Poopsocking and the Dangers of Online Gaming
December 11th 2008 10:09
It was a few months ago while playing abundant World of Warcraft I read an article on the dangers of too much online gaming and discovered there was such a thing as poopsocking. This is digusting and I must say I am not that addicted to WoW that I can't get to the toilet. It has even been suggested that poopsocking is an urban myth - but if you have seen the South Park Episode Make Love Not Warcraft you know anything can be possible.
"Poopsocking" is the supposed activity of a gamer so focused on playing he would rather poop in a sock than risk a bathroom break from the action. Another version describes the stereotypical gamer as drinking a lot of soda, and using said cans in a related way. Others call it catassing, where the player becomes so engrossed in playing they forget basic chores, such as cleaning the cat's litter box, for so long that the stench wafts through their entire house.
Media Watchdogs complain poopsocking is not healthy. They're right. Plus, from a pure gameplay perspective, it encourages players to level quickly and disrupt the ability flow of the gaming population. So occasionally, a game has a built-in function to reward the player for taking a break from the game. This also works from a business standpoint, because once you charge a monthly fee, a company doesn't care how much you play, only that you play some time each month.
There is some reality to the dangers of poopsocking. There are documented cases of people who literally play themselves to death, mostly by playing so long that they ignore basic needs like food and water. Some other cases have even resulted in the deaths of babies because their parents were too preoccupied with poopsocking to care for them.
World of Warcraft has introduced methods to curb the dangers of online gamers and poopsocking.
World Of Warcraft rewards time logged out with a short period of increased XP (experience) after you log back in. A loading screen tip reads, "Take all things in moderation, even World of Warcraft." In addition, raid dungeons can only be done once every few days by a given group.
In China, the system is much harsher, with players receiving half normal experience points and gold after 3 consecutive hours of play, and no experience points, gold, or quest rewards after 5 consecutive hours of play. These features, by the way, have been specifically requested by the Chinese government.
This is actually not too surprising to those with passing knowledge of the community, as gold-selling sites are often said to be fueled by "Chinese gold-farmers." The Other Wiki (linked above to "catassing"), in fact, has documented cases of Asians playing to death. That is, not Europeans, Americans or Latin Americans, but Chinese, Koreans and Hindus.
Except that although said gold farmers play from China and other asian nations, they play US and EU copies of the game on US and EU servers, which follow the normal "No penalty for excessive play, only a bonus for downtime" rules.
The expansion introduced Daily Quests, which can only be done (you guessed it) once per day, and you can only do 25 quests of that type per day. And the Heroic system which acts as a higher difficulty for dungeons. On heroic, every dungeon can only be cleared once per day, although it would take far longer than 24 hours to do all of them.
The South Park Affectionate Parody of Wo W ("Make Love, Not Warcraft") has one of the most effective poopsocking satires ever.
Finally, Item Crafting has an Anti Poop Socking element of its own: specific item crafts have a real time recharge time between one and four days. As these items can be traded, they are usually in high demand and serve as a good source of income even if you aren't making much use of your professions otherwise.
This is the only decent clip I could find from the episode of Make Love Not Warcraft - for gamers and people in general the episode is one of their best.
WARNING: PLAYING ONLINE GAMES FOR EXTENDED PERIODS CAN HARM YOU - PLAY IN MODERATION
I have once played for 15hrs straight and forgot the outside world - it was fun but it messes with the head and body - be careful
Images are actually of my now LVL 71 Night Elf Druid - Drizzyt on Staghelm server.
"Poopsocking" is the supposed activity of a gamer so focused on playing he would rather poop in a sock than risk a bathroom break from the action. Another version describes the stereotypical gamer as drinking a lot of soda, and using said cans in a related way. Others call it catassing, where the player becomes so engrossed in playing they forget basic chores, such as cleaning the cat's litter box, for so long that the stench wafts through their entire house.
Media Watchdogs complain poopsocking is not healthy. They're right. Plus, from a pure gameplay perspective, it encourages players to level quickly and disrupt the ability flow of the gaming population. So occasionally, a game has a built-in function to reward the player for taking a break from the game. This also works from a business standpoint, because once you charge a monthly fee, a company doesn't care how much you play, only that you play some time each month.
There is some reality to the dangers of poopsocking. There are documented cases of people who literally play themselves to death, mostly by playing so long that they ignore basic needs like food and water. Some other cases have even resulted in the deaths of babies because their parents were too preoccupied with poopsocking to care for them.
World of Warcraft has introduced methods to curb the dangers of online gamers and poopsocking.
World Of Warcraft rewards time logged out with a short period of increased XP (experience) after you log back in. A loading screen tip reads, "Take all things in moderation, even World of Warcraft." In addition, raid dungeons can only be done once every few days by a given group.
In China, the system is much harsher, with players receiving half normal experience points and gold after 3 consecutive hours of play, and no experience points, gold, or quest rewards after 5 consecutive hours of play. These features, by the way, have been specifically requested by the Chinese government.
This is actually not too surprising to those with passing knowledge of the community, as gold-selling sites are often said to be fueled by "Chinese gold-farmers." The Other Wiki (linked above to "catassing"), in fact, has documented cases of Asians playing to death. That is, not Europeans, Americans or Latin Americans, but Chinese, Koreans and Hindus.
Except that although said gold farmers play from China and other asian nations, they play US and EU copies of the game on US and EU servers, which follow the normal "No penalty for excessive play, only a bonus for downtime" rules.
The expansion introduced Daily Quests, which can only be done (you guessed it) once per day, and you can only do 25 quests of that type per day. And the Heroic system which acts as a higher difficulty for dungeons. On heroic, every dungeon can only be cleared once per day, although it would take far longer than 24 hours to do all of them.
The South Park Affectionate Parody of Wo W ("Make Love, Not Warcraft") has one of the most effective poopsocking satires ever.
Finally, Item Crafting has an Anti Poop Socking element of its own: specific item crafts have a real time recharge time between one and four days. As these items can be traded, they are usually in high demand and serve as a good source of income even if you aren't making much use of your professions otherwise.
S Korean dies after games session
Online gaming is treated like a sport in South Korea
A South Korean man has died after reportedly playing an online computer game for 50 hours with few breaks.
The 28-year-old man collapsed after playing the game Starcraft at an internet cafe in the city of Taegu, according to South Korean authorities.
The man had not slept properly, and had eaten very little during his marathon session, said police.
Multi-player gaming in South Korea is extremely popular thanks to its fast and widespread broadband network.
Games are televised and professional players are treated, as well as paid, like sports stars.
Professional gamers there attract huge sums in sponsorship and can make more than $100,000 a year.
They are the types of games that completely engross the player. They are not games that you can play for 20 minutes and stop
Professor Mark Griffiths
The man, identified by his family name, Lee, started playing Starcraft on 3 August. He only paused playing to go to the toilet and for short periods of sleep, said the police.
"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official told the Reuters news agency.
He was taken to hospital following his collapse, but died shortly after, according to the police. It is not known whether he suffered from any previous health conditions.
They added that he had recently been fired from his job because he kept missing work to play computer games.
Online gaming is treated like a sport in South Korea
A South Korean man has died after reportedly playing an online computer game for 50 hours with few breaks.
The 28-year-old man collapsed after playing the game Starcraft at an internet cafe in the city of Taegu, according to South Korean authorities.
The man had not slept properly, and had eaten very little during his marathon session, said police.
Multi-player gaming in South Korea is extremely popular thanks to its fast and widespread broadband network.
Games are televised and professional players are treated, as well as paid, like sports stars.
Professional gamers there attract huge sums in sponsorship and can make more than $100,000 a year.
They are the types of games that completely engross the player. They are not games that you can play for 20 minutes and stop
Professor Mark Griffiths
The man, identified by his family name, Lee, started playing Starcraft on 3 August. He only paused playing to go to the toilet and for short periods of sleep, said the police.
"We presume the cause of death was heart failure stemming from exhaustion," a Taegu provincial police official told the Reuters news agency.
He was taken to hospital following his collapse, but died shortly after, according to the police. It is not known whether he suffered from any previous health conditions.
They added that he had recently been fired from his job because he kept missing work to play computer games.
This is the only decent clip I could find from the episode of Make Love Not Warcraft - for gamers and people in general the episode is one of their best.
WARNING: PLAYING ONLINE GAMES FOR EXTENDED PERIODS CAN HARM YOU - PLAY IN MODERATION
I have once played for 15hrs straight and forgot the outside world - it was fun but it messes with the head and body - be careful
Images are actually of my now LVL 71 Night Elf Druid - Drizzyt on Staghelm server.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Comment by Wilson Pon
Health 2 Know
Adventure Toes
boxing sound
Business Rope
Fun Places 2 Travel
A little piece of advice to all gamer addicts, remember one thing here ---> "Your Health comes first!"...
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Wilson - I know and thanks. Yes - WoW rocks! I am having a brewak from it at the moment probably until afterXmas then back into it. What lvl u up to now?
Thanks for commenting guys!
Comment by Waysouth
Given To Gaming
Waysouth
Spanish Honduras
Comment by WoopWoop
Someone posted a thread about a girl he knem who had been dating a guy who was kind of weird. In the end it turned out that he was storing his feces in socks in duffel bags under his bed.
It's still a good term for an unhealthy dedication to the game.