Most Addictive Game? [Archive]

SilentScreams

10-01-2008, 04:54 PM

So these new forums need some good old general gaming discussion to get the place going.
I thought I'd create the topic and let people have at it.

The topic, as alluded to in the title is addictive games. In your time as a gamer, which games have held you for the longest and for how long? Do you still play them today, either religiously or more off and on? Does this thread make you want to play them again?

I'll get the proverbial ball rolling:

Ultima Online: I played for almost 4 years back in High School. Other MMOs have now come along that do things "better", but none have held my attention for anywhere near as long as UO did.
EA ruined the game when they got their claws into it, but up until that point, it was my game of choice.

Infantry: Most people I speak to haven't heard of this game, but I really really loved it. I played for over 2 years.
It was a Sony Online Entertainment game. It's an isometric view shooter. You basically had a guy who could be one of several classes, all with very distinct and varied equipment loadouts and each with several different ways they could be played. You had a team, usually between 8 and 15 players depending on the map and game type and you fought teams of other players to accomplish objectives. These ranged from simple (or not so simple) CTF games to trench based skirmishes.
I'm doing a lousy job of describing the game, partly due to a lot of the details now being very fuzzy, as I haven't played in years. I believe it's free now if anybody is interested.
I first started playing when it was in an extended beta. That was when the game was at it's peak ironically. Once it left beta and SOE started charging for it, the game got a lot worse. They made all sorts of changes that people hated and most people simply weren't prepared to pay for a game that was worse than when it was free. It proved the game's downfall in the end. Last time I checked there was only about 50 players online across all the game types. It may have improved now that it's free again. I hope so, but I haven't checked myself.

I have a couple more games that I could mention, but those two are two of my best memories just for the sheer amount of fun me and my friends had with them.
Sadly they were both ruined by the company that owned them.

Anyway, I'm going to give somebody else a chance to mention some now.

NoName

10-01-2008, 04:56 PM

Puzzle quest. It's like crack, but more game orientated.

Also, Counter Strike back in the HL1 era.

pheriannath

10-01-2008, 04:56 PM

Peggle

End of Thread.

violent

10-01-2008, 04:57 PM

Disgaea will ruin you.

TheKeck

10-01-2008, 04:57 PM

This marble blast game from about five years ago. I sunk so much time into the DEMO for that game!!!

SilentScreams

10-01-2008, 04:58 PM

Disgaea will ruin you.

Disgaea was going to be one I mentioned until I realized that if I actually mentioned every game I had in mind, my post alone would probably take up an entire page. :D

violent

10-01-2008, 05:00 PM

Disgaea would easily be my desert island game.

Karmakin

10-01-2008, 05:01 PM

Infantry was never as good as Subspace, the first game developed by that team.

But yeah. Most addictive game ever for me is Disgaea as well. Rock Band is a close second.

Wackman3000

10-01-2008, 05:05 PM

Medieval Madness pinball machine. I almost missed a plane because I spent 2 hours in the airport arcade playing it.

http://www.pinball.com/games/medieval/mm_flyer_front.jpg

Gorvi

10-01-2008, 05:26 PM

Yeah, Disgaea is probably it. I had quite a thing for Lumines for a while, too.

Superman's Dead

10-01-2008, 05:39 PM

It was years and years ago, but every time I'd start Civilization II six hours would go by and I would have no idea what happened.

Clark

10-01-2008, 06:13 PM

It was years and years ago, but every time I'd start Civilization II six hours would go by and I would have no idea what happened.

Sweet, sweet Civilization. Do you have the current Civ Supes? There was talk of Vic and I getting a game going....

pomeroy

10-01-2008, 06:22 PM

Back in the day, it was Crazy Taxi on the Dreamcast. Trying to beat our old scores and the driver's license thing made that game amazing.

We also played a ton of Tony Hawk 2, trying to beat each other's scores.

Now?

Rock Band 2.

Widgetcraft

10-01-2008, 06:33 PM

Ultima Online: Four years of my life, gonxxor. Me and my friends in high school lived in this game.

Geometry Wars: What starts out as a five minute diversion turns into a two hour marathon.

Civ IV: Too many weekends have been murdered by this beast.

Super Mario Kart: Any version of this game makes a great time killer; I especially like the DS version for that reason.

LarsenNET

10-01-2008, 06:35 PM

Guitar Hero / Rock Band.

Puzzle Quest / Geometry Wars.

Wasson_

10-01-2008, 06:43 PM

Honestly I find TF2 extremely addictive, there was a time a month or so ago where I devoted almost an entire week's worth of free time to playing it.

shodan2020

10-01-2008, 06:44 PM

Puzzle quest. It's like crack, but more game orientated.

I second this, but I'll also add TFC. I used to be a conc-jumping Mother Hubbard of a Medic back in 2000. I was a dynamite engi too.

shodan2020

10-01-2008, 06:46 PM

Medieval Madness pinball machine. I almost missed a plane because I spent 2 hours in the airport arcade playing it.

http://www.pinball.com/games/medieval/mm_flyer_front.jpg

Oh man! The arcade at Indiana Memorial Union Bowling Alley used to have that pinball machine. I'd play it all the time, but they had another one called "Theatre Magic" which I loved even more. I'd alternate between that and Magical Drop III on the Neo-Geo MVS in the corner during my college days. Great times.

LordDon

10-01-2008, 06:52 PM

I'll concur with the Disgaea folks. Your weapons, themselves, have dungeons to level them up (to 100 if I'm not mistaken) and make them better. There are so many ways to improve your characters it's amazing there's not a warning sticker on the box.

Lint of Death

10-01-2008, 06:58 PM

Spore. Yeah, maybe it's not super popularly thought of as a great game, but I'll tell you this much: create things, explore others' content and play from the Cell start. It so so so so hard for me to stop playing from Cell thru 'til Space in a row. As for my main Space game, holy hell I've just gotten glued. It's a beast. There are so many stars. I just wish I knew how to relocate creatures I've discovered apart from my memory.

Also: TF2. Duh.

KingGorilla

10-01-2008, 07:04 PM

Any good game. I go from being hooked on most games I play. Right from Spore it was The Wticher Enhanced. I predict long nights with Fallout 3.

My Company of Heroes Addiction is renowned as well.

Vandabo

10-01-2008, 07:15 PM

Civ games, mostly Civ 2 and Alpha Centauri, are like time traveling. I turn it on, and suddenly it's 15 hours later. God, they need to make another Alpha Centauri so bad.

Troggles

10-01-2008, 07:19 PM

Disgaea will ruin you.

I just picked up Disgaea DS today to start my descent into no man's land. Knowing myself, I am all ready fucked.

Anyway, there are quite a few games that have addicted me in the past. When I use the term addicted, I mean that I played it quite regularly for at least a year if not more.

World of Warcraft. Not a whole lot I need to add here.
Diablo 2. See above.
Puzzle Quest. I love Bejeweled, I love RPGs, I love Puzzle Quest.
Lumines. My favorite puzzle game of all time. I'd still be playing it today if I hadn't sold my PSP and then been too cheap to buy it some other way.
Pokemon series. I still love it. Shut up.

mesh

10-01-2008, 08:03 PM

Online:
Hostile Space
- I joined in something like pre-pre-pre alpha where 'many' players was 4 with 2 being the devs.

Played the 'glorified chat room' for over 7 years or something.

Offline:
Tyrian
- best dos game ever (2 games if you count the hidden mini tanks)
Unreal Tournament 2004
- overloaded with player character mods
Need for speed:most wanted
- burned through the story to unlock parts then just rip apart police cars and scenery for hours on end.
Burnout 3: takedown
- I've skipped 360/ps3 due to too many potential problem, I'll likely get burnout paradise for pc even though revenge was a big fail to me.

TheEvilNarwhale

10-01-2008, 08:11 PM

Peggle

End of Thread.

You are so right it is not even funny. I am scared for my free time when peggle comes out for xbla.

Vandabo

10-01-2008, 08:12 PM

Tyrian
- best dos game ever (2 games if you count the hidden mini tanks)

HELL YES! Somebody else played Tyrian! That was the best co-op experience ever as well, each person flying half the ship and you could recombine and have the one person fly and the other shoot the turret. So many hours playing that back in the day.

Dog of Thunder

10-01-2008, 08:22 PM

Medieval Madness is easily the best pinball game ever.

I just have to back up the Civ games as classic examples of addiction. But sadly, my own personal addiction is something I'm ashamed to admit.

The Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft 3. I don't know why, but I can just sit and play game after game of that and never get bored. I stopped playing World of Warcraft so I could play that mod more. It's sad really, how much I love it.

Whimbrel

10-01-2008, 09:04 PM

The only games I think I have been really addicted to for long periods of time were WoW and Total Annihilation. Everything else fades from manic interest pretty quickly these days.

Karak

10-01-2008, 09:11 PM

Adventure Quest. Cheap Flash game that is a collectors fucking dream or nightmare. Cheap for a buy and just fucking awesome. They poke fun at everything and the owners are a bit of a mystery which I like.
I seriously have played that simple fucking games for over 17 hours straight.

Xerxes

10-01-2008, 10:18 PM

I could give a vote for Tetris. There is also Desktop Tower Defense.

OrangePulp

10-01-2008, 10:30 PM

The Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft 3. I don't know why, but I can just sit and play game after game of that and never get bored. I stopped playing World of Warcraft so I could play that mod more. It's sad really, how much I love it.

DotA is bad ass. I've been playing it for years, and still play it all the time with a good friend of mine (SecretAgentDog, for those of you that play TF2).

HELL YES! Somebody else played Tyrian! That was the best co-op experience ever as well, each person flying half the ship and you could recombine and have the one person fly and the other shoot the turret. So many hours playing that back in the day.

I've got OpenTyrian on my PSP. Having that game on hand whenever is awesome.

Haven't got much to add. Played tons of Counterstrike back in the day.

Variable Gear

10-02-2008, 12:50 AM

There are thousands of answers to this question, but the ones that appeal most to me are Quadradius, Tetris, Pokemon, Lumines, Rock Band 2 and Geometry Wars 2.

BlackPete

10-02-2008, 01:34 AM

The #1 game that I was hooked on for years... not just days or weeks or even months but years was... Master of Orion 2.

Shit, even thinking about it, I still get the urge to play another round of it.

Starcon 2 was like crack as well... I must've explored every single planet in the entire map. :eek:

Calgar99

10-02-2008, 01:46 AM

Rainbow six - Twas my first online multiplayer experience and it was good. Everyday after school my friends and i would hook up and play for hours. I still cant believe that I was playing on dial-up and had a good connection

Final Fantasy 7- It was my first JRPG and I borrowed it from a friend. He held on to disc 3 so I could only play to the end of disc 2 and grind grind grind. When the summer was over I eventualy got to finish it

Halo2/Halo3 - Im just too competitive to let this go.

HALO 32

10-02-2008, 02:34 AM

I would have to say Burnout 3 & Burnout Paradise (Sorry Burnout Revenge you didn't make the grade).

Civilization Revolution-My first Civilization game, and now I know why everyone loves it.

Halo Series-Do I really need to say more?

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic-Baught it out of the blue and before I know it 6-7 hours would pass.

Ghost Rider

10-02-2008, 03:20 AM

BLeeP

10-02-2008, 03:46 AM

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night can always take up all of my time, if I let it. Parasite Eve was also something that I just played over and over trying to max out my weapon and armor. For something new, Hinterland (Hentailand!) seems like it is going to be extremely difficult to stop playing. I had trouble with that earlier >_>.

Purple Santa

10-02-2008, 04:10 AM

Any good game. I go from being hooked on most games I play.

I'm the same way. I don't have one game that kept me for such hours and days hostage. I'm often obsessed with a game i'm playing but then that's it...it's off to the next one. I don't think I play games that lend to the obsession of long periods of time...like an MMO or puzzle game...which I stay away from since I can't lose tracks of time like I used too...but some I have lost time to more than others:

.Hack// the series. It's my crack. I have lost whole days and nights just leveling up...
Civ. Rev. - I had to give that game back to Gamefly. Just consumed me.
Guitar Hero II and III - This one if I allowed it...would be the game that would sinkhole all my time. I just wouldn't play any other game if I did...so I have to hide the disc from myself...

SilentScreams

10-02-2008, 05:00 AM

I can't believe no one has mentioned FM yet. While I'm still on 2008, the amount of times I've uninstalled it only to re install it so I can win that elusive cup and prove the game wrong is unbelievable.

Just one more match always turns into another and another, before i know it I'm starting a new season!

QFT. The FM disc is almost permanently in my second DVD drive.
I'm doing a community challenge that runs every year. It's called "dafuge's challenge".
Basically you simulate a season without controlling anybody, then take control of a team that was previously unplayable. One of the non-league teams that get promoted into the English Blue Square North/South and the goal is to take them right to the top.
I'm currently 8 seasons in with Gloucester City. When I started I didn't even have a single player, or any staff, so it was literally starting from scratch.
I've been promoted twice and relegated once. I'm currently sat mid-table in the Blue Square Premier.
If I get relegated, I'm pretty much hosed as theres no way I could support my wage budget in the lower league.

Lithium Flower

10-02-2008, 05:01 AM

I played Oblivion non-stop for almost 9 months, which is the only time I've done that with a game. Usually I finish once and then it's the shelf for nearly every single game, no matter how much I love it. I just can't replay stuff, then Oblivion came along. Even then I didn't quite 'replay' it, just became so immersed in the wonderful world of Oblivion mods, that I couldnt' stop experimenting and exploring. I just quit cold turkey to play something new, and don't go back for fear I'll get sucked in again!

iHap

10-02-2008, 05:02 AM

The most addictive game that I have ever played, would have to be Geometry Wars. I've played it for hours on end laughing like crazy from all the little shapes that are trying to get you.

Ancalagon

10-02-2008, 05:22 AM

Diablo II and Baldurs Gate 2 would top my most addictive games list. When I get into those games, I just cant stop. Nothing else grabs me like them, although Civ 3 is the only game to ever cause me to miss lunch. I just didnt notice the hours fly by. Pokemon Diamond is close, but not quite as addictive.

Virtual Machine

10-02-2008, 05:42 AM

Game i've played more than any other game in my life - Gran Turismo 2.

Most recent life sucking bitch: Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

Bad Buddha

10-02-2008, 07:41 AM

Peggle

End of Thread.
Yeah...

I'm about ready to initiate an intervention for my wife! ;)

axion

10-02-2008, 08:37 AM

TETRIS. Seriously, I have that game on my phone and it gets played at least a half-hour a day, and never gets old.

SilentScreams

10-02-2008, 08:39 AM

I had Lumines on my old phone. I played it so much I actually hit the maximum score of 999,999.

muddi900

10-02-2008, 08:46 AM

WarioWare: Twisted. The time I wasted on it, I could have earned enough money to buty my own jet.

LongStepMantis

10-02-2008, 08:48 AM

Yeah...

I'm about ready to initiate an intervention for my wife! ;)

My wife played that game non-stop.

Just when I finally thought it was dying off...Peggle Nights came out.
God damn you Popcap. :D

Crowe

10-02-2008, 10:24 AM

I recently starting playing DOTA. And I never thought I would say it, but DOTA is god damn awesome. Especially when you play with a couple of friends on a regular basis, all I need is too play 1 game and my whole night will be gone to game after game.

Whimbrel

10-02-2008, 11:27 AM

Whimbrel

10-02-2008, 11:28 AM

axion

10-02-2008, 11:29 AM

Football Manager?

TheFlyingOrc

10-02-2008, 11:29 AM

THERE lS NO DANA ONLY PEGGLE

zirky

10-02-2008, 01:32 PM

World of Warcraft. Hell, just to be certain, they are adding Bejewel to the beast.

It's only a matter of time before they upgrade it to PQ. Then, there will be no contest.

Ghost Rider

10-02-2008, 01:44 PM

What does FM stand for?

Football Manager indeed.

Commissar Rob

10-02-2008, 01:52 PM

Not much to add, except for Privateer. It was an old space-sim. I spent...a horrific amount of time...running goods from one system to the other to make money to buy upgrades to move for goods from one system to another...

There was a story in there, but I got lost in interstellar trade. I understand Eve Online is a similar concept. Thus I stay very, very far away.

Ranger43

10-02-2008, 01:55 PM

MONKEY ISLAND 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LeChucks Revenge!
Awesome game. Could never stop plying it as a kid.

Alkanos

10-02-2008, 02:08 PM

Not much to add, except for Privateer. It was an old space-sim. I spent...a horrific amount of time...running goods from one system to the other to make money to buy upgrades to move for goods from one system to another...
I remember playing that for hours and hours when I was younger. I remember once practically taking over a star system as a pirate. I killed every merchant or confed that I saw in a single system, just as something fun to do without saving.

But then I started seeing less and less confed patrols until they eventually stopped altogether. Along with this, I saw pirates everywhere, since there were no patrols to get rid of them. I had created my very own pirate system! So I spent a while camping the jump points and blasting any pirates that foolishly wandered into my system! :D

Young Al Capone

10-02-2008, 02:22 PM

Violent said it first, violent said it right. Disgaea is my vote.

Honorable mention for Civ IV, Pokemon, Morrowind and Diablo II.

SilentScreams

10-02-2008, 03:34 PM

Civ 4 is awesome, but when it comes down to it, I'm still an Alpha Centauri man myself.

Also, I remember playing a game back when I was little and I can't for the life of me remember the name.
It was turn based and you started off in the Old World and you had units like explorers and engineers and you had to scout the land one hex at a time to find certain resources. Ultimately you crossed over into the New World too and had to secure a whole different range of resources over there. You could import stuff from the New World too, but you needed a navy big enough to handle it all.
I'll know the name the second I hear it. I remember for me and my friends at one point, Civ 3, Alpha Centauri and this game were like the Holy Trinity of time killing multiplayer goodness (well, AC and this game anyway, Civ 3 didn't tend to do so well with multiplayer).

Everyone vs Dinosaurs

10-02-2008, 06:23 PM

Medieval Madness pinball machine. I almost missed a plane because I spent 2 hours in the airport arcade playing it.

One of the best pinball games for sure.

BLeeP

10-02-2008, 06:30 PM

One of the best pinball games for sure.

Better than Pin-Bot?

Zabyx

10-02-2008, 08:49 PM

I played way too much Rollercoaster Tycoon when it came out.

I'll probably end up being addicted to LittleBigPlanet.

Oh, and WoW. That's just obligatory.

Everyone vs Dinosaurs

10-02-2008, 08:53 PM

I played way too much Rollercoaster Tycoon when it came out.

I'll probably end up being addicted to LittleBigPlanet.

Oh, and WoW. That's just obligatory.

Oh my goodness, don't even bring up Roller Coaster Tycoon. I played that game to death. Unfortunately the amount of hellish tranny brothers to our beloved RCT, has completely turned me off to any more tycoon games.

dotbomb

10-02-2008, 11:03 PM

For me the first crack video game was Diablo. Level toons, hunt for gear, and PK/MK cheating fools and laugh when their dupes would disappear. I'd then rez them in a town portal, gather their other gear up (that was also duped but wouldn't be deleted) sell it in town and litter the ground with the gold. Ah good times.

n3rdXcore

10-03-2008, 02:45 AM

All shilling aside, it's gotta be Peggle. Fuck, trying to perfect every single challenge made me stay up way too late way too many nights in a row. AND on multiple systems (PC and iPod), nonetheless!

TheKeck

10-03-2008, 08:46 AM

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/flash_games.png
How appropriate.

quidmonkey

10-03-2008, 08:53 AM

Smash Bros

Gorvi

10-03-2008, 08:56 AM

I take mine back. Actually thinking on it, it's been Final Fantasy XI for me. I've spent (literally) over 3,000 hours in that game over the past 4 1/2 years, probably closer 3,500. And I'm not nearly done yet........

Phades

10-03-2008, 09:05 AM

My latest addiction has been Fantastic Contraption (http://fantasticcontraption.com/). I just can't stop playing that damn thing.

Wraith

10-03-2008, 09:06 AM

Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast)
- Maybe it was the novelty of being the first real game that I played online, but it was seriously addicting. It was a relatively simplistic formula, without the open world aspect of a true MMORPG, but you were always able to focus on what's in front of you, and you could get into a kind of rhythm when playing. Plus there's the collectibility aspect of getting better armor, new weapons, rare drops.

Civilization series (PC)
- It's just hard to step away from it. It's just so easy to let Civ games eat up a huge chunk, if not the entirety, of your day.

hunterx280

10-03-2008, 02:23 PM

For me those games will always be FFVI, VII and Chrono Trigger. I still play those games at least once a year, sometimes more. From the moment I turn them on it is sheer bliss. The sad part is that I have them memorized fairly well. Sometimes I wish I could yank all those memories out and experience them for the first time all over again. I wonder if I would still feel the same bliss?

Camel

10-03-2008, 03:15 PM

World of Warcraft, unfortunately.

The most recent console game that has completely hooked me was Bioshock. I seriously played that game for about 5 hours a day until I beat it, and got waaaaay behind in all sorts of work in the process.

Gwinny

10-03-2008, 05:01 PM

For me, Super Mario Bros 3. and Bloons Tower Defense. Also, Shadow of the Colossus. As soon as I reach the end I start again. In the past three years, there is only one or two instances where I haven't been playing Shadow of the Colossus at least a few hours every week.

DangerousDaze

10-03-2008, 05:02 PM

Sol. You know it to be true.

Troggles

10-03-2008, 10:28 PM

I guess I should add Super Metroid. Though I'm not constantly playing it, I do find myself going back to it about once a month and playing through it.

Xerxes

10-04-2008, 12:11 AM

You WoW is probably the only game I had to play daily. For a long time.

BlackPete

10-04-2008, 12:12 AM

Gwinny

10-04-2008, 12:39 AM

I thought of more! Are we meant to count games that we don't play constantly, but *think* about a lot? I've lost a lot of mental time to the Metal Gear Solid series. Also, Crackdown. I still occasionally walk around campus looking at the buildings and gauging how my agent would be able to climb them.

KOTOR. Only played it twice (thought they were 50-odd hour playthroughs), but I still think about what could have happened to Revan. Then I get sad, 'cause nobody seems to want to make KOTOR 3.

Xerxes

10-04-2008, 12:47 AM

Gwinny

10-04-2008, 01:01 AM

See that's the thing. Would KOTOR 3 follow Revan or the Exile. I wish they flesh out KOTOR in the gaming world. Make a Force Unleashed/Jedi Knight KOTOR game.

I had that sort of thought when I was playing the Force Unleashed demo today. "Man, this should be Revan or something." I don't know how they'd balance both Revan and the Exile in the same game in the standard Bioware RPG format, but something like Force Unleashed or the Jedi Knight series would be great.

At this point, even a tie-in novel that wrapped up the story would be welcome...

Xerxes

10-04-2008, 01:36 AM

I had that sort of thought when I was playing the Force Unleashed demo today. "Man, this should be Revan or something." I don't know how they'd balance both Revan and the Exile in the same game in the standard Bioware RPG format, but something like Force Unleashed or the Jedi Knight series would be great.

At this point, even a tie-in novel that wrapped up the story would be welcome...

One genre, two words. Action, like Jedi Knights with Force Unleashed tech. RPG, like from the original KOTOR games.

I really couldn't imagine Revan and Exile in one party. Although they could force you in to the role of one or a new character, and you kill both of them.

Talanvor

10-04-2008, 04:36 AM

Most addictive for me has to be the HOMM games. I had to force myself to stop playing them because I would obsess about taking control over every single goddamn thing in it, even the grail pieces.

Wasson_

10-04-2008, 05:00 AM

I guess I should add Super Metroid. Though I'm not constantly playing it, I do find myself going back to it about once a month and playing through it.

For me, it's once every couple months. It's basically like reading a favorite book or watching a favorite movie.

Gorvi

10-04-2008, 05:41 AM

So now that you've put it to an actual number... does it scare you? :D
Oh, I knew, and it kinda does. :p You can actually look ingame at any time and it tells you exactly how long your character has been logged in, down to the second. I've never left my character online overnight with a bazaar up or anything, so the vast majority of that is actual playtime. Only a bit was when I'd go afk for a smoke back when I actually still smoked.

alienmastermind

10-04-2008, 07:27 AM

Puzzle Quest on 360 was a time-drainer.
I was totally addicted to Ninja Gaiden for the NES, and Golgo 13 back in the day (both are fun, but Mafat Conspiracy is kickass).

For the wife, it's Earthbound on the SNES. WTF? Her and her sister and brother LOVE this friggin' game. They've beaten it every which way but loose.

Also, CoD4 has been addictive, just trying to get my time down on that damned practice run...grrr.

Morangie

10-04-2008, 02:44 PM

Morrowind and Alpha Centauri are the main two that come to mind. I can't think of any game that sucked me into the world as much as Morrowind did.

Wilkz07

10-04-2008, 02:59 PM

in highschool the Twilight Zone pinball took all of lunch period and next period. Skipped a lot of classes and spent a lot of quarters that year. After a few months of constant daily play we had to distract the front counter person at the bowling alley while a friend powered off the table and then back on to reset the sound (which they turned off because it distrupted people bowling) and then sadly, one day it was just gone.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Twilight_Zone_pinball.jpg

WhyThree

10-04-2008, 11:15 PM

It's kind of random, but I was addicted to the Return to Castle Wolfenstein multiplayer demo about seven years ago. It was only one map, but I remember it as one of the first objective-based, class-based multiplayer shooters. I never actually bought the game, but I loved the demo.

MrBibbz

10-04-2008, 11:18 PM

I hate to say it but pretty much anything from Blizzard is an addiction to me ..

CES

10-05-2008, 06:16 AM

Also, CoD4 has been addictive, just trying to get my time down on that damned practice run...grrr.

Accuracy over speed is the key for that. It's a nightmare to get below 22 seconds just from running there so get the top accuracy and they cut 3 seconds off.

OT: Probably the original C&C. Many hours were spent crushing GDI and/or tooling around with the internal workings of the program.

Wedge

10-05-2008, 07:08 AM

Counter-Strike for me. The only game that really impacted my life in a negative way because I spent so much time on it. I was so addicted I sometimes even played it when I really didn't feel like it. I swore so many times I would quit playing (due to rampant cheating), but I ended up booting it up again and again and again. 4-5 goddamned years on and off with this shit.

Shrinn

10-05-2008, 07:10 AM

So so so so so much time was devoted to Diablo 2 that it wasn't even funny. And I just reinstalled it. And I'm already behind on college work. I'm an idiot.

But if you want to talk withdrawal symptoms from not playing, it's gotta be Rock Band.

EDIT: Totally forgot to mention Wintermaul Wars from WC3 custom games. I'd gone through so much math weighing the cost v income v amount given to killer in that game. I've also woken up, gotten on wc3, and played nothing but Wintermaul Wars all day....

VerseD

10-05-2008, 03:34 PM

I played a lot of Counter-Strike, Diablo 2, and WoW when my friends were into it, but never really got addicted. I was a spray-and-pray kind of guy in CS, and my toons in Diablo and WoW always had shit gear.

The two games that have really caught and held my attention are Rome Total War and the Battlefield series.

I find myself coming back to RTW again and again even after Medieval 2 came out. I love the setting, and there's a great mod community that I can turn to when I want to change up the campaign. It's a really diverse game on its own right, with enough factions and regions so that no one playthrough is ever the same.

I switched over to Battlefield 2 from the Desert Combat mod for BF1942 as soon as it came out, and I've loved it ever since. It built of everything I loved in BF1942 and added the squad mechanic to keep the big maps from making things too one-on-one. I worked hard to unlock all the weapons I wanted, and now I'm just enjoying it.

Johan

10-05-2008, 03:59 PM

Loot-collecting action RPGs are a weakness of mine. I absolutely loved the two Baldur's Gate console games (quite different from the PC versions, but I loved them). I still go back and grind away at finding better loot in them, though I'm as close to maxed out on the loot as you can get (best of virtually everything at this point). Puzzle Quest absolutely sucked me in for a complete playthrough, but then I was done. One time through was enough, but what a time! Morrowind had me in its hooks as well for quite a while.

Game and platform I played it on:

Baldur's Gate I and II (Xbox)
Puzzle Quest (XBLA)
Mass Effect (360)
Morrowind (PC)
Civilization III (PC)

I'll edit in more later as I think of them!

PlusOne

10-05-2008, 04:07 PM

I used to have a horrible addiction to the original Sims... then I found MMOs. It was sort of like replacing alcohol with meth. :(

And even though it's been said many times already, Puzzle Quest.

Zero

10-05-2008, 04:13 PM

I guess WoW. After my computer died I started playing and beating other games. It's nice. PlusOne is making me fix my computer before Wrath comes out though. :(

Seconds Out

10-05-2008, 04:16 PM

Battlefield 1942.

Jackel

10-05-2008, 04:50 PM

TFC. I've played it on and off since it was first releasd. Conc Jumping maps were the best.

Kielaran

10-05-2008, 06:04 PM

WoW, I was hooked for 2 years.
DotA, I think a Live version of this would be amazing
Smash Bros, for my last year of college, I don't think a day went by with me not playing or watch someone play it
Civ3
And the big daddy of them all:
CoD4, I have logged over 25.5 days worth of play time into it and I am still hooked

Midrael

10-05-2008, 06:14 PM

Hmm World of Warcraft obviously. I played Diablo 2 for hours on end at one point. The various iterations of Civilization wasted many a good hour of my life. I spent a ton of time playing Privateer and just trading and upgrading my ship. On that same note, Trade Wars. I used to write scripters so that I could auto-trade back and forth between two starbases. Good times.

Mastergeo7

10-05-2008, 06:14 PM

I can't believe there's no love for Dungeon Keeper!!! :mad:
That game literally sucked the life out of me, something similar happened to me when I discovered Dwarf Fortress, but sometimes it's so unforgiving that it's not funny anymore.

And as someone said, any game that can hold my attention for a long period of time, it's simply addictive to me.

Tel Prydain

10-05-2008, 06:23 PM

Obviously WoW.

But for me, personally: Neverwinter Nights.
The user created modules and mini-PWs suck away a massive part of my life. Small, personal worlds, with great DMs and a story you can help shape.

GrenMag

10-06-2008, 05:56 PM

Glad to see the pinball love around here.

I spent so much time with Whirlwind that I bought one and restored it over a period of three years. When I finally had to sell it to free up a room for our second daughter I had well over 55,000 games on it. I liked Twilight Zone but it got easy way too fast -- lost interest after I played a 50 minute game on it.

TheKeck

10-02-2011, 11:21 PM

BLeeP

10-03-2011, 12:05 AM

So, the arrested development thread got me thinking about thread necros. So, I randomly necro this thread that has a bunch is posts in it. Kind of eerie to read stuff you posted three years ago and have no recollection of.

This. Sometimes I forget threads exist and I don't read the dates people posted. So I'm going through and then see my avatar and then I fall down in the floor and start crying for a history forgotten.

Superman's Dead

10-03-2011, 12:21 AM

This. Sometimes I forget threads exist and I don't read the dates people posted. So I'm going through and then see my avatar and then I fall down in the floor and start crying for a history forgotten.

That's what I like about you. Your positive outlook.

muddi900

10-03-2011, 02:37 AM

Going through my PMs, I remember I bought L4D with Bleep, except he was called something else back then.

Ancalagon

10-03-2011, 03:20 AM

For me - definitely Pokemon. Diablo 2 holds the number 2 crown - it had serious legs for an old game, but I think I've finally played it to death. Not sure why Pokemon has better longevity.

WoW was never addictive to me. It felt like a second job - hardly the kind of thing that would keep me coming back.

Wasson_

10-03-2011, 04:04 AM

Doom / Doom 2....can get a kind of addictive hold on me if I'm bored I'll fire it up and play a few levels on Zdoom and...I'll just wanna keep playing and playing even though I've played it a thousand times before.

The recent Fallout games as well. A shit ton of hours.

TF2...every class is the essence of satisfying and you encounter such an awesome spread of skilled / unskilled players. They ain't bullshitting when they claim it to be the most fun you can have online.

score

10-03-2011, 05:40 AM

The original Diablo. Lost count the number of times I ran through this. Then ran through it again making my guy more uber every time. Gotta love the random dungeons.

muddi900

10-03-2011, 05:50 AM

Dear god it's still happening!

TheKeck

10-03-2011, 07:34 AM

I might have to make necroing some random old thread a weekly tradition or something. :p

TheKeck

10-03-2011, 07:36 AM

This. Sometimes I forget threads exist and I don't read the dates people posted. So I'm going through and then see my avatar and then I fall down in the floor and start crying for a history forgotten.

As I was browsing through this one I saw that someone posted a related xkcd comic and was all, "Nice". Then I realized it was me.

SonofSeth

10-03-2011, 10:28 AM

TF2...every class is the essence of satisfying and you encounter such an awesome spread of skilled / unskilled players. They ain't bullshitting when they claim it to be the most fun you can have online.

This is truly fascinating to me, I own TF2 well over 3 years now and have a whole 4 hours of playtime.

It's not even a shooter thing, i have well over 100 hours in Bad Company 2, multiplayer only. I'm just puzzled at how unfun TF2 is to me.

As for the most addictive game, it's only one game I can claim that had an addictive influence over me. It was World of Warcraft, that's basically the only game I kept playing (and paying for) past the point of enjoyment, out of pure need to just do it. I eventually burned out, only then could I get in, have a month or three of fun and get out and wait for a new expansion.

Starcraft 1 was close, but i never stopped enjoying it until I stopped playing. Those were awesome two years when I played it almost daily. Fresh out of highschool, friends parents moved 6000 miles away and left him the apartment, we set up shop there, never having less than 4 PCs on LAN at time and let the good times roll. :D

SilentScreams

10-03-2011, 10:57 AM

As I was browsing through this one I saw that someone posted a related xkcd comic and was all, "Nice". Then I realized it was me.

That's nothing. I was just about to make my own contribution to this thread because I thought I hadn't done so...then I realized that it was me who started the damn thing! :D

Wilkz07

10-03-2011, 11:03 AM

Doom 2 kept us going for a long time and often not making it back from lunch for afternoon classes. We multiple pc's setup in the same room so screen looking was a given.

Shadow Warrior - same as doom 2. addictive.

C&C Red Alert - can still hear the cries of the one friend screaming 'no tank rushes' as we tank rushed him

Wasson_

10-03-2011, 11:07 AM

you can't learn how to play any class at what I'd call an "average" level proficiency in just 4 hours...and there are 9 classes.

I have around 635 hours and I am still a pretty shitty spy, demo and sniper to this day. you know thats literally like a 3rd of the game that I don't even really bother with and SPY alone is extremely nuanced and complex. Yet there are people who play WAY fewer classes than I do.

In taking 4 hours to play the game...you might as well not have played the game at all.

SonofSeth

10-03-2011, 11:21 AM

cawblen

10-03-2011, 11:35 AM

Diablo 2 - I always have it installed on my system. I've lost more hours (days? months? years?) to this game over the last decade than any other.

Honerable mention #1 - Final Fantasy VII. Say what you will but i've played this game over a dozen times from start to finish over the years, maxing out each character, acquiring their best weapons, going after BOTH sets of master materia. The game hasn't aged well, but i always enjoy playing it. I own the original PS1 version, a PC version and the PSN version.

Honorable mention #2 - the Call of Duty franchise multiplayer (from Cod4 onward). I was never really into shooters outside of Counter Strike but Modern Warfare hooked me and i've played every iteration since. Admittedly, the amount of MP playtime from a game to game basis has diminished greatly since CoD4 as none of the more recent ones grabbed me the way Modern Warefare did.

Xydarc

10-03-2011, 12:14 PM

Civ II. It introduced me to the phenomenon of "just...one...more...turn..."

TheKeck

10-03-2011, 12:21 PM

That's nothing. I was just about to make my own contribution to this thread because I thought I hadn't done so...then I realized that it was me who started the damn thing! :D

That is pretty awesome. I had a similar but not quite as cool experience with another thread necro recently. Same thing, I was going to respond to the thread because I thought I hadn't yet. Then I realized I was the first person to respond to the thread initially.

Purple Santa

10-03-2011, 12:25 PM

Mass Effect 1. I'm working on my fourth play-through. 100 + hrs and counting.

TheKeck

10-03-2011, 12:31 PM

Civ II. It introduced me to the phenomenon of "just...one...more...turn..."

This reminds me of myself playing (recently) Darksiders and (generally) many games.

-Ok, I'll just get to a nice stopping point, I really need to get to bed.
-Oh, I'm to a boss, I might as well see if I can beat it before heading to bed.
-Oh, I died, but I learned a lot, I might as well give it one more try.
-Sweet, I beat the boss, now I just want to see what happens next in the story.
-Oh, now there is a whole section of the map open to me, I just want to take a quick peek......

EternalGamer

10-03-2011, 12:32 PM

Sweet, sweet Civilization. Do you have the current Civ Supes? There was talk of Vic and I getting a game going....

I actually haven't loaded up Civ V in months because of this problem. Last time I loaded it up, I literally played it an entire Saturday and it was 2AM before I quit and didn't even know what happened.

It scared me so much I haven't booted it up since.

Vandabo

10-03-2011, 01:49 PM

The most recent game that has been addictive to me is Grand Prix Story on my Android tablet. I must have over 70 hours on that game now. Even though it's the same thing over and over, I still do it because that is what it takes to really optimize your parts and cars. I just constantly have the tablet next to me, whether I'm watching a movie or browsing the web, and I am continually playing it in between everything else I do.

Troggles

10-03-2011, 10:26 PM

World of Warcraft is the easy answer for me. I have since quite and now Minecraft takes all my time.

Perhaps a slightly less popular choice for me would be Mass Effect (5 playthroughs) or Borderlands. Other than that I usually play a game a normal amount of time and then never return after I've finished it.

SilentScreams

10-04-2011, 06:58 AM

Going by Steam, it would be Football Manager 2011 for me. 486 hours played. Borderlands is a distant second with 84 hours.

Of course Steam doesn't account for Diablo 2, Civ 4 or WoW, nor for Ultima Online and Infantry which I mentioned in my OP, all of which would give FM 2011 a run for its money. Well, I know for a fact that Ultima Online and D2 at least would far surpass 486 hours.

That brings up an interesting question though. Which game does Steam say you've played the most?

*Prepares self for mass replies of "TF2"*

:)

That is pretty awesome. I had a similar but not quite as cool experience with another thread necro recently. Same thing, I was going to respond to the thread because I thought I hadn't yet. Then I realized I was the first person to respond to the thread initially.

Heh, yeah it's amazing all the posts you forget you've ever made. I can look back in old threads and find any number of posts I have no recollection of. I guess remembering 6,688 posts is a big ask though. :)
Cool idea to resurrect an old thread though. It's interesting to read through.