I'm the same as Jason, I don't play MMMORPGs because 1. I think I would get addicted and 2. I did try WoW and there was just lots of mean people, like calling me "noob" and insulting me and calling me dumb, it hurt my feelings. I only play offline games an hour a day.

LOLOL SUICIDAL ADDICTS ARE FUNNEH, if anyone is stupid enough to lose their minds within a videogame that is just pixels and words, they deserve to die... i'm a pretty avid gamer and i wouldn't go as far as to kill myself over pixels..

Runescape took years of my life... glad I'm out....

I second what Tommy said. Most people don't seem to realize that the qualification for being overweight and obese isn't that high. A visual comparison:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Obesity-waist_circumference.PNG

you should watch it again...theres no stereotype here, im a physical therapist and at least 80% of the people playing the game in this doc, notice how i say PLAYING not farming or doing other stuff like developing or journalismwriting about it, are either morbidly obese or close, so your comment is completely ignorant, however Ann's comment is less than emphatic as well and should've been better formulated.

if i misspelled something, i'm sorry, i'm Norwegian.

Your comment appears to be a shallow stereotypical generalization. At least half (if not the majority of people) in this documentary are not overweight. I would also to venture to say most of them at least have "some" interpersonal interaction at work.

You seem to be "band-wagoning" with a bunch of shallow information.

I use to have a mild obsession with battle field 2. I played that game all day and couldn't stop... fortunately the game changed and i stopped liking it.

looks like a bunch of sad overweight guys who could use a girlfriend and some REAL in person social interaction...just sayin'

I was really frustrated by that mother who ran the gamer addiction house. I honestly don't think that people who are emotionally charged towards addiction should be put in a position over those with addictions. It's far too easy for them to ignore the needs of the individual people, and project what they think needs to be done instead.

In this case, it seems like all she could think about was her son, and how he was in the situation, and suddenly "every gamer" she had met all acted that way. I can only assume that the reason she wanted to run that halfway house is so that she could feel like she saved someone, in order to mentally redeem herself for not being able to save her son.
Which is just a poor idea, if you ask me.

I've made a point of never playing any MMORPGS because I know that I would get sucked in. I limit myself to offline games and even then I can play obsessively until I beat it. But I know that once I beat it I can go back to living my life. Thankfully I'm also picky in what I like to play so there aren't many games that I want to buy anyway.

I wish all the best for those struggling with this addiction, and I hope that more and better counseling services become available for those who need it.

Moderation is the answer for obsessive people like us.
Not that I obey this rule completely but I keep it in a little part of my brain, and sometimes it just really help.
Another comment is that Woman who is on the Gamers Anonymous,
She really fire a bad bullet,
I kinda have respect for her to have establish this group to help people, but now I have mixed feelings but whatever there is no action completely unselfish for a human being.

like with anything online gaming is what you make of it, anything can be dangerous if you let yourself get hooked to it, it's not physically addictive and is therefore ultimately a choice to continue playing whether people can accept that or not. theres no point demonising these games (ive never played any of them but have friends who play warcraft, i make jokes with them about it but thats as far as it goes) as much as there is no point in demonising the players.
of course the games are designed for profit and to get people hooked, WHAT PRODUCT ISNT?
some people just need to take a somewhat painstaking reality check and reassess their priorities in life, if it turns out this is genuinely what they want then they are fine, just like the people who love that call of duty game or counter-strike.
reality is reality, games are games, lets not be stupid and think merging the two is possible, let alone feasable.

I currently play Lineage II (korean MMO) and I must say that what they present in this doc is the lifestyle of hardcore players. Gamers, who want to be the best, who want to own the game, ergo spending a LOT of time logged in, having their priorities inside their virtual world. I can't provide any numbers, but I don't think that this is the stereotype for an average MMO gamer. After observing the members of my guild at least.
All activities are a subject to addictions. Shopping, drinking, eating, watching TV, whatever, and there's the games too. Although I don't drink alcohol, I'm gonna use it in an analgoy: as long as you know how much is enough, you can't get into trouble. There are many people who drink alcohol (hell, like 95% of all people do) and if it doesn't start to interfere with their lives, it's OK. The same with MMOs.
To sum up my point: stuff doesn't make people addicted to it. It's the people that make themselves addicted to stuff.

i went thru a similar game addiction..wasnt that bad, i havent lost my job or something..but ya its a real danger...Im cured...Screw games online dudes !

I've tried to watch this doc before but it was too much of a painful, sad reminder of how I lived my life.

Nerd luv.


Lookin' good Dan. I really hope the guy doesn't relapse.