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Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 05:03
by Tanuki
Anyone ever get any symptoms? How strong? Like when dealing with bottomless pits or ledges and the like.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 08:50
by Abram
Only in real life, and only until rationality comes in. Games? Nope. But a lot of people are freaked out by stuff like that in a game. Or movie.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 10:21
by PapaLes
I'll admit it, I've had it in some fps games on certain maps. I think the worst I got was in Unreal multiplayer on a map with a lot of skyscrapers and rooftop sniping (I think the map was Zeitgeist or something like that) I also got it in Mirrors edge in a few places. I had it watching some movies also (not on tv, only when using our projector) I've never had it in FSX though and that seems strange to me. I like to fly the Ultralight over the grand canyon but it just doesn't get to me like being on a rooftop in other games. I get it pretty bad on Ferris wheels also. the only way I can ride one is if I look straight out in front of me, never down.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 12:09
by Paradigm Shifter
Not in games. And in real life, I can stand at the edge of a cliff with no problems... it's when I climbing them and get 3/4's of the way up that looking down isn't a good idea... :)

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 16:57
by skipclarke
Not in games, though I have it in real life. Haven't played many games with the opportunity. I do get motion sick in real life and in games.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 19:05
by packerfan
Games, not what so ever. In real life I do get it depending on the situation, easy in tall buildings (not houses though). Occasionally on cliffs.

Was it dafox that I chatted with once who actually got it in games. I remember someone on the forum I chatted with.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 19:52
by DaFox
Games, not what so ever. In real life I do get it depending on the situation, easy in tall buildings (not houses though). Occasionally on cliffs.

Was it dafox that I chatted with once who actually got it in games. I remember someone on the forum I chatted with.


Games I have very sparse very minor cases. Exclusively in urban settings, and I have to be very high up and in a mood where I am like Shit I cant fall (as I would be in real life) so http://www.kzmod.com is the number one game that I ever feel anything from. And thats really only because I can spend 10 minutes climbing up the building look down and go oh shit I really do not want to fall now.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 20:49
by Frag Maniac
I get it sometimes, though more from high ledges where I can see everything below vs bottomless pits. It has to be a game that really pulls off that feeling well though. For the most part it doesn't effect me, but in real life, you bet. I even get a bit creeped out looking straight down out a window from a high floor in a skyscraper, esp if I can feel the building sway in the wind.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 21:58
by Mergatroid
I'll get a twinge of it in some games. In WoW, for instance, I can feel it a little bit when I fly out over the Twisting Nether in Outland.

In real life, it can hit me pretty bad sometimes. There's a walking bridge here in Nashville across the Cumberland river that's about 30 feet wide. I start getting really nervous when I approach the sides, even with the 4 foot railings. I look over anyway, though :).

Ironically, when I'm up in a plane, however small, I have absolutely no problem.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 02 Jul 2009, 22:37
by Frag Maniac
Ironically, when I'm up in a plane, however small, I have absolutely no problem.
Yeah, me too, that's weird isn't it? I DO get nervous in a small land plane as it approaches the runway though. It didn't help that the only one I've ever flown in was piloted by a neighbor of mine that was practicing his landings via "touch and goes", hopping the plane a bit as he did so. I helped him wash and wax the plane once and he took me around the Puget Sound at dusk. Even let me fly it a bit, very cool. It was a little Piper Cub that he was jointly leasing with a bunch of other coworkers at Boeing.

I have flown in a small sea plane too, and I don't have the same problem landing on water. Something about the reassuring look of the softer surface I guess. I'm sure there are just as many potential dangers landing on water though.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 03 Jul 2009, 11:27
by Paradigm Shifter
Hehe... water might look softer... land in it from a height and you're gonna get just as broken. ;)

Reminds me of a chap whose parachute failed to open on a skydive. He survived - with a broken arm and leg, and a lot of scratches... because he landed in a bramble bush.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 03 Jul 2009, 11:57
by Frag Maniac
Hehe... water might look softer... land in it from a height and you're gonna get just as broken. ;).
Yeah obviously, but as far as low angle landings, I'll take water any day. Mishaps can happen either way, I just feel better over water.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 03 Jul 2009, 18:22
by infernus
I don't have it in real life so it doesn't bother me at all in games. There is a slight thrill when falling off a skyscraper in Prototype for example, though.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 05 Jul 2009, 18:49
by mengzor
Have had it a little in a few games , although only just like shivers down my spine and such - particuarly in more realistic looking games and stuff.

on a semi-related note : Anyone else get a really weird falling/vertigo sensation when you jump from really high?

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 06 Jul 2009, 11:43
by Paradigm Shifter
In real life, yeah. ;)

In games... no. :)

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 06 Jul 2009, 15:04
by whismerhill
in real life yes, a bit nothing uncontrollable though and really depends on the settings, on a cliff with no barrier for example is probably the worst

in games & movies, absolutely not, even the opposite might get a thrill depending on the circumstances

overall I consider this to be a normal reaction of fear near a danger for my life, self-preservation anyone ?

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 07 Jul 2009, 16:31
by Cynagen
Half-Life 2, bridge truss crossing. If you've played, you'll know what I'm talking about. The fact of being over water didn't help shit. I literally freaked out and fell in-game, screaming in real life. Friend of mine who was over came into my room and asked me what the hell was going on. I was crying by the time he found me, it freaked me out bad. Other than that one intense time, none other in games. In real life, I'm sooo freaked out by a ledge, even one with a rail. Especially in apartment buildings when the walkway or the apartment floor upstairs creaks while i'm walking on it. Always afraid I'm gonna go falling right through, and if I do, I'm gonna get sliced open like a turkey.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 08 Jul 2009, 05:40
by infernus
on a semi-related note : Anyone else get a really weird falling/vertigo sensation when you jump from really high?


In-game, only from extremely high places and only for maybe a split second. Probably desensitization at work, there.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 08 Jul 2009, 17:45
by chabooka
Have had it a little in a few games , although only just like shivers down my spine and such - particuarly in more realistic looking games and stuff.

on a semi-related note : Anyone else get a really weird falling/vertigo sensation when you jump from really high?


I used to get that feeling when I was a kid playing my N64. When I got older the feeling went away though; I probably didn't put myself in the character as much anymore or something.

I am mildly afraid of heights but not in games. I wonder if the feeling is more common if you put yourself in the characters shoes; kinda so it feels more like you're living the game.

Acrophobia in games

Posted: 08 Jul 2009, 19:05
by packerfan
On that note maybe I was talking with Cyna about hl2:ep2 and he was talking about some jump that freaked him out, i remember there wasa jump that you took in hl2 in a buggy that freaked someone out.