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I played A LOT of competitive Magic: The Gathering from about age 14-21. We used to call it "cardboard crack" so we all understood that the game was addictive.

I played A LOT of competitive Magic: The Gathering from about age 14-21. We used to call it "cardboard crack" so we all understood that the game was addictive. I had a lot of fun and met some great people, but even back then I knew that I had a problem with the game and that I was addicted to it. This was before people talked about gaming addiction and I don't think American society understood that it could actually be a serious issue. I knew people who got addicted to EverQuest (aka EverCrack) and watched them go MIA for six months at a time from the Magic scene and drop out of high school to play EverQuest for 12 hours a day. This was back in 1999, so gaming addiction definitely isn't new. I found that gaming addiction becomes self-reinforcing once you start putting a significant number of hours into gaming. Once you spend enough time gaming you'll end up not having enough hours to fulfill your real world commitments, like studying. Not fulfilling your real world commitments will cause you stress (failing a test) and you'll seek relief by going back to gaming. This can become a vicious cycle quickly as the more you game to relieve your stress, the more stress you end up creating for yourself by having even less time to fulfill your real world obligations. The kids I knew who had the most unstable families were the ones who paid the highest price for their gaming addiction and ended up not graduating from high school. So I'm not surprised that unemployed young men who have unstable professional lives are getting hit hard by gaming addiction now. I hope they can break the cycle. I burned off a lot of hours playing Magic and I do sometimes wonder what could have come of that time if it had been spent elsewhere.

taway_1212 10y ago
I dunno, I also played a lot of competitive M:tG, between 17 and 22, but I found it very fulfilling. I made some of my life-long friends through it, I went to places all over Europe (for tournaments) and overall had a ton of fun. That was mostly before the advent of Magic Online, I understand that now Magic can be largely played like other online video games (plus the skill level is way higher, because the most obsessed people can just practice 100 hours per week), whereas in the past it explicitly required you to socialize to have playtesting partners, borrow cards, split rides to tournaments etc.
- touchofevil 10y ago
  The social aspect of the game was definitely the best part for me as well. I met great people who were outside of my usual social circle through the game and that was fantastic. I never touched Magic Online, thankfully. I was always trying to come up with some new combo or some deck that had never been tried before and because of that I had a tendency to think about the game a lot. I liked the mad science aspect of deck building, but that took up a lot of time. I don't play anymore, but I'm always right on the brink of getting back into the game and I follow the current competitive decks. Just the other day I spent several hours designing decks after I realized that you could exploit Key to the City by tapping it with Pacification Array in standard. After spending about 5 hours going down rabbit holes coming up with decklists, I realized I had just wasted most of the day and that I would have to commit further time to actually playing one of those decks at a FNM tournament. I was hit with a familiar feeling of regret for wasting time. That feeling often gnawed at me after having played Magic when I was younger. I guess you could say I have a love/hate relationship with Magic.

taway_1212 10y ago

I dunno, I also played a lot of competitive M:tG, between 17 and 22, but I found it very fulfilling. I made some of my life-long friends through it, I went to places all over Europe (for tournaments) and overall had a ton of fun. That was mostly before the advent of Magic Online, I understand that now Magic can be largely played like other online video games (plus the skill level is way higher, because the most obsessed people can just practice 100 hours per week), whereas in the past it explicitly required you to socialize to have playtesting partners, borrow cards, split rides to tournaments etc.

touchofevil 10y ago
The social aspect of the game was definitely the best part for me as well. I met great people who were outside of my usual social circle through the game and that was fantastic. I never touched Magic Online, thankfully. I was always trying to come up with some new combo or some deck that had never been tried before and because of that I had a tendency to think about the game a lot. I liked the mad science aspect of deck building, but that took up a lot of time. I don't play anymore, but I'm always right on the brink of getting back into the game and I follow the current competitive decks. Just the other day I spent several hours designing decks after I realized that you could exploit Key to the City by tapping it with Pacification Array in standard. After spending about 5 hours going down rabbit holes coming up with decklists, I realized I had just wasted most of the day and that I would have to commit further time to actually playing one of those decks at a FNM tournament. I was hit with a familiar feeling of regret for wasting time. That feeling often gnawed at me after having played Magic when I was younger. I guess you could say I have a love/hate relationship with Magic.