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40 Percent of World of Warcraft Players Addicted
Heartless Gamer writes "MMORPGs and game addiction. If you're suffering from dry eyes, headaches, back aches, erratic sleep patterns, it may be more than just your average hangover: according to Dr. Maressa Orzack, you could be suffering from video and computer game addiction. A clinical psychologist, Orzack is founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass., and is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Computer Addiction Services is one of the few outpatient clinics in the U.S. that provides specific treatment for game addiction." but I'm feelings much better now.
Personally I refuse to play games like World Of Warcraft, because I know I would be sucked up in them in no time. It's too risky for me
When I found out that my brother in law bought the game I warned him about the game. He shrugged it off. He's only 14 (my wife is 11 years older) and he clearly has no control. He lives alone with his mother, has done allnighters, has already skipped school because of the game but his grades seem still to be unaffected. His mother has no idea what to do because she has absolutely no idea about anything related to computers. When I suggested she'd take away the DSL router, hell broke loose. I think she gave it back after a mere 2 days because his behaviour became unmanagable. He didn't come to the last BBQ we organized. He spends all his days (and nights, I guess) behind his computer playing WoW.
The thing is: I can't critisize him all that much. When I was his age, I was all the time using my computer. Playing Test Drive (CGA version) for hours, or programming in Pascal. It just depended on my mood. Still, it was much easier to break away from it because there was no social component.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
Along those same lines I guess you would have to conclude I am addicted to Excel and analyzing gas chromatography results as I feel like this at work constantly
My brother lost his job 5 weeks ago. He's been playing WoW for about a year prior to his layoff, and his addiction to game did not cause him to lose his job.
He has no motivation to go and look for a job, he only eats maybe once a day, and his house is pig sty.
He came by yesterday asking for $150 to pay his rent or he was going to be kicked out. I loaned him $40 two weeks ago, and I am sure that he used that towards his cable bill or his WoW account.
He looks like a crack or meth addict (having been around those types of people myself), and he doesn't care about anything but playing that damn game.
I almost got into to playing that game shortly after he started a year or so ago. I am glad I have not purchased the game, and I have no interest in WoW after seeing my brother play the game for three days straight with no sleep (yellow jackets were used to keep himself awake!).
I know it's not the game that is the problem, it's the person with the addictive personality. How can we recognize, and then treat video game addiction? Is it recognized as a real problem, or are they told to just grow up? 12 steps have been proven to NOT work for ALL people, and my brother is one of them.
"Fortunately, I'm adhering to a very strict drug regimen to keep my mind limber..."
Actually, from a business perspective, Blizzard would be better off if their players were not addicts, merely enthusiasts (yes, there's a difference).
With addicts, they're going to be playing all the time. ALL the time. They'll get through the content very quickly, and complain loudly about not having more of it pumped out in each new patch. They'll also use a lot of bandwidth and server time, which Blizzard has to pay for. Chances are these addictive personalities will eventually cause them to jump ship to another MMO to get addicted to, which means less monthly fees. I've seen this happen with people who were definitely addicts, who have eventually quit to play another MMO.
On the other hand, enthusiasts will play when they have free time, rather than quitting their jobs or skipping classes. They'll get through the content slower, probably enjoy more time roleplaying and whatnot, and this means Blizzard can count on their monthly fees for a longer period of time. Blizzard can also take more time to develop new content, since their audience can wait. And that audience, the players who genuinely enjoy the game and haven't gotten through everything yet, will most likely stick around until they have. So long as Blizzard is relatively quick about adding content, they can extend this audience out for a long time.
Blizzard makes more money the less time you spend in their game each month. It's like Netflix, they want you to keep that one DVD on your coffee table for years at a time.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
"RW: What about self control and willpower? Should players take some responsibility for their heavy play? Dr. Orzack: This isn't about willpower or restraint. These games are very elaborately designed to ease you in gently, entice you, and keep you there. And it's a cycle: people begin to spend too much time playing and their careers and personal relationships begin to deteriorate. Then they begin to withdraw more into the game because it's an escape from their real world problems" The part about willpower is completely wrong: If you exercise willpower and self control, then you can keep the addiction under control. Everything in moderation. Orzack is basically saying that no matter how we act, we will get addicted, and that is simply not true. What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions?
TFA:
it's a cycle: people begin to spend too much time playing and their careers and personal relationships begin to deteriorate. Then they begin to withdraw more into the game because it's an escape from their real world problems.
RW: So what's the solution?
My solution: let nature take its course. In a few generations there will be no gamers left.
In WoW it's possible to set a schedule for the playtime.
So it's easy to prevent the kids from playing at schooltime or during the night.
Check the FAQ at their site for more information.
Don't answer me. Moderate. Slashdot is about moderation, not discussion.
The woman is in one of the silly sciences, and almost all of what she says can be discounted, but this was interesting:
What? From the article:
A clinical psychologist, Orzack is founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Mass., and is also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
I don't even think that needs explaining, but I'll do it anyway: Clinical psychologists are probably the most pragmatic people in the social sciences (what you call the silly sciences). Her work has absolutly nothing to do with Freudian psychoanalysis (there was nothing in there about gaming addictions meaning that you want to have sex with you mother and kill your father), but instead on the scientific method.
That 40% number was ripped from the daedalus project . I also doubt it's accurate since people who fill out that survey or seek help are more likely to be addicted then those who don't.
MMO addiction is nothing like a Gambling addiction. In MMO addiction you may have issues of identifying with your character, but you don't have the same harmful financial damage that a gambling addiction will cause.
Quitting MMO's is fairly easy, or at least it was for me. I just deleted WoW, and that was it. I still keep in touch with my guild via their website, which was really my only reason for playing twards the end, along with e-fame.
Pfffft! I have boobs, and I'm not even a girl!
WoW is plenty fun played casually. I have a friend who still, to this day, doesn't have a level 60 character. He's close, but not there yet. And he's played since a few months after it opened. He has plenty of fun, just plays at his own pace.
If you can't do that, the problem isn't the game, the problem is you. It would be analogus as if at the gym you felt you had to keep up with everyone sports wise, even the pro or semi-pro athletes that played there. That you couldn't have fun unless you were one of the best.
So if you want to play WoW, or any game for that matter, for a couple hours a night, do it. No big deal. Just turn it off when your time is up and go about your business. Don't get all competitive and act like there's an artifical goal you've got to meet. Do what you like in the game, at the pace you want.
But don't go and blame the game if you can't do that. If you can't control the amount you play and/or if you have a need to meet some atrifical goal, that's your problem you need to figure out. Maybe you deal with it by not playing, that's a fine soltuion, but don't think it's beacuse there's something wrong with the game.