The Lure of Heroinware

blankmange writes "news.com reports: When games stop being fun; where the line between reality and fantasy blurs. Another story about games and the adults who can't stop playing them. It seems that we can't be held responsible for our actions -- it must be the 'heroinware' that game companies are producing...." Mmmm, Evercrack. T. pops in: Don't worry, games aren't addictive, but here's the announcement of a 24-hour gaming TV network for those unexplained late-night cravings. (Thanks to joestump98.)

Comments

Yahoo! Pool

[XBL]

I have never ever been into gaming of any sort, but now I have gotten addicted to Yahoo! Pool (games.yahoo.com). I have played like 1500 games... and I have seen some people on there with over 3000 games under their belt. I talked to a couple of people I played against, who admitted they have been playing for 6 hours or more straight.

Luckily Yahoo! is starting to charge $10 a month of special privileges, like set tourneys. I have forced myself to stay away from those, and the "ladders".

There is nothing really that great about this game, except that its free, and loads up easy into the web browser. Just goes to show that a game doesn't have to be great to be addicting.

Stay away from Yahoo! Pool!

Re:Planetside

[Chasing Amy]

Anything that provides the opportunity for escape or is mood-altering can become addictive. In that respect I don't think the immersive video games are much different from other things people can become addicted to--drugs, alcohol, pr0n, traditional paper-and-dice roleplaying, etc. There's a good reason that even huge fans of the game jokingly agree with the term "Evercrack." But it's important to note that people can become addicted to just about anything--watching those 24-hr. cable news stations, posting to Slashdot; anything which alters the mood, takes the mind off real life or personal life, or makes someone feel special or important.

That's not to say that it's inherently dangerous or addictive--most people can drink or smoke pot or watch pr0n or play Everquest or D&D without becoming addicted. It's a very small percentage with personalities susceptible to addictions who develop real problems, while almost everyone else can successfully have a few drinks or play a few games without it interfering with the rest of their lives.

So, it's the addictive personalities which are the real problem, not alcohol or games or pr0n or drugs or cable news or whatever one's addiction is. When I read the following paragraph, I had an intersting thought:

> While such cases are rare, mental-health professionals say the fantasy worlds
> offered by computer and video games can become the stuff of very real addictions that
> destroy marriages and careers.

The thought was--what is it about these people's real lives that's so boring or bad that they want to escape into the make-believe world of power or pleasure offered by a computer game or a syringe of heroin? That's what we need to blame and address, not the games or the pr0n or the alcohol or drugs. All of those things can and are used in moderation by most people, to bring them additional pleasure; some people have no or insufficient real-life joys, and rtreat into their favorite "opiate." These deficiencie in their lives, which enhance susceptibility to escapism, are what need to be addressed and improved.

Think of the teenage Everquest addict's likely profile--a smart geek with a lot of ability but no respect in real life. Our society--particularly our highschool society--accords brainless people with athleticism limitless respect, and people with tremendous minds but not so impressive bodies almost none. It's therefore understandable if one falls into the lure of finding that respect in a make-believe world, since the real one refuses to provide it.

It's like with Columbine, how not a single step was made to teach kids to be more egalitarian and accepting, and instead the pressure was turned up and people who didn't fit in perfectly into the social machine were shunned and harassed even more. No one wants to see underlying problems--they want to blame the game or the substance instead of the deficiencies in our society. It's sad and alarming, and is getting us nowhere. We need to see the problems in our society and work our best to fix them--not blame that which brings the problems to light.