Poopsocks - A Lost Generation

Ok, so gaming companies not only figured out a way to not only get people addicted to a game (they've been doing that for years), but they have managed to control their wallets also!

I started playing Everquest in the beta testing stage. It was a nice, wholesome online-RPG in the style of Dungeons & Dragons. So I paid $49.99, I think, to buy the game, and it was like $10/month to play it online. Within a year, the first expansion came out, and along with it, another cost. Within the next year, 2 more expansions with...you guessed it...more costs. The per month price raised. Some players, like myself, figured out that it may be worthwhile to some people to sell items and money from the game to other players. Yes, other players paid REAL money to "buy" in-game money and items. Scary isn't it? I think there are now 12 or 13 expansions for the game, and you can now download the expansions instead of going to the store to buy them, which brings me to the next evil...

There are signs that someone you may love has become obsessed with a MMORPG. I am going to list them now, in order of craziness.

- He/She starts to yell out things during sleep. (Yeah we all do it, but what I'm talking about is things like, "Hey stupid monk...go pull that dragon so we can kill it and loot its remains" or "OMG I hope this dragon drops the sword I've been wanting for 6 months.)

- The floors are lined with Mountain Dew bottles, some half filled with liquid and cigarette butts.

- The bottle of tequila that was bought 2 years ago is still in the room(cause raiding > having fun in real life).

- They start wondering what Chuck Norris would do in every situation, both in game and in real life.

- Instead of laughing they say "l.o.l." or if something goes well, they yell "woot".

- When they get up from their computer chair, little gnomes breath a sigh of relief.

- You start finding lists of numbers lying around or recipes for things to make in-game.

and last, but not least

- The detection, usually through smell, of poopsocks. Yes, you have guessed it, socks filled with poop. The online gamer, not all of them mind you, just the OVERLY OBSESSED, have been known to go down this route. They are in the middle of something they cannot step away from, and suddenly...the thought comes to their head. "I can just poop in my sock and clean it up later!!!"

No...no you can't.

POOPSOCK

"Poopsock; to play to the point of not leaving your computer, thus having to wee in a bottle and poop in a sock..;)"

1. A sock that is used as a temporary contained for faecal matter.

2. A vital part of any dedicated EverQuest player's equipment. A poopsock eliminates the need to go all the way to the bathroom, which wastes valuable levelling time.

3. An insult used to refer to an obsessive MMORPG player who gains an unusually high number of levels in one day.

4. Verb: to obsessively and excessively play a game, usually an MMORPG, usually for hours on end and to the exclusion of all other concerns.

5. A sock that a person with a mental disorder uses to store their feces in, presumably to prevent acquisition of the feces by another party, which will presumably use it to effect some negative result on the poopsock.

6. Catassing (also referred to as "poopsocking") is the process of sequestering oneself at a computer and avoiding other day-to-day activities in favor
of 'leveling up' in a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) whose game design makes heavy use of level treadmills or their functional equivalents.

or to put it a little more in context...

Due to the unbelievable time constraints required by raiding at this level, you must poopsock. Simply, this means you must poop into a sock whenever you need to use the bathroom, lest your guild think you're not dedicated to the ever important cause of killing monsters in an internet video game. Peeing into an empty coke can or bag of cheetos is also important - the worst thing you can do as a raider is be away from the game for anything but sleep (or perhaps to reach over to the minifridge underneath your desk). These techniques were pioneered by such guilds as Tigole's during Everquest's raiding glory days.

-"I know it may seem strange, but poopsocks are real. This is 2008 buddy, not 1998. Get with the times. Its not abnormal at all to use a poopsock." (this was in reaction to someone saying that you should be more dignified and actually use the bathroom)

-"Hours spent in game per week: 30-35 on average (20-25 if I'm busy that week, 45+ if I go into poopsock mode)"

- "Now let me go exchange my poopsock for another one."

- "I also see that people enjoy the game in a different way to me, I like to instance and slowly level, some people sologrind and poopsock, and I'm happy to let them play in a way they enjoy."

-"umm...guys...I just poopsock'd for the 1st time, and I kinda like it."

-"I do not poopsock. I have my own bathroom in my bedroom...I would be pretty stupid to poopsock, I don't even have to put clothes on to go shit."

AND...the absolute worst quote by any poopsocker alive...

- "I use a poop tissue box, socks are old school."