TEXT 1_1
September 9, 2008
Word Range: 386-434
Word Count: 444
In Range?: No
There are two different worlds that we live in today.
There is the real world that everyone knows and lives in, and then there is the gaming world, a world so vast, yet under the
radar. In the past two decades technology had taken leaps and bounds to places that we never thought possible, phones and
TVs that are basically computers and games that have become so meticulous that they are considered jobs.
Waking up at 5:00 in the morning when the birds aren’t even chirping to wait in a ridiculously long line for a
game that costs more than a phone is just one of the numbers of experiences that I have gone through. Until this past year
I had no idea what a rumble pack or midnight release was. But the truth of it all is that there are an
increasing number of young adults who go overboard with game play. For instance, World of Warcraft (WOW) has become a game
so addicting and enormous that 500 page books have been written to understand it all. There are numerous vocabulary words
that would never be used in a casual conversation. PVP, gild, and raids are just a number of words that has a whole different
meaning in a game. Some of the gamers treat this game like a job, setting times to do raids and who to do them with, setting
up meetings to choose new people into their raiding group or who to allow into their gild. This game is a new civilization
in the existing one. There are not enough hours in the day for me to fully explain to you the depth of this one game. But
with that in mind, try and grasp the effect it is having on the people who play it.
While standing in line for the game I met a mother who had driven from Robstown into
Corpus to buy her son this game. After talking for a few minutes she confessed to me that her son is twenty one years old
and is still living at home with know job and not even a driver’s license and spends a significant amount of time on
WOW. She also reveled that he was never able to have a relationship that lasted even a month.
I’m not trying to give a quick fix to what I think is a growing problem. It’s
just something that I thought other people would be interested in reading and learning more about. There are always going
to be the hardcore gamers that take it to the next level of extreme and that just comes with the advances in gaming world.
TEXT 1_2
September 18, 2008
Word Range: 386-434
Word Count: 444
In Range?: No
There are two different worlds that
we live in today. There is the real world that everyone knows and lives in, and then there is the gaming world, a world so
vast, yet under the radar. In the past two decades technology had taken leaps and bounds to places that we never thought possible,
phones and TVs that are basically computers and games that have become so meticulous that they are considered jobs.
Waking up at 5:00 in the morning when the birds aren’t even chirping
to wait in a ridiculously long line for a game that costs more than a phone is just one of the numbers of experiences that
I have gone through. Until this past year I had no idea what a rumble pack or midnight release was. But the truth of it all
is that there are an increasing number of young adults who go overboard with game play. For instance, World of Warcraft (WOW)
has become a game so addicting and enormous that 500 page books have been written to understand it all. There are numerous
vocabulary words that would never be used in a casual conversation. PVP, guild, and raids are just a number of words that
has a whole different meaning in a game. Some of the gamers treat this game like a job, setting times to do raids and who
to do them with, setting up meetings to choose new people into their raiding group or who to allow into their guild. This
game is a new civilization in the existing one. There are not enough hours in the day for me to fully explain to you the depth
of this one game. But with that in mind, try and grasp the effect it is having on the people who play it.
While standing in line for the game I met a mother who had driven from
Robstown into Corpus to buy her son this game. After talking for a few minutes she confessed to me that her son is twenty
one years old and is still living at home with no job and not even a driver’s license and spends a significant amount
of time on WOW. She also reveled that he was never able to have a relationship that lasted even a month.
I’m not trying to give a quick fix to what I think is a growing
problem. It’s just something that I thought other people would be interested in reading and learning more about. There
are always going to be the hardcore gamers that take it to the next level of extreme and that just comes with the advances
in gaming world.
Text 1_3
September 22, 2008
Word Range: 386-434
Word Count: 424
In Range?: Yes
Waking up at 5:00 in the morning to
wait in a ridiculously long line for a game is just one of the numbers of experiences that I have gone through. Until this
past year, I had no idea what a rumble pack was or how big a midnight release can get. The truth of it all is that
there are an increasing number of small kids to young adults who go overboard with gaming.
World of Warcraft (WOW) has become a game so addicting and enormous
that 500 page books have been written to explain and understand it all. There are numerous vocabulary words that would never
be used in a casual conversation, unless you spoke the WOW language. PVP, guild, and raids are just some of the words that
have a whole different meaning in the game. Some of the gamers treat this game like a job, setting times to do raids and who
to do them with, setting up meetings to choose new-comers into their raiding group or who to allow into their guild. This
game is a new civilization in an existing one. There are not enough hours in the day for me to fully explain to you the depth
of this one game. But with that in mind, try and grasp the affect it is having on the people who play it.
While standing in line for the game I met a mother who had driven
from Robstown into Corpus to buy her son this game. After talking for a few minutes she confessed to me that her son is twenty
one years old and is still living at home with no job and not even a driver’s license. He to spends a significant amount
of time on WOW. She also reveled that he was never able to have a relationship longer than a month.
Like any other addiction, it takes a long time to fully separate
someone from the game. Limiting the hours of playing is just a small step that is easy to take. One might also go to a movie
once a week, or have a board game night with the family or some friends. Now I’m not trying to give a quick fix to what
I think is a growing problem. It’s just something that I thought other people would be interested in reading and learning
more about. There are always going to be the hardcore gamers that take it to the next level of extreme and that just comes
with the advances in gaming world.
Text 1_4
September 28, 2008
Word Range: 386-434
Word Count: 411
In Range?: Yes
Thanks to my committed gamer ex-boyfriend, waking up at 5:00AM to wait in a ridiculously long line for his game is just one experience that I have gone through
while dating him. Until this past year, I had no idea what a rumble pack was or how big a midnight release can get. The truth is that there are an increasing number of small kids to young adults who
go overboard with gaming.
While standing in line for the game I met a mother who had driven from
Robstown into Corpus to buy her son this game. After talking for a few minutes she confessed to me that her son is twenty
one-years-old and is still living at home with no job and not even a driver’s license. He also spends a significant
amount of time on WOW. She then revealed that he was never able to have a relationship longer than a month.
World of Warcraft (WOW) has become a game so addicting and enormous
that 500 page books have been written to explain and understand it all. There are numerous vocabulary words that would never
be used in a casual conversation, unless you spoke the WOW language. PVP, guild, and raids are just some of the words that
have a whole different meaning in the game. Some of the players treat this game like a job, setting times to do raids and
who to do them with, setting up meetings to choose new-comers into their raiding group or who to allow into their guild. This
game is a new civilization in an existing one. There are not enough hours in the day for me to fully explain to you the depth
of this one game. But with that in mind, try and grasp the affect it is having on the people who play it.
Like any other addiction, it takes a long time to fully explain to
the player that it is just a game to be played for fun. Not a game that is your job. Slightly limiting the hours of play each
week is just a small step that someone can take. One might also go to a movie once a week, or have a board game night with
the family or some friends. It might be hard for the player to make these steps but I think it is necessary that the players
move on to the real world and not their safe World of Warcraft.
