Posted by Dusty

School comes first, kiddies. Seriously. The line between what you may consider a hobby and what is actually an addiction can be blurry, and hard to see... but it's there. The moment it starts effecting your life in a negative way, you should step back and start reevaluating and get your priorities straight.

It's so easy to get drawn into Graal, not as a game but as a time and social sink. But in the end the moment you start putting off other things, like going out with friends, or homework, to play Graal, there is a BIG problem.

I think the most positive thing that has come out of Graal for me is that it got me deeply invested into development, and in more fields than one. It's pretty much what got me into game art, programming, and game design.

However, the cons probably outweigh the pros. I don't know what my life would have turned out without Graal, but there's a good chance it would probably be better.

I agree. Graal got me into game design and programming, (though I have yet to learn gscript) and has made me friends. It has increased my bedtime from 9 to 11, so not too much. But I definitely have wasted aLot of time on graal.
For me.
School
Programming
Graal
So I don't think it's a bad thing  

Posted by Dusty

However, the cons probably outweigh the pros. I don't know what my life would have turned out without Graal, but there's a good chance it would probably be better.

Whatever happened to your own life I think you playing Graal improved the lives of everybody else who plays it.  

 

Posted by MattKan

Whatever happened to your own life I think you playing Graal improved the lives of everybody else who plays it.

Maybe, but I think potentially if I could go back and never have found Graal the time it consumed would have probably gone to something more beneficial. But I don't really know that, but I imagine there were more productive things out there that could have filled the void if not for Graal. And this is coming from someone who has learned A LOT because of Graal.  

Posted by Dusty

Maybe, but I think potentially if I could go back and never have found Graal the time it consumed would have probably gone to something more beneficial. But I don't really know that, but I imagine there were more productive things out there that could have filled the void if not for Graal. And this is coming from someone who has learned A LOT because of Graal.

Well you still have the entire rest of your life to be productive...  

Posted by MattKan

Well you still have the entire rest of your life to be productive...

This isn't about me, it's about others who might fall down the same path.  

Posted by Dusty

Maybe, but I think potentially if I could go back and never have found Graal the time it consumed would have probably gone to something more beneficial. But I don't really know that, but I imagine there were more productive things out there that could have filled the void if not for Graal. And this is coming from someone who has learned A LOT because of Graal.

I think in retrospect we all say we would have probably been doing something more productive if we werent playing "----" (Graal). But I think time spent is time spent, and if it wasn't on Graal then it would probably be some other game.  

I once became so addicted to Graal, I stayed up until 7 AM playing Graal. Got taken to the doctor's.Body was so weak and tired that it was a miracle I could stay up in school. That scared me so bad, I stopped playing as much.  

Posted by Pimpsy G.

It doesn't have to be having an extremely social life and having lots of money and being successful, people can make choices. That's what life's all about right? Being happy? I mean what else is there? If this game is incredibly important to them, and it makes them happy, whats really wrong with abandoning parts of your social life for it?

You do not know how much I agree + have been thinking about this.  

Posted by Rexx

I think in retrospect we all say we would have probably been doing something more productive if we werent playing "----" (Graal). But I think time spent is time spent, and if it wasn't on Graal then it would probably be some other game.

And that's an excuse?

edit: what I mean to say is this is beyond Graal. This is about letting games cross the line between being a hobby and being an addiction. Graal is a game that offers a social aspect, but also other appealing aspects such as easy development and at one point being fairly cheap to play. Most games don't really offer that sort of thing, so it's hard to say that any other game would simply fill the void if it wasn't Graal. But there are other games, like WoW and do you think the addictions that people have with WoW aren't a problem? My point is that it doesn't matter if it's Graal or WoW, or CoD -- don't let any game cross that line.  

And also I had to get stronger glass lenses 2 times since I started graal  

If I wasn't wasting time on Graal or Graalians, I'd be wasting it somewhere else (as I do now). Graal obviously had a negative aspect in the time-management aspect of my life, but it probably came with more positives than any other thing I could end up wasting my time on.

Hey, I'm procrastinating again.  

Posted by Dusty

My point is that it doesn't matter if it's Graal or WoW, or CoD -- don't let any game cross that line.[/i]

But what if that WoW or CoD 'addict' was successful enough to independently support himself so that he wouldn't have to infringe on the happiness of others by getting them to support his living instead? Would his time excessively playing these games impact his life in a negative way if he truly enjoys the time he plays on it as much as an 'average' person would enjoy going out to some party?
That's the idea I'm getting at here. So many people I come across think theres some sort of reliability to experiences in life, when there is not. Life is how you see it, your consciousness is essentially everything in the entire universe for all we know. With that in mind, do those social barriers even exist if that addicted gamer loves the time he is spending with his life? Is he really missing out on anything?  

wow thats deep  

Posted by Pimpsy G.

That's the idea I'm getting at here. So many people I come across think theres some sort of reliability to experiences in life, when there is not. Life is how you see it, your consciousness is essentially everything in the entire universe for all we know. With that in mind, do those social barriers even exist if that addicted gamer loves the time he is spending with his life? Is he really missing out on anything?

It has nothing to do with adhering to social norms, but not letting a game rob you of other experiences that could lead to a better life of your own. The problem stems from the potential for things to go wrong. If they put off the rest of their life just to play games, but have the added privilege of someone holding their hand then there's a lot of potential to go wrong. What if something happens to said hand-holder? What if they get in an accident, or maybe they decide it IS time for you to move on? Then you're suddenly thrown into a brutal ****ing world and you're not prepared for it.

I'm not judging anyone, trust me. In just my own experience, I feel that gaming should remain a hobby and not let it take over your life. Like any addiction(though not comparable to actual physical addictions) it's a very slippery slope that can destroy someones life.

If someone can make it work, good for them. However I don't feel that's the sort of message we should try to give the younger, more impressionable players around here.