What games are you playing now?

I am playing single-player again, dropped MMORPG for umteenth time this year for somewhat different but mostly same reasons as last time.

*embarrasment*

So I am playing:

— GTA: San Andreas
— Galactic Civs II
— X3 Reunion 2.0
— Space Empires V
— Boiling Point
— Silent Storm
ect…

I also just bought 300 bucks worth of RPGs (all single-player) to force me back into playing BY MYSELF IN AN RPG.

I am really really trying hard to leave online games except for shooters in deathmatch things like Counterstrike. I am trying desparately to quit MMORPGs for good. Reasons… well… doesnt matter. I just have to get used to the feeling of playing alone in single-player where nobody else can ruin my gameplay experience, at all. I find MMOs are a waste of 15 bucks every month due to the reality that I do not even make friends while I am there. And most people there are freaking idiots that I will never hang out with in RL…

So I ordered this month these single-player RPGs:

— S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
— Star Wars Battlefront
— Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords
— Star Wars Battlefront 2
— Space Rangers 2: The Rise of the Dominators
— Titan Quest DVD-Rom
— Elder Scrolls IV: Knights of the Nine (I have the main game Oblivion)
— Silverfall MB DVD
— Titan Quest Immortal Throne DVD Expansion Pack
— Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles
— The Witcher
— Gothic Universe (I hope this comes with Night of the Raven for G2?)

I think these will fulfill my ache for RPGing without the online aspects that annoy me so much.

And I dont give a damn about Darkfall Online, everyone at the Darkfall forums are complete and total assholes anyway.

I'm still in the Evilution: TNT pack of Final Doom - right at the secret level where they forgot to implement the yellow key card. IDKFA did help, of course, but I'd nearly forgotten about this fact - this time I'm playing the original instead of the jDoom/Doomsday version which was already fixed.

Never did play too much of either of the "Final Doom" games. While Doom 1&2 will always remain 2 of the best computer games ever made imo, the "Final Doom" pack seemed like an uninspired attempt to cash in on some extra money to me.

Oh yes, it is. Fan-made levels adopted by id.

@Ammon777—Wish you the best of luck man— you're going to love the Witcher. And I think Gothic Universe has NoTR. If you want some rpg interaction, just come here and talk to real people.

Been dallying about finishing off The Witcher but expect that by the end of the week will have finished…it's like that great book that you just hate to get to the last page on..but the way it looks won't be long til the patch is out—just in time for the second playthrough.

Ammon, no offense, but I think you may have a bit of a problem. Have you ever tried to talk to a professional about your gaming? I ain't one, but what you're describing doesn't seem to be quite healthy behavior any more — it sounds like the games are playing you and not the other way around.

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
Ammon, no offense, but I think you may have a bit of a problem. Have you ever tried to talk to a professional about your gaming? I ain't one, but what you're describing doesn't seem to be quite healthy behavior any more — it sounds like the games are playing you and not the other way around.

I very much agree - and we had suggested similar things the last time at this point in the merry-go-round.

@txa&PJ: Ammon's stated multiple times that he has mental health issues to the point of being unable to work such that he's effectively on permanent disability. If he chooses to use games as his escape, I can't see how being judgmental about it contributes anything.

Originally Posted by chamr
If he chooses to use games as his escape, I can't see how being judgmental about it contributes anything.

I understand what you are saying, but what we are saying is that it seems like he is to the point where it is like draining a fifth of vodka to deal with his troubles … would you say that suggesting an alcoholic seek treatment would be 'judgmental'?

Originally Posted by chamr
@txa&PJ: Ammon's stated multiple times that he has mental health issues to the point of being unable to work such that he's effectively on permanent disability. If he chooses to use games as his escape, I can't see how being judgmental about it contributes anything.

It sounded like genuine concern to me, not that they were being judgmental.

Originally Posted by txa1265
I understand what you are saying, but what we are saying is that it seems like he is to the point where it is like draining a fifth of vodka to deal with his troubles … would you say that suggesting an alcoholic seek treatment would be 'judgmental'?

No, because you're confusing the primary issue with a secondary self-medication. I'd suggest that his primary problem is not game addiction. I'd suggest that games are a way to temporarily forget his primary problem, schizophrenia. He's made reference to meds, so I'm assuming he's already treating his primary problem as best he can. Reducing the amount of time he plays would have no impact on his primary condition, in my uninformed, uneducated opinion. To begrudge him that is missing the larger point.

Originally Posted by chamr
I'd suggest that games are a way to temporarily forget his primary problem, schizophrenia.

I'd agree if it wasn't for a long history here of being completely addicted to MMO's, then throwing them aside completely and saying 'never again' and then going back … he is on a serious roller-coaster with games that doesn't appear healthy. It isn't about trying to judge him, just to suggest that he really needs to get professional help - and like you say, it seems like he is getting some from the meds and so on, but it seems that he needs to integrate his gaming issues with his therapist.

…playing Catacomb Apocalypse now… wow, I nearly forgot how thrilling this 1992 game was…

Pros:

• will run even on my current computer
• enemies will always try to stampede you, so no tedious searching for them
• hilarious animations
• hub-centered gameplay enhances degree of 'felt freedom of choice'

Cons:

• the animated textures in some levels probably cause eye cancer
• Due to said hubs, I lose my way pretty often

The only MMORPG I might consider playing when it comes out, is Warhammer Online. It looks pretty good.

Thanks a lot for the concern guys! I should explain, though. My real problems are schizoaffective disorder and my effort to stay content in what I am doing and mentally stable at the same time. I am a very unstable person by nature; sometimes I feel violent and aggressive and other times I am calm. I never do harm to any person or animal (I love animals) but I am mentally unstable. Schizoaffective disorder = paranoid schizophrenia + major depression in cyclic mood swings. I go through a very long mental-state cycle that has a span of about 6 months. Places along the cycle consist of auditory hallucinations (voices) and altered mental states.

I am very heavily medicated and that is just to keep me sane and relatively stable. The depression comes and goes with the mood swings, and when that happens I take an extra Zyprexa and it gets a lot better in an hour.

But what is important here is that MMOs serve as a social function, mainly the only social function that exists outside of my family life (living with my parents and 2 little sisters). I dont have friends here because I am ostrasized from this small-town community due to misunderstandings that stemmed from my days in High School and growing up here. I was very unstable and generally dislikable. Actually I was pretty insane since I was unmedicated and believed I was a satanist. That pretty much destroyed any social developments. I am now an atheistic pagan, but was raised a christian (mormon)… Anyway, so MMOs serve to somewhat fill a social void in my life. However when I eventually realize that the social void is usually always negative, it affects my moods negatively and then its a never-ending spiral until I get to the point of not wanting to play MMOs anymore at all…

Unlike the previous times, I talked to my psychiatrist yesterday about this (Thursday). She said I must "stay away from any stress whatsoever in your life because stress is what triggers your illness to return." Thats why US government pays me not to work: I am unemployable. She also said if social gaming causes me stress, I should quit the social aspects of gaming, even though the social aspects could be benefitial in a certain way. I am supposed to "avoid all stress" and gladly play games because they dont cause me any stress and they are fun: however negative social interactions do cause that stress in me, because I have few social abilities and I do not understand other people very well, plus when the other person (in World of Warcraft or MMO forum (like nasty places such as Darkfall forums)) are hostile towards me, I get angry in real life because I do not understand how to deal with it, and it causes me to become upset IRL. I have enough problems with trying to keep myself in stable mental states, the online aspect of dealing with hostility or griefing actually really affects me badly. So I have been instructed to drop "online gaming if it causes you to stress at all," she says.

That sucks because I've waited for Darkfall Online for over 6 years… But then I realize that Darkfall is open PvP-focused. It seems it would cause a lot of stress, which is bad.

Now thats a hard thing because I barely have any social life for going on 20 years now (Im 33). MMORPGs were a way to fill that need. I think I have found a solution though, I think I will talk to my longtime friends at these forums — thats you guys — on a daily basis instead of MMOers. This will help me fill that social void.

You guys/gals have been my friends & associates for like 5 years so I will just talk to you guys here on the forums to get my social fix. And single-player games will be great. Computer games, my immediate family, and my pet animals are my life, I dont have much else to look forwards to.

I also think there exists a basic human need to interact with others, and thats what drives my wanting to play MMOs.

Originally Posted by Ammon777
Thanks a lot for the concern guys! I should explain, though. My real problems are schizoaffective disorder and my effort to stay content in what I am doing and mentally stable at the same time. I am a very unstable person by nature; sometimes I feel violent and aggressive and other times I am calm. I never do harm to any person or animal (I love animals) but I am mentally unstable. Schizoaffective disorder = paranoid schizophrenia + major depression in cyclic mood swings. I go through a very long mental-state cycle that has a span of about 6 months. Places along the cycle consist of auditory hallucinations (voices) and altered mental states.

I am very heavily medicated and that is just to keep me sane and relatively stable. The depression comes and goes with the mood swings, and when that happens I take an extra Zyprexa and it gets a lot better in an hour.

But what is important here is that MMOs serve as a social function, mainly the only social function that exists outside of my family life (living with my parents and 2 little sisters). I dont have friends here because I am ostrasized from this small-town community due to misunderstandings that stemmed from my days in High School and growing up here. I was very unstable and generally dislikable. Actually I was pretty insane since I was unmedicated and believed I was a satanist. That pretty much destroyed any social developments. I am now an atheistic pagan, but was raised a christian (mormon)… Anyway, so MMOs serve to somewhat fill a social void in my life. However when I eventually realize that the social void is usually always negative, it affects my moods negatively and then its a never-ending spiral until I get to the point of not wanting to play MMOs anymore at all…

Unlike the previous times, I talked to my psychiatrist yesterday about this (Thursday). She said I must "stay away from any stress whatsoever in your life because stress is what triggers your illness to return." Thats why US government pays me not to work: I am unemployable. She also said if social gaming causes me stress, I should quit the social aspects of gaming, even though the social aspects could be benefitial in a certain way. I am supposed to "avoid all stress" and gladly play games because they dont cause me any stress and they are fun: however negative social interactions do cause that stress in me, because I have few social abilities and I do not understand other people very well, plus when the other person (in World of Warcraft or MMO forum (like nasty places such as Darkfall forums)) are hostile towards me, I get angry in real life because I do not understand how to deal with it, and it causes me to become upset IRL. I have enough problems with trying to keep myself in stable mental states, the online aspect of dealing with hostility or griefing actually really affects me badly. So I have been instructed to drop "online gaming if it causes you to stress at all," she says.

That sucks because I've waited for Darkfall Online for over 6 years… But then I realize that Darkfall is open PvP-focused. It seems it would cause a lot of stress, which is bad.

Now thats a hard thing because I barely have any social life for going on 20 years now (Im 33). MMORPGs were a way to fill that need. I think I have found a solution though, I think I will talk to my longtime friends at these forums — thats you guys — on a daily basis instead of MMOers. This will help me fill that social void.

You guys/gals have been my friends & associates for like 5 years so I will just talk to you guys here on the forums to get my social fix. And single-player games will be great. Computer games, my immediate family, and my pet animals are my life, I dont have much else to look forwards to.

I truly empathize with you Ammon (for reasons I won't discuss right now)… and I can see where you would want to use online gaming as a way to "socialize" (even though I myself absolutely hate MMO's… mostly for the reasons that they upset you).

Since you have met some consistent, friendly, understanding people here on The Watch, you may want to try to get into a game of NWN or NWN2 with a few of them. This would allow you to socialize with people who understand your plight (as much as we can anyway) in a smaller gaming world. Instead of playing with thousands of people you don't know… most of whom are losers, you could play with a select few from here who you feel comfortable with.

You just need to either find someone who wants to DM and host the sessions, or find a place that offers a persistent world where just you and your friends can gather (preferably a password protected mod).

Just some thoughts…

Originally Posted by Ammon777
I also think there exists a basic human need to interact with others, and thats what drives my wanting to play MMOs.

This may sound silly, and I apologize if it does, but have you considered low-stress games like ToonTown or Club Penguin?

Ah nah, I dont like cartoons or kids stuff… lol, thats silly.

I'm a kind of like… Middle Earth kinda guy! Give me a sword and a shield, and I'll go kill orcs and dragons, ect…

And I might try to NWN2 stuff, I just need to buy it first though.

@Ammon, thanks for the explanation, and I'm very happy you took my comment in the spirit it was intended. Do take care of yourself. For the social thing, perhaps places like this one might work better than MMO's?