
1 - Civ IV
Wow, I am impressed. Well done.
jess
http://www.privacy.cz.tc
Eve online deserves a honorable mention. Once you get sucked in to the economy you will be doing excel spreadsheets for fun, now that is deranged!
You left out the King of Soul-Sucking Games: Ultima Online.
I’ve seen ruined families and careers, sleep deprivation, crazy obsession.
When you weren’t in front of your PC moving at least TWO players at the same time (or three or more), you left the damn game online “macroing” your skills.
Ten years before WoW.
“Vidoeos like this kind of work against the whole “video games don’t affect child development” claim.”
Maybe it’s the kid and not the game.
Where’s Football/Championship Manager? Cited in no less than 35 divorce cases in one year!
Yes, I used to be addicted to Halo for a while. Surprisingly I still did quite well in my exams though so it was all good.
Without listing Civilization, the list is tragically lacking. It’s the quintessential “one more turn” game.
After reading this, I wonder how many hours and quarters kids in the old 1980’s arcades spent mastering Pacman or Donkey Kong. I remember going to arcades and seeing ppl, who were definitely outside the house, were never willing to put themselves in any “social” situation. Just quarter after quarter after quarter, hour after hour after hour of Pacman.
I was addicted to Fable for a brief period of time. Man, those were awesome times.
Wow great article. I’m not surprised WoW is top on the list. It sucked my soul for 3 years. I suggest deleting or selling your account (going cold turkey) as I did to end the addiction.
[…] in the news the past few years, but I thought it was time now for a look back to see what……. Unreality - The Six Most Soul-Sucking Video Games | […]
WoW is addicting but after you raid for like 20 hours every weekend for over a year and have hundreds of days played.. it gets a bit boring. I’m trying to hard to get back into the game but more than 20 minutes of playing and im zzz’ing!
From the looks of it, a lot of people commenting are able to balance their addiction without ruining their lives. Anything could be an addiction if done in excess and without restraint (eating? OBESITY!)
For me, it was the original Baldur’s Gate.
I literally had to remove it from my computer in 1999 in order finish my Master’s thesis. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten the bloody thing done. 4 to 5 hour a day addiction.
Meh i remember the days when Street Fighter and the original Mortal Kombat was out in the arcades. I spent hours upon hours with hundreds of other kids putting in quarter after quarter. Games nowadays are cheaper and you do not have to get out of your room to play. Anybody else think the internet (games and myspace) have taken the TV’s place as the new babysitter?
CIVILIZATION. Enough said.
I too am not suprised that WoW is at the top. That ****ing game took 3 years of my life and 2 wonderful girlfriends. Man, if i could just go back and see myself….I would probably beat the shit out of myself!! I would say “hey, fatty! Get up and have sex with your gf!” LOL
Dude read the article again, look at the numbers in front of each section.
Whats the number for wow? oh a 1? oh it must be top of the list!
Props to those parents.
I just read that real mastery takes around 10000 hours of practice. I logged around 9500 hours of “Elite” for the amiga500….so almost the zenmaster of elite
Wow is a shame. They could be playing something better like counter strike..
Apparently playing a game for more than a day means it’s an addiction. Maybe they like to play this game and enter tournaments? Outside is over-rated.
Yes I know it looks like. Yes video games > sex.
How about Animal Crossing? The game that makes you feel like an asshole if you go a day without playing it.
EQ 5 years
WoW 3 years
Lineage 2 1.5 years
FF XI 0.5 years
Diablo 2: LoD @ 7 years off and on
Counter Strike (All versions), CoD 4, Battlefield (1942 and 2)
Many many others
Do I consider myself addicted? no
I am currently paying back multiple loans and I figure playing a game for $15 a month is a cheaper form of entertainment then, say, going out to the bar once a week, or going to see a movie, etc.
Will I quit? No, I like to game. Its a fun thing to do and I will never give that up. I will slow it down once I get my loans paid off in order to socialize, and possibly find one of the fairer sex to play the biggest RPG(Role-Playing Game) ever, real life.
Um, honestly, You really should have mentioned the “Elder Scrolls” series here. I think I played “Morrowind” for about 18 hours straight once. And “Oblivion” has suckered many an 8-hour session out of me.
Hubby spent an entire day on “Fallout 3″.
When you have an entire world to explore, very little limitation as to where you can go (Once in a while, a dungeon is locked b/c it’s quest related), fully customizable classes and appearances, and the lure of loot and killing things for long hours…it can sucker you in like any other mega RPG.
to all you that say “you’ll never get laid” and other jazz about Wow players and never having sex, being a virgin forever…there are those of us less hardcore players who are married and have sex frequently with our wives…or husbands if your a female player…so…stfu
I think WoW really helped the genre actually with it’s focus on casual play, probably motivated by the negative publicity that games like Everquest got. Seriously, WoW is much less time consuming then Everquest when you consider the amount of time sinks in both games.
How much wow did i play this weekend? Not fucking enough! Does it effect my life in a negative way, no. People have choice over there actions whatever excuse they apply to what they do. This is another fluff article pointing the finger at something that is only a symptom and not a source of some peoples personal choices of there un productive to society reality.
Video games in the American education system it is a un-used tool. I mean come on the army has been using them for years and they are looking for ways to do it better everyday.
You should add EVE Online to that list!
So true, Evercrack.
sounds like playswow hasn’t had his dick wet in years
Add Fallout 3 to the list.
MMO’s just suck. I don’t see how people can get into them. You just spend money on a monthly basis to meet people and walk around in these virtual worlds. Big f’n wow. Play shooters or other games.
Dwarf Fortress is starting to do it for me. When the internet in general isn’t being addictive…I’m hungry for lunch and I’m still just surfing away, looking at articles, instead of eating.
That kid is such a manipulative whiner. I would never have accepted that from either of my daughters and my parents would never have accepted that from me. You do not attempt to “reason” with a child like that, you tell them “this is what is going to happen” and you make it happen. You pull the plug and send them to their room, period. No argument, no discussion, no debating. They have evidently been very poor parents who have been disengaged emotionally from their children and, when crisis time hits, they have all the wrong tools at their disposal. They do not know how to parent.
I play wow all the time and love it. I’m married, 2 kids and full time job/mortgage and a huge property to take care of. I simply don’t watch any tv and manage my game play.
I know lots of people that don’t play wow but they’re glued to 4-5 tv shows a day on top of DVD’s they watch and time they spend on facebook, myspace and surfing the web.
So with that said, wow is a soul sucking game, but choose your vice. Some people watch tv, some people play games. How that impacts your life is up to you.
“Remember, if you’re doing ANYthing for 10 hours a day, it’s probably not good for you.”
Too bad that doesn’t apply to work :p
I would have expected to find the Civilization series on this list, as well as Morrowind or Oblivion. Final Fantasy?
My addiction was AO (don’t laugh) I played 12 hrs straight every chance I could get. It ended up costing me my marriage. So let this be a lesson to those of you who have not had the benefit of my experience. Don’t be stupid! RL is more important than a game. That being said, I still game and will never stop. I’ve just learned to limit the time I play so that my new female counterpart gets what she needs. Guys; pay attention to the ladies. -Peace
WoW completely consumed my life when the open beta came out. Thank God I was in college at the time and had tons of free time. From that experience, I refuse to buy the game now.
The latest succubus I’ve dealt with is Fallout 3. Man oh man. Massive and awesome.
Heroes of Might And Magic. II & III
Civilization
serious having lots of sex and playing video games really isn’t tough if you have a GF or are married.
I work 10 hours a day, I want to get away but the pay checks keep bringing me back. Definitely not good for me.
Hmm…What about Morrowind? Or any of the Final Fantasy games (especially if you try to get 100% and all that good stuff). Or Snood? Seriously, I think my grandmother has logged more hours in Snood than I have gaming my entire life. Haha.
I’ve played games in excess of 12 hours (like a lot of people). I’ve also gone out on wild weekends that lasted five days. But when those activities take over the rest of your life, it’s time to stop. Just like when you go to a club and you see that guy who used to be a madman on the dancefloor but is now just a hopeless cokehead who hasn’t eaten in three days and can’t last five minutes without snorting something, there’s the guy you used to have marathon sessions of soul calibur with who hasnt spoken to his baby’s mother in two years and thinks the real world is on his computer. Sad.
Lineage II sucked my soul
WoW seems like a grind in the park by comparison
pvp is the biggest hook
computer AI just can’t compete
Got to agree, these online games can be addictive. I’m just glad that WoW never caught me, and I ran out of time to play Eve as RL kept bugging me. Ah real life GF’s - always a good cure.
Tetris.
Lemmings.
Football Manager.
I study for 10 hours a day, is that bad as well?
The thing about WoW is either you become completely obsessed with it, or you become easily bored by it. Thankfully, I’m in the latter camp. While I like the idea of the game, it has never held my attention for more than 20 levels.
I think there needs to be more focus on personal responsibility here. People are, in general, really stupid. It’s not just with video games.
Agree with the poster a few posts above:
Those parents were going down the path about 30 seconds into the video - that child wasn’t going to learn anything by those lame ass attempts to reason with him. You command him, you yank the computer, and then you beat him. While listening to German goth music. And wearing leather.
Somehow I got off track there.
How about Prolific on Facebook? (Like Boggle)
Whoa great job peppering this piece with, “lol theyre not getin laid by gurls.”
Yayy, you’re a writer
:D 
Look atcha go.
Not listing Civ is a fail. And putting WoW before Everquest is questionable.
Tetris.
Lemmings.
I simply do not see the appeal of MMORPGs. Oh boy, grinding: Doing boring everyday life jobs or some form of labor that you wouldn’t even want to do in real life - sounds fun.
Hey, let’s grab some pick axes and hit rocks for an hour. Maybe we can pick some berries too. Oh and after we double-click the fuck out of some wolves to level up we can do some more farming before we go to sleep in-game! Yay, virtually doing chores is fun! Quick, let’s go roam the empty and excruciatingly boring virtual countryside of an MMORPG!
I agree, doing anything for 10 hours a day is probably bad for you…Makes you wonder why I’m at work, when I periodically have to work 10 or 11 hour shifts. Curiouser and curiouser.
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Thanks to those who post their horror stories. It helps me to keep perspective on what could happen if I don’t keep myself out of possibly addictive situations. About 3 years ago I decided never to play a game with no ending again. Great decision. Now I have to work on not anal-retentively doing every last thing in a game, stretching its gameplay out beyond what’s good for my social/constructive free time…and I will.
To those posting about how you game and it’s not a problem, what, you want a cookie? Good for you. But what does that have to do with anything? This article is not about you then (even if it is, and you just don’t know it).
WOW, i didn’t see WoW coming #1 on this generic unimaginative list.
Do you actually play many games? Ever heard of Lineage 2?
Sims!!
I almost dropped out of college and lost my 2 jobs!
Then the expansions starting coming out….
Sleep 3-4 hours a night. Maybe.
The one kid playing Halo … I wonder if his parents ever showed him what he looks like cursing and throwing tantrums!!!
And how’d they get that audio of the kid whining?!
I’m playing the WoW trial right now, I had to play it out of curiosity. It’s really fun game, but once my trial is over that’s it for me. I’ve played other games like Ultima Online and Diablo II on and off, but rarely ever got obssessed with them. I however really wanted to play WoW when It first came out but I didn’t because I didn’t want to risk it interefering with my college studies.
It was one of my best decisions i’ve made in my life because I just graduated college with two degrees and a certificate, but I earned one of those degrees by a thin thread. I got exactly a 2.75 for that degree (Which was exactly the bare minimum to earn that degree). Had any of my test, reports, or term paper grades had been any tad lower, I would have not earned that degree. Also the way my studies, schedual, and everything had to work out perfect, almost to the very last hour before I took my last test.
Knowing me, have I had begun playing WoW years before, even just playing very little as possible at the time when my degree was in jeoprady (because somtiems I log in these types of games, even just to do one little thing for a minute, then something happens so it turns into 10 minutes, I think, “oh, just 10 minutes, maybe 20, actually 45 minutes won’t hurt, well 2 hours isn’t going to kill me, etc…) , It would have probably still interfered enough that I would not have that degree right now.
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I can’t believe no one has mentioned NeverWinter Nights here!!! although its predecessor Baldurs Gate was mentioned. I played Diablo II regularly for about 2-3 years and then switched to NWN which has a community of people who on their own free time, design wonderful modules and great stories, so the game never gets boring (and each module does have an ending). I have been a gamer since I bought my first Apple II in 1981!!! (yeah I am over 50 yrs old), and do concur with those who said it sure beats watching TV every night. Somehow I also manage to read over 50 books a year as well.
Having said all that, I have wrestled with the thoughts about time wasted and addictions… then go right back to playing again
I spent about a year doing nothing but playing CS.. HisXLnC (typical right?) .. I don’t miss the game as much as I miss swearing at players…that was fun man..!
Starcraft isn’t the first video game induced death. That honor goes to the early-80s coin-op arcade classic Berzerk, which claimed the lives of 19-year-old Jeff Daily in ‘81 and 18-year-old Peter Burkowski in October of ‘82.
Eve Online is ridiculously addictive, and I only ever had the free 14- day trial. I probably played the original call of duty online more in three years than i will play video games for the rest of my life.
Your forgetting the precursor to wow for most people.
Runescape.
u got Conquer missed on the list , they changeing cars for heroes selling bikes for orbs or whatever thats adict and ruines people lifes they better gambling then doing that at least u could get something !
Civilization. End.
Having to “practice” for a video game is a life failure of the highest order.
I would think that any good examination of “addiction” revolves around how it affects your life.
If it affects your mood? Social life suffers? School or work problems? Forget to eat?
If you could not quit? (Try it for a week instead of saying “I could if I wanted to” cause every junkie says that)
But on the flip side, if you play and it’s just a spare time activity? Or a cheap substitute for something like going to the bars?
Not everybody who drinks alcohol is an addict…
The Marathon trilogy - I stayed up way too many nights because of that one, staring at the monitor and jumping out of my skin at the sound of approaching Pfhor . . . good times!
WAAAAY back when, Myst was a game that I’d play forever to figure out, and then of course, about 3 days after I completed the game, my friend showed me the trick to beat the game in about 5 mins…
There are two things I plan never to start doing because I don’t know if I’d be able to stop:
Cigarettes and World of Warcraft
Diablo and Diablo II…hardcore rpg?
Since when?
Last time I checked Hardcore RPG’s didn’t involve twitch reflexes and a fast cliking finger, but involved thoughtful moments, strategic use of skills and powers and a character driven plot that has an effect on npc’s and the world.
or is that just me?
[…] The six most soul-sucking video games. […]
WTF no Guild Wars!??!
I find games like WoW and Guild Wars boring. It takes me a coupla of months to get anywhere, because I don’t play more than half an hour a day. Just don’t see the point.
I’m 15 years old been playing WoW for 3/4 years now. games fun as hell, my usual schedule is to go too school come home , do homework and school stuff. then play for the rest of the day. Some of you might suggest getting a social life but due to where i live (in the middle of a mountain range) i cant. Seriously..its just impossible. But! as many know WoW is very social, so i do get some interactivity between people and whatnot. Also the only reason im on this thread atm is because im waiting for my buddy to get the latest WoW patch for me. i also do well in school and have a good amount of friends. Plus i dont want to kill everyone.
>.> Jack Thompson
Hello? What about Yoshi’s Story for the 64? Spent 2 days straight trying to get a full ring of the same fruit to unlock all the levels! That and Aladdin for the SNES.
man i was addicted to Evercrack for about a year and another year with WoW, good thing I can control myself and quit fast b4 my life go down any deeper =) now im game free! yay!
FALLOUT! Where tha hell is FALLOUT! it took my soul far way behind!
And Civ IV stole it from Fallout…
*sigh*
I tell you what, my roomie who is probably my best friend started playing that game and I tell you, I understand why parents tell their kids to go outside and play. When he was playing that stuff, it was as if he wasn’t there at all. And then the lies started happening and rent wasn’t paid and then he said he’d quit and then I caught him playing, but didn’t let on that I knew. Just knew that he’d rather play that game than pay his rent. The rage inside me was immense.
I play wow alot because i have nothing else to do. Im 7 months pregnant and a housewife who lives out in the middle of nowhere. My husband works from 12 pm to 9 pm. I admit the game is starting to get addicting. But my husbands addiction is worse. Yes he works all day but when he gets home, instead of being “ah honey, lovely dinner, house looks great, lets make some love” its him coming home and getting on the computer until 3-4 am…reading wrestling reviews. I thought i was the geek. I have to sit him down and say”hey youknow its been 2 weeks since we had sex and…yeh” he says “yeh…im sorry…i will be better.” make up sex…then it goes back to the norm. We have married for 2 years and he hasnt even bought me roses. ANYWAYS. I feel that wow is perhaps the most populated addiction, besides substances, but its not the lamest addiction lol. Reading is great…but reading about wrestling reviews hours on end, and then uploading audio reviews to his ipod and taking it to bed with him….thats just lame to me. but hey, to each their own. i would just like to have a lil attention once in a while. and no im not a fat ugly pimple faced wife. Thats what bothers me the most i think…
That Halo guy cracks me up. It’s nice to see someone really more fucked up than myself. :))
Except for Halo, I haven’t played any of these games. Never ending games? Ha! My addiction took the form of a MUD, named Dragon’s Era. I have played off and on for about 7 years now. At the height of my addiction I was getting up at 4 am to play two hours before going to school, coming home and playing till about 2am…that’s right two hours asleep a day. I think i lasted a month doing that before going…hmm, perhaps i shouldn’t play this. And its been off and on ever since.
Luckily my attention span is such that I cant play a game for more than a couple hours at a time until I get bored, and when I’m not playing I don’t feel the urge to play unless I get bored again. Thank you small attentions span.
It’s sad that people can find such things addicting, and it can ruin your life if you let it.
Kinda like a Class A drug.
I like my PS3 and love my games consoles but I would never go to the extent of having regular 4 - 5 hours gaming periods.
Maximum I have is around 2 hours a week nowadays, if I’m lucky. Got to earn that degree somehow!
But I know what it feels like to get addicted to a game, got addicted to the Halo: Combat Evolved for 6 months straight so no never gonna go back to extensive game playing again.
Hope people who are addicted to WoW and the like get help!
Sorry to say to them I’ve played the game and it sucked!
I’ll get hate mail and my IP address hacked now lol
This is a solid list. I’ve gotta agree with all of the people who are pointing out the lack of Civilization on the list though, that game has been getting people addicted since before any of the other games on this list.
My personal “soul-sucking” game has definitely been The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I’ve put hundreds of hours into that game since it was released and get this, I’ve NEVER actually completed the main quest line! There’s just so much stuff to do, see, and explore in that game. I just started another character earlier this month who I swear I’m actually going to complete the main quest with. 40 hours in on him and I’m still not even halfway through it though >_< TOO MUCH TO DO!!!!
“Eve online deserves a honorable mention. Once you get sucked in to the economy you will be doing excel spreadsheets for fun, now that is deranged!”
*looks at spreadsheet for Zydrine pricing in other window*
*cries*
What? No Final Fantasy VII, or Syndicate, or Civ? You need to get another contributor who was a teenager in the nineties to more accurately reflect the past twenty years of gaming. Otherwise, it’s a fairly accurate list.
I just don’t know how people can play SO much that they lose their jobs, relationships and drop out of school…
I’m a junior in college and I’m a chemistry major. And as you can imagine, being a chemistry major is pretty stressful. WoW is my way of relaxing. It’s nice to just sit for 1.5 or 2 hours and goof around, then I’m happy. I always get my homework done and I make A’s and B’s. I do however, have friends who lost scholarships and had to take out loans to keep going to school because they played WoW 24/7. That’s just retarded!
Thankfully, my relationship never suffers due to WoW. I go to school 3 hrs away from my fiancee, when he comes to visit or I go home, WoW is the last thing that I think of!
Also, they should add tabletop games to this list. Another of my college buddies lost his fiancee because he spent all of his time playing D&D and similar games instead of seeing her.
Just use your brains people! Alotting your time is NOT that hard
Good list, Diablo 2 is my winner by far, Final Fantasy 6 would be an honourable mention
Tetris should be on that list how many game can leave you seeing Tetris shape and hearing the music in your sleep.
currently, cod4 modern warfare is sucking my soul big time now
Just quit WoW two weeks ago. Ive never felt better. Like a freakin weight off my chest. Sold my account. I would say thats the only way that I could quit that game. Cold turkey with no hope of getting back into it. The password, email and login name are changed so its permanent. SELL YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU WANT TO QUIT.
[…] Soul Sucking Video Games http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2008/11/17/the-six-most-soul-sucking-video-games/ […]
I pretty much have to agree with the list, although I haven’t been addicted to any of those games.
Not actually a game, but definitely soul-sucking (it sure got me) is DotA Allstars (Defense of the Ancients maps, Warcraft III). I was hooked for almost three years, failed a year in college and so on.
There was Syndicate, Sim City, Tekken, Civ, GTA, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy etc. but my true vice is Counter strike.
Dropped out of school, lost my girlfriend, played for about two years straight, bit more, though my recollection of the period is hazy now. When still in school I’d play all night, go sleep in my car or at my girlfriends place so my mom would think I were in class, go back home, play. Ended up giving away my 3500$ worth of hardware in a snap decision following a binge. Felt good.
I’m just so uncontrollably lazy and self-centered that I’ve always known that I’m addict material. I’ve got to fight that shit, keep myself in check. That’s why I’ve Never taken a sip of alcohol, never a puff of anything, let alone more. Just didn’t see Counter Strike coming.
Thankfully, I’m pretty much back up to speed by now. Finished my high school/collage degree (it’s a different system here in Iceland), cum laude-ing University (the three lost academic years result in a competitive streak), back to reading books for fun (something that trailed off with my game-infused teens). Still fucking up with the (nearly non-existent) ladies, but hey, that’s life.
And still, I’ve got a soft spot for videogames. I just make sure I can’t play any at home and make do with friend visits. It’s a beautiful medium, and it’s only going to get better. Films, prose, music, other visual art, poetry, videogames, they can all offer something unique, and they can all be profound.
[…] I can’t decide if its funny or sad that this list of The Six Most Soul-Sucking Video Games […]
two words : enemy territory
quake wars enemy territory more recently
and wolfenstein enemy territory back in the day.
i’ve probably put about 1000 hours into them, and they never get old for me.
Curent wow player myself, I play maybey 4 hours a week, more if the weather is bad outside. Like any fun activity some people get addicted and some dont … have a friend that has lost jobs / GFs because of golf yet no huge outcry like video games. I read the newpaper more than I play but for $15 a month is pretty cheap entertainment I can do for an hour when bored.
Use to play everquest during the Shawn Wooley incident, his mothers crudsade did leave out alot of the evidence he may have been in an online “relationship” around the time of his death, was also his anti psycotic medication he was not taking as well … so yepp was the game that killed him. She just wanted an outside excuse to rally against and chose the easy answer rathen than his pre exsiting condition or liklyhood of relationship problems.
Good list and a fair point.
Morrowind actually cost me my little finger — well, it’s not removed or anything, but I damaged it on mouse-work badly enough that the hand is impaired. *sigh* Dumb move on my part.
Still, as entertainment goes, if I’m not doing anything else, I’d still far rather spend 3 hours playing Warcraft than watching TV or drinking and smoking down the pub with a bunch of people I only know well enough to share a pint with. Much less propaganda and bullshit than either — and a much better psychological message than TV (”You can be a hero!” vs “You are a pathetic loser if you don’t look like Chandler / Rachel”), and much less health-damaging than booze ‘n cigs.
You can’t beat it for value for money in terms of hours entertained, it’s more social than any off-line solo pursuit (obviously), and it’s a lot less retarded than most TV and magazines nowadays.
However — and it’s the biggest one there is — the important fecking thing is to remember it’s a GAME!
I think some of the people that have posted here have taken this too personally. i mean i didn’t want to know whether or not the guy gets intimate with his wife on a regular basis, if it truly wasn’t such a big deal to the guy to have that kind of opportunity then he wouldn’t have even posted. and the guy who’s married and has two kids just seems like he’s pissed that someone would write it and wants to redirect it to tv…. honestly? this article is about video games. not tv. if you limit your game time in wow this is not against you in any way. because that means you’re smart/nonobsessed
I’m lucky though… after years of playing video games i’ve developed ADD and can’t play wow for more the five minutes, it’s really a snore feast to me. but my bro plays it all the time… but at least he remembers to eat.
lol to the kid freaking out. i totally agree with the previous post stating that his parents weren’t equipped in any manner to raise a child.
you just gotta love the way he lashes out at the tv and then tries to beat up the floor…. seriously though it made me feel bad for the carpet, i mean whatever did the carpet do to him?
Reading the horror stories about WoW make me glad my copy crapped out on me before it could really do anything to me.
You forgot THE SIMS. I mean, the Sims 3 has consumed more of my life than…. I dont know… just wait.. Sims 3 deaths are coming.
Diablo, Yes brother, yes, I was one of the few girls on Diablo I and played it until I had nothing left. Of course… I still have enough to play the sims.
I agree with this.
If you’ve ever played Nexus, Kingdom of the winds you’d add that too.
diablo 2. dear lord. i’ve finally been able to kick the habit. i was playing on my latest character, a wind druid, trying to complete him by filling him up with good gear. and then i asked myself, what am i going to do once he’s as good as he can be?
nothing. it’s a dead end. quit now. i loved that game, but the level it drove me to makes me wonder if i want to even play diablo three.
Civ 2 for me reminds me of those movies where they mention someone coming off a 30-hour card game.
Simcity and Simcity 2000 ate up a lot of time during my childhood (which was so dull that movies and video games were the only highlights). Lemmings also gets an honourable mention due to the sheer number of levels but it doesn’t have the kind of addictiveness of a Civ 2 or an ORPG.
I never really got the multiplayer culture (maybe because Australian dial-up and even broadband suffers from too much lag) how much fun is it being killed over and over and over again by 15 year olds who probably spend several hours a day on it.
And WTF would you want to converse with these people, especially if people like the one in that video are on the line.
Best part of the article? How about the W.O.W. 10-day free trial ad? That would be my favorite part.
Final fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics were the first ones to suck the life out of me. I spent upwards of 12 hours a day on these titles. I played them so much that I developed migraine headaches from playing them. Recently, Fallout 3 is the culprit.
Great article, but unfortunately telling people how addictive a game is and how many people are playing it only gives the addicts another reason to keep playing, which is the idea of doing something everyone else is doing. It makes them feel connected to something big and important and global (even if it’s not important).
What they need to understand is that video games are temporarily satisfying whereas real life accomplishments have long-term value. In wow, players can “get things done” in a shorter amount of time and that makes them feel like they’re making fast progress, when in fact they’re not doing anything except avoid the things they have to get done away from the computer.
I have to agree that people can lose countless hours of their life playing video games, but usually it is time well wasted. Most people have some amount of free time that they waste doing something for leisure. How many people sit in front of their TV’s for hours going brain dead? There’s no interaction there at all. I think video games can be a stimulating hobby. Personally, I’ve wasted a few hours on WoW and Everquest, but my favorites weren’t even on this list… The Sims2 and the Elder Scrolls series…
However, I don’t watch TV at all… I find it mind numbing.
People who become addicted to video games are no different than people who become alcoholics or addicted to anything else that provides them an escape. The key is they’re looking for an escape and you need to understand why before you can begin to help them. In the case of children, its to be expected if a parent doesn’t do any real parenting.
This article was originally posted on November 17, 2009 and I just happened to come across it why? Because I have been too busy playing Wow. I completely agree with everyone who stated that 15.00/month is cheaper than one night out a week. I do disagree about it being a game that will suck your life away. I (among many of the other millions of players) hold a full-time job, go to school and have children. It’s not always an obsession for everyone, sometimes just a hobby and a release from reality.
sorry - misquoted the date as 2009 instead of 2008. my mind was on my druid….
[Quote]Remember, if you’re doing ANYthing for 10 hours a day, it’s probably not good for you.[/Quote]
Hey I spend 10hours a day at work and you have to tell me it’s bad for me.
Sounds like an alarmist to me.
Not a single game on this list compares to Ultima Online, it is what started the MMORPG genre. The genre didn’t even exist until Ultima online came out. I have played Ultima Online since 1999 I’ve played wow since BC came out(off and on like 7 month breaks).
I’d add Elder Scrolls games here personally.
I mean, I have an active (though currently frozen, as I have too much work and no sense in paying for a game I can’t play anyway) WoW account, but I ahve never, ever managed to play WoW more than 5 hours straight back in the day when an instance took that much to do, and more than 3 hours nowadays when an instance only takes about 30 minutes. Even if I forced myself. And my characters aren’t nooby, mind you, they’re all well equipped.
And despite my lack of succeptablility for WoW addiction… I managed to play Elder Scrolls Morrowind for 8 hours straight for 3 days and Oblivion for… 15 hours straight. For two days.
I’m really not normal, I know that. I’m a school teacher and it was the summer holidays and I had no work, had it been the semester I probably would never even turn a game on for more than an hour. But I do realize there are few people who, like me, can play WoW and have two endgame characters and still tell what is real life.
WTF???
Ummm… Yes, WoW is #1 NOW… but…
Warcraft III??? C’mon!!! I’ve played Warcraft since 1994 and I STILL play WC3 casually when I’m not raiding on WoW. At least you have Blizz as the ultimate Devil here… There is no other gaming corporation with more addiction under their belt.
I am not proud of being an addict, I do find time for work, gym, and a steady GF, but I do play excessively and I raid whenever my guild schedules it, which is 2-3 times a week. I just work my social life around WoW, instead of focusing my WoW around my social life. If there is any advice to give, QUIT, if you can. It really IS the best alternative.
i know some %$?£-faced pile of @!&% who believes WoW stats apply to real life e.g. “I can install (WoW) better than (the guy who wrote this) because i’m a higher level than him”. i want him dead.
ok, eve, thats addicting, with corperations(guilds/clans) of over 1000 people each they get committed, its a fun game, but i used evemon to find how long it would take to learn every skill in the game with max learning skills, 28 years, holy crap. Also after you realize you are running 5 instances of the game at the same time in windowed mode so you can mine with 3 hulks, 1 hauling ore, and the last trekking the 5000 solar systems of the galaxy just to sell it at the best price, you realize you need to take a break. I spend most of my free time on the computer, but thats not including the fact im physicaly fit.
Hey there. Just stumbled across this website and love it so far. My two-cents are for the Championship/Football Manager series. I succumbed to playing it (again) a month ago and i’ve already spent 6 whole days bringing Rushden to the Championship. It’ll all be worth it when we win the Champions League in a few years.
Other than that, the Civilisation, Counter Strike and Red Alert have caused me malnourishment in the past. From consoles, i’ve clocked up at least 100 hours on 6 of the Final Fantasy games. Oh, and Sensible World of Soccer! Anyone else love that as much as I did?
[…] The Six Most Soul-Sucking Video Games […]
Hah! I’m surprised to see EVE-Online mentioned in the first couple posts (after which I skipped to the bottom). That game is the perfect fit for me: when I don’t feel like playing it, I set a skill to train for a long damn time and come back to it again when I want to play. My character still gets better while I’m not playing, I just don’t earn any money by doing stuff in the game. (I’m probably also throwing away my subscription payment that month, but it’s better than having to pick up from square one again. I won’t go back to flying tech 1 frigates! I won’t!!)
I so far have been immune to the call of MMORPG’s, although there are sporadic instances of games consuming my life for months at a time. Although I tried getting into WoW, I just couldn’t get past the fact that I was paying someone $15/month so I could “go there, kill those things” and “go that way and bring me back something”.
I barely reached level 30 and lost $45 because I forgot to cancel my subscription after I was bored to death with the game and stopped playing.
Old Republic will probably become my crack though.
one thing to say and that is:::::
FALLOUT 3 boy am i addicted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oblivion is addicting for me. luckily i bought ufc undesputed and now that is eating my time, and it is easier to walk away from.
lol
oh yes, i have a hot wife, but man does she HATE that oblivion game.
so i don’t play it when ever she is home or awake, problem solved.
great post - the “Remember, if you’re doing ANYthing for 10 hours a day, it’s probably not good for you.” line just made me think of my job….
twice i tossed away all my videogames, but the just keep coming back ?.
TRIBES and TRIBES 2 , am i the only one who was trying to make 20 mid air disk shots in one game ?
Game on !
i am currently quiting wow and it is hard, i have desires to go on but when i do i cant find anything to do, thank god for MW2(uh oh another un healthy ubsession growing) and assassins creed 2, and the loads of awsome games coming out, i think i will go outside
Hey, dude!
I really like the work you do - great job!
If I were to contribute to this list: QuakeLive, Resident Evil series, and Online Chess / Poker.
Quake left 3 month long black-out in my life, Resident Evil (2 & 4) - took about 1 year, and Chess I have managed to turn into a habit (not addiction), thank God.
To all: remember, the most addictive thing is Laziness.
Thanks again, dude.
Keep up the great work!
WORLD WARCRAFT illuminati game become more evil freemasony
dont play it that game steal your money and take your soul brainwashing like zombie !DONT play it !
Great Post…..
I found your site on stumbleupon and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
Thanks for sharing….
A friend of mine who attends medical school with me is addicted to WoW. He slacks off, misses class and never studies. He did, however, meet his current (and first) girlfriend on WoW. She lived 4 states away. Now they live together (9 months later). At least now I know he’s straight…
Guys, u r forgetting the first shot of gamer’s addiction which wasted most of our childhood: Runescape!!!
Evony is a soul sucking game… lame at first, but once you get going it is addictive
The brightest star burns out the fastest. I see WoW like a virus. Eventually it’ll run it’s course and then ten million people will need something else to do.
I’ve watched people play and I just don’t understand the appeal of it. It doesn’t make sense to me at all.
The most Soul sucking games of all time?
Civilization…any of them
Fallout 3
World of Warcraft
Diablo 2
Final Fantasy…any of them
Eve Online.
Ever Quest
Runescape
Ultima Online
Oblivion and it’s series.
Halo
Not sure if it counts as a game. But alot of people like the “Second life” thing.
The sims(Another game I don’t understand… You’d make a character, get a job…clean house…live a virtual life…just do it for real?)
Any of the apps on Facebook. Yoville, Farmville? Mobsters? Seriously. People put too much time into these things too…or facebook in general.
And for those of you who dont know the most and oldest soul sucking game online has to be FFRP.
Free Form Role Playing Text Based. Back in the old AOL days I used to spend countless hours on this. It was. and still is evil. Check it out. It was called of all things Rhydin…
Here is a version of it.
http://crimsonstarlight.forumotion.net/forum.htm
Halooooo…has none of has ever played Red Alert (1 & 2) or Age of Empires??????Those games were pure strategie and braines and of course total waste of young man’s life…..
Madden Football dominated my life for six years. Sports games need mention on this list.
I have played all but the MMOs casually. Not so much CS as the others. I actually even played a borrowed account of WoW for a few days to try it out. I found it boring.
Watching the kid in the first vid made me think of something I tell my sibblings…. and self occasionally. If it’s making you cuss it’s no fun. Games should be fun. Turn it off.
I was addicted to Alpha Centauri once to a point that I wasn’t getting anything done… I had to quit, but not without much effort. From time to time I still play the game (several months hiatus) and it doesn’t have the same impact as it did years ago (1999).
This is a great and true article. thankfully there are people with sense that talk about these things…and open my own eyes to my own problems. What’s most disturbing this sort of soul suckingness is becoming a norm.
Heh, personally, even though WoW is installed on my PC, I don’t play it much, and just borrow my brother’s account on occasion. It caters to more casual plays who don’t have all the time to sink into an 80, which you can reach in under a month.