Silly boy.

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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.

I played for six hours straight last weekend, and got 80% of the way to 71 (running the last BC content).  There are already people dinging 80 out there- I have no idea how much time you need to play to get there just days after Lich, but I'd imagine those people haven't been to work or bed much...

That's a self-discipline problem, and unfortunately, only the person in question can fix that. If you can't control yourself, then take the temptation away. Take the computer chord and throw it on the roof(not too high, of course). Work on homework, watch a little tv, or the parents could make up a new chore(they love doing that, don't they?). Balance it out, you know.

I've got a little problem with playing Fable 2 too much, so I let a friend borrow it until I cool down. Then I can play bit by bit. Make a clean break and stick with it, and that will make it easier to put down the controller next time.

 Too bad he didn't expire from all this, the lines would be that much shorter... right?

Just fucking great, like we need something like that again. Stupid kid.

Wow, epic fail. Better hope amen4u doesn't come in on this. *sighs*

and the father saw all this and did WHAT exactly?

he WAITED for the kid to collapse? THEN got help? shouldn't it be the parents perogative to.. i dunno.. kick him off the computer at least long enough to get some sleep and a good meal? wait.. no... thats the school system and governments responsability, and when they fail its the entertainment industries fault the parents didn't do right and PARENT their kid... damn.

ahh i recall the days when my father would not only rip my net cable outta the wall but walk off with the entire computer if i began to even slump in grades... them were the days... and thats with 2 full time parents that got home usualy about the time i should've been asleep each day.

Considering the article states "the boy and some friends were playing the new Wrath of the Lich King expansion," it reminds me of an all-night sleepover party. Wasn't a wise move, and perhaps it's just my household, but my parents would have kicked me off that computer much sooner than 24 hours into a binge.

Of course! It must be a problem with World of Warcraft! Not, you know, the people who obssess over the game themselves or the parents that let this go on. Damn you, evil media!

Where's sortableturnip when you need him? We need a facepalm pic ASAP!

One of the main things I object to when they claim you aren't socializing. Does talking on the phone count as socializing? Or writing somone a letter? Then why does VoIP and chatting online NOT count as socializing.

When I played Q3, I made friends. Sure they were online, but guess what, they were real. The existed in meat space and when I traveled up north I got to visit them. But now it isn't considered socializing unless you head on down to the juke box parlor, or some such nonsense.

In the end, it comes down to discipline, either self discipline or parental discipline. No one is going to stop doing something they enjoy if they don't want to stop and no one else stops them. But the media will always come up with these stupid angles, and I'm just going to have to call this a "MMMF story" (McDonalds Made Me Fat").

You know what, "Put the mouse down and step away from the keyboard slowly." Just because you like the game and want to keep up with your friends, there isn't any reason for you to game that long. The difference between being hardcore and being a laughingstock is knowing when to quit. Let's relate this to ninja warrior. A couple of seasons ago, a guy running the course would do tricks and such on his way, he missed completing the course by a few seconds, no one remembers him now. Last competition, Levi, a competitor from America, had lots of back flips and such in his run. He finished with the best time. Everyone said that he had done really well.  Quit while you're ahead, don't take things to extremes and make yourself look bad. Know your limits, and know the price you will pay to go beyond them. If you thought that not sleeping and not eating would just leave you tired, then you were being stupid. The body eventually shuts down, with or without your say so. You gave your parents a shock by doing something stupid.

As for feeling "downgraded", most of us feel that. Anytime I stop reading a good book, watching an engaging movie, or playing a good game, I don't like my body. I don't feel like I move as quickly as they do on TV. Then there is the post-ending depression. When you finish watching a good movie or a good book or beating a game, you kinda have this depression that it is over. Usually this is when things aren't wrapped up well. Fable's ending was anticlimatic and rather boring. Left me feeling sad. Does that mean the game was evil? Well, it is evil, but not for that reason. They really need some bug work to be done on it.

And the parents didn't stop this because?

And don't give me crap about "not understanding" or "not being aware" the article clearly demonstrates the parents were concerned.  Well you know what...

Kids do dumb things and its parent's who are responsible for stopping them.  Take the damn game away.  If your kid flips out to an unhealthy degree...well he probably needs counseling.  Kids fixate on things.  I knew a kid who wigged out when his parents wouldn't let him read his favorite book over and over cause he wasn't doing schoolwork.

If a kid has a compulsive disorder that's something to get help for.  But that's rare.

Be a parent...not a friend.

Okay Jack, then shouldn't every TV, computer, and DVD/CD also come with an addiction warning? I don't see why you wouldn't say yes, considering you're totally not just an idiot with a vendetta against only the videogame industry.

24 hours straight is nothing to those who raid competitively. We had people who didn't really sleep once from launch to saturday night, beside a 2 hour nap. Now no one can deny the dangers of lack of sleep/food combined with highly caffinated drinks. However, my guild as well as many others on mannoroth (vodka, macabre, predestined), have proven that WoW and games in general are not what cause things like this.

During the grind up from 70-80 and subsequently raiding Sunday and Monday, I probaly slept around 2 hours a night, the rest was either spent on wow, lectures, or doing papers. While it was not pleasent and at times I did not feel 100% up to par, simply using common sense and forcing myself to eat and drink and obstaining from energy drinks made it bearable.

What my entire dialogue is trying to say is that WoW is not the factor here. The kid used it as a means to this particular end, but wow did not "cause" it. The fact is that people who are addicted to certain practices/substances are usually addicted to others as well, I will only believe the whole wow addiction thing if it comes out that this kid was addicted to porn or whatever else a 15 year old can be addicted to.

Dumbass parents likely let them have 'energy drinks'.

We're going to see a number of young kids having heart attacks before this is over.

Also, monitor your damn kids' game time if they can't do it themselves.