Why Raiding is Bad for You

We have all heard of the online gamer, or just someone with a game addiction. There are plenty of online games out there that people play for even 8 hours every day, but they still do not compare to the high devotion to be part of a raid in an MMORPG.

A raid is basically where a group of online gamers get together at a certain time of a day to complete tasks such as dungeons and boss fights that would be impossible to defeat alone. These are different than just regular parties and groups.

Groups normally are more casual and last from anywhere to thirty minutes to a couple of hours. Groups can be anywhere from two people to even six in some MMORPGs. They could be helping each other with simple quests or even defeat smaller dungeons that can last only a couple hours from start to finish, even if it is your first time. Groups many times are formed at random whenever a player feels like getting on and sometimes even are formed via pick up group.

Raids can be done more casually, but often times are meant for the more hardcore gamer. These can last anywhere from three to five hours. Normally raids (but not always) are formed with usually the same people as well. They are also normally scheduled ahead of time and attendance may or may not be required in order to continue to group with the same people. Also, due to learning new content that is very difficult and time consuming, players may be raiding the same area multiple times a week.

Neither sound too horrible, if done in moderation. But here are some things to look at as to why raiding can be really bad for you.

Dedication required
You are asked to put aside your evening and devote it to the online people you may have never met. This means no homework, no housework, or family and real life friend time can be spent during certain hours and certain days of the week. If you are in a group that raids hardcore, these raids can be even up to 5 times every week. This is very much like a full time job on top of your possible full time job.

They start on the timer when the leader sets up the time. If you are late you are penalized in many cases. If you are really good with time management and can honestly fit in your job, school, real life friends, family, sleep, food, and all the other things with life AND five hours a day for five or so days a week, more power to you. But normally raiding goes beyond just the raid itself.

There will be repair bills, materials to be gathered for potions and consumables. These also take time out of your day to obtain before the raid.

The problem I see with this is that there are definitely people out there that schedule their real life around these raids. They will make sure they don't work those hours, or have a class, or go out with friends that day. Their children will be fed, bathed, and thrown in their pajamas before the raid starts because once it does, there is no getting off until it is done.

Ultimately your life may, if you let it, (and people have) revolve around these scheduled raids. Your family life may go down the hill. Your spouse, significant other, family, and friends may be neglected, or even worse, your own children.

These may all seem like "worse case scenarios" but I have seen 12 year marriages begin to fall apart due to extreme amounts of online gaming. I have seen real life friends fight over the politics of raids and end friendships over it.

Sleep
Some leaders make you feel as if you only need to be there until a certain time. But many times they drag on longer than expected and even when you ask to leave you are pressured into staying or letting down the group. I have seen people stay up until midnight or beyond when they needed to get up at 6:00am for work or school. Lacking sleep can lead to all kinds of problems such as performance at your job, your mood, or your health.

Bathroom Habits (breaks)
Often raids will last for hours before the leader calls for a five minute break. If your job in the raid is more attention demanding such as a tank or a healer, you cannot just get up and leave without announcing to the group. Also, there are many raids out there set up on timers, so having people get up to go do something for even a minute here and there can stop the group from progressing.

I have seen situations where a raid would start at 8 or 9pm and the first official break did not begin until after midnight. That is an extreme amount of time to be sitting at a computer without food, drink, bathroom, or stretch breaks.

The reason why a raid would be different than just gaming in itself, is that with raids, your time is theirs. You have to announce "getting a drink" or "going to the bathroom" to everyone and cannot just up and go as you need. If I was playing a game such as Sims 2 or Guitar Hero I could get up as I need and pause whenever I have to use the bathroom or decide to have dinner with my family or even shut the game off completely without feeling bad you're letting a group down. With a raid, it's not free. It almost one of those situations where if you were working a desk job you would be unable to do anything until your boss came up to you and said "You can have a 5 minute break now" after 4 hours of sitting there.

Again, this is extreme cases as well as some groups play together in a more hardcore effort than others. Some do not mind frequent breaks and asking to go, but many do. I don't know if there will ever be such a study on this, but I do know holding it in for a long period of time is not good for you. And if you are raiding and not really thinking about the bathroom, or waiting because the group just won't stop moving along...you could be holding it in longer than you should.

Eating Habits
Raids start at all different times of the day depending on your group. But many go through supper hour and into the evening. People are trying to get dinner down either right before a raid or during the raid. Fast dinners before the raid or during the raid could consist of microwavable frozen dinners and fast food. Lot of people choose finger food for raids; food for one hand. That way at least one hand can use keyboard or mouse while they eat. You're restricted to a lot of foods often times and those microwavable finger foods like hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and French Fries just won't be able to give you the nutrition your body needs.

Now, again these are all extreme cases because people can easily have bad eating habits without raiding. But this scenario has been seen all too often. "Going on a quick fast food run before the raid, guys, brb....afk."

Social Life
This goes back to the devotion needed, but on a more specific level. Suddenly real life friends are pushed aside because you can't, "Tell the other raiders you have to go." You'd be letting down lots of people, right? Your friends can go see that movie with you tomorrow, or at 1am when the raid should be over. Well day after day of this, and soon your friends disappear. You can't meet new people where you live because instead of getting out in the town, you are home night after night raiding.

Well I'm not a disgruntled girlfriend of someone who was heavy into raiding, but I saw it destroy a lot of people I knew, and friendships between each other. I am not against raiding at all. It can be a fun time to relax and get deeply involved in something that is fun. But all too often people have taken it way too seriously and went beyond taking it in moderation. As an online gamer myself I have seen myself get close to falling into these patterns of neglecting real life to accomplish virtual goals.

Any kind of addiction can hurt all sorts of aspects of your life, but I don't want to necessarily classify this as an addiction. Video game addiction is a very real thing. But there is definitely a difference between 8 hours of playing Halo3 and an MMORPG with a raid group. In games like Halo3 you can have breaks in between all the matches. Some games let you pause them. Others only have short levels you can save. This allows you to get up and get food as needed, maybe make a phone call, put a load of dishes in the dishwasher, or take your dog for a walk. You can set your own real life schedule FIRST and then play your games at all your free time opportunities. With raiding in an MMORPG you have to schedule your real life around the schedule of the raid if you wish to attend regularly. You normally will take breaks when allowed, or if asked first. You are frowned upon if you have to leave often. It's more like a job than just addictive fun.

So I did not write in hopes to end raiding and to make you run over to your friend and tell them they better stop soon or they will be doomed. I am writing this because these are things to step back and look at before getting yourself absorbed in this kind of lifestyle. It can be very damaging to "real life" even though everything you are doing with the raids is all virtual.

The best thing to do is if you want to raid, to find a crew of people with the same ideals as you. Find people who like taking their smoke breaks and snack breaks every 30 minutes. I am not promoting smoking, but instead promoting the fact that you are getting up and stretching your legs, using the restroom, and paying attention to the ones you live with more often than a group that wants to go non-stop for 4 hours before a break.

Find a group that won't get mad if you can't go that day, or if you have a friend that wants to hang out and you have to go. These type of people do exist and I was lucky enough to find some like this.

Raiding can be tons of fun, and even more fun if you can do it with friends you know or even get your computers together. I'm not here to ban it or stop it, but if not taken in moderation it can be extremely hazardous.