Addictiveness: the SOLUTIONS thread

[Trifna]

Would anyone be agreeing to find some solutions to addictiveness? I mean, it can only be good for the ones who want to hook off when they went off-limit... (me?... naaahhh)

It's not hard, and considering the number of persons that play Civ III, we could save couples, careers and many people's mental and physical health!!

If YOU don't see any problem to play all day for 2 years, okay, but just for those who would want to get a try to see the sun once again.


So, other than a timer that limits your playing time, other ideas Firaxis could/should implement?

PS: This is coming from another thread (http://apolyton.net/forums/showthre...&threadid=64566). If you just wanna say you don't care about addiction, say nothing, we're searching solutions here. The other thread had only opinions about addictiveness and wasn't discussing solutions.

PPS: Hey Mark, would it be a good thing to put it "Top" (for some time) for humanitarian reasons? Most intelligent part of society's mental health Up to you to judge...

[ducki]

I could DEFINITELY use some sort of limiter.

[HazieDaVampire]

how about eye goggles?
After 2 years indoors, the sun will blind you easily! Some free goggles or at least sun glasses would be a good idea! We don't want anybody going blind now?

Oh, and a riot sheild of bit of bodys armor, 2 years of TBS and you'll be really laid back, you'll need somthing to stop you from getting hurt if you go "I declare war on you! Now i'm just off to get some food, i'll be right back to kill you!" and then they punch you in the face of back of head!

[Jaybe]

The only solution Firaxis could implement that would be foolproof would be ...
have the screen go blank for 'x' minutes every 'y' hours, with 'x' proportional to 'y'.

User settings would include:
'x' (minimum of 5) minute break per hour.
'y' would be a maximum of 4 hours, in which case there would be a default 20-minute break.

Instead of the screen going blank, there could be an option to prevent the game from being active (some window must be front) ....

[Trifna]

Idea 1:
Some maximum per day/week/month could be settled.

Something like 4 hours max per day and 25 per week for exemple. So if you get to your 4 hours in the same day, it says "if you want, you have 15 minutes to finish your turn" and it'll automatically stop at the end of the turn or 15 minute timer. Same thing when you get your max for the week.



Idea 2:
Something could stop you from playing in certain times. Like you could block any playing from one in the morning to noon. It would stop questions from parents such as:
"Ready for school this morning? UH! You look like a corn flake!!!"
or simply
"Did ya slept?..."

[dworkin]

The mouse could be wired to give an electric shock every hour of Civ ran.

Of course that might just end with players liking the electric shocks...

[Kingof the Apes]

Yeah, you could train them like mice.
A huge shock for when they play for more than 4 hours with no break.

Abuse would be common...

[dworkin]

Can see that.

Hey friend, could you just page through all the announcements while I go to the loo.

FFFFZZZZAAAACK! "Arrrrrrghhhh!"

Muwahahahaha!

[miccofl]

The mouse could be wired to give an electric shock every hour of Civ ran.

Cool! AC or DC? Will I have to get a bigger power supply?

[Tiberius]

How about this:

Every x hours an AI civ leader would come to you and say:

"I have to take a bath and eat something. I'll let you know when I'm ready. Come back in about y minutes"
or
"My internet connection is down, so I'm unable to post my moves. Give me y minutes to talk with my ISP"
...

..and the AI would make his moves so slowly, that it would take y minutes.

where y=x/10 (6 minutes every hour or 12 minutes in every 2 hours)

Maybe the break should increase with one minute after every playing hour.

[Messer Niccolò]

Get a girlfriend.... you'll see that the time you used to have to play Civ will be reduced easily...

You won't regret ...

[Tiberius]

Not if she plays with you (I mean she plays civ3 with you )

[bongo]

From my own experience there are very few thing that can pull me away from the computer when I'm civin'. Some work better than others

1:Hunger - Doesn't work. The amount of energy needed to play civ is so small that I can easily do without food a day or two.

2:Personal hygiene - No effect: Civ is just too big.

3:Thirst - Works but not for long. Getting a glass of water is to quick to interrupt play.

4:Sleep - takes to long before it has any effect. The good part is that when you finally goes to sleep you can keep on civin' in your dreams.

5:Phone calls - Low effect, most converations can be done simultanously with playing. You will most likely sound like an idiot though.

6rugs/alcohol - uncertain: Doesn't work for me but there may be drugs out there I haven't tried that are stronger than civ.

7:Relatives demanding attentions - Low effect as you can safely ignore them for years, they will stay away but still be your relatives waiting for you to get sane again.

8:Friends demanding attention:Moderate effect, all depending on what they want. (Getting drunk has higher priotity than civ, saturdays only)

9:Girlfriend/spouse demanding attention - Moderate to high effect: If you ignore them long enough you may soon get more time for civin. OTH, sex may just be the right thing to drag your butt away from the screen and into bed.

10:Need to use the toilet - High:Now we're talking. When I feel pressure building up inside there is only a matter of time before I am forced to leave the computer.


So here is my recipe for ening a civ-session. Take some laxatives(you may have to experiment some to get the right dose). When the pressure gets to high to handle quickly end the game and turn of your computer(very important). Run to the toilet. Sit down with some decent literature(tom clancy, porn, cartoons, homework, shakespeare, the vcr-manual, whatever). Stay there for at least 30 minutes. When you're done you will probably remember some of the things ignored in #1-9. Do some of them before your addiction kicks back.

Good luck from a fellow civoholic.

[Messer Niccolò]

LOL !

[Tiberius]