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.
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.
Reloading slashdot...over and over...
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
Well, if you're so addicted to Freecell, you probably don't want to find out about NetCell then. It's an online version of Freecell, but can be played with variations in cells and columns. It also has an online ranking system that compares everyone and their completed game streaks. You know you're one of the best Freecellers in the world if you can make it into the top 100 "all time" ladder. There are tournaments held regularly, where you compete against others in being the fastest. It even has a custom chat system, so you can talk to other Netcellers/addicts.
No, you definitely do not want to know about Netcell. So forget about what I said, and just continue your normal healthy addiction to Freecell.
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
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.
...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?