Has WoW or another game altered how you see the world?

[Underverse]

I would say WoW might have altered my perception of a bunch of things - although it could just be normal aging. I started playing WoW (and a number of other games) when I was around 15. I was leveling a mage through Azuremyst isle today and I realized that I wasn't playing the game the same way I did before. I didn't appreciate the scenery, I didn't feel anything from doing any of the quests or fighting any of the mobs. Granted, this could be an effect of the pathetic ease of leveling and the lack of challenge it presents (as it once did), but I think these changes go deeper than that.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this incredible, immersive experience I had as a teen set a standard in my brain, and since I started playing my brain has slowly adapted to that sense of wonderment to the point where everything seems mundane. It's always 'rush through this, rush through that' - even if I force myself to go slowly and enjoy the process, I can't seem to derive the same enjoyment out of the game that I used to.

My real worry, though, is that this has bled over into the real world - that the real world is more mundane because of the fantastical experiences I've had in these game worlds. Media exposure probably has a similar effect. But I don't know how to stop this from happening, or how to reverse it. I want to.

Have any of you had similar experiences?

[May90]

What you are describing in the pre-last paragraph is a common effect people experience after watching movies, reading books or listening to music sometimes: something out of this world has the ability to make the world look more pale in comparison. I had a similar experience recently after reading an article about massive neutron stars, thinking, "Our Earth is nothing compared to that!" I don't think it is something bad that needs to be reversed, it makes our lives more rich and diverse.

[NED funded]

Yes and I took a gap year, in which I learned that some experiences cannot be simulated.

[Swizzington]

I think that pure sense of wonderment is a thing you only have as a child. (Yeah 15 is a child). But mostly it's because you're so used to it.

It's like, if you go to a complete different country you might feel that sense to an extent, like the feeling of amazement because it's all so new. You aren't going to feel that when you're going to work because you're used to it. Same shit on wow, it's like going to work. I do feel a sense of 'woah' when I'm playing some other games if they have impressive scenery though.

[derpkitteh]

i always kinda knew bad it'd turn out. but fallout really drove it home just how terrible a nuclear war is/will be. it's those quiet places in the game, with no npcs to fight really, just a broken up building with skeletons. they're sitting in their place, papers laying around or a holotape near them. a terminal. you think about all those lives, just snuffed out instantly.

it's just awful. they need to make a fallout game that's meant to be played in schools. no mobs or anything to fight, just a desolate world to see and feel the things i'm talking about. breed generations that truly understand what nuclear war means. i think millenials and others talk about knowing how bad it'd be, but they don't really get it. we didn't live through the cold war and face it happening. didn't have the movies and scare tactics that drove it home. i think we need that.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

It's certainly made me think of things I wouldn't consider. Not specifically WoW but videogames in general.

[Stormspellz]

wow often has me lower my evaluation of the human race

[Powerogue]

Over a decade of runescape burnt out the part of my brain that enjoyed repetition. Does that count?

[Independent voter]

You're jaded OP. Just imagine if you had a time machine went back to 1950, grabbed some kid off the street brought him to 2016 and let him play WoW. He'd be awestruck.

[Celista]

I don't know about "how I see the world", but it did teach me a few lessons about human behavior, how easy it is to get lulled into a mechanism that gives one a steady-state sense of achievement, and that MMOs are basically a huge time sink.

[dextersmith]

WoW has taught me that you can bitch slap people using 2 handled swords without legal repercussions.

[Tulune]

Not particularly, I've always been good at keeping reality and fantasy seperate, so i can still appreciate both.

[apples]

welcome to the world of adulthood

wonder isnt something given to you for free

its something you need to earn

[Lady Dragonheart]

Perhaps, it became something social for me from such a long time of seclusion prior, so it helped me adapt to modern society and break out of my solitary shell.