Any Subnautica players actually fear the ocean or have issues with it?

LonnehartLonnehart Guam Join Date: 2016-06-20 Member: 218816Members
I've lived on an island almost all my life. However, I can't swim. Can't say I have a fear of the ocean, though. I'm happy sitting in it on the shore. Just don't push me over the side of the boat in deep water. Huge chance I'll never make it back to the surface. Either I'll panic so much that I'll drown, or I'll be pecked and eaten to death by hordes of peepers...
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited September 2016
    Let the record show I loathe knowing that whirlpools and creepy rumbling currents exist. Other than that not really, I just hate those unseen forces that can sweep you away without any warning into the abyss of doooom
  • xReixRei Join Date: 2016-08-23 Member: 221645Members
    I have thalassophobia.

    Yep. Took me hours before I timidly found my way into the dark, claustrophobic depths of the kelp forest. But nothing is more terrifying than the deep blue abyss that is the grand reef.

    *shiver*
  • Nautical_NickNautical_Nick Australia Join Date: 2016-06-12 Member: 218444Members
    I love the ocean. Its one of my greatest passions in life and I plan on learning how to scuba dive. So no fears of the ocean here.
  • KelfaKelfa Join Date: 2015-05-30 Member: 205084Members
    edited September 2016
    I may have a lesser form of multiple water related Phobias too (also Megalohydrothalassophobia which makes Reapers and the Aurora itself even scarier. Luckily i didnt encounter a Sea Dragon yet :)

    pic
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    Driving around with the seamoth is scary enough in the deeper biomes^^
    And in real life, i fear all the venemous, almost invisible creatures like certain jellyfish...

    Surprisingly enough, i have little problems with diving. Actually sticking my head underwater and going down, also being in a group overrides those feelings and gives me a positive excitement. Im still reluctant diving from a boat in deep water, but swimming is much worse.
  • Darwin-EvolutionDarwin-Evolution France Join Date: 2015-06-07 Member: 205310Members
    I do not, I'm actually fascinated by it and it's my dream to scuba dive and study marine biology for a living. I can understand why many people have a "phobia" of the ocean though because it's not the natural habitat of human beings. You can't naturally breathe underwater, the pressure grows faster the more you lose altitude than if you were in air, gravity has a smaller effect on you because of the water slowing you down...
  • TetrapodTetrapod Wastelands of California Join Date: 2016-08-04 Member: 220973Members
    Yes, it is too salty. Can I get one with less salt please?
  • Mr_PeaCHMr_PeaCH San Diego Join Date: 2016-08-24 Member: 221681Members
    Quite the opposite. Have lived near the ocean and loved being it all my life. I love everything about it. Surfing, snorkeling, fishing. Lack of visibility sometimes can be exciting and a little nervy but not frightening. Of all the phobias going I am the most puzzled by people who say they are 'afraid' of the ocean. That said I have a healthy respect for prevailing conditions but in some ways it only starts getting interesting when the lifeguards are putting up the warnings for the tourists.
  • CyionCyion London, ON Join Date: 2016-04-04 Member: 215334Members
    I will swim in lakes, but I will not swim in the ocean. I fear the ultra remote possibility of being in the same water as a great white shark or one of the super poisonous sea snakes or those jelly fish that kill you in like 30 minutes.
  • TarkannenTarkannen North Carolina Join Date: 2016-08-15 Member: 221304Members
    I don't have an issue with oceans themselves, but with any bodies of water in general. I'll take a dip in a pool or wade in the ocean but I refuse to go under the water. Ever since I was young I've had a fear of diving or being submerged underwater. I can "swim" and stay afloat, but I adamantly refuse to submerge my head underwater.

    Maybe that's why I like Subnautica so much; it's like a virtual swimming/diving simulator without any fear of actually experiencing it. :relaxed:
  • Kyman201Kyman201 Washington State Join Date: 2016-01-23 Member: 211880Members
    I've seen many people mention Subnautica on the thalassophobia subreddit (yes really) in the form of some kind of immersion therapy (hah, pun).

    I'm a bit unnerved by seas where I can't see the bottom, and even with Subnautica I feel wary with the really deep biomes.
  • RalijRalij US Join Date: 2016-05-20 Member: 217092Members
    I think I'm more scared of the ocean after playing Subnautica than I was before. I've never had any issues with being out at sea on a boat and rather enjoy it so the sudden fear from the game was a complete surprise. I think it was more a fear of the unknown than fear of the ocean though as I feel entirely safe in the sparse reef and upper parts of the grand reef... finally away from the wiggly sharks that sound like lions somehow.

    Subnautica has completely changed how I see underwater environments, even in unrelated games. I realized it swimming in Lake Ilinalta in Skyrim (when you're in a rush and running away, slaughterfish look an awful lot like stalkers). Whereas there was just a body of water before I can see and notice things that had never crossed my mind before playing Subnautica. Topography, rocks and outcroppings, possibly useful plants... etc. I really want games to put resources in underwater areas now.
  • BDelacroixBDelacroix Florida Join Date: 2016-04-08 Member: 215511Members
    I was once a diver and so I'm ok with it. (The mask in my avatar is what I wore.)
  • imnrkimnrk Minnesota Join Date: 2016-09-07 Member: 222130Members
    edited September 2016
    I haven't been diagnosed with anything, but I used to get panic attacks when thinking about the ocean too long. I's all dark and deep and scary. But at the same time it interests me. When I got this game, even the safe shallows made me uneasy. But playing this game has made it easier for me to handle my fears, since it forces you to do just that. I still have yet to explore the deepest parts for myself though. The only time I went too far out I stayed to the surface, and found the floating island. I needed to stop when I looked down and saw nothing but blue beneath me.
  • EnglishInfidelEnglishInfidel Canada Join Date: 2016-07-04 Member: 219533Members
    I love the ocean. My family has always been a sea-faring bunch. I can trace my family tree right back to Sir Martin Frobisher (Martin is still a popular name in my family) who fought the Spanish Armada (and from whom Drake stole a lot of fame and fortune, including some Spanish frigates which he claimed he captured when he didn't.)

    He also went in search of the North West passage, discovered Frobisher Bay, and the Frobisher Trading Company, brought back tonnes of fool's gold to England and ripped off investors.

    He was generally a rogue and a privateer, and I'm pretty proud to be a direct descendent of such fine piratical genes.

    He was also very little known, until my Great Grandfather spent the last 20 years of his life researching most of what is now known about him. I have a lot of his research in my keeping and it's fascinating stuff, especially the bits about the Frobisher Company and the Hudson Bay Company basically fighting a private war in Northern Canada.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Frobisher

    I know most people won't care about some random guy on the internet and his family history, but there you have it.

    Anyway, ever since the early days of the Royal Navy my family has been there on the waves. My generation is the very first where none of the boys in the family signed up. I guess it's a sign of how things have changed in modern life.
    I do often regret not signing up myself, however, as I think it would have been a good career for me. I feel a very real pull towards the open sea and I spend a lot of holidays and spare time in fishing boats.

    If I ever get enough money, I'll move somewhere next to the ocean and retire to a life of strong drinks and fishing.

  • DagothUrDagothUr Florida Join Date: 2016-07-12 Member: 220125Members
    You couldn't pay me to get into the ocean.
  • RalijRalij US Join Date: 2016-05-20 Member: 217092Members
    @EnglishInfidel That is pretty freakin awesome. Family histories and lineages are fascinating to me. So much I didn't know there. Cheers!
  • Victor32Victor32 Join Date: 2016-04-01 Member: 215181Members
    I love how OP called out for players with enough fear of the ocean to make playing the game difficult, and yet most people rushed into the thread only to boast how they love swimming and have absolutely no fears.

    Personally, I have enough fear of the dark depths and whatever unknown horrors dwell in them, that I've never even seen an ocean in my life. I haven't been on a boat, I can't swim either. I can walk along the beach and let the waves lick my feet, but that's about as close as I've ever got to a sea.

    That said, playing SN is, in a way, a good training for that fear. More often than not I can persuade myself that it's just a game and nothing bad is going to happen to the real me, so I am able to swim around and even watch a reaper from a distance. Still, my first trip to Aurora was a very, VERY scary experience.
  • EnglishInfidelEnglishInfidel Canada Join Date: 2016-07-04 Member: 219533Members
    Victor32 wrote: »
    I love how OP called out for players with enough fear of the ocean to make playing the game difficult, and yet most people rushed into the thread only to boast how they love swimming and have absolutely no fears.
    Welcome to the internet. This is generally how conversations work. It's not boasting to be passionate about something, agree or disagree.

    I have to ask, can you people who are afraid explain more what exactly it is you are afraid of? I can't really understand why you'd be afraid of any fauna, unless you happen to be in shark filled waters where attacks happen comparatively regularly.

    If it's the idea of drowning, or your boat sinking, I can get behind that. When I'm out there I sometimes think about being on a bigger vessel in the middle of the Atlantic and it goes down, and you're trapped below decks. Or at the bottom of the ocean on a submarine. Drowning seems like a terrible and painful way to go, but I tend to imagine acceptance comes pretty quickly in that situation. You're about to die, better get used to it, happens to the best of us.

    I understand people being afraid for whatever reason, but I also feel bad for you missing out.
    This may sound like flowery rhetoric to most, but there's absolutely no feeling as thrilling as bouncing along big waves in a 35 foot boat in rough seas. It's akin to being on an amazing roller-coaster, but far less contrived and far more primal. For some, it simply feels like being home.
  • RedMallieRedMallie America Join Date: 2016-03-17 Member: 214355Members
    For others it may be terrifying, though.

    I love the sea. I have a fascination with its vastness. And at the same time, I suffer from vertigo so looking down into the black abyss is a heart wrenching experience for me. And I also dislike being touched by the "pretties" in the ocean, hehehee.

    In Subnautica, sometimes even Peepers coming fast at me make me jump in my chair. At the beginning I was not able to stay out of the Lifepod at night.

    Great thread!!
  • LonnehartLonnehart Guam Join Date: 2016-06-20 Member: 218816Members
    DagothUr wrote: »
    You couldn't pay me to get into the ocean.

    But you paid for Subnautica... so you paid to get into the ocean? :)

    Anyways, I'm happy to have made this thread. I figured quite a few people who play this game have some fear of the ocean. But It's nice to see there are others who have love and respect for it.

    My fear of the ocean is really the fear of the unkown. It's like when you're getting ready to dive into the water, but are scared because who knows what's waiting down there, in that dark blue sea? :)
  • imnrkimnrk Minnesota Join Date: 2016-09-07 Member: 222130Members
    edited September 2016
    Victor32 wrote: »
    I love how OP called out for players with enough fear of the ocean to make playing the game difficult, and yet most people rushed into the thread only to boast how they love swimming and have absolutely no fears.
    Welcome to the internet. This is generally how conversations work. It's not boasting to be passionate about something, agree or disagree.

    I have to ask, can you people who are afraid explain more what exactly it is you are afraid of? I can't really understand why you'd be afraid of any fauna, unless you happen to be in shark filled waters where attacks happen comparatively regularly.

    If it's the idea of drowning, or your boat sinking, I can get behind that. When I'm out there I sometimes think about being on a bigger vessel in the middle of the Atlantic and it goes down, and you're trapped below decks. Or at the bottom of the ocean on a submarine. Drowning seems like a terrible and painful way to go, but I tend to imagine acceptance comes pretty quickly in that situation. You're about to die, better get used to it, happens to the best of us.

    I understand people being afraid for whatever reason, but I also feel bad for you missing out.
    This may sound like flowery rhetoric to most, but there's absolutely no feeling as thrilling as bouncing along big waves in a 35 foot boat in rough seas. It's akin to being on an amazing roller-coaster, but far less contrived and far more primal. For some, it simply feels like being home.

    For me it's two things. What really gets me is the vast emptiness. It's all dark and deep. Also stuff in the water just looks scary. I remember a giant rock I saw once, it was a really deep lake but you could just barely see the top of the rock. I almost fell out of my kayak when I looked down and saw that. I used to be able to have fun in lakes and I was a great swimmer but something changed when I got older and now I can't go past my waist in water, and don't even think about putting me in a boat.
  • bwc153bwc153 Shawnee, KS, US Join Date: 2016-02-29 Member: 213659Members
    Yes. Never pinned it down what phobia it is, but whatever it is it's not that strong. Something about Large objects underwater, but mostly the lack of visibility (Especially after the lighting update), and large predators.

    First time I had heard about Reapers I remember I was paranoid of getting lost and running into one; First time I went to the Aurora, about a year ago, I went in a Cyclops and was scared to swim the last 2 dozen yards... When they blocked the generator room entrance in new versions, my first trip through the front (with seaglide) required a few shots of Whiskey to do it.

    After I play for a few hours, usually whatever is upsetting no longer does so, unless I take a multi-month break from the game and come back. About a week ago I went Reaper hunting in my PRAWN suit, for example...
  • BugzapperBugzapper Australia Join Date: 2015-03-06 Member: 201744Members
    BDelacroix wrote: »
    I was once a diver and so I'm ok with it. (The mask in my avatar is what I wore.)

    A Kirby Morgan 18B band mask, by the look of it. Commercial gear. If you don't mind me asking, salvage operator or rig diver?

    Former SCUBA diver and equipment service tech here. Love the ocean and miss diving like you wouldn't believe.
  • Calarand77Calarand77 lurking in general forums Join Date: 2016-01-22 Member: 211786Members
    My issue with oceans and other large bodies of water is a bit... different.

    I won't soak in a bath because all I can think of is that I'm actually soaking in my own dirt and dead skin cells. Same with the oceans, seas and lakes. The fish live there, poop there, die there. Millions of tourists soak their bodies there, pee and leave their own skin cells in the water. There is sewage dumped there. Toxic waste. Wrecks of countless ships, planes. Gods only know how many human corpses... I could go on. My brain happily dumps all that into on me the moment I get close to the water and it either triggers me into a full-feature panic attack, or into severe nausea. Most of the time it's both. I don't think it's officially recognized as an actual phobia, but it does give me a crippling fear and forces me to take an uncomfortable, 40-50 minutes long shower in too hot water if someone so much as splashes sea water on me. I am perfectly okay sitting on the beach, away from the water edge, and admiring the waves, but that's about it.

    That said, this is why I love Subnautica so much. This game, thanks to depicting underwater in such a realistic way, allows me to experience the ocean for the very first time in my life - I know that it's all pixels, it's not really filthy or toxic, so I can persuade myself to play it, and once I do, I enjoy myself immensely.
  • LonnehartLonnehart Guam Join Date: 2016-06-20 Member: 218816Members
    Calarand77 wrote: »
    My issue with oceans and other large bodies of water is a bit... different.

    I won't soak in a bath because all I can think of is that I'm actually soaking in my own dirt and dead skin cells. Same with the oceans, seas and lakes. The fish live there, poop there, die there. Millions of tourists soak their bodies there, pee and leave their own skin cells in the water. There is sewage dumped there. Toxic waste. Wrecks of countless ships, planes. Gods only know how many human corpses... I could go on. My brain happily dumps all that into on me the moment I get close to the water and it either triggers me into a full-feature panic attack, or into severe nausea. Most of the time it's both. I don't think it's officially recognized as an actual phobia, but it does give me a crippling fear and forces me to take an uncomfortable, 40-50 minutes long shower in too hot water if someone so much as splashes sea water on me. I am perfectly okay sitting on the beach, away from the water edge, and admiring the waves, but that's about it.

    That said, this is why I love Subnautica so much. This game, thanks to depicting underwater in such a realistic way, allows me to experience the ocean for the very first time in my life - I know that it's all pixels, it's not really filthy or toxic, so I can persuade myself to play it, and once I do, I enjoy myself immensely.

    Wow... That sounds like some kind of phobia to me. I hope it doesn't extend to drinking water... that would NOT be good. If I'm reading my internet right you could have a form of automysophobia (the fear of being dirty)...

    Hopefully Subnautica is helping you fight that fear. Or at least giving you a sense of what an ocean is like without being soaked in it.
  • Calarand77Calarand77 lurking in general forums Join Date: 2016-01-22 Member: 211786Members
    Lonnehart wrote: »
    Wow... That sounds like some kind of phobia to me. I hope it doesn't extend to drinking water... that would NOT be good. If I'm reading my internet right you could have a form of automysophobia (the fear of being dirty)...

    Hopefully Subnautica is helping you fight that fear. Or at least giving you a sense of what an ocean is like without being soaked in it.
    I'm mostly okay if it is running water - that's why showers are doable. Drinking water is okay as well, because I know it's filtered and whatnot, so my brain doesn't freak out. I can also get my feet wet in a river with relative ease, for as long as I have a hot shower handy nearby. Anyway, it's... complicated, lol.

    Subnautica does indeed help a lot here. Maybe not so much in battling my fear - it can't do anything to make the real life waters any cleaner for my brain - but it really lets me see the possible beauty of the ocean and how awesome it would be to dive and explore it, allows me to do something I will probably never be able to do in real life, and for that I will be forever grateful to the devs.

  • eLIR18eLIR18 Turkey Join Date: 2015-08-17 Member: 207214Members
    My friend has Selachophobia.
  • WrathOfHircineWrathOfHircine Join Date: 2016-08-26 Member: 221746Members
    I hate not seeing the bottom of the ocean, i was extremely tense when i went to floater isle without a seamoth.
  • crane476crane476 United States, Tx Join Date: 2015-08-07 Member: 206850Members
    I'm terrified of being in the ocean and looking down at the bottomless void. When I first started playing subnautica it took me forever just to venture past the kelp forest. Then I tried swimming to the aurora with just a seaglide and a reaper decided to spawn 3 feet from my face. Miraculously I made it back to the safe shallows in one piece, but I didn't leave the safety of the shallows for a long while after that. Even after I gathered up the courage to go exploring again I was always wary that a reaper might warp in and grab me.
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