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A UK researcher believes current MMO game addiction numbers are a bit higher than they truly are

A number of researchers are conducting studies as to whether or not the addiction to Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) can be harmful to gamers.  A recent report from Dr. John Charlton, psychology research fellow at the University of Bolton, found that "incidences of addiction could be 10% lower than some currently accepted classification schemes suggest."      

Comparing the symptoms of video game addiction and gambling addiction has been popular in the past, even though Charlton believes some of the symptoms in gaming addiction are not the same as in gambling addiction.  "This is my second research project in this field to confirm this outcome; that several symptoms researchers had thought were important in diagnosing computing-related addictions were actually only indicicative of high, but non-addictive, involvement," Charlton said.

Charlton wants to make it clear that he still realizes the devastating impact that gaming addiction can cause.  The addiction can be "potentially damaging for players' work, home and social life."  In a survey of 400 Asheron's Call gamers, 50 percent admitted to not getting a proper amount of sleep, 40 percent admitted their social life suffered, 40 percent said the amount of game play was causing issues at home, 35 percent said they missed meals to continue game play, and 30 percent admitted that gameplay interfered with work.

Research involving the MMOG genre exploded the past year or so, with researchers like Nick Yee leading the way.  Research firms expected there will be more than 10 million MMOG users worldwide by 2011.

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Not very harmful if you're smart...
By vze4z7nx on 3/24/2007 9:45:30 PM , Rating: 4
I've played C&C Red Alert 2 for about 2 years and I agree, it does change my social life and my grades at school. Whenever someone started talking to me about games or computers of anything related, our conversation always had something about Red Alert 2 in it.

I've also played C&C Generals for about 1 year. Now this time, I knew that if I play the game too much, I'll have to hear my mom yelling at me because of my low grades at school. So, I chose to limit myself to 2 hours a week playing the game, and I quickly concluded that I have made a smart decision.

So if your social life or grades at school are suffering because of your gaming, try to create a limit for yourself. I mean it's only a game, you're going to eventually have to ditch it sooner or later. Better to ditch it now than later.




RE: Not very harmful if you're smart...
By Christopher1 on 3/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: Not very harmful if you're smart...
By SomeYoungMan on 3/24/2007 10:41:33 PM , Rating: 2
Huh?


By dyls on 3/24/2007 11:07:31 PM , Rating: 1
Hang on...you do realise you just came out as a pedophile on a public forum, right? : /


RE: Not very harmful if you're smart...
By Pythias on 3/25/2007 12:35:14 AM , Rating: 1
quote:
because they think they are a 'dangerous' pedophile (of which I am the latter, but not the former).


All paedophiles are dangerous to children by their very nature. Please just kill yourself.


RE: Not very harmful if you're smart...
By MarkHark on 3/25/2007 12:50:05 AM , Rating: 3
I guess he was just making an etymological joke.

Pedo-phyle, from greek, means literally "Friend of children"


RE: Not very harmful if you're smart...
By peternelson on 3/25/2007 3:07:15 AM , Rating: 2
Some of my best friends are children.

Many adults are twofaced, backstabbing, jealous, covetous, competitive, and borrow your money then don't pay it back.

In contrast many children have a wonderful innocence.

In truth I have friends from 7 through 77, and it is a sick society that tries to say that isn't healthy or normal to straddle generational gaps. Indeed it is highly valuable for mentoring and community cohesion.


RE: Not very harmful if you're smart...
By peternelson on 3/25/2007 3:33:14 AM , Rating: 3
Meanwhile, back on topic, compulsive immersed behaviours are not restricted to computerised gaming.

IMO many soccer fans or anglers can be very dedicated and immersed in their sport, so that their work, relationships may suffer from it.

Gambling addiction is probably different since money is involved, giving incentive to try and play to win, and if you lose you may want to chase your losses.

In MMORG it's not real money, but there may be status associated with achieving certain points levels, certain weapon upgrades etc.

The main thing is have fun without ruining your life or studies. Moderate use is highly recommended.

At least things like Second Life have some position elements like creative design and interacting more with others, even if virtually. However, if you also know your fellow players in real life, the gaming could augment your real-life relationships.


By Spivonious on 3/26/2007 10:01:34 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, it doesn't matter what the "addiction" is. Too much of anything is a bad thing.


By MikeyJ79 on 3/25/2007 3:10:42 AM , Rating: 2
I was also disturbed by the wording of his statement, but telling one to kill himself is wrong.


By Tilmitt on 3/25/2007 5:06:46 PM , Rating: 2
Mention the word "children" and moral hysteria always ensues...


RE: Not very harmful if you're smart...
By rrsurfer1 on 3/26/2007 10:59:58 AM , Rating: 2
Yea this guy has come out and point blank said this crap many times before. At least 3 times that I've seen. Personally I'm not sure why this board hasn't banned him. I understand free speech but there is a line. Honestly I hope some law enforcement reads this board and goes after this guy, cause I'm sure he's doing some very illegal things in his free time.


By brinox on 3/26/2007 2:59:19 PM , Rating: 2
i make to say this guy is most likely lying his a** off and does not care what people think of what he says.


By zeroslugfm on 3/25/2007 2:03:52 AM , Rating: 2
everything in moderation i guess...

though it would be interesting to see how many players were vulnerable to addiction prior to playing an MMO.


By MikeyJ79 on 3/25/2007 2:54:23 AM , Rating: 5
As one who has participated in the realm of computer/video gaming (though not MMORPG's) in times past, I can relate to the effects mentioned in the survey questions. Due to these and other reasons, I decided that gaming needed to be largely eliminated from my life in order to once again get my priorities in life straight. While some may simply try to strike a better balance between games and life, such as vze4z7nz (whose actions I commend), knowing my generally addictive tendencies, I found it better to separate myself in more permanent ways. Most of the games I used to own ended up in the trash, while the rest have found new owners.

May I observe that you can insert just about any activity-of-interest as the addiction and have roughly the same effects. This is not to say that gaming can't cause these issues, nor do I necessarily mean to imply by my observation that gamers are being singled out unfairly. I simply mean to emphasize that many addictions share common results.

I agree with the statement that the symptoms can have ambiguous meanings. Is it an addiction, or is it merely "high involvement?" But then again, how does one distinguish between addiction and "high involvement?"

As far as some of the symptoms themselves are concerned, I could see the cause and effect being reversed, and hence go both ways. As an example, could excessive gaming be the result of one being anti-social in the first place? Could excessive gaming be the effect caused by problems in the home? In a broader sense, can the symptoms of addictive behaviors be the cause for the behavior in the first place? My answer is mainly, but not always, yes, because it can truly go both ways, hence why some addictions often prolong themselves since the cause and effect can trade places and become a cycle.

These are merely some of my own observations, and I am by no means a pshycological expert. It is also getting late and my sleepiness has begun to affect the expression of my thoughts. Hopefully my jist is understood.


The average life/player doesn't really matter
By bioorganic on 3/24/2007 11:37:49 PM , Rating: 2
Issues at home, sleep problems, affected social life?.... Honestly, these are not the biggest concerns w/ regard to MMORPGs. Take me for example, I decided to take 4 F's for a semester in order to achieve online dominance in EQ2.... first 50 necro & inquisitor!

I was able to dominate something (doesn't really matter what!) w/ a couple months of hard work. That's the draw of MMORPGs. W/ intelligence and hard work you can achieve instant gratification.

It's not so much that these games ruin a LOT of lives, but the fact that they utterly destroy lives like mine. W/ in 6 months of my online conquests I scored in the 99.9th percentile (yes 1 in 1000) on the MCAT (medical school entrance exam). Despite this achievement, schools are uninterested.

Who cares if these games diminish a ton of lives. I've seen more than a few brilliant prospects ruined. That's the real tragedy.




By bubbacub616 on 3/25/2007 4:30:00 AM , Rating: 2
if you came top in the MCAT, why aren't you given a place? there isn't a bit on the application form where they ask you if you are or have ever been addicted to a MMORPG is there?

if I've got the wrong end of the stick forgive me, am a UK doc and don't always get the US system


By gramboh on 3/25/2007 5:00:13 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
It's not so much that these games ruin a LOT of lives, but the fact that they utterly destroy lives like mine. W/ in 6 months of my online conquests I scored in the 99.9th percentile (yes 1 in 1000) on the MCAT (medical school entrance exam). Despite this achievement, schools are uninterested.


You must have REALLY bombed interviews to not get any acceptances with that score?


RE: The average life/player doesn't really matter
By FITCamaro on 3/25/2007 9:00:26 AM , Rating: 3
So because you choose to play a game rather than study for school and flunk, the game is at fault? I played games pretty heavily in college. I even missed a couple classes because I didn't feel like going and would rather stay home and play. But I always got my homework done, always put studying before playing, and always put my girlfriend before the game.

This argument is the same as the "guns kill people" one. Games don't ruin people's lives. People who make stupid decisions do. There is no addicting chemicals involved in playing games. Yes, mankind has a tendency to like things that give instant gratification. However, it's a game. You have the choice of whether or not to play. If you see that you're spending way too much time on it, it's your job to either cut back or quit playing.

And don't say that the game developers design the games to be addicting because they want you to be playing 24/7/365. They gain nothing by having you logged in constantly. In fact, it's better for them if you never play. Less bandwidth on their servers.

So the game didn't destroy your life. You made a conscious decision to do that yourself. However, like most people in todays world, you can't accept responsibility for your own actions and instead choose to put the blame on the activity you were doing instead of yourself. If I come across as harsh, sorry. But I have no pity for people who put themselves in your situation. It's your fault, no one elses.


RE: The average life/player doesn't really matter
By Piuc2020 on 3/25/2007 11:29:08 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I was able to dominate something (doesn't really matter what!) w/ a couple months of hard work. That's the draw of MMORPGs. W/ intelligence and hard work you can achieve instant gratification.


Hard work? You call being successful in a MMORPG hard work? You think you have to be intelligent to be successful at a MMORPG? This is why I hate MMORPGs, they don't require any skill at all, its just you, grinding your way through the levels, all it requires is an insane amount of time and lack of life. Personally, I'm extremely dissapointed Blizzard fell in the MMORPG game, their development skills and time could be put to much better use than a MMORPG game. If thats your definition of hard work then no wonder you didn't get accepted in any school.

And for FITCamaro, don't be silly, of course Blizzard wants you to play 24/7/356 and has designed the game to be that way, if they have enough content for the player to keep grinding the player will keep playing its monthly fee, players hooked on a game make it more popular and gains more gamers.

If every WoW player didn't play as much (say an hour a day), sure Blizzard would have saved some money on bandwidth costs but they certainly wouldn't have as much users or following, it doesn't take a nuclear scientist to know this, just a little common sense, apparently common sense is not as common as one might be led to think.


RE: The average life/player doesn't really matter
By DrMrLordX on 3/25/2007 4:28:32 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Hard work? You call being successful in a MMORPG hard work? You think you have to be intelligent to be successful at a MMORPG? This is why I hate MMORPGs, they don't require any skill at all, its just you, grinding your way through the levels, all it requires is an insane amount of time and lack of life. Personally, I'm extremely dissapointed Blizzard fell in the MMORPG game, their development skills and time could be put to much better use than a MMORPG game. If thats your definition of hard work then no wonder you didn't get accepted in any school.


Actually, they are hard work. It takes a major investment of time (time you can't spend doing anything else) to stay ahead of competing guilds or what have you. Top-tier players actually are intelligent, dedicated gamers who dissect every element of the MMO and develop highly-optimized playing techniques that are then copied by every Tom, Dick, and Harry who reads their forum posts on the subject (provided such information is ever made public, which it usually is eventually). These are the types of people that out-grind everyone else and are the first to explore raid content, take down big bosses, and accomplish other goals within MMOs that most will never achieve.

All that and a fiver will get you some coffee at Starbucks.


RE: The average life/player doesn't really matter
By FITCamaro on 3/26/2007 6:48:50 AM , Rating: 2
People who are what you would call hard core MMO players are intelligent. But they're still retarded for wasting their life doing nothing but playing MMOs just to say "I was the first to 50" or some crap like that. Employers aren't impressed that you were the first warrior to level 70 on your server. Potential only means something when its used.


By lufoxe on 3/26/2007 8:48:24 AM , Rating: 2
Wow this has to be one of the first times I agree with FITCamaro

quote:
Employers aren't impressed that you were the first warrior to level 70 on your server. Potential only means something when its used.


And that's true. This addiction to MMOs can take away from people, but these people also have a problem with self restraint. And thus this is the true underlying problem. You see people get addicted and then stop, I've had several friends do the same for WoW. They realized how the got, and said, no I'm not going to play. And they practiced self-restraint. Do I blame the developers, no, they made a fun and social game. (As much as they say it is effecting their social life, technically WoW IS their social life. So here's what it takes, parents, if you see that you child is addicted to WoW, stop paying the monthly fee. And if you think they'll go behind your back and charge it (in any extreme case) cancel the card (extreme solution for an extreme case). Friends, unfortunately, don't have much power. You can tell them time and time again, but alas, it's not your money (if it is stop giving it to them).

As for the person that had the friends living off of social services, there is a solution. WARNING: it will be an A-hole thing to do, but, it will get them shipped up. And that is report them, have the government do a surprise visit to see what they are really doing. Cut them off from their funds. Then they will have to go to the real world and work to pay for their addiction. And who knows, with a life, they may stop as well.


By raionz on 3/26/2007 7:51:55 PM , Rating: 2
Employees aren't impressed you can run a mile under a minute either.

What makes gaming worse than any hobby with exception of healthy sports. Say puzzles or drawing or throwing a ball against a wall.

It's whatever floats your boat. Addiction is the problem here, not gaming.

And don't hack it till you can do it. Any reasonably good gamer will exhibit good multitasking and thought process under pressure/stress. Sure my boss doesn't care I was the first to make lvl50. But he damn sure cares about my project management abilities.


RE: The average life/player doesn't really matter
By Munkles on 3/26/2007 8:22:51 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
RE: The average life/player doesn't really matter
By DrMrLordX on 3/25/07, Rating: 2
By DrMrLordX on 3/25/2007 4:28:32 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Hard work? You call being successful in a MMORPG hard work? You think you have to be intelligent to be successful at a MMORPG? This is why I hate MMORPGs, they don't require any skill at all, its just you, grinding your way through the levels, all it requires is an insane amount of time and lack of life. Personally, I'm extremely dissapointed Blizzard fell in the MMORPG game, their development skills and time could be put to much better use than a MMORPG game. If thats your definition of hard work then no wonder you didn't get accepted in any school.

Actually, they are hard work. It takes a major investment of time (time you can't spend doing anything else) to stay ahead of competing guilds or what have you. Top-tier players actually are intelligent, dedicated gamers who dissect every element of the MMO and develop highly-optimized playing techniques that are then copied by every Tom, Dick, and Harry who reads their forum posts on the subject (provided such information is ever made public, which it usually is eventually). These are the types of people that out-grind everyone else and are the first to explore raid content, take down big bosses, and accomplish other goals within MMOs that most will never achieve.

All that and a fiver will get you some coffee at Starbucks.


Ive just entered the realm of the MMO about 2 months ago, but how anyone can say that because someone has played a game for 2 years and knows the exact way to best DPS every beast in the game doesnt qualify for intelligence in my book. Thats experience, not intelligence. In those 2 months with an active account I have logged 12 game days, and netted a level 49 Paladin and a 15 Hunter.

Sure you must actually think about somethings "uh-oh my buffs are almost about to wear off let me refresh them" or " oh noes! I cant take out this 52 elite by myself!" but thats not true intellectual thought. If you think it is, I would heavily suggest spending your time in more important pursuits. I.E. reading books, tech articles, watching discovery channel.

If you think because someone who has logged literally MONTHS of in-game time is smart because he knows the layout of ulda and has the first 1000 quests memorized. I would shudder to know what you think about the kind of scientists who can manipulate the atomic structures of things to the point where they can make wholly new compounds with hundreds of times the tensile strength of steel, at a small fraction of the weight.

Im sorry but knowing how to set macro's and having had the experience of watching his character combine the same move thousands of times does NOT classify as smart, or intelligent in my book. Not to say their dunces just that their experience in WoW or EQ/2 DAoC etc. Does not make them smart.


By FITCamaro on 3/26/2007 8:51:11 AM , Rating: 2
I agree. My comment did not mean I think all, or even most, MMO players are intelligent. However I have met some who are able to figure out behind the scenes things of the game by recognizing patterns to how things behave. But yes, being able to chain abilities or knowing the best way to solo a mob does not mean one is a genius. Anyone with a good job does far more difficult tasks on a daily basis.


By mrgq912 on 3/26/2007 11:17:13 AM , Rating: 2
I can sort of agree with you.

I too in college played a lot of video/computer games. I earned a 3.4 gpa in BioChem at Rutgers college, but its not b/c of the games that I did poorly in my classes. I didn't really enjoy my classes and played games as a escape.

Side note: score of 90+ percentile on the MCATs should get you into at least 1 US med school. If you really f'd up in undergrad consider a year of grad school. You can definitely get in some where dude, I did and my score is only in the upper 80th percentile with a 3.4 gpa.


Very Harmful
By colgateam on 3/24/2007 9:02:36 PM , Rating: 5
I played WoW for 2 years before I saw the light, it took me 3 attempts to quit, but since then I have realised how much of a toll it was taking on my life. I would say it was worse than gambling addictions, not on your financial circumstances but on your health, because you can play these anywhere, home or internet cafe, it follows you, whereas you can always leave a casino. 10 million people by 2011....and WoW has 8.5 million at the moment....yeah right, more like 30 million.




RE: Very Harmful
By GhandiInstinct on 3/24/2007 11:20:01 PM , Rating: 5
My roommate in college, when WoW came out played it day in and out, started skipping classes, failing classes and losing interest in his major.

He's now out of college and doesn't know what to do, he pretty much gave up on everything he planned on because of WoW, it got him so sidetracked in life that he can't get back to where he was.

So I've seen it first hand, cripple an individual.


RE: Very Harmful
By Marlowe on 3/25/2007 6:44:35 AM , Rating: 2
I truly regret introducing the 10-day trial of Dark Age of Camelot to two of my childhood friends - they have been playing it since. They also quit school and lost interest in their future as a whole. I dragged them out yesterday and tried to answer them what their plans were, and they simply had none.. at all. They have been playing DAoC for two years now, moved together in an apartement with a third, living off social services. That place looks horrible by the way - no cleaning or tidying for months, go figure.

It's their choice of life - not much I can do about it.


RE: Very Harmful
By GhandiInstinct on 3/25/2007 4:43:33 PM , Rating: 2
Marlowe,

So your story is similar to mine, which makes me wonder, is the MMO the new "drug" so to speak?

Honestly, it has the crippling effects of marijuana and harder drugs, including Alcohol.

So are our children susceptible to this new drug? I'd say yes, and parents are unaware.

Remember that news story they had about that Australian kid who just sits at his computer and plays WoW non-stop, he doesn't go to school and he's become very violent, his mother does nothing about it and continues to pay the monthly fee.

I mean this is pretty scary, especially when you see it happen to people around you.

And I've played WoW addictively first hand, but I just had enough will power to realize this a drug that feeds the corporations and I can't let them use me anymore.

Ciao.


RE: Very Harmful
By GaryJohnson on 3/25/2007 7:16:26 PM , Rating: 2
Any diverting activity, if taken to the extreme that it diverts a person from performing the activities necessary to remain healthy, productive, and responsible can be dangerous.


RE: Very Harmful
By UsernameX on 3/26/2007 4:32:38 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Remember that news story they had about that Australian kid who just sits at his computer and plays WoW non-stop, he doesn't go to school and he's become very violent, his mother does nothing about it and continues to pay the monthly fee.


I saw a similar video on you tube the other day. It showed this kid playing Halo live. He had the headset and was conversing (i really don't even know if you can consider it that) with the other players. When he was killed or insulted by one of the players via their microphone, he got extremely violent. He would yell at the top of his lungs, bite his controller, or hit his TV as hard as he could. His mom would occasionally yell upstairs to tell him to quite down, but he would just curse back at her.

As an avid video gamer since the days of the Original Nintendo... I have to question what my life would have been like without them. Video games have definitely altered my personality and ways of thinking. During my high school years I chose to drop out of a private school and attend a public school. I had such an incredible opportunity and let it slip by. The public school was much less strenuous and I got by with mostly C's and D's. I played DAoC day in and day out. Constantly getting an average of 3 hours of sleep every day, sleeping through most of my classes, and not socializing with anyone. Even 4 years after I "barely" graduated high school, I don't play games nearly as much, but it still effects my habits and my time spent at school. I stopped playing MMORPGs but I still find myself wasting a few hours a week playing games, when I should be practicing my instrument or studying for my classes. (I'm in college now fortunately.) I need to find the will power to separate myself from games. I need to get my priorities straight, and then entertain myself.

The words "Video Game" is synonymous with Drug in my book. Sure there are a few out there that can be educational, but the other 99% certainly does not help you in real life.


RE: Very Harmful
By w1ckedj on 3/26/2007 8:42:44 AM , Rating: 2
You need to be able to tell yourself when to stop playing. I have played Ashrons Call 2 and WoW both from day one and usually only play 2-3 nights a week for maybe 2 hrs each night. Yes if you let yourself go these games can draw you in but you need to have some self control. Me I am a father of 2 young kids so they are my main responsibility. I can only sit down to play a game after they are in bed and after I have my other responsibilities around the house done. Need to learn to tell yourself when enough is enough. ANYTHING can be addicting but it takes YOU to control yourself. Don't blame the game, blame your week self on the addiction. learn to set time limits and you will be able to walk away when you want to.


Work
By jtesoro on 3/24/2007 10:03:14 PM , Rating: 6
quote:
50 percent admitted to not getting a proper amount of sleep, 40 percent admitted their social life suffered, 40 percent said the amount of game play was causing issues at home, 35 percent said they missed meals to continue game play, and 30 percent admitted that gameplay interfered with work .

Gets me to wonder how much work interferes with sleep, social life, home and missing meals!




RE: Work
By protosv on 3/25/2007 11:17:53 AM , Rating: 3
Wish I could mod this up to a 6....


RE: Work
By emarston on 3/26/2007 7:04:01 AM , Rating: 2
That's a fantastic question!


RE: Work
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/26/2007 1:20:08 PM , Rating: 2
You bet it does. I work roughly 50 hours per week (Salary Pay) sometimes more if shit hits the fan, I can get in some MMO Time (Though I tend to lean more towards RTS Games) but only 8-10 hours in a given week. Now which one is really ruining my social life, sleep, meals, etc...... yea its Work, not Gaming. Heck I would argue that gaming is a relaxing practice after that stressful insane work day.


RE: Work
By dnosferatu on 3/28/2007 1:32:02 AM , Rating: 2
in my personal experiences, only my social life that don't get interfered by work to much, bah!


10 million MMOG users worldwide by 2011.
By tuteja1986 on 3/24/2007 9:05:12 PM , Rating: 2
I think their are already more than 10 million mmorpg players. that is if you combine all the popular mmorpg like wow , everquest 2 , Lineage and what ever crazy MMORPG the Koreans are playing now.




RE: 10 million MMOG users worldwide by 2011.
By ninjit on 3/24/2007 9:42:03 PM , Rating: 3
Korea's the one that I always read about with regards adverse gaming news.

Internet penetration there is really high now, and I think there's been at least 2 reported deaths that were attributed to excessive time spent playing WoW.

I tried wow for 3 months (just quit last month), and I though it was a great game, but I could definitely see how easy it was to be sucked in which is why I quit. Monetarily it doesn't cost much, as the first-poster already pointed out, but in terms of shear time-wasted (and it can take hours to do even the smallest quest) it's a massive sink.

Internet addiction itself is a growing problem in asia - there was a news bit 2 weeks ago about a college in India (a tech school at that), that had decided to cuttoff student internet connections in the dorms at night.

We'll see problems like this crop up more and more in developing countries - governments are keen to see rapid growth of such technologies because it helps bolster their economy, but they aren't equipped to handle the social implications that arise.

Heck western countries are only just getting to grips with things like cyber-bullying/stalking, child-molesters harvesting their victims from social websites (myspace), online identity-theft, etc.


By BMFPitt on 3/25/2007 1:46:17 PM , Rating: 2
When you hear that some guy went nuts and killed 10 people with a sword in an internet cafe, you just know that it happened in Korea.

Guy stayed up for 2 weeks straight playing an MMORPG and dropped dead? Yep, that's Korea.


its the grind model
By rika13 on 3/25/2007 12:17:37 AM , Rating: 3
its because MMO's are designed to force the player to play for hours on end and gain just enough to keep the player playing; blizzard doesnt care if a few people in korea or china drop dead from playing too long as long as they keep paying that monthly fee




Asheron's Call ??
By walk2k on 3/25/2007 2:39:36 PM , Rating: 3
Why didn't they pick a good game?

IMO people (still) playing Asheron's Call have got to have something wrong with them to begin with.... =)

Seriously though, I hate it when people call things "addictions" - as if it was some disease. It's like, it gives people an excuse, as if they were some kind of "victim".

No, it's not a disease, you are not sick, you are just too f'in lazy and/or stupid to put the game down for 2 minutes and take care of the business of having a life...




Cute
By outsider on 3/25/2007 6:48:20 AM , Rating: 2
That guy in the photo is the researcher?




No worries
By akyp on 3/26/2007 11:44:52 PM , Rating: 2
BC (the WoW expansion) was so badly done that people I know are quitting left and right. I did that myself and I feel much better now.

Before anyone say it, I know the article isn't specifically about WoW, but WoW is the largest MMO at the moment and is affecting (afflicting?) the most number of people.




Before Wow
By Iroh on 3/27/2007 10:37:17 AM , Rating: 2
Like some others have said. Gaming addiction has been around a while. Back as a freshman at a private engineering school in 1994, 2 classmates, who lived in my dorm had a severe addiction to playing MUDs (multi-user dimensions - text based mmorpgs). They stopped going to class, and eventually dropped out.

On another note, other classmates dropped out on or before the end of freshman year because they went to too many parties and skipped classes. They didn't take their classes seriously for whatever reasons.

Later I also got hooked on MUDs I spent numerous all-nighters. I don't regret doing it. It was fun! I didn't drop out because of it, but it definately hurt my grades which luckily never affected the progress of my life since.

Like others here I've realized I have issues with self control when it comes to video gaming. I can see how some can compare it to an addiction. Luckily I've never felt true addiction. I imagine drug addiction is much worse.

Like one of the previous posters, I've found it's easier cutting out the online multiplayer gaming for myself.

For those having problems getting away from the video gaming, get engaged in other activities. There are places all around your town that are looking for volunteers. Coach kids soccer, little league, or get involved with some church activities. You will be suprised, to do these things, you do not need prior experience, just a willingness to participate.

On another note, I think video gaming "addiction" and gambling addiction are not related.




More evidence lamers have no life
By cornfedone on 3/25/07, Rating: -1
Moderated
By iluvjames on 3/25/07, Rating: -1
RE: http://www.zuneconverter.net
By protosv on 3/25/2007 11:19:01 AM , Rating: 2
....and wish I could rate THIS guy down to -2!


RE: http://www.zuneconverter.net
By slacker57 on 3/26/2007 2:04:40 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe excessive gaming had an adverse affect on this guy's ability to post on the correct forum.


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