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My Life As An Online Gamer
The BBC is running a story featuring several interviews with hard-core online gamers. The article is in response to China's time limit restriction it plans to put into effect for MMOGs. From a very confused man interviewed in the article: " I think I am addicted. I've got to the stage where I feel that without gaming, I have nothing interesting to do. On weekdays, I game for about five to seven hours a day and in the weekends I will spend 15 hours a day gaming online. I once spent 48 hours in one go at a game. It's crazy, I know. I was at university then and full of energy. "
Diablo II is a good example of a game which has always reminded me of the VI reinforcement schedule. You click, mostly mindlessly, but not so mindlessly as to not be entertained, and then are rewarded incrementally on a either highly variable schedule with very high rewards in the form of new pretty special effects or weapons, or a very consistent schedule with lower rewards in the form of experience and gold.
Eventually, the chances of finding a new item that's usable or gaining a level become few and far between, but by that time, behavior will persist for quite a long time. Think about it. Would you ever keep playing if you immediately had a level in duration like level 30 is? It's just basic reinforcement.
Just a thought.
This is something I've never understood. I've heard many people refer to their need to play games as a means to release from life, but I've never experienced this. I seriously do not think people play games to escape the hardships of life. In fact, if you can play a videogame for fifteen hours a day, it's pretty apparent there's no such things as hardships in your life. But beyond this, I've been playing games off and on for years, but never once used it to relieve stress. No, I played for fun.
I'm tending to think that people call their gaming needs as an avenue of relief, probably as a justification to them spending so much time playing. Instead of wasting so much time playing, a better suggestion would be to work on the problems that are apparantely 'causing' you to play so much. If the brutalities of life are weighing in, then a videogame is no substitute for paying attention to your issues.
For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
How about this: Nothing better to do?
Physical Activity is great in moderation. Doesn't appeal to me, though.
Social Interaction is great as well, but I get "quiet" around people I don't know well (IE mild Anxiety).
My aim, in real life, sucks. My coordination, bismal. My wit? Dry, but slow.
Perhaps I should start drinking? Would that be healthier?
You may point out all the supposed positives from playing these games, but my housemate, who plays hours upon hours of World of Warcraft, never ever comes out of his room to do anything, but eat and sleep. And even then he has lost appetite and would eat a minimum of 1 meal a day on the weekends sometimes, which is clear unhealthy. He has been sick more and more lately, from colds to sore aching muscles and bones, obviously from sitting in the one place and not moving for hours at a time. I hardly ever see him at all now, and he lives in the same freakin house as me. My other housemate and I joke about brushing the dust off him when he leaves his room, cause its so rare. Although he might be making lots of aquaintences in the online world, he has become hugely anti social in the real world, and I do mean massively anti social. He is one of my best mates and its rather worrying about how bad he has become all because of a video game. Paying money every month to sit on your arse in your bedroom is something that really just doesn't interest me honestly, but each to their own I say. I can sit in my bedroom for free without paying anyone... :-)
I was just amazed. It seems that games can and do teach valuable leadership skills. And, as an American business person, I'm glad to see the competition (China) limit its own resources. What I'm afraid of, is our government doing the same thing - with gaming or otherwise.
- I voted for Nintendo and against Bush
One of the key points of addiction is the inability to stop even when something is no longer fun.
Right, I fully and utterly agree- however, 'gaming addiction' might be the most misdiagnosed addiction ever. Why? Because when I (for example) played 40 hours of Counter-Strike a week, it was very much a need to me to play: this is because it was fun for me. Eventually, the game lost the fun it once had, and I eventually stopped playing. Now, I play maybe 5 hours a week, because it's fun again.
The point I'm trying to make here is that according to what you said, and what others have stated, I would have been 'addicted' to Counter-Strike for 2 weeks... but truthfully, I could have stopped whenever I wanted to; and, in fact, when the game lost it's gleam, I did stop.
Maybe I'm wording this badly (I'm pretty tired). My point is that yeah, some poeple are addicted, but just because people play a lot because they have fun, it doesn't mean that they need psychological help!
- dshaw
Believe it or not, gaming is not unique in the sense that it leads to a sedentary lifestyle. TV, chess, playing guitar, cooking, socializing, and reading are all rather non-physical pursuits. Furthermore, one could game for 20 hours on a weekend, and exercise for 4. Also, you may have been unaware of this, but there a great many people out there who have no obsessive tendancies whatsoever, and live a sedentary lifestyle anyway, simply because they don't enjoy exercise. Gaming is no more harmful than sleeping. You can game for any length of time and not suffer any harm as a result of gaming (as opposed to as a result of neglecting to do something else), but this is not true with drinking. Maybe carpal tunnel, depending on your physiology, your keyboard/mouse setup, and the game you play. Maybe. Yes, being obsessed with gaming is definitely not a good thing, but obsession in any of its forms is a dangerous state to be in. Blame the sickness, not the patient nor the subject.
How about instead of wasting all that time on imaginary achievements and interaction in a game, you spend that time improving yourself and exploring the real world. Maybe if you do that enough you'll one day reach the point where your sense of self-worth isn't so low that you justify shaving off the hours of your life in a game because of how worthless you say you are.
Anyone who doesn't match their ideal image of themselves and isn't acting to change it is an animal. Stop living off instinct and start using your reason to take control of your life and to reshape it into whatever image you most desire.
what personal problems do these people have that make them want to spend so much time in gaming?
Want them to stop playing? Get them a psychologist. Addiction is only a symptom.
OK, I'll be completely honest about my situation... though it will probably make for some unpleasant reading.
I've been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and social anxiety. Most of the time when I'm in public I'm so uncomfortable that I can only be in crowds for an hour or so. Throughout my life I've just naturally migrated towards computers because it allows me to socialize in very limited and safe ways...through forums like these, IRC, online games, etc. I can always bail out of the situation, noone can see my facial expression or body language.
Unfortunately this is a physical problem that cannot be solved through counceling. I've tried a number of medications but they all produce horrible side-effects, feels like being perpetually sick with a cold. Many people suffer from this and other conditions which make face-to-face human interaction beyond challenging, and more like constant failure. I have the few friends and family who know me and still love me despite all of my problems, and prefer to go online when I need more social interaction than they can provide. I'm sure thousands of obese, disfigured, blind, and deaf people are online for similar reasons.
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky