Story Time - How MMORPG's Saved My Life 

"I've defeated dragons, I've taken down giants, I've fought gods. So you enjoy your one life, buddy. And I'll enjoy my thousands." Those words were beautifully put together.

man I've watched only like ten of your video's 2 of which have made me cry but you r my inspiration and I can say that with 100% certainty

The coolest thing to me about hearing your life story is how RU-vid has given you everything you ever desired, and deserved. You say you had no friends and didn't know how to talk to people; now, you have to play on hidden private servers because thousands and thousands of people want to play with you :)

I can really relate to video games improving my social life. Games really benefit people more than typically realized.

RU-vid probably saved mine.... i was pulled out of kindergarten... for basicly being to smart at the time & not wanting to deal with bullshit kids... and my mom wasn't the best teacher for home schooling... cause of no school i had no real friends and the ones that i did get, used me... youtube Lp'ers where my friends for the longest time... and youtube user.. Sonikdude.. he is known as Antdude now... his "i don't give i shit, i play the way i want" helped me get some selfasteam... and net teached me things.. i got Grammar shoved into my head.. RPGs teached me math... i read manga on the net & listened to music on the net.. they gave me philosophy... and Persona 4 & Deathnote did a few things too

I had the same shit when i was in high school. I didn't go through a bad childhood or anything i was simply socially crippled. Used to overreact to everything, get mad either do something harmful to someone else or suffer a panic attack. Then i started playing WoW, made a lot of friends and learned to at least control my anger. Now i am in uni second year, have been playing WoW for 5 years. I still have anger problems in social circumstances but at least now i can hide it and act normal. Don't know if WoW saved my life or not but it certainly showed me that even a weird guy like me can bond with certain people if not all.

Seeing someone mention Meridian 59 always starts the nostalgia-train : p

Man i've seen so many videos and i have to say they make me cry. I love you man, so much.

Gaming and my online friends helped me quit a ten year heroin addiction. They not only convinced me to quit, but one of them actually let me go to his house to detox. The rest of my friends supported me by being wiling to talk or game at any hour of the day or night while I was detoxing. If I didn't have games and the friends that I made while gaming I would probably not be here, or I would still be lost in that addiction. I am a gamer nerd and I am proud to say it. Thank you for the video.

Meridian 59 was awesome! I got totally addicted to that game. nobody ever talks about that game but I loved it.

Dude... Watching this video, hearing Boogie's story, this brings up a lot of my own (unpleasant) memories. I hope I can make it through life just like Boogie did. With supportive friends I will (hopefully) meet through gaming.

preach it bro.

You know Francis, i am playing video games now for as long as i have been able to hold a joystic. That was... uhm... 27 years ago, 1987, give or take a few years. I have a son and yes, i am still with his mother. There was a person in my family telling me for nearly three decades that i am wasting my time. You know what? Recently, after all those years he bought his first computer. HA! And after he told me about his first steps in the digital djungle we call the interned i reminded him about me telling him not venturing into the WWW unarmed. Hands down, computer games are not an addiction. If you following that line of reasoning you have to go ALL the way. How about TV addiction? Couch potatoes? All addicts, i tell you. BS Seriously... some people should learn to accept that other people spending their time AS THEY SEE FIT. Sometimes it makes more sense, sometimes less, but that isn't point. Its not an illness. You can pretty much imagine the type in the middle ages whispering "that guy... yes... learned to read, i tell you he has a book addiction". THEY really need to get a life and that is the truth. There is nothing wrong with having hobbies. Never was. Just a hint from the past: If you think you are alienized for playing MMORPGS, just try to imagine how it was for ten year olds back in the 80's. Of course the internet wasn't as widespread back then and we actually formed citywide networks of underage children exchanging software (cough, cough), wich was actually a very social engagement, locally and face to face. Eventually... we prevailed. Today its practically unthinkable not to participate in information technology. Back then we were the freaks. But the freaks have won... And btw... sex is overrated :)

Hey brother, I feel ya. I'm going through some clinical depression problems and just recently got out of the hospital for a suicide attempt. I know what you went through. I liked your video. Take care

Your an elmentalist in GW2? That class is too difficult for me lol. Thank you sharing your life man. Your awesome!

I think it's awesome that Boogie used to be a sort of troll but was mature enough to realise it and make a change. That's awesome!

Same here with the life thing brother I know what you mean. Not such a great time growing up. I am in the military now, I have a beautiful wife and 3kids. You should try to turn your diet around and get some exercise in. I play swtor quite a bit but I find time for an hour or two a day of cardio/weights. If you don't do it for yourself then do it for your family, I promise you will feel 100% better.

Glad to be a part of your life, in some way!

You're a legend Boogie, just remember though that the people who love you now via the wonder of the web would have loved you before, after and without it pal. Take it easy.

I know what you mean about EQ, Many older gamers I speak to say they played EQ for many hours day on end!

I hope you read this... I thought that was amazingly corageous of you to open up like that to the horde that is youtube. I have also struggled with depression and got to the point where I wanted out. I'm glad you're still with us buddy, keep up the stout work!

I will probably not receive an answer to this response but I want to post anyways. I would say I am an above average gamer. I game a fair amount but your argument of my 1000 lives versus your own really irked me. You must realize that those grand moments in video games such as killing that dragon could not be nearly as self satisfying as large moments to happen in life itself. Exploring a city in an MMO cannot be compared to exploring a magnificent city such as Paris, Japan, etc a thousand times over. Why not face those "Get a life" people with the argument of "This fulfills me", let them understand you get what you need to feel at peace. Not mindlessly argue back.

i miss these

it would be really intresting to see boogie take a re look at this video

Your whole life is so inspiring. You are awesome, and keep going along, because you kick ass.

You know what annoys me (Not pointing fingers at anyone here but more from people I know) but people that are constantly victims to society even though nothing is wrong with them they just want someone to say, "oh my, your life is so bad". They tell people, oh my i'm gonna kill myself. That shit pisses me off so much it's unbearable. You, Francis, keep it real. I respect that.

Gaming helps improve self-confidence, especially ones that rely on communication with others :)

its not that i have no life its that i have so many to choose from

Downloading GW2 as you speak!! (also playing wow, swtor and diablo 3).

I started playing WOW the day it started. However, I didnt play it to socialize with people. I love leveling and today I have 3 accournts and over 17 level 100s. The only guild I am in is my own guild, which all my alts are in. I don't care about guilds or socializing with people. I found most people are stupid and moronic anyway and i prefer to be alone.

You said not to buy games via gamestop but I doubt those 1 dolar per day rent stores gave any of their revenue back to teh publishers (Can't say for sure I might be wrong)

gaming has saved my life and changed it

I lost 2 friends in one summer due to Suicide. I wish they would have found what they needed and I'm THANKFUL that you found yours. Keep doing what your doing friend.

We love you Boogie! Glad you decided to stay. The world is a better place with you in it.

"Get a life" "I have many lives"

I hate when people say "get a life" to others. Everyone has their own concept of what their life means to them. Some want to get married and have a thousand babies, some want to grind all day at work, some want to beg for money under bridges, some want to play videogames. Just because someone else finds fulfillment from different things doesn't mean that they don't have a "life". Very good for you, that you realized that other people's negativity is not what matters. And good for finding what you love. Congratulations!

I need a friend like you in my life. Thanks man, for all these supportive messages; you are being a way of helping me deal with my owm psychological problems.

Hey I can agree 100 % with you, MMO's saved my life as well. Back in 2004 I wanted to exit this life as well , but some how I got my hands on copies of Star Wars Galaxies and Matrix Online. I played hours on ends and boy did it save my life! Years later MMO's like SWTOR, DC Universe and Marvel Heroes are a heaven sent. I don't have many friends in real life because I don't interact with people well. I'm pretty much shy and I keep to my self so I guess I'm invisible. I did manage to date on and off over the years but each relationship has had ended I most cases. So I live alone ,work all day then come home to no one, but with a huge PC gaming community like Steam and all it's cool sales, it's a reason to keep me going. I can agree with you MMOs and gaming saved my life as well. I now have something to look forward to.

7:18 I will say this to everyone out there that puts down gamers and gaming in general. I know this is an old video and you probably wont read this comment but if you do, I just want you to know that you are an inspiration. :D

I had to choke back tears, because I understand exactly what he is saying. For those of us who walked similar paths this was like watching a sunrise,

7:17 - 8:13 best part.

Blizzard, get your asses to this video and talk to this guy! NOW.

8:01 Sick Burn bruh xD

You have so much to offer this world i'm glad you picked the right choice, and anything that bothers you in life like body weight or what ever just tackle it small bit by bit everyday.

Boogie, I'm 37 years old now, and I remember this video. I'm not feeling great atm, but I looked back at this and realized something. Life is hard as feck, but gaming has kept me alive. I miss the old boog, we all change, but the love of games has not. I guess what I'm getting at is this. I know life is shot sometimes. If we share what we love and what we really care about with each other, life isn't so bad. Love you man. Love ya Steven.

It's a shame how far he fell from grace, especially since boogie was once considered the "Mr. Rogers of RU-vid".

Takes a real man to admit he was a shitty guy in the past!

Love ya bud. Was a drug dealer that smoked crack for 4 years. I can credit MMO's for taking my addiction and putting it somewhere else. 100% saved my life. I have loved watching you over the years, your words are always so kind, and I wish you all the best.

What a great story, thanks for sharing it with us! MMOs have helped me in different ways. Before my first MMO days in Ultima Online back in the late 90's, I was very insecure and shy. I was too focused on how I looked or how little I had achieved. I was bullied throughout my childhood and had never had a taste of being popular. But MMOs all changed that, since the ONLY thing that matters there is not how you look, not what job you hold or what you own - the only thing that matters is PERSONALITY. For the first time in my life I was experiencing people "buzzing around" me. This boosted my confidence so much that I made my own guild, which led to learning how to handle and manage people. Years later, I would become a lead artist at Ubisoft, managing and leading a team of 10 people. These days I don't do management work anymore, since I prefer doing the actual artwork itself, but I'm glad I experienced doing that and saw that I could. I really don't think any of that would have happened without MMOs.

It pisses me off when people say that video games are for losers!

from 7:50 on your talk started making me really good and happy inside. Thx very much for that boogie.

I'm really glad you're still here doing these videos. You speak a lot about things that I myself have thought of before. You're an inspiration.

"I live many lives" FUCKING RIGHT!

People care entirely too much what others do in their free time. Who the Hell cares, as long as it makes them happy, and doesn't hurt anyone else? This philosophy goes beyond just gaming. From gaming to sexuality, to sports to collecting memorabilia, if it doesn't hurt anyone, who the Hell cares? People really need to just worry about themselves if it doesn't impact anyone negatively.

The good old days when boogie was actually making quality content.

wow after minute 7.. do you actually believe everything you say? video gaming is stimulating, social gaming is great for social anxiety. However, making this your life and ignoring real life interactions and your health will not give you a decent life style and healthy mental and social state.

It's interesting to here a positive story about gaming since it's almost always portrayed as a negative or something to be mocked by mainstream media.

Man i miss the old Steven, hope he comes out with things figured out. I miss the humility and kindness.

I love your story Francis, that you are telling us about your life and everything is wonderful and I hope that other people are watching this video and that it is helpful to them ;) It's sad to hear about the sad parts of your life but when you are able to get away from things in your life that is making you sad, that is a great thing. Can't wait for more videoes from you :D Greetings from your new subscriber from Norway :D

MMOs all the way, why have one boring life when you can have thousands of insane, exciting lives? Virtual lives are the most awesome things to ever bless mankind.

i appreciate you telling us this. Thanks really made me think.

boogie2988 You're an amazing person. Continue doing what you're doing! I love your vids!

I love you boogieeee

I can relate to you so much. Thanks for this video.

I have such a huge respect for this guy.

World of Warcraft helped me save my life at one point too :) I think that's why I hold it so dear in my heart to this day. At this point, I'm in a pretty shitty position, though, so my first goal in reawakening my inner fire is to be happy and play WoW again. Be it for nostalgia, something to do, whatever. A lot of people don't realize how truly wonderful games can be for reprogramming your brain to enjoy life again, or to feel motivated, or desire to achieve.

Boogie, I hope this becomes a comment that is at the top of your videos. I am going to go around to all your videos and post this comment. My true comment is under. I hope that everyone will reply to this comment and thumbs it up, so it does reach the top of your page. I want you to see this. Boogie, I enjoy the videos you post. I feel as you fight for all of us fat people. You are the success I would want to be. I love you in every way you can be loved, minus the whole making love thing. I would be your best friend if I was around you in real life. Your videos never fail at making me smile. I enjoy every video you post, I enjoy the amazing person you are. I am happy for you in so many ways. I actually look up to you. I want you to know there are people out there who will always watch your videos. I hope you never stop youtubing. I want to continue to watch you get more and more popular. I hope others will watch your videos and see that their hate hurts people. Their hate hurts you. Their hate hurts me. I will not hate anyone for anything. I will always look up to your example. You are a great human being, and no one can change that. What you do through your videos is amazing. I want you to know you are amazing. All the hate you receive should never happen. Those who hate you will never contribute to the human race, but you... you contribute to the human race by giving joy and inspiration. You matter. You matter to so many people. Thank you for being you Boogie. Thank you.

i hate it when non gamers call us "lazy" or some Sh*t

Thank you so much boogie. Your stories are really helping me through a dark time. Thank you for bearing your soul and taking the risk of being vulnerable on a public forum to speak out on a deeply personal matter. You are a friend to me and this community

Video Games changed my life as well, it lets me escape reality and have different lives, Thanks Boogie

I feel the exact same way about star wars galaxies. That game has changed my life. Hell. I almost killed myself when it went down. But after that. I had a revelation that i can live a happy life without that.

~claps my hands~ really strong man, i know what you mean about the depression and so n since me myself suffer from it and gaming in general saved my life too. still a work in progress since i'm still getting heavily depressed from time to time but gaming is saving my life, i do like you did, i log into my favorite game instead of hurting myself, right now i discovered RIFT and it's super fun, it feels like vanilla wow but most of all i meet people that don't judge me but instead takes there time to listen to me, i wish i could have some contact with you since you've been through this yourself. keep gaming and keep strong man

the studies are true. I delved into survival horror games at a very dark time in my life. Res, evil and Silent Hill kept me sane.

This was the first boogie video I ever saw. You sir are really inspirational thank you.

Respect!

Hey Boogie, I suffer from depression. The games you mentioned that were made for people who deal with that, what are they and how can I check them out?

Video games are fun but there's more to life

Great video bro. I think multiplayer online video games are a mixed bag. You meet some incredible douchebags who seem to be utterly wretched beings and go out of their way to bring everyone else down. On the other hand you meet a lot of great people from all over the world, you add them as friends and get to know them a bit while battling away and having a good time. I spent a lot of time over the past 5 years playing a multiplayer FPS and have made some real world friends so I concur with everything you say here. Good luck in the future.

Well said Boogie.

my parents still think that video games are bland and dont have stories. and im 18 if you people think im some 12 yeard old

Graphical Mud? Wasn't that the first Runescape?

A message to everyone replying to "Trollblocker"; Don't reply to him, just report him for harassment and bullying, and move on. His comment will be removed, and it won't be difficult to keep him away if you all just report him whenever he comments something disrespectful. Baiting him just makes it worse, and you eventually find yourselves competing with him to say more hurtful things about him than he is saying about someone else.

Live your life how you want it, but don't try to push it/promote it on others. Especially since most people living at the poverty line who lose their jobs and start playing games all day don't get a youtube channel and make lots of money from that. They wind up on the street or worse. As someone who has been "addicted" to gaming and played 8+ hours a day sometimes, it can ruin your life as much as it can help it. It can screw up your sleep patterns and make you miss work/class and miss out on social times with friends and family, which leads to you alienating them and them no longer wanting to hang out with you, etc. It can lead to you being an asshole and having a shorter temper from not having enough sleep, which can lead to a host of other issues. So to each their own, but you have to remember not everyone turns out the same way as you. There are plenty of horror stories about people addicted to WOW and how it tore apart their life. Gaming can ruin your life as much as it can help it.

Boogie, you cease to amaze me in your videos. It takes a lot of willpower and courage to be able to tell so many people about your life, and some of your biggest downfalls; to open up about depression and all the challenges it brought in your life. I commend you for that. I actually cried hearing your story about depression and staring at the pills, as i can relate on a multitude of levels. I too am an avid gamer and have been playing them since i was very young. In fact, to this day, i use games as a crutch to help me hobble my way through life. But your words are so full of impact. I started to believe that i was wasting my life away, that i was just throwing time out the window when playing games. And after watching some of your other videos, my vision, on both my life, video games, and other topics has expanded so much. Im starting to feel more positive about my life after watching some of your videos. Ive been on a very long and negative road downhill for a while now, and i think now, with some insight from you Boogie, Its about to change. Thanks Boogie for your wonderful messages, and for speaking from the heart. I feel like maybe one day ill make a video titled, "Story time- How Boogie2988 Saved my Life" :)

I was the kid that everyone thought was creepy because I could describe every part of a game and make someone imagine they are playing it because I described so well. Now I am just the emo-gamer-dancer-nerd.

Oh god it's just cringe worthy at 7:30. I mean I love games too, but saying that your accomplishments in life equate to killing some dragons in a video game...

have you ever played runescape?? because its a pretty fun game. yea it may not be as good as WoW, but its still a good game.

First off, i like this lad, he's pretty funny but no, please do not listen to any of this. He's got to a point in his life where he's happy, looked back and is thinking that all these bad things he did and got into led him to this happiness, no way. I'm taking nothing away from his successes at all, he 100% deserves his 2 million subs here on youtube and the money he gets from it but, imagine his life without youtube. The vast majority of people living their lives as he does won't ever get a way out like youtube, they'll just stay 100% fucking miserable their whole lives. Like i said, i like him but this video was terrible advice, especially as there will be a lot of people watching who are in a very bad place right now thinking, it ended up ok for boogie, fuck it, i'll just keep doing the same and not bother trying to change.

I disagree with the whole "People tore me apart because I was a shitty person" I highly doubt you were a shitty person, people who get bullied and picked on aren't shitty. You are thinking like the bullies who tormented you. They smell vulnerability, and attack no matter what you do or say. I'm just saying it wasn't your fault. Kids are fucking cruel, bullies are a less evolved form of human... they seek each other out and torment people because that's all their life is worth, getting in peoples way. It's the only way they can have control of their life, is by hurting other people.

I Remember Back in 2006 When Dungeons & Dragons Online Came Out. I had just heard of this game so i had no idea what it was. All my friends were telling me to Download the Game and that 10 people were playing online everyday. So i went home go to my room turn on my pc ( Before all this i only had Halo CE and World of Warcraft) I go to the website and next thing you know i was playing 8 hours a day nonstop. I had everything i needed. Food, Water, Bathroom....And that game is what kept me in my room for the past 11 years. I Remember having the shittiest monitor out of all my friends. Which i bought back in 2005. I dont have this monitor anymore though its long gone. ( This was around Feb 2006 which is when the game came out)

Boogie you talking about the internet from the 80's and 90's brought back some amazing memories. I was on any BBS (Bulletin Board System I could get connected to at least 4-5 hours a day and got to meet some really amazing people. A bunch of the BBS owners from the Buffalo, NY area would sometimes through a party where all of the BBS users could meet and get to know each other. I truly believe it was the experiences I had on the BBS's and their "meet and greet" parties that molded me intp a very caring and accepting person. BTW my favorite game while being a part of the BBS community was most definitely the txt base game Trade Wars!

That Company that made Ever Quest was Verant Interactive. In 2000 it was fully absorbed into Sony Computer Online Entertainment which later on February 2, 2015 it became Daybreak.

I almost cried watching this. Not really because I can relate and not even because I felt 'sorry' for him per se. But because its pretty beautiful as a gamer, hell, as a HUMAN to see video games impacting peoples lives so greatly. Keep doing what your doing man.

Gaming also helped me got my life inline. It was when my neighbor showed me his gaming PC and played some totally high definition games that I didn't even see back then. I wanted the same thing so I got into computers and I had something to shoot for. Something I didn't have, I was one of those dicks that called gamers "Fags" and "Dorks", but I had no goals back then and was miserable because of it. So I now am on my way to becoming a computer engineer and play games every day. So it wasn't really gaming that saved me but what gaming had become with technology.

For me it was somewhat the opposite. I used to hang out with friends and I was outside most of my teenage years. I spent around 5 years playing WoW. After I quit playing I found I didn't socialize much and had anxiety in public places. Probably due to sitting in my house for years addicted to that stupid game. On a positive note, Iwhen I was outside I was getting into shit and doing stupid stuff. So it probably saved me from getting into even more shit by not hanging out with the bad people I used to call friends.

Hey Boogie and others, I know how you feel because I play MMORPG's and i have been depressed for many reasons that I don't feel like talking about,but I play and i feel like I can do things like talk to others without being completely judged and the people Ingame help me to get out of my short time suicidal phase so this made me remember those people that helped me early on.

'I'VE FOUGHT GODS!'

Thank you Steven for this very personal, profound video. You explained so perfectly why and how the gaming community is not a waste of time. It helped my son also. And you have given me more of a glimpse of what he may have been going through than anything or anyone has. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I started on EQ in the late 90s. On Druzzil Ro. EQ2 came out and I hated the idea until I saw it. I gave it all up for EQ2 and I've since played it for over 10 years! Leader of my guild. I play other games too but MMORPGs have saved me too. When the real world is too terrible, that alternate fantasy is saving; yet, it is still REAL people you play with. I now have friends all over the WORLD! That I've known and care about for years. The internet is an amazing tool when used right. It can make us worse or better. Use the power for good. Much love, Boogie.

Pokemon and Anime saved my life. Pokemon because I was a nervous train wreck, a shitty dummy and a crybaby. Now I'm a confident student and anime helped the same way