Addictive MMORPG is dangerous
EverQuest (EQ) is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on March 16, 1999. The original design is credited to Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost. It was developed by Verant Interactive (which had recently parted from 989 Studios) and published by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE). SOE currently runs and distributes EverQuest. The game’s sequel, EverQuest II, was released in 2004.
Shawn Woolley was an avid player of the computer game EverQuest, an MMORPG, who committed suicide at the age of 21 years old. He shot himself and was found dead at his computer, which was still running EverQuest.
Woolley had been diagnosed with epilepsy, depression and schizoid personality disorder. He started playing EverQuest in 2000, and by 2001, it had taken over his life. He was evicted from his apartment and had to move back in with his mother, Elizabeth Woolley. She believes that the last few epileptic fits he had were caused by the amount of time he spent playing EverQuest.
A week before the suicide he had quit his pizza parlour job in order to play upwards of 12 hours a day, and bought a gun. He was finally pushed over the edge by unknown events that had occurred within the game, which might have included the betrayal of a six-month associate who stole Woolley’s character’s money and refused to return it. Elizabeth Woolley said that he was in tears after this particular incident.
Elizabeth Woolley says that EverQuest is dangerous and addictive by design, which is what she claims led to her son’s suicide, “I think the way the game is written is that when you first start playing it, it is fun, and you make great accomplishments. And then the further you get into it, the higher level you get, the longer you have to stay on it to move onward, and then it isn’t fun anymore. But by then you’re addicted, and you can’t leave it.”
In order to deal with her son’s death and help other gamers avoid his fate, Woolley created On-Line Gamers Anonymous, a twelve-step program support web site devoted to helping online gamers quit gaming.
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Nov 30th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
tsk tsk pity…i know what it feels to have embarassements and downs in MMORPG but we have to think that its only a game. although it can be addictive but we can also undergo other stuffs like sports, reading books or going out somewhere its really bad if we make this serious .we must think the limitations..
Aug 13th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
My experience with MMORPG’s started two weeks ago with the free MMORPG 2moons. The urge to keep playing struck me almost immediately, and, since that time, I’ve spent an unholy amount of time playing.
Two weeks and I’m already level 50, and I am in a guild with level 50+ characters, all of whom are most certainly as addicted as I am. We spent hours upon hours grinding scores of mobs just to hit the next level.
I even went through, this last weekend, a 32 hour streak where I didn’t sleep and only got up for toilet breaks and to grab munchies. When I finally pulled myself away to sleep, I felt as if I wanted to cry, feeling unfulfilled because I wanted to gain another level (which would have taken another three hours of endless grinding)
It’s frightening. I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and said “That’s it. It’s over.” My eyes are bloodshot, my face pale and withdrawn. All I could think about when was the game. I play games all the time, but it’s never been this bad, not even when a game has come out that I’ve been waiting to play forever.
The epiphany I had was that, in the end, all I’m doing is raising numbers. There’s no real skill involved, unlike online FPS games like Battlefield 2 or even Soldat. All you do is engage endless mobs, click, hit number keys for specials, spam HP pots, sell drops, then rinse and repeat in an endless cycle of nothingness. Screw it.
I’m now sticking with BF2, which is not only endlessly fun, but is also a constant battle of twitch reflexes and aiming skills. Plus, I only play 3 hours max at a time with BF2.
Sep 18th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
2Moons is a great free MMORPG but it is definately a grinder…maybe not the best example for a first MMORPG. 2Moons Guide
Jul 10th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I played eq, eq2, wow, daoc, aoc, tabula rasa, final fantasy, star wars galaxy and other high end mmorpgs out there and I don’t find any of it addictive but i sure enjoyed playing them for a while. saying that he committed suicide because of eq is just pushing it a bit, to kill themselves over money that doesn’t even exist in the real world obviously has serious mental problems.