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There is a substantial difference between improving your physical life and your Avatar. The illusion of success is there and almost tangible - if you didn't ha

There is a substantial difference between improving your physical life and your Avatar. The illusion of success is there and almost tangible - if you didn't have to "wake up" to your neglected real body and nonexistent/handicapped real life. And most people I know don't play WOW due to nihilism or at least not initially. They play it just for opposite reasons - it makes it easier for them to achieve something. Disclaimer: I have played UO and got severely addicted by it. I also played WOW and EVE, I'm very competitive but in the end I figured that to reach the level of performance I wanted to - It would take me 8+ hours (rather 12+) of work a day. So I just quit the damn thing and focused on building my real person - no regrets. I saw WOW at a friend some months ago - and I instantly felt sick, the sounds, the animations... It just made me want to throw up.

access_denied 16y ago
> I instantly felt sick ... It just made me want to throw up. Interestingly I have the same torwards tobacco. There seems to be something, maybe in your sub-consciousness that wants to prevent you from going back there and it is so strong that it evokes reactions on a physical level.
scotty79 16y ago
If you are leveling in real life sometimes you wake up and see emptiness of this all. Sure, what you achieved in life provides comfort for your body but body is relatively easy to comfort if mind is happy. If you are playing game all the time there is not much time you have to be "awake" and you may even never be fully "awake" to notice and appreciate your handicapped life. People can have handicapped life even when they don't play games. They just stay for years in the same place despite their apparent efforts.
- JanezStupar 16y ago
  Indeed - human mind is capable of creating many elaborate delusions. Nihilism being the worst of them all. One has to recognize that indeed, there are no supreme values, that there is no guaranteed path to salvation. And that in spite of this terrible truth one must form his own set of values that guide him on a journey that doesn't really lead anywhere specific, but one must travel the journey else he becomes damned.
  - scotty79 16y ago
    Why not just accept that is pointless after becoming aware of it but just stay for the ride?
    - JanezStupar 16y ago
      Do you think that Paris Hilton is happy? Do you think that the OP's guild leader is happy? Man is a creature of creation, to be happy Man has to improve upon himself and the world, to create by definition one needs to have some values. Else we just become decadent and decadence does not breed happiness.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
      - forensic 16y ago
        People in wow ARE creating. That's what makes it so addictive. They are re-arranging the materials of the game to create something they desire. This is the same procedure people use in real life - we rearrange matter and energy to create conditions we desire. There is nothing inherently more meaningful in reality compared to fiction. All of these things are exactly as meaningful as individuals find them to be. Some people value wow for itself and there is nothing wrong or incorrect about this. Does it scare you to recognize that there is no logical basis for action? The basis is emotional. Meaning itself is a word we use to refer to that emotional experience that occurs when we begin to care about life. Some people find it in collecting stamps, some people find it in wow, some people find it in medicine, some find it in the game of being a corporate executive. None is logically or inherently more meaningful than another. It all comes down to irrational human values.
        klbarry 16y ago
        Forensic, can you send me an email (in my profile)? I'm a fan of your comments and would like to chat.
        JanezStupar 16y ago

access_denied 16y ago

> I instantly felt sick ... It just made me want to throw up. Interestingly I have the same torwards tobacco. There seems to be something, maybe in your sub-consciousness that wants to prevent you from going back there and it is so strong that it evokes reactions on a physical level.

scotty79 16y ago

If you are leveling in real life sometimes you wake up and see emptiness of this all. Sure, what you achieved in life provides comfort for your body but body is relatively easy to comfort if mind is happy. If you are playing game all the time there is not much time you have to be "awake" and you may even never be fully "awake" to notice and appreciate your handicapped life. People can have handicapped life even when they don't play games. They just stay for years in the same place despite their apparent efforts.

JanezStupar 16y ago
Indeed - human mind is capable of creating many elaborate delusions. Nihilism being the worst of them all. One has to recognize that indeed, there are no supreme values, that there is no guaranteed path to salvation. And that in spite of this terrible truth one must form his own set of values that guide him on a journey that doesn't really lead anywhere specific, but one must travel the journey else he becomes damned.
- scotty79 16y ago
  Why not just accept that is pointless after becoming aware of it but just stay for the ride?
  - JanezStupar 16y ago
    Do you think that Paris Hilton is happy? Do you think that the OP's guild leader is happy? Man is a creature of creation, to be happy Man has to improve upon himself and the world, to create by definition one needs to have some values. Else we just become decadent and decadence does not breed happiness.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - forensic 16y ago
      People in wow ARE creating. That's what makes it so addictive. They are re-arranging the materials of the game to create something they desire. This is the same procedure people use in real life - we rearrange matter and energy to create conditions we desire. There is nothing inherently more meaningful in reality compared to fiction. All of these things are exactly as meaningful as individuals find them to be. Some people value wow for itself and there is nothing wrong or incorrect about this. Does it scare you to recognize that there is no logical basis for action? The basis is emotional. Meaning itself is a word we use to refer to that emotional experience that occurs when we begin to care about life. Some people find it in collecting stamps, some people find it in wow, some people find it in medicine, some find it in the game of being a corporate executive. None is logically or inherently more meaningful than another. It all comes down to irrational human values.
      - klbarry 16y ago
        Forensic, can you send me an email (in my profile)? I'm a fan of your comments and would like to chat.
      - JanezStupar 16y ago