"World of Warcraft labeled highly addictive "crack cocaine of the game
world" when teenager collapses after 24 hours of non-stop playing."
This was a recent story we found on Digg.com.
I think there are several titles we could actually give this article; "Poor parenting
results in teenager being able to play games for 24 hours non-stop", is a good
example, and the fact is 11,000,000 gamers play this game
for entertainment purposes, 99.999+% without incident. This article is clearly
intended to bring a rain cloud on something that millions of people enjoy and a
very small minority take to an extreme. I think your average
WoW or MMORPG player would find
this article laughable at best; so with that in mind enjoy the laugh:
Originally posted
here:
An internet computer game has been condemned as being as addictive as cocaine
after a teenager who played it 24 hours non-stop had convulsions.
World of Warcraft has been hugely successful in capturing the imagination of
players by drawing them into a virtual universe of battles and quests.
However, it is at the centre of a growing problem of computer game addiction.
"Highly addictive: World of Warcraft has been described
by experts as the crack cocaine of the gaming world"
Many players will sit alone in their rooms for hours at a time, immersed in
the lives of their fantasy character creations - or Avatars.
Some 11milion around the globe play World of Warcraft - making it the world's
most successful 'MMORPG' - massively multi-player online role-playing game.
However, a report from Sweden's Youth Care Foundation describes it as 'the
most dangerous game on the market'.
The report's author Sven Rollenhagen said: 'There is not a single case of
game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not
played a part.
'It is the crack cocaine of the computer game world. Some will play it till
they drop.'
The Swedish National Institute of Public Health has backed the report,
adding: 'Computer game addiction is becoming more widespread across the world.'
The warning comes after a Swedish boy of 15 collapsed after playing it for
for 24 hours earlier this month.
Hospital doctors diagnosed an epileptic-type seizure brought on by sleep
deprivation, lack of food, and too long a stretch of concentrated game playing.
He has made a full recovery.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than one to two hours
per day of 'screen time'.
Psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham of London's Tavistock Centre said: 'Some of my
clients will discuss playing games for 14, 16 hours a day at times, without
breaks and without attending to their physical needs.
'For those, the consequences are potentially severe.
'Such prolonged gaming can produce a sort of socially withdrawn figure who
may be connecting with people in the game, but is largely dropping out of
education and other social opportunities.'
