Gaming addiction?

[SAS]

Just spotted this article on the BBC about losing yourself in online gaming. The article looks at the impact of MMORPGs and their addiction levels, raising the question "are some people taking their fantasy lives too seriously?"

Would you class yourselves as addicted to online gaming? Many people can't understand the appeal of playing a game for 4 hours straight, yet they will happily watch TV or read a book for the same amount of time. Is it just a case online gaming is still misunderstood?

 

[Conchabar]

"The sad truth is my husband spent 11 hours today playing his Warcraft game. He did not interact with our sweet tiny baby because there were important quests waiting online."

lol so true

yup gaming is addictive? y because life suxs and we escape the harshness of reality to sit in r room and play games and drink and eat excessive amounts of crap ... y u ask? because theres nothing better to do then prove ure skills in a online game

although most gamers im sure play a game like a job =)

 

[schizoid9]

I've been playing online games since 1994, telnet-based MUDs, at first... 10 or 12 hours of gaming a day was a normal day for me and a few of my friends. Anyway, since then I've found periods when all I did was gaming, and periods when I didn't play at all. I've played everything from browser based strategy games to FPS and there have been times when I never left my chair for 40-50 hours at a stretch. I've always had an active social life and made a fair amount of money from my job, however I have been addicted to gaming in the past and to some extent I'm still interested in it. I've known games are addictive for a long time now, but so is smoking, sex, and just about everything humans can conceivably do to spend their time... At least gaming doesn't kill you in the process.

Most of the 'gaming widows' would have found themselves in that position sooner or later, given the number of unhappy marriages that exist in the world. Some men use their work to get out of the oppresiveness of a failed marriage, some find a hobby, some find a shrink, some find another woman, some go into online gaming. The difference is that it's very easy to be good in online gaming, while it's far more difficult to excel in RL. It's appealing to enter another world where your shortcomings (real or imagined) do not apply. Appearance doesn't matter, education, social background, economic power, also don't matter. A frustrated husband with a load of mortgages, a job he doesn't particularly like and isn't really good at, but has to keep in order to supply for a family he didn't particularly want in the first place... you get the picture. Gaming provides an easy, inexpensive and safe escape from all this.

I'm not condoning such behaviour ofc, but games do provide an easier way to escape our failures. It's also a fact that most people would rather escape reality rather than face up to it and try to make things better.

 

[Mazling]

I don't see how losing yourself in a game is any different to losing yourself in a book, a good film, or a drunken stupor. It's just a matter of being able to manage yourself and being aware of your commitments - ignoring a baby for 11 hours is crazy. Maybe online gaming along with other social activity overrides sanity or people who read books are just too easily shamed into spending more time with people; those who do things for just themselves will always get whined at.

 

[Cask]

Nice post schizoid, made some good points.

These types of articles always give examples of people that misuse the games and rarely talk about the good that can come from them. I remember a while back while playing EverQuest my guildmates wife was threatening to leave him while he was playing the game, obviously there's a big problem there. On the other hand, in the same guild there were several couples that used to sit side by side and play the game together which must have been great for their relationship.

I don't know whether these games are good on the whole. I do know that I could have better spent the thousands of hours that I've put into games but had I not had the game would I have better spent that time? Impossible to say. The development companies probably should find ways of preventing the minority from overusing the product, as long as it doesn't affect the responsible majority that don't let their real life responsibilities suffer.

Incidentally that old guildmate is still with his wife, and he still plays most evenings so they must have worked something out.

 

[Mazling]

Do you propose to force people to only play a game for so long, so that they can do their other - and obviously far more important stuff ? I agree that people can abuse this stuff and end up at level 999 ascended beigns like in SG-1 while everyone else is level 3.5, but surely it's up to individuals to manage their priorities and not be nannied.

 

[PLightstar]

Gaming addiction isn't really a problem for me, I tend to use gaming as a way to wind down and get rid of stress, say using Dynasty Warriors to relieve a hard day at work or when im pissed off at a someone. But some games take up more time anyway, say an average FPS should take around 15-25 hrs to finish first time, though a RPG or even a MMO will take at least 10 tens times that or more.

But gaming will be targeted by everyone who doesn't understand it, till it becomes more mainstream, which prolly won't be for another 10- 20 years.

 

[TdC]

hmm, I can't quite remember the last time I sat down and played a game for a *very long time* (tm), or reading a book all the way through in one sitting for that matter. I simply do not have the time to do it any more. I can imagine myself going for it though, on a friday after work, gym and a quiet pint. if the gf happens to be working. even is she's not, she encourages me to play for reasonable periods of an hour or two because she knows I enjoy it so much.

an hour or two? feh. even though I've never indulged in the phenomenon MMORPG in it's many forms (just to coin a genre that to my mind takes lots of time to play) I have played games for hours on end. I expect that every gamer in the world has looked up from the screen at some point and thought "holy crap, it's 4am!". computer time passes quickly, or perhaps a better phrase would be "time immersed in something passes quickly", as I have the same while reading, listening to music, or watching a movie. though I rarely play for more than 4 hours in one go nowadays it's more often than not that I am vaguely surprised that it's two hours later than I expected it to be.

I can remember times past that I would routinely pull 24, 48 or even more hours without sleep just so I could play. I can remember being ill, going home from work, getting better on the second day home and playing games non-stop for a week before turning up at workies again. ooh err. this behaviour now strikes me as reasonably dodgy. so does thinking about my next ship upgrade in X2, or that brilliant +5 longsword that was blessed and only usable by a paladin over level 20 in NwN while at work, though why that is dodgy behaviour on my part I'm not entirely sure.

I am reasonably sure that I would never be accused of ignoring my girlfriend, cat, personal hygene or child like the people in that article are. I can turn the fantasy world off if I have to, and I have to sometimes. one should try to have a certain measure of balance in life, and while I will never tell my EverCrack playing mate that he should put aside the game for a few hours to come loll about in the park checking out the girls in summer dresses and drinking wine because it's "better" or "more fun", I will tell him so because because he or she is my friend and I want to spend time with them.

 

[eggy]

On the other hand, in the same guild there were several couples that used to sit side by side and play the game together which must have been great for their relationship.

I disagree completely with this point.

I don't believe sitting together and playing a computer game will hold a stable, healthy relationship together. The lack of communication between partners would be evident; I bet talking in guild/alliance channels becomes more of a priority than speaking in 'real life'.

I used to work at a net cafe, and was introduced to daoc at that time. I played a lot of the game, which was instantly addictive. However, I have always held a very active social life, as well as studying for a degree.

Now, I'm working 5 days a week. Gaming is something I enjoy in the evenings after work. However, friends/social life >> gaming. I'll never turn down a night on the beers for a relic raid, and I'd never miss work to attend a master level As long as you treat gaming as a hobby rather than a necessity, it's just the same as slouching in front of the TV all evening. At least with mmporgs you can chat to real people!