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Understanding Addiction-Based Game Design
spidweb writes "The common theory is that games like World of Warcraft are addictive. But what are the exact qualities that make it so? Are there specific elements of the design that can be pulled out, distilled, and used at will to give a game drug-like properties? Is it wrong to do so? A new article at IGN RPG Vault attempts to isolates the exact qualities that go into making an addiction-based design. From the article: 'If a game uses rewards of any sort to entice you to experience highly repetitive content, you should see what it's trying to do and which of your buttons it's trying to press. If you don't mind, that's cool, but you should understand it.'"
If a game has me hooked, addicted, and I play it for hours at a time for weeks on end- fine. I'm getting enjoyment, the developers get money, everybody wins. But it seems to me that the games that pull me in the most are those I buy outright, not the WOW-alikes that are subscription based. Surely if you're paying monthly there's always going to be a pressure on Devs to create addictive play? If I'm addicted to a bought-outright game, it's because it's a good game. That can't always be said for pay monthly games- the grind, the acheivements, the high-level horsie you just have to own- do they really add to the game, or do they just feed your addiction?
As a wowtard myself i was addicted to the game for a while, back when it was still up and coming. I can say that, for at least myself, I was addicted to the time invested vs rewards you could achieve. I would pour my time into real life hobbies and the payoffs from those were far less interesting, and nowhere near as cool as those that I could achieve in WOW. Yes I was a social recluse, but that's life. /played time on my main toon, before BC was released, was over 200 days. Add to that 4 other 60's with about 10 days game time to level each, plus time spent in pvp with them, rep farming, yeah. It wasn't nearly as destructive as some other people report it was for them, but I was still addicted to the rewards I could achieve, because it was so clear how to do things, and how to get what you wanted. There are many other aspects to it of course, but that was the kicker for me.
My
There is a pretty funny theory that the vast majority of WoW players are well-respected professionals who play the game in their free time. Through the playing of WoW, they not only practice their leadership skills, but also organizational skills and planning skills. The idea is that the game reinforces and promotes cooperative game play while preserving a fun environment.
But we all know the truth. It's 30 year old lardballs who still live with their parents that play this game. The lack of friends and human companionship drives them to seek out online communities where they can be accepted as who they portray themselves as rather than for who they, unfortunately, are. Seeking companionship is one of the most primal of human urges.
I don't know how you can say the game is addictive, in that sense. I'm not addicted to breathing or eating, but I'd die without doing either of those. We are talking about something very close to the core of being a human, not a dependency developed through repeated exposure.
Well, as they package Red Bull with it...
Well it didn't post my last comment. I was addicted to the rewards that were available to me, and the clear cut, investment required for them. Do this X many times, get this in return. Kill X many of this, and get this. I was and still am(sorta) addicted to wow. I /played my main over 200days(pre BC), id been there since it went live, with 5 other mains all 60 with alot of /played time on them. It was mostly a replacement for the lack of things I had to show for myself.
Before people jump down my throat, its not like I sat in my room all day playing (almost) I was a social recluse by choice, I enjoyed my life as it was, and I just found that I lacked the disciplin and the means of which to obtain the things I wanted for myself. WoW was my answer.
While I've no doubt there is a healthy sub-set of heavy-gamers (WoW included) that have well-adjusted approaches to life and enjoy gaming as a part of that, there are many, many people who have done and actively do exactly as you describe. Few of them have the balls or self-awareness to admit it though, and fewer still have the verbal skills to articulate the trap as clearly as you have.
I've teetered on the edge of that life-destroying artificial-reward gaming addiction, and was fortunate enough to have circumstances intervene, but I know other people who have descended into exactly the hole you've experienced. A certain reclusive predisposition and messed-up life events are a common starting point, but people who don't understand the addiction can be very unhelpful with their "buck up, get a life" attitudes. Such people would also tell heroine addicts to "just stop taking it" if it were PC to do so, and their advice would be just as helpful and welcome.
Meta will eat itself
...Seeking companionship is one of the most primal of human urges.
I don't know how you can say the game is addictive, in that sense. I'm not addicted to breathing or eating, but I'd die without doing either of those. We are talking about something very close to the core of being a human, not a dependency developed through repeated exposure.
I think you summarized this quite nicely regarding the component of companionship within humans. However, is virtual companionship good for our race going forward? This may sound like a bad analogy (sorry, don't mean to take away anything from your UID ;-), but just how far away are we as a society from The Matrix? 20 years from now, will it absolutely be the norm to work out of our homes and become that same virtualized community, designing and creating from behind a computer screen, virtually representing ourselves in the corporate world? What if someone took the WoW engine and put an actual business behind it and started hiring on the basis that you would be represented within the company as your virtual self instead of a physical presence? If course, getting fired might take on a whole new twist, as your character gets killed by your e-boss.
The real question is what will happen to reality as we know it today?
At least we have the fruits of procreation that can't quite be replaced (yet), so hopefully they'll still be some reason to share physical contact in the real world in the future...
...the sheer compexity of the game, its realistic shots and firing, its amazing amount of sound and real-time weaponry all make it like wonderful that i wanna play forever.
OTOH i hate Railroads. Why? it can't play decent with a 64-bit OS, damn slow when it comes to running (i have a powerful enough comp that makes Crysis cry) due to its bugs, multi-processor issues, etc.
"Doing what i can, with what i have." ~ Burt Gummer
I'm addicted to slashdot karma farming.
I post bland, pro-open source comments, and collect the insightful mods. /. equivalent of giving away all your WOW gold and money. But I just can't do it.
Sometimes I feel like posting pro-Microsoft comments, which is the
The question is, why do we consider what we get in exchange, rewards?
In the case of WoW achievements, do we accept little achievement titles because we are trying to see how far we can get for ourselves, or are we doing it out of a sense of competition with friends or other people, or both? It's interesting to try to figure out how they've made the environment to encourage strangers to treat each other more as friends, (pug parties and raids) and how they've encouraged the sense of personal accomplishment through the gradual lore reveal of quests, and at what point that all breaks down and becomes endless grind. But then how do we explain the people who just get on to beat the crap out of each other in battlegrounds?
Get off my launchpad!
The conclusion that this article makes are not really new. Nick Yee did similar studies on MMOG addiction with EverQuest many years ago. These were the studies that I could find:
The Norrathian Scrolls: The Virtual Skinner Box
Ariadne: Understanding Game Addiction
-Valen
Don't forget that one of the key ingredients in the MMO soup is being able to compete and flaunt your achievements to you the people you like AND the people you don't like. It gives a sense of personal ranking and has a elitist type effect on the psyche. It's always fun to show off your gear and make people drool.
In a sense, even Slashdot is a game. As you mention, we are awarded points when we post something "useful", and points are revoked when we post something not so useful. Even in the case of Microsoft stories, it is not unheard of to see pro-Microsoft posts get modded to +5. The fact of the matter is that the content of a post isn't the determining scoring factor. It is mostly style that is rewarded here.
The guy who thinks he's funny for saying "Linux sucks!" is going to get slapped down hard, but someone who takes the time to explain exactly how bad Linux is as a desktop operating system (for example) or how hard it is to use (as another example) will be modded very high. This isn't because the content of the post is different. Essentially, both simply explain the obvious: Linux isn't a suitable OS for the vast majority of the computing public. The first post expresses this sentiment as an opinion. The second provides a logical framework upon which the reader may be convinced of the facts.
Likewise, pro-Microsoft posts are commonly modded up. Due in part to the over-demonization of the company, a calm post explaining that the company isn't as bad as everyone thinks will frequently be modded up as a voice of reason. Even posts that extol the virtues of Microsoft (great software) and Bill Gates (worldwide philanthropy), while seemingly over the top, will get positive modification.
Slashdot has done many things wrong, but the moderation system is something they have done very right. By encouraging posts that have exemplary style, they are promoting a discussion that doesn't necessarily need the most knowledgeable participants, the only requirement is that the successful poster be garrulous and loquacious.
http://www.progressquest.com/
The character creation screen alone is worth the download. I don't think I've laughed that hard since Airplane.
(And it's in the Ubuntu repositories. You gotta love Ubuntu.)
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
First post! You received 25xp. DING! You reached level 5.
No doubt there are some people who genuinely think that and will mod accordingly. While I didn't have an account on slashdot at the time, I even used to be one of them. And you are certainly right, many forums have elements designed to increase addiction, slashdot included.
However, astroturfing has to be one of the best bang/back methods of advertising/publicity/damage control available to any company and your post ignores this rather obvious explanation for the modification status/presence of many posts on here.
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
Might as well be asking:
The fact of the matter is that cigarette companies (and computer game companies) have no one to answer to but their customers and share holders, and both will be happiest when they produce the most addictive product possible. 'Right' or 'wrong' is irrelevant to them, only 'legal' and 'illegal,' so if we want to prevent the creation of addictive games, our only recourse is legislation.
Further reading: Supercapitalism by Robert Reich
This side up.
It started when you controlled a little yellow circle that went around swallowing blue pills.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
Yeah, thanks.
I really can't tell you how hard I laughed at the "Enchanted Motorcycle" race.
The sad thing is I almost find this more fun than the average MMORPG.
WoW's "addictive" nature is a blend of many components.
First and foremost, it's the reward system. Human beings do things due to rewards. That's how we work. We used to hunt and gather, and our reward was meat and berries. We went, we did, we got something, we were pleased. In today's world, that doesn't work out anymore so well. Usually, the reward you get is abstracted away from your work too far for you to make that connection. We work a month and eventually, our accout grows a bit. But we don't see how they are connected. It's not like I get some kind of micropayment for every line of code I write or debug.
Even if, what kind of reward is money? It's again an abstract concept that has no "real" value until it's redeemed for what you actually want.
WoW gives you very directly reward for actions. First, there's that fanfare playing when you accomplish something (don't you think that doesn't matter! It tells you "you did that well", it praises you), you get some goods (more or less useful), what really counts, though, is that the game acknowledges that you actually "did something".
The next part is user interaction and commitment. Since people do rely on each other and have to, you are guilt tripped into playing even if you don't want to. They need a healer/tank/whatever or they can't accomplish their goal. Your decision to stay away from it lets four (or 24, or 39) people down. This in turn makes the player feel appreciated, welcome and needed. And trust me, today, a lot of people feel like they ain't needed or appreciated. Or even welcome.
The sense of accomplishment, where you feel like you progress. Today, again, we don't really get that feeling very often. You might, in school, when you ascend through the classes towards graduation. In your workplace? Maybe stuck in a burger flipper job? Where do you progress? Where does your life go to? WoW tells you exactly where it's heading. You can watch your progress by watching your level and the kind of outfit you wear. More over, everyone else, not just a small subset of people who happen to judge success by the same yard stick as you, everyone in the game can appreciate what you have "done", because everyone else uses the same gauge to measure success: Level and equipment.
Yet at the same time, there's still the feeling of having no responsibility, it's still a no-commitment thing. You could just log off and nobody could hold it against you. There ain't any real life issues to deal with should you decide to just leave. No job that you'll lose, no family you would lose, no class you could fail, just because you decided you don't wanna anymore.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Actually, a Blizzard developer said in an old interview that they closely copied the 'constant rewards' system of casinos' slot machines when developing Diablo. They're not doing this at random.
I know it's on the Internet, but I've tried looking and couldn't find it. If someone could find that one or two paragraph quote, it would be great for discussion.
"You should never doubt what nobody is sure about." -- Willy Wonka
The guy who thinks he's funny for saying "Linux sucks!" is going to get slapped down hard, but someone who takes the time to explain exactly how bad Linux is as a desktop operating system (for example) or how hard it is to use (as another example) will be modded very high.
You must be new here.
"You should never doubt what nobody is sure about." -- Willy Wonka
This raises the profound question of whether the presence of articles on Slashdot, with their opportunity for Freud Proust moments, is an enticement to "experience highly repetitive content".
Discuss, paying particular attention to the turtles below.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
The model for this game design is really from D&D. E.g. Do stuff, get 'loot' randomly after an encounter, fill up the XP bar to hit the next level, improve skills, abilities, feats, etc, etc. The difference is that you don't have to go to your buddies basement(with your Doritos/Mountain Dew) and bring your dice on a Sunday afternoon to get your fix like with a video game; It's right there in your computer room. It also gives the experience to those who are imagination impaired. The potion of the gaming industry using these 'evil' methods should be thanking Gary Gygax and Dave Arenson for the money they're making.
not sure, but I feel that quite some of you are actually missing the point: it seems as if many assumed that only obese, unemployed fastfood lovers could become addicted, whereas 6-figure-earning engineers were imune.
just because one seems more pathetic than the other one doesnt mean anything.
which brings me to the second point: who is actually more pathetic, or better phrased, who should we be more concerned about: those that want to be someone else in virtual worlds because their life is not as thez would like it to be, or those that have monez and power in real life and try to follow their greedy-power-hunger even in virtual worlds? sorry talking cliches here.
so, what the point of discussions should be:
- when is someone addicted
- what effects / risks / dangers does it have
- what makes it addictive
what made wow addictive? is a really good question i played the game for a year raided engame for a bit on my free time tought i had to invest some time on it to be able to raid every instance in a year. after that i just stopped playing. so i dont consider WoW addictive on the other hand plant vs zombies and peggle are like CRACK.
Well, if Star Trek: The Next Generation was any indication of such issues being relevant in our world, you might want to look at some of these upcoming games and toys coming out that you play using brain waves... such as Mattel's upcoming MindFlex toy and the Emotiv Epoc headset controller for PC gaming applications.
As for addictive properties, there still needs to be some sort of "reward" system to act as feedback, like a strategic TENS unit shock into certain areas of the body that would be desirable, such as what you keep hearing stories about regarding lab animals becoming "wired" and externally controlled.
The "addiction" of games like WoW is a bit different and tends to be based almost entirely on participating as part of a "group", not unlike the awkward life of school children jockeying for recognition. If you have to question this from an ethics standpoint, then just about any situation where you are forced to compete against others to gain something would need to be questioned as well.
Which brings us to an interesting question... is the desire to live the product of addiction?
8==8 Bones 8==8
Mouses and keyboards actually come with small needles that infuse cocaine into the blood of the player, addicting them to the game. It's why these pay-per-month games cost so much.
"Our goal each year should be to increase the number of goals we set for ourselves!"
Don't like subscriptions? Play a free-to-play game, with or without the optional pay-for customization/makes-the-game-easier stuff.
I prefer Mabinogi. I can drop it at any time, and come back days or months later, and I haven't wasted money on it, or anything that expires, and don't have to pay to start playing again.
It randomly generated my character name as "Inoob"
I don't like it :(
They are just losers who have no satisfaction in real life. The easy successes and minor penalty for failure make the game world more attractive than real life.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
For an article on ign, a site frequented by gamers, the article is really weak. I would expect something like that from a local newspaper rather than something published on a site read by people already knowledgeable regarding the subject. The article spends a lot of time explaining concepts and ideas that are already obvious to anyone who even remotely considers themselves a gamer (the regular audience of ign, for example). I was hoping it would then build upon those basic concepts that I already knew to present an interesting or novel theory but - no - that was it. A very disappointing read and not worth the time...
As a note, a big part of my disappointment is I feel this would be a very interesting topic to discuss so reading an intelligent article on the subject would be great but this is not that article...
In my opinionated opinion.
It's not as much the games as the way the gameplay let us interact with other people with in-game chat or over TS/Ventrilo. For me, when I play video games online it's about people and not the game itself, although the game as to allow such cooperative gameplay. Good examples are TF2, WoW, L4D, etc.
I personally don't quit playing because of the community that our servers built around the players (GT every 2 months, lan each year, etc) that makes me come back every night and far from the game itself (sometime we play like user but we have the greatest fun at just talking to each other and talking about everything.)
To me this addiction is not really one with the game but with social interactions THROUGH the games.
GDC, 2001 I think it was. We had a roundtable on this very topic - I was new to the games business, and there's all these absolute game design legends sitting around the table. At first the discussion was really good - ways that games can be made more addictive, for instance by varying the reward payout schedule to be more like a slot machine, or by alternating between risky feeling and safe feeling gameplay, etc.
Then the discussion kinda took a turn for the wuss - "Well, we *can* make games more addictive, but *should* we?" And each person that spoke was trying to look more socially conscious than the last.
Then the designer of Tetris - holy shit, Alexey Pajitnov himself, stands up and says "What the hell are you people talking about? I CHERISH the times I'm addicted to games. What else am I going to do? Read some stupid book?"
The discussion got back on a proper track.
There is a pretty funny theory that the vast majority of WoW players are well-respected professionals who play the game in their free time. Through the playing of WoW, they not only practice their leadership skills, but also organizational skills and planning skills. The idea is that the game reinforces and promotes cooperative game play while preserving a fun environment.
But we all know the truth. It's 30 year old lardballs who still live with their parents that play this game. The lack of friends and human companionship drives them to seek out online communities where they can be accepted as who they portray themselves as rather than for who they, unfortunately, are. Seeking companionship is one of the most primal of human urges.
I don't know how you can say the game is addictive, in that sense. I'm not addicted to breathing or eating, but I'd die without doing either of those. We are talking about something very close to the core of being a human, not a dependency developed through repeated exposure.
Apparently quoting the same thing old tired recycled line of "30 years olds in their mothers basements" is worth 5 points Insightful. Who would have known?
I wont deny these 30 year olds of which you speak dont exist. But Im quite sick of seeing that tired old line recycled. Worse - being subjected to the gall of essentially repeating the worst most repeated joke of the last few years, and doing so with condescension towards others about a product you seem to know so little about.
The people I met in WoW. Came from all walks of life. Sure there may be your generic nerds in there. But there are also doctors, singers actors, producers, truck drivers, restaurant owners, bell boys, chefs, and social workers. And thats just the tip of the iceberg. There are 11 million people playing this game right now. To say its all one type of people doesnt explain why past MMOs were not nearly as successful. But Im sure according to your 5 point INsightful original and trailblazing opinion. The world was just waiting for a large population of people to hit 30 and then go live with their parents. And when I say met - I mean I met these people. I even went to one of their funerals IRL.
And more players than you think are tired parents trying desperately to get a single hour at the end of the day just for themselves. A single hour away from their entire day spent working to provide for and take care of the family. And even then their ghetto little hour to mellow out most times is interrupted anyways.
Is it addictive? If you are unemployed and need an escape - very much so. But for a good number of people. Its an alternative to going out and spending a ton of cash on a single nights activities that provides a bare minimum of companionship and relaxation. 15$ a month vs a bare minimum of 15$ a night to go out. Thats a hrd pitch to resist financially.
And this has been another installament of Captain Obvious!
We should have exhausted this question when cigarette companies were caught enhancing nicotine levels in their product, in order to increase addiction, which enhances profit.
Consumers must have the opportunity to make conscious choices and give informed consent when consuming anything known (or reasonably suspected) to be habit-forming. I have no desire to form a nanny state, but folks need to know what they're getting.
Disclaimer: I have played WoW in the past.
It's not just MMOs that are addicting. Any online game can be addicting. Heck, even offline games can be addicting.
Currently, Team Fortress 2 for the PC is my addiction. One of the communities I'm part of has their own server and is currently thinking about getting a second one due to its popularity.
It's fun because you play against people you know and, unlike World of Warcraft, it doesn't matter how little or much you play, as your character never really changes.
Of course, Valve continuing to release updates has made it easier to convince some of my friends to play. It helped a lot when Valve had the sale on The Orange Box for $10 a few weeks ago, though...
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
Okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, but with any RPG or table top wargame, be it D&D / Shadow Run / Battle Tech / Car Wars / Toon! / Paranoia / GURPs / WH40k (I'm just the listing the ones I played growing up), you had to be able to get a group together, find a convenient place for everyone, etc.
With some of 'em, where there's progress from session to session rather than stand-alone sessions, you need to get everyone to be able to show up every time -- which is a problem as people work different schedules, have kids, move further away, etc.
With online gaming, you could just drop in for an hour or two, meet up with the party, drop out when life calls (as opposed to the night when one of the player's (now wife) kept calling every hour and keeping him on the phone for 20-30 min at a time, not understanding how EVERYONE else had to stop while it was going on.
I admit, I don't play WoW -- I did play EverQuest for a bit, and I mudded for years in college, but our group tended to stick to more private groupings -- We did a fair number of LAN parties in the years after college, then later would coordinate times for Diablo, StarCraft, Age of Empires, Warcraft III, Command & Conquer, Neverwinter Nights, Dawn of War, etc. Sometimes LAN parties, but normally just a normal weeknight where we didn't have to deal with travel (as one now lives 500 miles away and the others would still take up to 2 hrs each way w/ travel, setup, etc.)
So ... the point is ... MMOs are more convenient than face to face. Yes, they're less imaginative, yes, they can be less social, but we can get a game together in under an hour if someone feels the need to unwind from a stressful day at work, whereas a day of WH40K gaming might require weeks to prepare (gotta modify my figures to deal with some rules change / new tactics, etc.)
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
i had to forcibly destroy the disc in order to have a life
for me, it was a combination of the engrossing micromanagement (which you see with WoW and its endless loot management) and that insistent "just one more turn..." urging that moves you to devote 5 more minutes to the game that turns into 5 hours. that urging is the desire to see the completion of small goalposts, like building a wonder or taking a border city from the spanish or the indians, which is also discussed in regards to WoW
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I've been playing Heroin Hero 60 hours/week. Someday I'll catch that pesky dragon!
tl;dr
(Don't be so serious. It's only a game after all.)
I don't think game addiction is in the game design itself. I think the addiction is in the player's obsessive-compulsive behavior towards reaching a personal goal. I used to be addicted to Lemmings. I'd stay up late playing, because I wanted to get those Lemmings past one... more... level. "Just one more" is a common catch phrase around people I know how have some form of game addiction.
My mom gets addicted to simple games very easily. In the original version of MS Windows's Freecell, she heard that ever 32,000+ levels were win-able, and she was obsessed with beating each one, just to see if she could. She completed all of them except for the one level which was proven impossible to beat.
The addiction is in the people, not in the game. I think you can design any game, give the player some kind of mission to keep in mind, and make the game somewhat difficult to reach that goal, but not impossible. Then, once they do obtain their goal, give the player a way to keep striving for something even better ("Sorry, Mario... The princess is in the next castle."). Ex. See if you can beat this game of solitaire. You beat it? Okay, now try again, but quicker this time. You beat that, too? Okay, now try it with more cards. Etc.
Urban Legions
Yes, I split my sides at "Double Hobbit" and couldn't stop after that.
And not just sad, it's really weird how fun/addictive it is. For some reason I just don't want to shut it off. It's sitting there, accumulating gibberish terms generated from some sort of random phrase generator, gaining levels and abilities that have no bearing on anything at all, not even in the game (other than strength, which increases "encumbrance"), and I'm not even in control of it (which somehow appeals to my sense of laziness, that it's doing "work" for nothing). It's not even properly a game, for crying out loud! I mean, all you do is roll for stats and start the game, sit back and relax!
But maybe understanding the addiction is key to ending the addiction. It's just dumb, really, so why do it if it's impacting negatively on your life?
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
As long as we're going to continue to be liberal with the term "addiction" the only element of game design that matters is this:
A highly repetitive experience (paying a monthly subscription) in exchange for a "reward" (access to a service).
Funny thing is most of non-necessities I buy use this model. Games, internet access, cable, cellphone, even electricity. And when one of them is cut off, my reaction is pretty much the same. I guess I'm addicted to them all.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go jack on.
The OP should be modded +5 Insightful. If WoW is 'addictive', then the word no longer has the same meaning as before. The word can just as easily be applied to chocolate, slashdot and American Idol as to a voluntary activity like WoW.
The truth is that none of these things are addictive. There are people who are obsessed with each of those things, but if stranded on a desert island, those people wouldn't suffer any ill effects from being removed from their obsession.
I'm currently obsessed with Battlefield Heroes, but in a good way.
What the hell is wrong with this society? We have people holed up in their rooms playing these MMORPG's and they're not learning anything except how to raid and grind. They could be doing learning through grinding just as easily. If only we had people developing these kid of games. Could you imagine a kid/teenager/basement dweller saying, "I'm addicted to Calculus!!!!" Or, "I hate the grind between Partical Physics PHD 1.1 and Partical Physics 1.2."
We/they play these games with stupid rewards for something that is completely intangible. At the very best you could say that these games are teaching people who to function in a team environment and how to organize projects. That's really about it.
Oh MMORPG why can you be more educational.
CAPS LOCK: ITS LIKE THE CRUISE CONTROL FOR AWESOME
I play WoW a lot because I think it's fun, and it's an amazing entertainment deal at $16 per month, for all of the hours I spend at it. I have friends who live nearby, and we hang out in person, and we also hang out in the game doing stuff together. What is the essence of designing a game that is addiction-based? Replay value and a desire in the player to be an achiever. With a subscription-based game, you have to keep people playing and wanting to play, to keep their account active. You also need to provide ample opportunities for someone to achieve something, and then keep further achievements available to them to accomplish. My friend who has 2 kids didn't have the time to level from 70 to 80, so he stopped playing WoW because the rewards and achievements weren't catered well enough to make him feel rewarded for his time. World of Warcraft literally inserted an Achievement system in the game - for example, if you complete a dungeon, you get an achievement stating that you completed it. When this system was released, although there were no specific awards for some achievements, a LOT of players just started accomplishing these achievements because it was just "something to do." People like to feel like they accomplished something, and this achievement system gave them that chance. Expansive content, the ability to set new goals at any time and accomplish them, sliding reward systems that are consistently extended to make you want to seek them out (but tantalizingly close enough to actually achieve them without too much frustration), these just a couple of things that will keep a subscription going and make a game addicting.
denial...
This sort of thing appeals to people with an addictive personality. I tried EverQuest once, and after about an hour, lost interest. Once I've seen the highlights in a game, it's not that interesting.
You really see this if you go to Vegas. I once went to Vegas for COMDEX (back when it mattered) and was booked into a casino/hotel. I watched a bus tour come in. The people got off the bus, and went straight to the slot machines. You'd think they'd check in, go to their room, take a shower, check out the entertainment guide to see what's going on, and then go out. Nah. Pure Skinner box behavior. It's depressing just to watch them.
It's a question for neuroscientists. If the game experiences produce the same chemical reactions in the brain as the ones that occur during drug use (reuptake or inhibition of some specific neurotransmitters), then the experience is indistinguishable from drug use as far as the brain is concerned. All the personal-responsibility arguments aside (because they can also be made about mild drug use), it's generally some re-association of flight vs fight mechanism or sexual excitation mechanism (or both). But again, for exact details, ask a neuroscientist -- not a programmer.
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
I play WoW *a lot* -- six hours/day during the week and 18 hours/day on weekends and holidays -- and I've often wondered how I let this game take over my life so thoroughly. I think the variable rate schedule of rewards theory can explain this addiction. It is something that I learned about in a Management 101 class two decades ago. What makes anything addictive, according to the theory we were taught as nascent managers, is having a variable rate at which rewards are delivered. It is what makes gamblers come back to the dice table again and again, and it is why unions work so hard to establish uniform wage scales. My company introduced "Spot Awards" and the policy governing the awards explicitly states that managers should make sure that the awards are distributed at random intervals. The variable-rate schedule of rewards can produce game-aholics as effectively as it can work-aholics.
Is Blizz deliberately using the variable rate schedule of rewards to bind us to the game? Of course they are. In WoW, the variable rate schedule of rewards is easy to see. How does Blizz keep people engaged once they've reached the level cap? The recently added "Achievement" system is one way. Every so often, you will be rewarded with an achievement that can grant you cool stuff -- a new pet, a new mount, a new title. The requirements for the achievements are not uniform, and often depend on the completion of other achievements which also have non-uniform requirements. This insures that the schedule at which one completes an achievement and receives a reward will be effectively random. You keep shelling out $15 every month to keep those rewards coming.
Achievements.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Blaming gameplay elements for how addictive MMOs are has never held water for me. There are plenty of single player games that reward repetitive behavior. What makes MMOs different should be obvious; It's the community. MMOs reward you for congregating with other players. Eventually most players will end up with a network of social contacts that they only know through the game. Quitting the game is then sort of like abandoning these people. If you start getting bored with a single player game you stop playing. If you start getting bored with an MMO you keep coming back for the social aspects. Your friends pressure you to stay. It's not the gameplay that keeps you there, it's the other players.
I was totally addicted to Calculus back in college.
It was such a neat power, nobody understood it, it was like being part of a secret club.
Then Quantum Physics came along and made all the answers right and wrong at the same time. It's all fun and games until Quantum Physics comes along and ruins the party. You either don't know where it'll strike or when it'll strike.
It's been a long time.
As far as I'm concerned, people play MMOs because they operate like virtual worlds. In that context, people then pursue experiences that they don't get enough of in life. They can't struggle mightily to achieve great things. They can't get a sense of respect. They have no sense of control in their life. They can't lead others. They can't socialize enough. They can't bonk on things until they fall over dramatically.
When people find the exact thing in a virtual setting that they're really wanting from their life, they'll keep coming back to it over and over again. It's just like anyone who is a zealot of any other activity.
Think back through time of all the people who have had single-minded determination to engage in some activity, with all other activities taking a secondary role. Famous composers, builders, businessmen, scientists and engineers have all devoted themselves to a single activity - to the detriment of their family life and even to their health.
MMOs simply offer a virtual setting where people can experience an activity or sensation that they find tremendously appealing. Perhaps to the point of perceiving them as providing fulfillment.
Now trot out a personal holodeck for everyone in the world. A significant portion of the population would enter and never leave.
Yeah, I know what you mean, sorta. I have to retake Calc I sometime in the future, but what I got out of the class made me feel like I knew things few other people really understood in the world. I wanted to apply Calculus to other areas of my life.
But, I mean; there should be games and fun things that are just as addictive/fun as WoWCrack that actually teaches you something. Image WoWCrack games where you learned Calculus or even Algrebra. Your level was based on the equations you could solve. And rather than grinding on killing trolls or orcs you were grinding on equations.....
I wish I was a developer......
CAPS LOCK: ITS LIKE THE CRUISE CONTROL FOR AWESOME
I'm no WoW expert and have only logged a few hours total before being turned off by the game, and it's exactly the things that turned me off that make the game addictive. It takes a long....long time to even be competent at it, let alone good. Then there's the sense of losing ground to other players if you stop playing, the constant chance of getting that next best loot on your next dungeon run. The whole experience is designed to keep you coming back both from expectations of advancement and fear of losing your status.
Talent at playing the game is only worth something as long as you're willing to put in hundreds of hours to attain levels and gear.
Video game pushes your buttons.
I never understood how a game could become addictive. I believe the addictive aspects of the game come from the "relationships" built with other people who play it. It's usually more fun to be able to play a game with other people than to play alone. A game gets dull and boring if new virtual situations with new people dont come along. Try playing WoW alone. Make a new character on a new server and dont talk to people unless you have to. The game wont be as fun and chances are you'll be moving back to that old familiar server, with those old familiar "faces".
I have an addictive personality and purposefully stayed away from WoW during the beta cycle. Even after it was released, I didn't play it for a long time. I didn't really get into the game until a bunch of my friends were playing it and were already involved in end game raids. I was hesitant to get into the game after hearing tales of multiple hour long raids, but I gave it a shot anyway.
The thing that drew me in was how well the quests were laid out. I went into the game after having read a story here on /. about how Blizzard had a relatively large number of psychologists on staff. I was actively looking for addictive qualities to the game. For me, a person who wanted to play it casually, it was the time involved with the quests. The quests are short, so its easy to get into the mentality "I'll just do ONE more quest 'real quick'". Often times the quests are grouped together in the same area, so while doing 'one quest real quick', you might as well 'do these other quests that are right here'. Before you know it, a couple of hours are gone.
The other thing is that the quests are linked in such a way that they guide you onto the next area in a fairly seemless way. You never linger in any one area for too long, and there is always something on the horizon to tackle. Beyond that, all of the quests are relatively easy so you don't get frustrated. It makes the game feel kind of childish at times, but it also limits the likelyhood that a person is going to leave the game in frustration.
Although the end game raids still take a lot of time, there is content available for the more casual player. I rarely ever raid because I don't want to set aside the time required. On the other hand, it's pretty easy to hop online and within fifteen minutes, find a group and run an instance or two. That method pretty much denies me any sort of high end gear, but that's not why I play the game.
There are potentially serious ethical issues when creating games whose design is closely linked revenue generation. For monthly subscription style games, there is a strong incentive for developers to make the game more addicting, using all the known human "vulnerabilities" (reward schemes, etc) to keep people paying. This is where I think game designers can be called to task, or at least the relationship between the design and the revenue model.
It is a path towards "evil":
1) Make the game more addictive for the players and encourage them to recruit more players.
2) Charge subscription for access to the game.
3) Profit!
I call most MMORPG's gambling games rather than role-playing games... MMOGGs I suppose. The game designers can be held even more culpable for the ethics of their designs then those that design traditional gambling games, since the central (addictive) mechanic of gambling is staking a wager and potentially receiving rewards but the central mechanics of MMORPGs certain don't have to be self-serving addiction mechanics.
It would be completely possible to make WoW and other MMORPGs without leveling, drops, and other addiction mechanics and instead focus on overcoming challenges/monsters, socializing, role-playing and competition (PvP). Certainly the latter gameplay can be addicting, but I think you can make a clear distinction between mechanics that give the illusion of reward (items, XP, basically anything that just changes a number) and those that are intrinsically rewarding (defeating a monster or other player, making friends, etc).
In my eyes Blizzard has gone from a respected developer of a classic like Starcraft to an ethically challenged producer of a gambling game. However, it has been the fault of all game designers and game players to not bring up the issue more clearly and widely. We failed to talk about games in a serious way to help designers avoid falling into the trap of equating fun with addiction. Hopefully in the future addiction gameplay will be avoided by any designers who take games seriously and be relegated to a "sleazy" profit-centric industry more similar to the gambling industry.
Complexity Happens
There is no Drug addiction, sex addiction, or game addiction.
There is addiction. What you are addicted to is irrelivant to the definiton of an addiction.
What you are addicted to factors in only when you are trying to treat the addiction.
Addiction has two parts: Physical and Psychological.
Regardless of MMO, cigs, pot, or meth they both have those two sides.
Treatment is structured around what you are addicted to.
Trying to box up and create boutique addictions is a pointless exercise. Addiction = Addiction.
The reasons for becoming an addict can vary but result in the same condition, addiction.
Skinner and many others found that you can be addicted to anything. Milk, cashews, and even eye brow stroking. The behaviors are identical no matter what the subject was addicted to with a common result, self destruction.
This boutique addiction nonsense has to end. It's addiction, plain and simple. No video game addiction. Addiction. Just political nonsense...
-=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
WoW is so addictive I swear I saw three ads for it in that article!
To begin with, I have not RTFA (damn you websense!) nor have I ever played WoW. But I can give some examples of addictive games that I have played, such as Sid Meier's Pirates! As many other posters have pointed out, one of the features that they feel makes WoW addictive is the social interaction. This has no appeal for me, which is why MMORPG's haven't ever really captivated me the way most single player games have. I think that the addictiveness has to take into account both the nature of the players and also the player's goals. In the case of Pirates! the game became very addicting because the quests that would be given to you could be accomplished in about 20 minutes each. This, coupled with a fairly intuitive control scheme using just the number pad on the keyboard made for a great pick up and play kind of game, but always having the ability to complete a particular quest in 20 minutes or less triggers a "just one more" kind of play style where I lose track of time and next thing I know I've been playing for 14 hours with minimal breaks. Having short, attainable goals that tie into a long term goal provides a sense of accomplishment that produces a desire to keep on playing without interruption.
DRINK DUFF (responsibly) DRINK DUFF (responsibly) DRINK DUFF
"The common theory is that games like World of Warcraft are addictive."
Please enlighten me: exactly which theory is that?
naah sig schmig
conversely, maybe heroin/ meth/ coke addicts could kick their habit by buying the drug and giving it to other addicts?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
There's an obvious stereotype of gamers that they are weak minded idiots addicted to computer games. They are either pasty-faced pimpled teenage geeks or fat 30+ social rejects who still live with their parents. In whatever case, they must not be able to handle real life, or can't control their emotions, and fall victim to these addictive games designed to ruin their lives. But the reality is more people in America play computer games than not. (http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_090520.html) In fact, more people play video games than go out to movies. And these gamers aren't just shriveling up in their parent's basements.
Considering this stereotype, how many people like Curt Schilling and Doug Glanville (MLB players, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/12/04/schillings_got_his_online_game_face_on/)would openly admit to playing MMO's?
Consider further the impact of that information becoming public on the playability of MMO's for celebrities. Would you risk having your anonymous personal entertainment fall prey to the same stalkers and paparazi-type wacko's constantly hassling you like they do when you leave your house? Or would you keep the fact that you play as closely held as possible so that you had some avenue of socialization in your life that was genuine, instead of the ass-kissing and intrusion that you consistently face in real life?
There are many many famous people who play. I posted a few with evidence here already. But in the same position I'd keep my mouth shut as most of them do.
I know of a famous person who played Everquest. That person's ID got out, and they ended up quitting because of it. The enjoyment of the game was completely ruined when their identity was revealed.
When you start thinking in these terms its easy to reconcile that there are plenty of people that lead perfectly pruductive and healthy lives that -also- play computer games. It is not the games themselves that are a destructive force in some lives. It is the addictive personality of some people who play games that is used as ammo to demonize that which some others are ignorant of.
"But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,..." - Nancy Pelosi
Both addictive drugs and addictive games can severely disrupt your life. However, once you become addicted to a drug, you're addicted for life. The addiction never entirely goes away. Addictive games are not like that at all, which is partly why I object to the use of the word "addicting" in this manner.
Video poker slot machines addict 5 times faster than other forms of gambling.
It takes about two years for those who become compulsive video poker machine players to
become hooked. Other forms of compulsive gambling, including conventional slot machines,
take about ten years.
According to various TV news investigations of legalized gambling over the years.
I'd guess that the increased amount of actual thinking involved in video poker playing
creates a greater illusion of control of the outcome, or simply involves more actual neurons
in the brain in the process of playing.
There's a useful clue here to what makes a game more addictive, since 5 times quicker is a very
big difference. But I can't say what it is.
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It was fun at first, but eventually became nothing but tedious questing and dealing with negative assholes. Come to think of it, this was also my experience with methamphetamines...
The classical definition of addictive contains three separate elements:
1) reinforcing -- it stimulates some "do it again" circuit in the brain. This is what most people casually call addictive.
2) withdrawal symptoms
3) dose escalation
You can see it's based on opiates. If you apply it strictly to someone who has been smoking two packs a day for thirty
years, you can create an argument that cigarettes don't fit the formal definition (#3), even tho actually claiming that
cigarettes aren't addictive makes you look like an ass.
But if anyone is looking up anything from scientific literature, don't omit "reinforcing" as a search term.
Also include the word "craving".
I remain puzzled by an article a decade or two back in the journal Science, which "revealed" the
"discovery" that a major factor in cocaine addicts relapsing was "craving". What puzzles is how this merits a journal
article, instead of a "Duh", but maybe establishing "craving" as a formal term in addiction research was reason enough.
I still say I use more time-travel theory in my daily life than Calclueless.
Urban Legions
with a "Chilly slobberknocker"? http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41821/
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
I wrote about this several years ago after playing a few MMOs... I don't have access to the essay right now, but a few of the addictive points I remember are:
- When you pay a subscription fee to play an unlimited time per month, you get more value from the fee the more you play the game.
- Other players can observe your character and items, seemingly lending credence to them psychologically. It makes them "more real" than a single player or non-persistent game.
- Feeding on that, progress in the game feels more like you're actually getting something done (you're not!)
- You meet friends in the game, so often to keep in touch with these friends, you must keep playing the game.
- Also, you're compelled to play the game to keep your character on an equivalent level of progress to the others in your guild.
MMOs definitely have some additional tricks up their sleeve when it comes to compelling players to play them.
and it didn't get very deep. He defines addiction in games as games that offer rewards (they tend to be smaller rewards) for doing the same thing over and over again. Of course, this is focusing on MMORPGs, but I don't see why it has to other than it is popular to bash these games right now...which is a bit odd to me...but let me explain more.
Some of us like to game. Whether it be RPGs, FPSs, RTSs, TBSs, MMORPGs or whatever. There has been a negative reaction towards people who game from the general public. Gamers don't like this. What is the difference if we game for a few hours a night instead of watching reruns of TV shows we have already seen. There really isn't a difference (other than gaming uses more brain power since there is actually some interaction instead of just sitting there). But since it is newer and different from the norm, people will make fun of, write laws against, etc etc just as they did in the past for D&D and rock music.
MMORPGs are really not any different than regular games other than the regular content releases and more social aspects. You do the same things over and over again...sure. But you do it with different people and you are getting better at it each time you do it. Really, not much different from traditional games like chess or go. You are doing the same things over and over, but you are getting better and you are enjoying yourself. Nothing really to freak out about. But even many gamers on here are going to bash WoW because it's new and they can't spend as much time on it. That and they probably know someone who has screwed up their lives by playing too much.
But most people don't have issues. Like most people can go out on weekends have a few drinks, and not get wasted. But we all know friends who go out and drink too much. But that is more socially acceptable. Why? Because we live in a society that values extroverts over introverts. So because you don't want to go out with friends and feel more comfortable at home, you are weird. "Why would Bob rather play WoW than come get drunk with us? Man, that guy is a loser." But him staying home playing WoW is his time to recharge and be happy just like for extroverts, their time to recharge is being social with friends.
In any case, the whole MMORPG addiction thing is overblown. It is just because it is new to society that it faces so much scrutiny. Human beings have been finding ways to screw up their lives since the beginning of time. This is no different. In 100 years, people playing MMORPGs will be griping about all the holocube addicts. Why can't they just be like everyone else and play MMORPGs? Freaking losers.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
This is the right time and place for a personal anecdote, methinks.
Many years ago, my dad took me to Vegas for a full week. As I'd never been to Vegas before, I was thrilled. My dad was a disciplined yet mellow man with a hearing impairment, he'd time his gambling between slow and relaxed coffee breaks, meals and walks, then return to the casino and turn his hearing aid off, sheltering himself from the constant cacophony around him, moving slow and hunting for a "warm" machine according to his "hypothesis" (if someone has been feeding a machine and gotten no return, a jackpot is imminent, he'd say). An eye of the storm is how I'd describe him. By midnight, dad would be in our hotel room, drifting to sleep while reading a techno-thriller spy novel or Louis L'Amour cowboy adventure.
Feeling like a hyper-excited kid in a candy store, I was taking off on my own at 8:00 pm (with a generous but not excessive daily allowance) to explore, drink and smoke while feeding the one-armed bandits and playing blackjack at the one-dollar tables (with free drink service, of course), pretending to be a real man, coming back to the hotel room at the crack of dawn or beyond. Now, wasting precious cash on taxis, are you kidding? I was doing plenty of walking from casino to casino, keeping me from getting too drunk, so I didn't get into any trouble in that area.
This blissful experience lasted for three days.
By Day Four, the sound of the slot machines was beginning to get deep in nerves, the thrill was fading away, and three consecutive nights of drink was beginning to take its' toll (call me a lightweight if you like, that's okay).
By Day Five, I went bowling and to the movies, just to get away from the casinos for a spell or two. To give you an idea how long ago this was, the film was "Patriot Games" with Harrison Ford.
By Day Six, my nervous system was screaming "Get me outta here!".
By Day Seven, feeling jaded beyond my years, I indulged in one last blackjack all-nighter at a funky casino filled with college-age students, Bowie, Roxy Music and The Police playing in the sound system.
On Day Eight we flew back and I wanted to play Pope and kiss the ground at touchdown.
What my old man did there, was invaluable - he placed the cookie jar in my reach and said "Have a go". What I did was stuff myself until I got sick and subsequently inoculated, gambling holds no appeal for me since then.
Now to my main point here. By Day Five, as I wandered around the casinos, the lights, bells and whistles were not a distracting factor anymore, my jolly attitude had vanished, and only then did some truly disturbing snapshots of humanity stick out in sharp relief:
* People (mostly elderly) with glazed eyes focused on some point beyond the walls, a bucket of dollar coins at the side, wearing latex gloves turned filthy by feeding the coins to three slot machines at a time, for all intents and purposes turned into mechanical extensions.
* Same people after running out of money, walking away in anger as if in instant withdrawal, with only one purpose in mind - scrounging more cash to feed the overlords.
* Guy arrives at the blackjack table and places two black (five-hundred dollar) chips and wins. Smoking a cigarette and with no discernible emotion, bets all chips, now we're up to two thousand dollars, and wins. Once again, only now it's four thousand bucks, and wins. Once more, eight thousand dollars, loses it all. Guy turns and walks away with no emotion whatsoever. All in the span of two minutes.
I wouldn't doubt that the casinos knowledgeably use monorails, outlandish architecture, jackpot cars on display, human statues, aquariums and stuff all over the place, to keep the 2-3 day visitor distracted, hiding a dark side of Vegas in plain sight. Then visitors themselves make the damnedest effort to become part of the distraction, chicks there feel the need to expose 9/10 of their body to stand out from all that sensory bombardment (OK, I'll give that one a resounding pass, but
Lil' Thindime, lilting a lacrimose lament, krashes the kwaint konfines of Kokonino Kounty
I want to buy WOW. Many of my friends play WOW. I played the free trial for it, and enjoyed it quite a bit, despite the pacing being a bit too slow for my standards. However, I get addicted to things quite easily. I know that if I start playing WOW, the other facets of my life will take the back seat. I even have a bit of trouble focussing on other things besides Dungeons And Dragons sometimes. (I know, I'm a geek). Basically, I know that I would enjoy WOW, and by extention other MMORPGs, just a little bit too much. The only reason why I let myself play other video games is that the ones that I'm interested in have an ending. So no matter how addicted I get, there will come a point where I have to stop playing, for at least a little while.
+++ Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++
It's also less time-consuming than D&D. Putting content together in a way that is effective and engaging can be a huge nightmare, and unless everything is highly coordinated and all of the players as well as the DM "do their homework" (IE, study and prepare for the game outside of play time) even a simple scene can take hours to run. Furthermore, everybody always wants to roll dice on friday night or saturday night. There is so much else to do on those nights (like have a date with a lady). So D&D doesn't just take up time, it takes up prime time. Whereas a nice game of Deux Ex, or Baldur's Gate, or Vampire: Bloodlines can be enjoyed on any night, with little to no planning, and comes conveniently pre-packaged.
But yeah, World of Warcraft is totally lame.