South Korea Grapples With Online Gaming Addicts

Thanks to Yahoo News/Reuters for their story discussing the problems associated with online gaming addiction in MMO-crazy South Korea. According to the article, a 12 year-old named Lim's "love affair with the fantasy game [Lineage] saw him fall foul of the law after he stole $16,000 from his father and ran away to feed a passion for online gaming." This issue is particularly marked in Korea since "...about 70 percent of South Korea's 48 million people have access to the Internet, with 11 million using high-speed services, the world's highest broadband penetration rate." The article ends with the note that, "while some game industry alliances have been pushing game makers and distributors to provide purchasing guidelines, the likelihood of authorities imposing regulations that may pull the plug on a lucrative 500 billion won [$420 million] industry seems unlikely."

Comments

my 2 cents

[Joe the Lesser]

For years I railed against MMORPGs, and their addictive qualities. I have a friend who clearly spends way to much time with them. Not going to bed until 6AM when he has class, etc. It's like he gives himself completely to the unreal world to escape, which only aggravates his real world problems.

Anyway, over a month ago I bought FFXI. I've been a huge final fantasy fan ever since I beat the first one back in elementary school, and since I have a strong willpower, I figured I'd give it a try.

The game is certainly enjoyable, as it requires cognitive thinking which more or less, is more interesting, or less risky, then everyday affairs. But I am able to drop it on a dime for a better social event.

Ergo, my values and thinking structure prevent me from getting attached to the game (or anything for that matter) when a better alternative arrives. I feel no loyalty towards the game, and no feeling that I *must* reach a certain level.

So it's as if I'm watching TV, since I can get up anytime I want, but generally I like to watch my favorite shows.

My point is that it's the personality of the user which determines their addiction to it, so the Korean trend is not likely a product of their culture so much as it is a product of more addictive personalities being exposed to the game, instead of other addictive activites which we tend to have many of in America.

It's possible their culture has an effect in creating addictive personalities, but that would be another issue altogether.

Re:Why South Korea?

[Louis Guerin]

There are 3 in my city of 100,000.

There are about a dozen in my town of Daesan, South Korea, pop. 30,000.

Seosan, pop 150,000 (about twenty minutes away), has hundreds. As many PC Rooms as bars, easily.

L