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MMOG Addiction Makes Mainstream Media
Via Game Politics, a story in the Philedelphia Inquirer about Massively Multiplayer Game addiction. The lengthy article looks at the usual complaints from gamers too wrapped up in WoW or Everquest to deal with their real lives. It's surprisingly even-handed, though, showing both sides of the issue. From the article: "Not everyone into Warcraft, EverQuest and other MMORPGs neglects his or her life. Those most susceptible have preexisting problems, such as depression or anxiety disorders, therapists say. Temple University psychology professor Donald A. Hantula said he believed the medium was not to blame for dysfunctional behavior by its users. 'I know people who spend 40 or 50 hours a week playing golf,' said Hantula, who is executive editor of the Journal of Social Psychology."
I can't believe that the press still uses Shawn Woolley as an example of MMO addiction. The Inquirer glosses over the fact he had a fairly serious mental illness, as I recall he had episodes where he believed game characters were chasing down the street. This was not a normal guy.
There are controls that you can set that limit the times during the day that you can play. They even have a seperate password so that you can have someone set your limits and not be able to change them. But for the serious addicts there are always other ways around -- whether it be getting a second and third account or playing on some of the homebrew servers around. I noticed with my son that whenever he couldn't get on WOW he just hung out in the forums. I finally ended up keeping the power cord to his computer except for the few hours a day I would allow him to play. I would like to have him take advantage of the internet for all the things there are to learn out on the net, but whenever he has computer access he is either on wow or on the wow forums.