I’m too sexy for my personal hygiene
      by Bucky


         Friday, June 20, 2003 -11:27

            Every so often you gain a little piece of knowledge that you really could have done without, no really. For today’s rant I will be examining one of the most disgraceful addictions to ever exist in this world, but first a little background. If you are even the slightest bit familiar with online games then you’ve probably heard the word Everquest thrown around at least once. Everquest is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (mmorpg) in which you create a character of a chosen race and class to be your avatar in the game as you take part in adventures to increase the abilities of your character. This is common amongst most role-playing games (RPG) out there whether it is a mud, single player game, tabletop, or some other type. Everquest however is well-known for its addictive properties that leave its gamer glued to their monitor while throwing what little life they may have previously had straight out the window. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that video games are the devil, heck I love video games just as much as the next 80s kid raised on Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. I’m not even going to say that online rpgs are bad, so long as you manage to use some level of self-control. What I am going to tell you is there is no substitute for the real world. If you are a freshman and you plan on becoming at least a sophomore then know that you statistically stand a much great chance at accomplishing this goal if you stay off the “evercrack”.

In my couple years spent at college I’ve personally known several people to actually fail out of college due primarily to their addiction to Everquest. I’ve witnessed seemingly healthy young adults purchase what they thought to be just another game and then disappear for weeks at a time only for their friends to learn that they were sacrificing all responsibilities such as classes, work, and personal hygiene in order to play a game. This of course leads to not coming back to college the next semester and never being heard from again. In some cases the apathy towards reality is so strong that one will not attend any classes after the first week of classes for the duration of the semester, while eventually losing all remaining dignity and potentially ruining their future.

After such a semester you will most likely lack the grade point average to even attend classes the fall term and will be forced to seek refuge someplace else while continuing to support your addiction, at some point you will have passed out of all knowledge amongst former friends and forget what its like to live a normal and healthy life. At some point you’ll find yourself hating the game and the only reason why you still play is because you have invested so much time in your character. People lose sight of what reality is like and are even known to get married to another player inside the game by a game official. There is of course a ceremony for other players to attend while some are given the role of best man and maid of honor. After which they pass out pieces of cake created using their crafting skills that they have earned and shoot off player made fireworks as well. If that doesn’t get you laughing or crying I don’t know what will, but I do know that this kind of delusion is not healthy.
 

-Bucky, remember kids! only you can prevent throwing your life away