Addiction To Fortnite Cited In Over 200 Divorce Petitions (dailydot.com)

An anonymous reader writes: In just the last 35 weeks, one online divorce site received over 200 petitions citing addiction to Fortnite and other online games as one of the reasons someone wanted a divorce. "[T]he dawn of the digital revolution has introduced new addictions," said a spokesperson for the company, also citing online pornography and social media. "These numbers equate to roughly 5% of the 4,665 petitions we have handled since the beginning of the year and as one of the largest filers of divorce petitions in the UK, is a pretty good indicator."

On the other hand, the A.V. Club notes that the web site's creators "have a vested interest in making divorce seem sexy and cool in a way that only 'You walked in front of the screen and a 10-year-old in Wyoming shot me dead so now I'm taking the house' truly can."

Comments

yabh

[Anonymous Coward]

YetAnotherBadHeadline courtesy of /. editors.

"and other online games"

Online games being cited in divorce filings started happening long before the typical Fortnite player was even born.

Maybe or maybe not.

[Gravis Zero]

So, according to Internets, in the UK you can't just get divorced, you need to have a reason. (Internets would lie to me would it?)

In order to start divorce proceedings in England or Wales, you first need to have been married for at least 12 months.

To file a divorce petition against your spouse you must prove to the court that your marriage has irretrievably broken down by establishing one of the following grounds for divorce:

* Adultery
* Desertion
* Unreasonable Behaviour
* Separation of 2 years with consent
* Separation of 5 years - no consent required

I sure there are legit cases of addiction to gaming but I get the feeling that it's really just one contributing factor to an unhappy marriage that is being used as an easy target for "Unreasonable Behaviour". The real question is if the number of divorces has increased or have the reasons for divorce simply shifted.

Re:Maybe or maybe not.

[AmiMoJo]

They are trying to make a "no fault" divorce possible because it's become clear that these requirements are a bit antiquated.

Re:Maybe or maybe not.

[Blue Stone]

They're actually in the process of changing this right now, so that 'no fault' divorces can happen.

https://www.theguardian.com/li...

Re:Maybe or maybe not.

[Anonymous Coward]

My intuition is that gaming has not made divorce more likely.

What HAS made divorce more likely than ever before is simply this: it is super-easy to do, and there are no harmful consequences.

Once upon a time, if a woman got divorced, she suffered significant social stigma, from men and women alike, and her life sucked pretty bad from then on. Men suffered social stigmas too, of course, but they were more capable of earning a decent living anyway due to the gender imbalance in the working world.

BUT......

Now there is no social stigma at all. Women, in particular, are cheered on by their peers, congratulated for their courage in throwing off oppression. On top of that they get bonus prizes: the courts are still heavily biased in favor of women (despite the fact that women can earn as much as men now, in any field). So women get to walk away with quite a lot more than the man is left with, on top of whatever they earn on their own.

The men get the short end of that stick, financially, but with the social stigma gone many of them are finding even that to be preferable to staying married.

So, divorce is too easy. That means that people don't think about marriage properly when deciding to enter in to it. They no longer consider it a true lifelong commitment, but rather, something to "try out" for a few years and abandon if it doesn't work out. With that attitude, people are simply not vetting their partners well enough, and they are also not trying hard enough to make it work. They just up and quit. And that is the widespread trend.

It is a pretty harmful trend. Kids raised by single parents are far more likely to wind up in jail, and further to repeat the mistakes of their single parents. It is a terrible downward spiral. I am not sure there is any way out of it.

Lastly.....once up on a time marriages were mostly religious. Staying married was an act of obedience to God. These days, people have realized that the religious teachings don't come with any evidence, and are kind of weird. The fall of religion might be a victory for truth and reason, but it has not done marriage any favors at all. Non-religious marriages are more likely to fail than religious marriages, regardless of who is right.

So, there you have it.
 

Got It Backwards

[mentil]

'You walked in front of the screen and a 10-year-old in Wyoming shot me dead so now I'm taking the house'

Pretty sure it's more like "you spend more time yelling racial slurs at 10 year olds than acknowledging that your spouse exists."
Fortnite could be Madden, Call of Duty, et cetera. They were called 'Everquest widows' back in the day.

Re:Got It Backwards

[Anubis IV]

I knew about a guy who was the main tank for a guild on my server back in the days of World of Warcraft 1.0. The guy went to get a sandwich halfway through a Molten Core raid, only to discover a note from his wife saying that she had taken the kids and was leaving for Florida to be with her parents because he was too addicted to the game (apparently he had logged 120 days of played time in the first year that the game was out).

He got his sandwich and finished the raid before going after his wife and kids.

He finally got her to come back by promising that he’d auction his character off on eBay, but then he posted it for a price he knew it would never sell at and then bragged about his cleverness on his guild’s forums...which is when he discovered that his wife read the forums. In the end, he was forced to sell the character for less and their marriage survived, though by the time I quit the game a year later, he was playing again on another character.

Re: I'm sorry, but I couldn't parse this

[Anonymous Coward]

Either the female* is playing Fortnite, or they're implying that the man will get the house. I either of those concepts hard to believe.
*assuming heterosexual relationship.

No correlation.

[Rip!ey]

Unless there has been a comparable increase in the rate of change of the number of divorce applications, then this is a non-story.

People who want a divorce, that are required to give reason to get one, will find one. If it wasn't Fortnite, it would be something else. If it wasn't computer games, it would be something else.

Divorce Cool?

[thegarbz]

in a way that only 'You walked in front of the screen and a 10-year-old in Wyoming shot me dead so now I'm taking the house' truly can.

This isn't a description of a "cool" divorce. This is a description of an "inevitable" divorce.

Lightweight reporters..

[thesupraman]

Yes, reporters are very light.
It's a little known fact that they continuously produce large amounts of internal hot air. If they do not constantly emit this hot air they can actually float away and vanish.
This is why they spend most of their time talkingb complete rubbish, in an attempt to emit as much hot air as possible.

You should feel sorry for them, as there is little time left to do anything actually useful with their lives.

Re:I'm sorry, but I couldn't parse this

[vlad30]

spouse walking in front of the display

Now everything depends on if the spouse is naked

The roof of these addictions

[lucasnate1]

Fortnite is not special, neither is alcohol nor weed nor pills nor social networks. The only thing that IS special, is that our reality is intolerable for more and more people, and they find forms of escape. Can you blame them? For many people, life is just going to work, not having anyone they are close to, and if they are a man, knowing that they are never allowed to cry or express frustration (I guess there is some parallel for women, but I'm not a woman so I do not feel like I should say how they feel). Frankly, I suspect that a lot of modern technology and economy are just dedicated to create ways for people to escape the empty lives that they have.

Re:The roof of these addictions

[Kjella]

The only thing that IS special, is that our reality is intolerable for more and more people, and they find forms of escape. Can you blame them?

I guess every generation have to find their own sob story about why they're angsty teens, but honestly... what the fuck is so wrong with society today? For the most part we have all our basic needs met, in fact the only thing I can think of is that we're so independent and socially liberal that nobody wants partner with uninteresting people because of economic dependence or social pressure or they got pregnant. Today she gets an abortion, there's no shotgun wedding.

and if they are a man, knowing that they are never allowed to cry or express frustration

What? Has there ever been a point in history where the male role has been less macho? In fact, many men struggle to find the balance between still being a gentleman and not behaving in a way a modern woman finds condescending. And how to functionally date when it's not like I'll wine and dine you and you'll sleep with me. And use #metoo as an excuse to say that ordinary flirting and dating has become impossible, as if "grab her by the pussy" is ordinary dating behavior. If you think that, maybe that's the problem...

Re:The roof of these addictions

[DNS-and-BIND]

So, you realize things are better for humanity than they have ever been in history, right? Because they are.

This whole, "*whine* but it's not perfect" attitude needs to die in a fire.

Re:The roof of these addictions

[Applehu Akbar]

Fortnite is not special, neither is alcohol nor weed nor pills nor social networks. The only thing that IS special, is that our reality is intolerable for more and more people, and they find forms of escape. Can you blame them?

Actually I do blame them, because I’m old enough to remember how much worse life was fifty and sixty years ago compared to today. Racism everywhere, huge wars being fought over totally pointless causes (Ask your nail girl to describe her childhood), three billion people starving to death in India and China, massive urban air pollution, and the threat of thermonuclear annihilation hanging over our heads.

Those who forget the past are condemned to bitch about the present.

Re: The roof of these addictions

[DNS-and-BIND]

I said the attitude needs to die in a fire, genius. Way to deliberately misunderstand what I said, just because it made you feel bad.

Things are better today than they have ever been in human history. Ever. And morons STILL can't think of anything to do but complain that everything isn't perfect. Boo-hoo-hoo. Jesus Christ, the ingratitude. The total lack of perspective.

Re:The roof of these addictions

[mjwx]

and if they are a man, knowing that they are never allowed to cry or express frustration

What? Has there ever been a point in history where the male role has been less macho? In fact, many men struggle to find the balance between still being a gentleman and not behaving in a way a modern woman finds condescending. And how to functionally date when it's not like I'll wine and dine you and you'll sleep with me. And use #metoo as an excuse to say that ordinary flirting and dating has become impossible, as if "grab her by the pussy" is ordinary dating behavior. If you think that, maybe that's the problem...

Yes, most of history. The idea of "machoism" is a very modern one, previous to the 1900's and a romanticism about the wild west, Nelson's navy and other things that are falsely portrayed, people were broadly divided into the ruling elite who were quite effeminate (see: fops v dandies) and the working class who were quite submissive.

Prior to the 1800's systems were existed to enforce gender roles, I.E. women weren't permitted the vote or in many countries simply to work. The idea of universal suffrage is still extremely new. The first country to give women the full vote was Australia in 1902. Fortunately today no such systems exist in the west, but some people desperately want to bring them back.

However that is besides the point, if you think your manhood is threatened by powerful women, that is not a failure of males, that is a failure of your own fragile ego. If you have trouble getting a date, that is also likely due to your fragile ego. I am not Brad Pitt, I don't have the moves like Jagger but I do have a girlfriend (who is far too good for me, never be afraid of punching above your weight class). I'm pretty sure she likes me because I'm nice and because I can talk about issues that are bothering me (and/or her).

However I await the inevitable mod down for suggesting that the Kjella has created his own problem and there is no systemic conspiracy against men. Hell, I'll go one further and say the GP has hit the nail right on the head (speaking of nailing, if you really want to feel manly, get a hobby like wood or metal working, if building something with your own two hands doesn't make you feel like a man then you have serious mental issues) a big problem in western societies is that we're expected to conform to some outdated notion of being a man that never really existed, this notion means you're not permitted to have emotions, let alone express them. The idea that we all have to be macho men is causing the problem, not fixing them. I do not feel emasculated by women as I don't need validation their validation, I also don't hate them.

Gaming addiction exists

[Qbertino]

A friend of mine is hooked. He was in a multi year layoff phase and this summer finally departed from his employer. He got himself a ps4 a few years back and started playing division and WoT. After posting with his employer he's been doing that full time basically.

The thing is I totally get it. A good game and a good clan can keep you hooked for years. It's like surfing, climbing or some other awesome pastime. I was hooked to Argentine tango for 10 years. My life revolved around travelling around and often dancing 5 to 7 times a week, swapping my career for the tango bum life. I met women men usually can only dream of and had the most amazing pr0nstyle sex imaginable. But the big plus of tango that is that it comes with a very special kind of social life, which is why it's so awesome.
I also was hooked to unreal tournament back in 2000 and played that for a year or two a few hours per day.
But here's where I see addiction: I didn't totally void my social life and - this is the most important thing - didn't feel bad about it. So yea it had qualities off addiction, but I didn't use it to avoid uncomfortable situations. I actually made the active decision to live as a Tango bum and a hardcore gamer and kept up with my non addicted peers. Sort of.

My buddy OTOH won't even open the door for me or answer my texts for 3 months on end. Everyone is worried. His landlord, his brother, his mother, me, my daughter -who's uncle he basically is ... And so forth. That's not healthy. AFAIAC he can game for 10 years I a row. He had no family, enough resources and lives alone. Bit out is blatantly obvious that he's in a rut and needs a friendly asskick from his best friend the next the next time I get to see him.

So yeah, divorcing over fortnite? ITotallyGetThat.

Dirty little number about divorce

[MikeRT]

Depending on the source, women initiate between 70 and 80% of all divorces in the US. Most of them are "no fault."

Now women are starting to notice more and more that there aren't as many eligible bachelors around as there "should be."

Well, it's quite simple: the opposite sex responds to the way they're treated in the aggregate both consciously and unconsciously.

The whole system is FUBAR because it is the worst combination of conservative white knighting and feminism. It maintains the rules on who pays what and allows women to say "well, I'm just not in lurrrvv with you anymore, so bye--and thanks for half of the shit your bigger paycheck paid for."

Re:Dirty little number about divorce

[Anonymous Coward]

Did she sleep around on you? Well, obviously it is the man's fault for not satisfying her in bed. You may be working 50-60 hours a week while she stays home or works part time, but you're still the lazy one. You're not doing enough. She puts on 100 pounds and treats you like crap? Well, it's your fault for not being interested or romantic anymore.

This is exactly what happened to me in my last relationship. I did most of the work, did all the dishes, cooked all the food, and went to school, and got dumps for some loser who did none of those things. After she had a kid she sent me an email saying she regretted her decisions, by which time it was way way way too late for regrets.

I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the problem was her upbringing. Her mother was an alcoholic who provided her with no useful information (didn't know shit about shit) and who had hooked up with a man who she called an asshole all the time... who did all the work and paid all the bills.

Happily, I didn't get married, so I only wound up homeless and destitute at the time, I didn't incur any additional debt.

Re: I'm sorry, but I couldn't parse this

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it isn't -- because you don't get the context.. only "OMG HE SAID ASSUMING HETROSEXUAL!!! ALL PEOPLE/RELATIONSHIPS/THINGS ARE IDENTICAL, POLITICAL THINK OR DIE!!!".

It is well known that in the US (all countries have different laws, you know), that in divorces the female has MASSIVE, I repeat MASSIVE rights / case law / etc, which enables her to get a VASTLY unfair settlement. This historically at least had *some* sense to it, for historically women were seen as weak, pathetic creatures that were incapable of taking care of themselves. And really, even if a woman COULD take care of herself, job options / life choice options were limited.

Fast forward to now, and the laws/case law/judgement weight still exists. So women get preferential treatment, and the laws are vastly slanted in their favour during a divorce. So yes, the concept of "the women would easily get the house, the male never would get the house" and "those concepts hard to believe" makes perfect sense.

I always look to how people, when in a position of power, treat others. This shows what they TRULY believe, what they REALLY think. Either that, or it shows their 'grit', whether or not they would be a 'bully' given the chance.

Women today claim equality, yet in soooo many cases of divorce I've witnessed, they just TAKE TAKE TAKE TAKE. They have the POWER to TAKE, so they do.

Wow. Great feminist there. Using the power of "Oh I'm a woman and so weak and pathetic that I need help" laws, to steal what would morally, and in most other countries legally, be split fairly.

Of course, until I see an equal number of female janitors, garbage collectors, and conversely an equal number of male day care workers, I'll know that women don't truly believe they are equal.

Bad information

[markdavis]

>"Addiction To Fortnite Cited In Over 200 Divorce Petitions"

>"received over 200 petitions citing addiction to Fortnite and other online games as one of the reasons"

>"also citing online pornography and social media."

So which is it? 200 for Fornite, or the 200 games including Fortnite, or 200 computer addiction citings that include Fortnite? So it is all about addiction to Fortnite, gaming, or computers?

Cause vs Effect.

[gurps_npc]

In general, everyone believes the 'minor' pleasant activity is a cause of the 'major' problem, when in fact it is almost always the opposite.

I.E. when you have a major problem you tend to look for minor pleasures to make your life better.

So when you are stuck in a crappy marriage with a slimy husband cheating on you (or a nagging wife - doesn't really matter which) then you start playing Fortnite. When they make your life really bad, you starting playing a LOT.

Then when you get a divorce, they point at your constant Fortnite playing rather than admit their behavior was horrible.

(General note, outside of arranged marriages, I have never ever seen a divorce that was even mostly one person's fault. At the very least the 'innocent' party knew the shmuck was a shmuck, decided to ignore the shmuck's bad behavior, married the shmuck, then complained that they were a shmuck. Duh.)