you just contradicted yourself hereI respect your point, but the thing is... you cannot play wow in 10 minute intervals at all. Come on...
CS has 3 minute rounds. What you do beyond that is up to you. You have no need to practice whatsoever. That's not relevant at all. The design is not based on persistent world character development and thus there is no implicit need to time sink. Even if you need to practice, you dont have to sit and play 8 hours a day to stay sharp.
The game is like minesweeper in how it sucks you in, as is the case with most games.
Short, repetitive and easy to just relax with. Obviously you can obsess over any game, but the design of a game like CS is particularly strong because it's got that minesweeper 3-minute thing going.
"Just one more game" is the procrastination mechanic. It's easy to say that when the game has short rounds and isnt designed to last mega-hours.
WoW and MMOs are a new breed of game. Different psychology. Different type of absorbtion Different entertainment mechanics than pretty much any human game thus far.
When somebody cant stop playing tetris or minesweeper or tribes... we called that procrastination.
When somebody cant stop playing wow or eq.... we call it addiction.
There's a reason.
In the world of "games" i guess poker and gambling is probably the closest comparison and has its own addiction issues. Poker isnt something you really walk away from and can do to procrastinate. You build up and increase your stakes in it, so it's a decent analogy i suppose. The same obession and focus on achievements are obviously parallels as well. Hmmm...
addiction is addiction, the relevence to wether or not it's an MMO or an FPS or mine sweeper is irelevent, if someone is addicted to the game that's their fault
just because tribes and minesweeper have 3 minute rounds doesen't make them any different then wow, it's the people who can't control themselves that's the problem
compare how many hours you've spent playing tribes in its hay day as compared to how much you play wow, at least for me, it's nearly the same
to further my point, what is the difference between the guy who logs onto wow, does a game of WSG, logs off and goes out with his friends, and a guy who plays 2 maps in tribes
now tell me the difference between the hardcore raider and the CAL cs player who plays all day every day to get better
here's a hint : there is none
Last edited: