An article about a solon's graduation message to students urging them to not play online games was posted on Plurk by CM Charms. It immediately caught my attention.
As I began reading this short article (it is currently making a fuss in my Plurk universe), it brought me back to my heydays as an online gaming addict. It lasted a couple of years but it took a toll on my entire life.
Like every typical Pinoy online gaming kid, I started with Ragnarok Online. I was in college that time, with a daily allowance of PHP300. It was the only online game in the country then, and it took advantage of the situation by turning the game into a Pay-to-Play business. Needless to say I would refuse to buy anything but game cards to feed my need to play. We did not have an internet connection at home, so I spent countless hours in an internet shop at the nearest mall until it closes.
My grades took a dive. I didn't care. I was hooked on playing. I settled for meager passing grades. I hardly attended any of my classes and would even drag a few of my classmates to cut classes and play with me at the internet shops around the campus.
When an internet shop opened near our house, I practically lived there. I would go home just to change clothes. I was at the shop everyday, playing all night, until the next day when it was time to go to school. It became a routine.
I got over the hype when I came so close to actually flunking four major subjects. It brought me back to the books.
But the hunger to play never left.
I quit Ragnarok and moved on to other games. I tried out every game there was. Ran Online, Khan, Tantra. I continued to play but conditioned myself to play in moderation. I gave myself a 2-hour game time and used it as my choice of relaxation.
The gamer in me took over again when I entered medical school. My parents put me in an apartment. I was unsupervised. My allowance increased to PHP400 per day. With internet shops around the apartment,I lost control.
It was back to the addiction.
I paid for it dearly.
I almost flunked out of medical school because of my grades. My classmates, who were all grade-conscious, hardly befriended me. My family became ashamed of me. I was alone.
And the one person I turned to for comfort and love dumped me for some random person from the online gaming world.
There's more to life than gaming. Life is not just about you, your computer and your game character. You may have friends in-game but they could never replace or even compare to your real-life friends. There may be lessons you can learn from playing but nothing beats the lessons you will learn from personal life experiences. Your priorities at present may reflect the priorities you will have in the future.
There is nothing wrong with playing. It only becomes wrong when you lose yourself in it and forget that there are people who actually care about you and want to be with you.
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