Poll: Do Phobias Affect Your Gaming?

[Ragsnstitches]

The Spiders in the original Thief and System Shock 2 (same model with different textures) freaked me the fuck out. The way they move, they come in groups... and in SS2 some variants are partially invisible.

Tarantulas in Classic Resident Evil were terrifying. Having a big fucking thing come trundling at me while reared up would make me lunge at the off button on my Dreamcast reflexively (played the resi series on DC, never had a playstation 1).

All these games I played when I was young. Don't have that problem anymore. EDIT: Though I'm still terrified of spiders in real life.

 

[neokiva]

me i have a problem with extreme height and in games everytime i jump down (this happens more in mmos) but i get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, there are a few mmos that have jumps with high falls like dust 514 (which has inertial dampeners and a shielded suit among other things) and it doesn't happen it's weird. god imagine what it'll be like when oculus rift is finally out and not just an expensive devkit. Oo people already have tons of videos of people falling over themselves because of that game hold on tight.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

My phobias are more along the lines of being afraid of heights and, whatnot. The closest I've come to being unable to play a game was Super Mario Galaxy which made me dizzy and gave me a bit of vertigo. I got over it eventually of course...so I guess that shouldn't count.

Of course if I were to ever encounter a huge, video game-like spider in real life I would probably get the Hell away from it...

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I'd say no. I'm Thalassophobic, yet in games like Fallout: New Vegas and Skyrim, I swim in the biggest, deepest bodies of water I can find, with no problem whatsoever.

 

[Silvanus]

Mine is spiders, too, and yet I'm not affected by game-spiders at all.

None so far, anyway; not in Skyrim, not in Resident Evil, not in Guild Wars 1 or 2.

Spoiler: Not even these ones. Go on, open it.

You fell for it, didn't you?!

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Slightly, like in Skyrim, I am uneasy at the sight of spiders.

But then I shout at them angrily and that seems to nullify the fear.

 

[Hippobatman]

Generally speaking, no.

However, I do not enjoy the ocean. Or any large body of water, mostly due to the lack of visibility under you, and the fact that there is probably something murderous down there just waiting for you. Watching you.

So when I played FarCry 3, I stayed the hell away from the water, because I knew there were going to be bull sharks (the worst shark) in the immidiate vicinity. This made upgrading my gear a living nightmare.

That's the only time I've ever been afraid/reluctant to do anything in a game, though.

 

[Nosirrah]

I get grossed out by the thought of the Bloatfly's from Fallout, their ranged attack is actually an infestation bug that feeds on hosts till they mature and become more Bloatflys. I always get my companions to deal with them, thankfully their aggression radius is smaller than most enemies.

I always treated them as a joke until I read that somewhere. now I hate them.

captcha: play a game. yes captcha, let's invite the bloatflies to a nice game of catch the nuka grenade.

 

[Apl_J]

Water levels.

Because the only thing scarier than a giant shark underwater is drowning at the same time.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Hmm... sometimes.

I have more than one phobia.

I'm afraid of spiders, and I'm afraid of water.

Let me explain.

When I see a spider in a game... my reaction is to torture said enemy, and draw out their death as much as possible for the maximum catharsis value. Case in point: Skyrim... I deliberately use low-level spells and weapons against them no matter how high level I (and they) get, unless I really have to. Why? Because I want to make the fucking things suffer. No, I'm not and never have been terrified of spiders in games, or monsters meant to resemble spiders in games...

but in real life? I can't get away from the fuckers fast enough. And those trees in India or Australia or wherever where MILLIONS of them climbed up to and essentially made spider mega-cities when the area flooded...


uh... yeah... BURN THOSE TO THE GROUND I SAY!

Incidentally, I'm also very good at taking simple Halloween prop webbing, and spreading over anything to make it look ancient and creepy. And I also liked main continuity Spider-man comics until Linkara pointed out the biggest problem with that character: he never grows up, he never really learns anything, and just finds a new way to whine about everything.

Ultimate Spider-man (before he died, obviously), on the other hand, I still enjoy because he DOES change... not in all areas, but he does face a lot of nasty consequences for not growing up quite fast enough... to the point where he develops a very believable case of suicidal depression.

Anyway...

back on topic.

My fear of water, however... has yet to affect me in games at all... or in any medium for that matter.

Why?

Because, as far as I know, there are very few triggers for that particular fear.

Namely, I have to have water apparently surrounding my head... like I would if I were washing my hair in the shower, or trying to dive into a pool... or something like that.

It isn't enough to just dump water on my head, there has to be enough water for it to flowing past or, engulf my head in order to trigger my phobic response. Which is largely very erratic mouth-breathing and shivering. (with spiders... I tend to reach for the nearest can of Raid... or a broom... or a lighter... and seek to kill every spider in the area and destroy their homes... or else... lacking those items, I retreat to somewhere seriously lacking in the spider department)

And yes, showering is a huge pain in the ass for this very reason. I still take showers of course... but I've managed to find ways to control my fear, and get through it.

But anyway... since games don't yet have the capability to simulate the feeling of being surrounded by water to the degrees that I mentioned... that particular phobia hasn't affected me at all.

 

[Not Matt]

I am equineophobic (I despise horses) and I always shoot every killable horse I find in a game (red dead redemption is now a hiking simulator) but it doesn't prevent me from enjoying a game. It actually makes it better because I now see horse hunting as a minigame.

 

[Winthrop]

No, but I've known a few people who have issues with bees who had trouble with a few games.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

I would say yes just because of Far Cry 3 and my fear of heights. Getting through Far Cry 3 with having to jump off a very high cliff did not help my fear. I remember half of the time I did it I closed my eyes and hugging my knees to my chest. Was not a fan.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

It's strange. I can't say I'm particularly phobic, but I do know particularly well-crafted zombie makeup jobs and in-game models make me a little wary of what's coming. The more the creature design feels like something *attempting* to be human, the more I'm creeped out. The armless and acid-spitting creatures in Silent Hill 2 consistently get to me, as do the faceless nurses. The movie's rendition of them was particularly efficient, in that I squirmed a bunch of times.

That said, I can sit through the Evil Dead movies and their Deadite designs without a hitch, for instance. Same for the Slender Man, as it's more a case of Eight Pages or The Arrival's musical cue making me jump than the actual sight of the creature. Having always had a yen for lanky types, I'm not really repulsed by Slendy's appearance.

Or - consider Outlast. Most of the inmates didn't bother me, and neither did Chris Walker, but the one inmate that attempts to follow you while being locked up in a straightjacket? He says absolutely nothing and just - follows you around?

THAT creeps me out to no end.

Otherwise, I can sit through the classic Leatherface movies, but his pelvic waggle move with his chainsaw held over his head gives me the heebie-jeebies.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Kinda.

Some spiders/large insects can freak me out plenty. The large spiders in White Knight Chronicles for instance. And the only instance I can think of at the moment.
edit: well, the weaponized spiders in Skyrim kinda screwed with my phobia of insects larger than a dime, and realistic looking, and near me. But I kinda got over it some since the spiders kinda look like they have a kitten face on their heads.

The risk of fall damage+heights/looking down kinda gets to me. One of the latter levels in the PSX Ghost in the Shell Game had a remarkable cityscape at night, and I happened to be above it all hopping across narrow platforms in a fuchikoma. Slipping off the side, even with the ability to stick to walls messed with me. GTAIV had a tall building with a glass awning on it. Looking down while standing on it kinda gets to me.
But it's not really a fear of heights. I mean I can fly/glide around in Saints Row IV, or jump in GTA V knowing I have a parachute.
I guess it's more the landing than the actual fall.

The zombies in oblivion kinda freak me out with the wet slapping noises of their feet as they shamble about. I dreaded every last encounter with them.

'm not a huge fan of games like amnesia. can't play dead island alone very well either. I have paranoia issues, and such. Pressure, plus a constant sense of danger, and all.

 

[Windcaler]

Not really. I dont really have a phobia per say, in fact I have very few physical fears, nut I am scared of heights. Yet in most video games I actually like to be high in the air, looking at the set pieces and details of things I see in the distance. So no, games are not yet immersive enough to inspire my fear of heights but to be fair I havnt tried the oculus rift yet

 

[beastro]

Skyrim with the realistic spiders mods? And lets say a mod to increase their spawn rates.

Skyrim with a mod that infrequently-randomly spawn spiders in mid leap at you would rock.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I am horrifically arachnophobic so when ever I run into a giant spider in Skyrim I literally close my eyes charge head first into it holding down the triggers to fire spells at it. and I do not open my eyes or let go of the triggers until I'm absolutely sure It's dead.

I've had to fight spiders in other games, and I've handed off the controller to other people so I didn't have to look at them.

 

[Scarim Coral]

While I too am afraid of spiders but I am never get frighten of video games arachnids at all. The only closest I can think of is I get slightly uncomfortable with the tarantula in Resident Evil but even then I can still played the game.

It seen phobias in gaming is not uncommon at all as I can assure you, you're not the only one. I once read a similar thread on the Blizzard (Diablo 3) forum except they were mostly trolling the OP (it was the OP grilfriend who had arachnidphobia).

 

[Artina89]

Spiders make me quite uncomfortable, but they haven't really affected my enjoyment of a game. If anything, it makes me more likely to try and mow them down.