Slashdot Mirror
On Online Backgammon And Gaming Addiction
Thanks to the New York Times for its article (free reg. req.) discussing game addiction as it relates to playing backgammon online. The author, who found "a deep, narcotic satisfaction in online backgammon" at sites such as Itsyourturn.com and DailyGammon, tries to discuss what gaming addiction is, and whether it's healthy. Dr. Eric Hollander, the director of the Compulsive, Impulsive, and Anxiety Disorders Program at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, argues with regard to this addiction: "Everyone has their own optimal level of arousal... If you're understimulated, you're bored, and if you are overstimulated, you're uncomfortable. This is a way of regulating that process." [However, Dr.Hollander did also say "I recently got a BlackBerry, and I have this compulsive e-mail checking [habit] now."] Can you relate these 'casual game' addictions to more often discussed MMO addiction, and if not, how do they differ?
I've never been one to get hooked on anything, but after I discovered Animal Crossing a few years ago, I quick got hooked on it's charmed. I played it every day for months (very unusual for me), and I wouldn't be suprised if my highschool GPA would have been a little higher if I hadn't discovered it.
Eventually it started to get boring and while I still liked playing, I didn't care nearly as much. When I eventually quit, while I didn't have a problem quitting, I felt this weird guilt that I left everyone in my town without me.
I can't wait for AC 2 :).
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
What a terribly written and postulated article of what can only be a horribly bored person who just recently discovered that when you "wire" a "network" of computers together, it can be used to play games! Wake up the president!
It seems like over the centuries people's average "Optimal level of stimulation" has risen. The newest generation is the worst: Watching an online movie while playing a gaim and running instant messages with 30 people at once. Eventually people might be unable to focus long enough on anything in order to accomplish anything, but that's just my 2 cents.
Since when has any addiction ever been healthy? It seems to me that the relevant question is not whether it's healthy, but rather, how unhealthy is it?
I suppose most of us would include reading Slashdot.
09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
I've seen friends drop out of society for Online Backgammon. What's really addictive is when money and player to player instant transfers are at stake on backgammon sites like GamesGrid .. I've seen people up $50,000 in an evening and back down before sunrise.
If you do persue this route consider picking up the neural network software package 'Snowie' which analyzes your opponent's skill. If you find one who consistantly scores less than you then you can play them for cash over a period of time and enjoy casino odds in your favor which can range from 55-75%.
Signed up for a free three month trial of netgammon in 1997. Each day I worked an 8 hour day in front of the computer, came home, cooked and ate dinner, then sat in front of the computer and played backgammon till 4 or 5 in the morning. Was very addictive. As one of my first experiences of online culture I really enjoyed being able to chat with ppl from all over the world while playing the game.
When the free three month subscription ran out I was happy to call it a day and go cold turkey on my addiction.
Still love backgammon though. Such a beautiful game. Can't stand chess. Intrigued by go.
Ever since I told my friend about how I used to play TetriNet a few years ago, he has been playing it day and night! He's literally addicted and has gotten several others addicted as well...he's an odd one anyway, he won't play any good FPS because they "give him headaches"...
http://chrono.posterous.com/
Reloading slashdot...over and over...
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Can you relate these 'casual game' addictions to more often discussed MMO addiction, and if not, how do they differ?
(cracking voice)
Gee shucks mr. simon! I dunno, golly, that's a hard one! I'll need some time for that one!
A few steps beyond tic-tac-toe??? That is the 'beauty' of playing backgammon for money. People who have the wrong belief that backgammon is but a simple game anyone could master with a couple of months are commonly refered to as 'piegons'..aka suckers. A great source of income. People who will continuely play masters and lose their life savings blaming it on bad dice rolls and not understanding the immense skill of an opponent who will consistantly win 60-70% of the time. If you are interested in the mathmatics behind good backgammon theory, the book 'Backgammon' by Paul Magriel is a great place to start.. http://www.gammoned.com/books/magriel.html
But backgammon is mathematicly grounded. At any point, there's 1 particular move that gives you the best odds of winning (taking into account thhe relative frequency of each die roll). Computer programs attempt to calculate that move each turn. And do fairly well, they can solve backgammon far better than they can chess. And only the best in the world can win versus the best chess computers.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Why is this even worth writing an article about?
It's not like there's not backgammon addicts running around IRL, playing for $5-10 (or more) per point (potential of 3*x^2 points per game, depending on cube action) running around bars & coffee houses.
Just because backgammon's not as popular as something like poker does not mean that it's any less of a gambling game (and, IMHO, it's the perfect blend of skill & random chance, making it a supreme gambling game). Gambling is a recognized addiction; doing it online doesn't change a thing.
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
Yes it it Mathmatically grounded, as with chess. The big difference is you can't mark skill by an individual win. A novice backgammon player could beat a grand master level program on a single game. However only the top .001 percent of players could beat that program in a money series to 100 or in any extended point play.
I'll start by saying that addiction to any game which involves gambling for money is a bad, bad thing. I've seen people go thousands of dollars out of pocket after just a couple of months of online poker. The detachment you get playing online can make the money seem unreal and from what I've heard, generally encourages new players to gamble far more recklessly than they would sat around a table with their opponents. Not that being addicted to a "real world" form of gambling is any better.
My own addiction is to the other famously addictive genre; the MMORPG (specifically FFXI). In some ways, this makes good sense for me; I've always spent quite a lot of time playing games and monthly fees for FFXI cost me a lot less than the games I'd have been buying if I didn't have such a colossal time-sink on my hands. I do sometimes ask myself whether I'd find it easy to go cold-turkey and, to be honest, the answer is probably "no". I'm fortunate in that I have a full-time job which I enjoy and which provides me with real-world social opportunities. As it is, I sometimes go a whole week without playing, but if I were unemployed or a student, I could see it taking over my life very quickly indeed. I do know somebody who's so addicted to a certain other MMORPG that all-but sleep at their desk and have seriously tried to hold a discussion on how to minimise the time lost to toilet breaks.
i can definatly relate... checking whats up on the jk2/3 and q3 servers is like (compulsivly) checking email with me...
...has made us all neurotic bastards.
Now excuse me while I go wash my sink faucet 10 times.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
I'm the original person you responded to and I have been playing for years. I will look into the book you suggest, but really .... I guess I'm missing something because it doesn't seem to be nearly as complex as chess and at each given opportunity there is always a 'best' move that should not be incredibly difficult to at least memorize.
Sorry...I thought this was a response to my post...disregard the above post
You can enjoy a glass or two of something really good, or you can waste an entire night guzzling low quality stuff.