Therapist Wants In-Game Treatment for WoW Addicts

[Rigs83]

Blizzard already figured out how to cure WOW addiction. Epically bad customer support, it cured me and I haven't played WOW in five months, I wonder if that means I get a coin.

 

[gibboss28]

People who decide to put video games of any kind, not just World of Warcraft ahead of the things that are generally more important than a bunch of pixels needs a kick up the backside and to have their console/PC taken away, not counselling.

And if i'm honest it sounds like this Therapist just wants to play WoW at reduced/no cost per month.

 

[Asehujiko]

If i got a random level 5 telling me that he's a shrink trying to help me off my OCD bad enviroment "addiction" my most likely response would be to /ignore him. There are 2 types of lowbies allowed to whisper me: the guild bank mules informing me that we ran out of space on the official bank again and friends notifying me that they started leveling a new alt.

And besides, what are they going to do in their therapy? Sit in the starting zone and /w their patients? Or hogging valuable RP estate and demand the client moves his char over to goldshire so everything can be conducted in /s?

Also, lol @ demanding that blizzard gives him a free account.

 

[Warstratigier]

If anything they might as well try to educate them on ettiquette and open-minded thinking but if I were to take it seriously I would advise this...

...In nature, you simply cannot fix stupid.

Wrong, nature fixes stupid all the time, it's called extinction.

Oh yes of course, I should have known that. Thanks for the reminder. Though it sure feels like extinction is taking its sweet time for those.

 

[Timotei]

I think it's a great idea. But like opening a bank in today's financial climate, there are many barriers to entry.

What I think will be the most difficult thing is getting addict to realize and admit they have a problem as most game addicts just blow off anybody who tries to help.

Also since the therapy sessions will be taking place in the game there is the problem of the patient not being in a serious mood. This will be a major obstacle said therapists will have to overcome, especially with younger players.

 

[phatty500]

what if some pedophile startd impersonating them.

 

[scnj]

So they expect to be allowed cheap/free access to WoW to drive away Blizzard's customers? I don't fucking think so.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

"The doctor called on Blizzard to "waive or discount" fees for psychiatrists "
I don't know if this happened to everyone who read this, but I sudently imagined an addicted psychiatrist raiding 24/7 and paying discount prices to play the game.

It's impossible to get addicted to World of Warcraft. What IS possible is that you might have no friends 'cause you have a problem or are simply to shy resulting in you appealing to the internet for your social needs.

Psychiatrists can help you NOT by "curing" your so called "addiction" but by helping you with your current problem, the one that makes you play World of Warcraft so much. It is always best for the psychiatrist to be near you when you talk to him, it makes you fell more comfortable and are more open to sharing your problems with him.

 

[Leftyrem]

wow just wow thats so hilarious

 

[The Great JT]

Isn't that like having a radiation fallout clinic on a nuclear bomb test range?

 

[soaringbiscuit]

The problem with this whole "get them to quit the game" thing is that it requires them to play the game

 

[Rednog]

Psychiatrist whispers: Hey there Billy, your parents have told me you haven't been going to school recently and you've been playing WoW a lot. I understand you have to get your epic loot, but going to school will give you epic loot in real life.
Billy whispers: stfu noob, raiding.
Psychiatrist: Billy can you spare some time to talk to me?
*Billy has ignored you*

 

[Akai Shizuku]

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing too hard to say anything in particular about this.

 

[cobra_ky]

if i could convince people i was a GM, i could definitely convince them i'm an in-game shrink.

..i am totally for this idea!

 

[IxionIndustries]

Haha!!! This tickles me in just the right spot... The fact that the psychiatrists have to play the game to get the job done is so ironic, it makes my teeth itch! And the psychiatrists are asking blizzard to waive fees? That won't happen, because in a month, at least three of the psychiatrists will be addicted, have hit level 80, and will be in the battlegrounds pwning the nubs.

The question is whether the good publicity to be gained from showing willing by allowing psychiatrists online officially will outweigh the fact that most people being treated will have the ultimate aim of staying offline for good (addiction treatment tends to follow this unless you cannot avoid the addiction, i.e. shopping).

You know, I wonder if those psychiatrists will pick up the habit of trolling/griefing..

 

[Jedoro]

The only type of in-game therapy that would work to break addictions to WoW would be making multiple characters who spam said addicts with this message:

"GTFO!"

 

[bodyklok]

I'm personally betting this will back fire and the psychiatrists will become addicted to WOW. At the same time it could be cool to see videos of this on Youtube; the psychiatrist running after his patent in the middle of a raid and then shouting at him to save him from a high level monster that's about to kill him.

 

[The Random One]

Good idea, one of the most unlikely to work yet. How exactly do you 1) figure out who in the game is addicted, 2) approach them in a way that'll make them receptive to you, 3) figure out how to bill them afterwards? (OK, assuming that the last one can be skipped and the therapists are only doing this out of the kindness of their hearts, it's still the slightest bit of problem.)

Although I agree psychologists trying to cure people of WoW addiction would be more efficient if they played the game and understood it more. More power to Blizzard if they go through with giving them discounts.

(The idea of those doctors becoming addicted themselves, I find it even more unlikely, although still hilarious.)