There has been an incident a few years ago when someone died from playing WoW. Now they are finally 'banning' this.


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Source: http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/wow-g...ia-storm-486618


Blizzard has slammed the unhealthy practise of 'poopsocking'- the act of neglecting basic hygiene in favour of remaining at your PC.

Following the UK mainstream media's rush to cover the unfortunate story of a young World Of Warcraft gamer collapsing after a lengthy session on Blizzard's massively popular MMO, TechRadar spoke to PC Zone to get their take on the matter.

"The problem with World of Warcraft is that its developer, Blizzard, has had four years now to refine and perfect a set of game rules which promotes addiction," said Deputy Editor of PC Zone, Steve Hogarty.

Though Hogarty is quick to add the disclaimer,"though it's cynical to think that the creators of WoW are happy with children and adults wasting away in front of their game."

"In fact, when PC Zone confronted lead game designer Tom Chilton with the phenomenon of 'poopsocking', he was stunned, saying "no, no... I highly encourage players to use the restroom..."!"

Swedish gamer's collapse

The 15-year-old Swedish boy in question had been caning the new Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack for 24 hours solid, suffering an epileptic-like fit after the day-long stint at the monitor.

"They played all day and all night. Maybe they got a few hours of sleep. They ate a little food and breakfast at their computers," the boy's father told the Kvällsposten newspaper in Sweden.

Doctors put the boy's seizure down to sleep deprivation, lack of food, and a prolonged period of concentration on the game.

Child psychiatrist attacks MMOs

Dr Richard Graham, a child psychiatrist at the Tavistock Centre, told the BBC: "Some of my clients will discuss playing games for 14 to 16 hours a day at times without breaks and for those the consequences are potentially very severe."

"The problem with World of Warcraft is the degree it can impact and create a socially withdrawn figure who may be connecting with people in the game and is largely dropping out of education, social opportunities."

Surely though, two of the more obvious questions seemingly going unanswered here are "why would you allow your child to play a game for 24 hours straight?" and "how many, of the ELEVEN MILLION plus WoW players could be classified as being 'addicted' to the game?"

By Adam Hartley

My friends parents are addicted to WoW.

It's actually kind of sad how addicted people are to that game. I'm really glad I don't play it.

To tell the truth Wow isnt in my intrest and I love mmorpg's

^^ My friend tried to get me into it once.

I thought it was pretty boring. Nobody talked about anything interesting.

To be honest, it's not the disk's fault but the players'. The disk doesn't make you play nonstop.

I don't like all the hate games are getting because some people can't control themselves when they play. Balance is very important, and something I, and many others, struggle with. But people have to realize it's the players' fault and not the game itself. It's especially not fair for them to only blame Blizzard, since basically every developer does this; they are just attacking the king of the hill.

Agreed it can be hard to find balance and, naturally, it's the players fault.

But when something this rare happens twice with the same game something has to be done. Blizzard can, at the very least, provide some encouragement for people not to sit there and play the game all day.

I agree, there is nothing wrong with encouragement. I remember L2 did something so you had a special ability, but if you played too long during a certain amount of time the ability would go away; I would like to see that in most games.

But I don't like how they are pointing at Blizzard as if they are the only ones who do this, they have to realize almost all devs are like this.

Not as rare as you think:
http://www.fibonaccisys.com/WoW_report.php

Well, I'm still skeptical even though Max did post a lot of links, mostly because that's 10 people out of, what, several million, or whatever WoW has these days? Still a small percentage.

Yes but I'm sure it would be a large percentage compared to similar situations while playing other games.

There is a lot more deaths probably then what is made in the news. This isn't even counting points where people have broken relationships and destroyed lives over it.

RuneScape is super clean compared to WoW and RuneScape boosts a larger member base.

True, although there was that predator.

What is that 1+ instance...? To WoW's 10+ instances?

I doubt WoW will ever beat the record Myspace has though.

No one will.

If you think RS is clean than you obviously haven't seen or heard much. Whether or not there are as many deaths, it

WoW also has 11 million players, while RS doesn't have 1/4th of that.

You also seem to jump to the conclusion that there are over 10 WoW instances (even though they "haven't been reported"), yet this has somehow never happened in RS? Clearly biased.

"RuneScape has approximately fifteen million active free accounts and is a graphical browser-based game with a large degree of 3D rendering." - Wikipedia

That's not even counting members...

Yea I didn't put the + part on RuneScape so I added now.

Your statement is also biased so don't be talking about who is biased or not. Everything is biased to some degree.

Account number means NOTHING. I have at least seven accounts, and who knows how many accounts other players have. Playerbase =/= number of accounts;



Not even 1/15th of those accounts are members. They have lost at least 1.2 million members ever since the updates made in December. They are losing players, and some of them must be members.

RS doesn't have nearly as many players as WoW; never have and never will. WoW keeps going up while RS goes down and down..



No, I am not being nearly as biased. You speak of Blizzard as if they are a horrible company (which is ironic because you stick up for Jagex) for not doing anything, yet I don't see Jagex doing anything about this. Every game has the same problem, and no one is doing anything to stop it; it is just more common in WoW because they have MANY more players than any other game out there.

Also, it's not a matter of being biased saying that the RS community isn't clean, it's a rather obvious speculation.

While I'm not a huge fan of Blizzard, both WoW and Runescape clearly have the same addicting qualities.

The reason why more incidents about WoW are known is probably because of the larger and more "Fanboy" type user base.

Many Runescape accounts are extra's that are used for scamming, pures, ect, while in WoW it is unlikely to have another account, because then you have to pay the fee again for that account.

Also many Runescape players, including members, have it more as a side hobby. While there are actually very few hardcore players, unlike WoW.

The reason there are more WoW incidents, in my opinion, is because of a larger population base. I'm sure it's all proportional if someone really wanted to crunch the numbers of the amount of incidents per game, compared to it's player base. I'm sure every game has it's 1% (Or whatever) population of crazies.

By the way, poopsocking is disgusting.

It is quite disgusting, but it happens everywhere you need to concentrate in a game. I think part of the nature of the game is at fault, but people need to really step back and take a look at their addiction. The nature of the game is the same as driving a car - if you stop concentrating, you CRASH and DIE.

I like Blizzard. I've played almost every game they released. Ok, yea, I'm a little out of place with my opinion about WoW but I don't think Blizzard is a bad company. In fact, you convinced me on most of your statements. I was in 'the mood'.

The reason I stick up for Jagex is because people always talk about how horrible they are because of this or that. I'm tired of hearing all the negativeness towards them so I've decided to keep positive more then negatives. I like a little turmoil so it works out for me. Ok, granted, the website visits are going down but why does Jagex keep saying that they are having a X% increase every year? I don't get that. I'll look into it more later but I seriously don't get how there are thousands of proofs for both sides of the issue. Someone is lying or something is incomplete.


Something that I'll never understand either.
'Nature is calling: Answer it.'



There is name branding for ya!

I post a lot of negatives about them because I don't think they deserve positives anymore. Ever since the updates in December, I refuse to believe that they are a good company anymore and should just be "off the hook." Aiming the game for kids, wilderness gone, took them ONE YEAR to come out with decent PVP (still not that great IMO); it's just not worth it to defend them anymore. They disappointed a large majority of their playerbase, including me, and I don't think they are a very good company anymore because of the actions they had taken.



Well until it is 2009 we won't really know.

I can honestly say I experienced this "poopsocking" for about 5 months when I first started playing runescape. I know I was addicted to the game and I still am. I regulate it better now and put other priorities first, but I still make sure I play some how. During these 5 months though I barely got up or did anything. I would stay awake on average from 3-5 days straight. I remember I was awake for an entire period of 7 days and then I slept for over 27 hours. My mom wanted to take me to the hospital. I finally broke out of that stage when My daughter got older but yea...I def. experienced this. It was like I couldnt help it either. I just constanlty wanted to play the game and become better. Now I am the same way but its eaiser to get up and off of the PC. True story.

-MSW Content Writer/Editor
-Ace Clique 7

That's psychically impossible.

No, really its not. When your downing mt. dew, coffee and caffiene pills, it seems like even less.

http://www.gelfmagazine.com/archives/stayi...hemispheres.php
thats 266 hours awake, I remember I was awake for 180 hours.

-MSW Content Writer/Editor
-Ace Clique 7

The longest time I've been awake with no assists is 4 days. But it wasn't gaming it was camping. ^_^

RuneScape is probably around 14 hours... with breaks like going to the bathroom and such. I wasn't over addicted like the exceptional few.

Your brain usually tends to shut off after 72 hours of no sleep.

You probably would of some long term health issues if you actually went 7 days without sleep.

Unless of course you have insomnia.

Yes, indeed. I feel to sleep probably before I hit the bed.

Well Ive been to the doctors and I go about 3 days with no sleep anyways. I dont normally use sleep pills or drink coffee I was just saying. I was diagnosed with a sleep apnea issue anyways so its not hard for me to stay awake. I am actually supposed to be prescribed serquil to help me sleep. I dont use it. Sleep has always been an issue for me, Runescape just brought it out even more. I actually thought of going for the world record, I think I could come close. I manage 3-5 days straight with no sleep. Like I said, a lil over 7 was the longest I went, but its def. possible pipin.

Let me put it this way, I had a lvl 90+ acct in about 6 months, most people dont achieve this until around 2 years playing, and I even made a str pure with my main. Lol, just one way to explain my playing addiction.

-MSW Content Writer/Editor
-Ace Clique 7

Wow that's tough.

I'm glad you got over the addiction though, especially now that you had two kids.

Well tbh when I had my daughter, shes what made it come out. Having to wake up every 2 hours for over a month striaght I just learned to not sleep, then I stuck with it. Yea, I got over my runescape addiction though, I still rarely sleep, I just do other stuff like work now, and then spend time with them, or Im on here or runescape or I go to the library or workout. Im glad I changed to. But I've always been interested in going for that record, I'd probably use runescape to do it, lol.

-MSW Content Writer/Editor
-Ace Clique 7

You just promise me that you don't die doing it. :P

lol, No, like I said. Ive been to the doctor. lol

-MSW Content Writer/Editor
-Ace Clique 7

Briefly: Blizzard smashes sales records, sells 2.8 million copies of Wrath of the Lich King in 24 hours
Blizzard's latest expansion to its 11-million subscriber strong World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King, sold 2.8 million units in its first 24 hours of availability, a 16 percent growth over the prior expansion The Burning Crusade, which sold 2.4 million units during its first day.

Blizzard noted that more than 15,000 stores opened at midnight to start selling the highly anticipated game.

This makes Wrath the fastest-selling PC game ever. At $40 per boxed copy, that's more than $100,000,000 in total sales. The expansion is already the best-selling PC game of 2008 at GameStop, and is one of the chain's top-selling products of the year. (source)

No surprise here, and this is just the beginning.

Don't forget that Blizzard has two new games coming out - Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3. I'm told the south Koreans are dying to play the new Starcraft, except the ones who already died from playing it too long in some internet cafe, that is.

I can't wait for Diablo 3. I play WoW, but very little of it. I consider WoW my downtime game (like when I run out of RuneScape membership) - I also play it to help balance out the types of games I play. Playing a small selection of games gets boring sometimes, so I move to another and hop back and forth.

I'm a StarCraft fan myself. The funny thing is that Koreans are like fanatics when it comes to StarCraft and there are a few that actually make a living just playing that game. Blizzard already put up a demo a while ago for some event (Blizz Con? not sure). Diablo 3 doesn't look like anything too special for me. Maybe I'm just burned out on that style of gameplay. They look like they are doing a really good job with it though.

Stacraft 2 looks like crap to me.

Although Diablo 3 has potential, although I'll probably get Demigod instead.

I'm sorry Blizzard, just becuase your making sequels to classic games, doesn't mean we're going to buy them.

I'll probably take a look at Diablo 3, it seems like it will be a pretty good game (although it is too early to be sure).

Demigod? I haven't heard of that yet, sounds interesting. No burning at the cross or anything like that involved in that game, I hope.

They're going to include an awesome editor. I think that starcraft has had most of its success on the user made maps, allowing most any other game to be created in a map. The editor would be the main reason why I would get the game. Buy one game and get every user made map out there.
The only thing that would stop me from buying the game is if online play were not free, or if it were a complete piece of crap in comparison to the original, and I'd have to play it before I decide that. On their site it seems as if they've made the graphics slightly like a futuristic version of WoW, which could also turn me off it....

So, yeah, I'd have to try the demo first.

I would have to try the demo as well. Then again MechScape might kick Starcraft out all together. MechScape has me pumped.

Here is a screenshot from Starcraft 2:

And I'll admit while it looks intriguing it also looks like it will be sort of like Supreme Commander, too many units to keep track of during battles.



And here is a few screens from Demigod which is an RTS/RPG

Except for Diablo 3, of course...

But yeah, Blizzard is like Disney: Dominant, Rich, and makes unnecessary sequels.

I don't see why this would be considered "unnecessary;" Diablo 3 has been out for awhile now (and the fanbase has been eagerly waiting for a new Diablo as well).

I think he is referring to Warcraft and Starcraft.

They are already planning two expansions to Starcraft Two. And the Warcraft series has way too many expansions, yet now they have completely abandoned the RTS Warcraft.

Blizzard seems so obsessed with "Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo" that I'd be surprised if they ever made an original, brand new game.

Yes, an original game would be nice. If they were to do another, I hope it would be scifi, every other thing they make seems to be fantasy.

I guess you guys don't realize how many people and how long they have been waiting for Starcraft 2 to come out. From what I can tell about half of Korea has at least played StarCraft one time or more and it still extremely popular now after several years from when it started. StarCraft is sci-fi... I don't get your comment on their fantasy deal, HeartFlame. I also don't get why you guys think they are making too many sequels when they are selling the games at near record/record breaking amounts. If you can guarantee that you will sell a lot of the games then why wouldn't you be into making another game?

I know that Starcraft is scifi... what I said was every other game they make is fantasy. I have been playing the game for years, and have been waiting for the sequel. The only thing they have to live up to is the previous game, and I am not very picky about games most of the time (eh... debatable by some people). I know that South Korea cares a lot about the game, it's a sporting event there, they have professional players who train and play against other professional players.
The only game they have made that is scifi is Starcraft, which was a very awesome game, but lately I've stopped playing it because I can only stand a game for so long before I decide to go onto something else. I will eventually feel like playing some day, I am sure. Probably when they release Starcraft 2. Something other than an RTS would be nice, could be a spoof of Starcraft or something new... of course, there are always other games to buy. I am not saying they should stop making Starcraft RTS, because as long as they keep on making them right, people will keep on buying, I know I will.