Quick interview with a casual gamer

Not everyone who plays computer games becomes addicted. For many people it is just a harmless hobby which will have little to no impact on the rest of their life. Today I interviewed Jason, a 25 year old male casual gamer

Me: Hi Jason! I want to start by asking if you have ever subscribed to an online role playing game?

Jason: Yeah the first online game I started playing was World of Warcraft. Actually, that’s probably the only one I really got into. Before that there were the other Warcraft games, but I never played those ones online.

Me: What is the draw to the non online versions of Warcraft? Why did you play it?

Jason: Oh, it was so well made. Well balanced. There are online modes but it isn’t an RPG. It’s just your army versus someone else’s army and it takes 20 minutes. And then that’s it. It’s not something you get immersed in with a character and a guild but it’s still fun.

Me: And there is still a big market for these games which are online without the immersion and role playing?

Jason: Oh yeah! The new Starcraft game is coming out in less than a year and that’s going to be one of the most bought games... It’s online but players just play each other without the development of characters.

Me: what was the appeal to you for World of Warcraft?

Jason: I went into it because it was a very well developed game. You get rewarded for all your actions and the harder you try and they more you try the more you are rewarded. It plays to everyone’s level.

Me: did some of your friends all start playing at the same time?

Jason: No we never all played it really. Some of us play and some of us quit and then some of us start it up again.

Me: So since you started playing, four years ago right? What percentage of the time have you been an active subscribing member?

Jason: Oh I’d say only about 20%. I play it when I get bored. And I play more in the winter as it’s too cold outside. I know it’s going to be fun and if I don’t have another game or anything interesting to do to keep my attention I know I can fall back on it.

Me: Well, thank you for your time Jason. It’s interesting to talk to someone who plays but not at a chronic level.

Jason: Anytime!

The Daeddalus Project

What is it?
The Daedalus Project is a long running study of massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamers with data collected through surveys over the past 10 years. It is currently in hibernation mode as the creator, Nick Yee, has decide he is unable to continue it now that he is working full time and moving on with his life.

I’m still deeply interested and fascinated by the MMO space, but I think I came to realize that continuing the project would require more time than I could devote to it.

Who is Nick Yee?
Nick Yee, the creator of The Daedalus Project, is a Hong Kong born American resident. He studied psychology with a major in computer science. For his senior year he did a large scale survey project on EverQuest, a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game).

Through this study he realised he thoroughly enjoyed the topic and the interaction with players. He also realised there was an increase in MMO gamers, however there was a shortage of available research and studies on the topic.

What are some addiction issues discussed?

-Q & A with a Therapist
Therapist Shavaun Scott, a gamer herself, establishes that addiction is all about level of functioning. Some people can play a video game for 8 hours a day, and still manage real life relationships, have good health and have the ability to support themselves. In this case, even though they may play excessively, they don’t have an addiction.

She also acknowledges that some people are happy to have virtual relationships instead of real life relationships and this is not necessarily a bad thing as it means they are still interacting and forming social connections.

In many situations individuals may experience more intimacy with online friends than they do with those they know in real life.

-Data on addiction
This study using surveys by over 2,200 people of varying ages found that 40% of users believe they have some form of an addiction to MMORPG.

It also found that most people consider over 24 hours per week of gaming to be too much. By comparison, the average American watches 27 hours of television a week.

MMORPG players at greatest risk of addiction

Gaming addiction is currently the fastest growing addiction in the world with online role playing games (MMORPG) as the biggest risk.

Over the last decade, the concept of internet addiction has grown in terms of its acceptance as a legitimate clinical disorder.

More and more centres are being formed with a focus on gaming addictions and university campuses starting support groups to help students struggling with the online gaming habits.

A large part of MMORPG is the creation of a virtual world. Immersion into these worlds provides users with an escape, similar to that experienced while on a drug, which can be intoxicating and addictive.

Games have greatly evolved from the player versus computer games of the 1980s, such as Pacman and Donkey Kong.

By the early 1990s game ‘experiences’ were popular where a player is immersed into a fantasy world. These games too were mostly player versus computer but the player had the option of enriching and altering their virtual world by choosing different weapons and characters.

By the late 1990s online games evolved to be more than games but rather living, three-dimensional, self contained societies.

As pressures from the outside society become too strong, players spend more and more of their time living in the virtual world and less time living in the real world.

Treatment for gaming addiction is similar to that for any drug or gambling addiction. Addicts must learn to live without their games and they must have a strong support network in the real world.

If support is not available for them, it is common for addicts to seek support from their online friends, therefore slipping back into the virtual world where they may not be able to come out of again.

See this recent news story

The problem with online gambling

Another type of online gaming is the online gambling or e-casinos.

E-casinos are particularly addictive as it can combine both the online gaming elements with gambling which means that players who play excessively not only lose time by sitting at their computer, they can easily lose large quantities of money.

In the U.S. gambling is carefully regulated at a state level where casinos, horse racing, lotteries, bingo and slot machines are all accounted for and taxed. Online gambling is becoming so hard to regulate that federal government is discussing measures to outlaw it completely.

E-gambling, when compared to bricks and mortar gambling at casinos has the potential to be much more addictive and dangerous. Besides an annual fee, there is no regulation by government gaming organisations.

Also, compulsive gamblers can actually play more than one game at a time, allowing them to win or more often than not lose, large amounts of money at a time.

There is not the duty of care online that is available in real life casinos where there are varying laws on how to deal with excessive gamblers. Fake names and avatars are used online meaning players cannot be monitored.

The intangible nature of online gambling may well explain why players might get into financial trouble more easily than the traditional gambler. At a traditional casino, the customer may have a stack of chips and friends around to create an environment encouraging restraint. Online screens display numbers representing amounts of debt and/or winning that can disappear without the customer consciously keeping track.

Often recreational gamblers take trips to casinos with friends who would attempt to limit their losses and talk to them in a rational manner. The removal of a community of concerned individuals may result in customers, in the privacy of their own homes, engaging in levels of gambling that would be considered inappropriate by their peer groups.

Children are more likely to become addicted to something new than adults. Since there is no one to identify potential users, children are more likely to gain access to online casinos and act irresponsibly.

It has also been debated how honest and fair online games are. With the constant regulation and surveillance at offline casinos, participants can be reasonably sure they are not being treated unfairly. Along with this close regulation, most transactions involving customers occur in full sight of the general public.

Do you or someone you know have a problem with gambling? Gamblers Anonymous

Online Fantasy Role Playing: is it good or bad?

One of the draws to MMORPG (massively multiplayer role playing games) is the ability for players to be whoever they desire. This has both cons and pros.

Pros:

- Socially awkward players are able to befriend other people online more successfully as they can be anyone they want to.

- It allows image conscious players to have confidence.

- It can be fun! Who doesn’t want to pretend they have magic powers or a ripped body?

- Increases teamwork and leadership skills as players must work together to progress.

- Helps to develop strategising skills and communication skills to help pull off plans.

Cons:

- It can be difficult to get to know people for real as sometimes they will be their character and sometimes they will be themself.

- This can lead to dangerous real life situations when people decide to meet up in person. That 20 year old girl may turn out to be a 40 year old man.

- Meeting people while in character may lead to anxiety when meeting in real life in case one doesn’t fulfil expectations.

- Pressure to perform online as the character and to fulfil the characters duty. This can lead to pressure from guilds to play often to help with team quests.

- Excessive playing has shown to sometimes distance players from reality as the fantasy is so much better than real life.

You know you are dating a gamer when...

1-You have to schedule your dates around your partners dates with their guild. Because, clearly, these are of the uttermost importance.

2-You become good friends with his parents as he is still living in their basement.

3-When he says he was home all weekend playing games in his room, you don’t have to worry about him lying...he really was sitting on his computer all weekend playing games.

4-You wouldn’t dare ask you partner to choose between you and their Xbox...you really wouldn’t want to know the answer.

5-He has a different language you don’t understand and when you ask him what this “leet” speak is he just calls you a “noob”.

6-Your quality time together involves you sitting and watching him play games.

7-You quickly learn that to have quality time together, you must peel him away from the computer. This is most successfully done by eating extremely appetising food while sitting just out of reach of the computer. Food never fails.

8-if you buy him a techie toy once in a while he will become putty in your hands. This will calm his appetite for always buying the latest gadgets (and plunging himself into debt) and it will also encourage him to reciprocate the favour and buy you goodies.

9-When you jump on his computer just to check your mail or facebook he becomes a territorial caveman and tells you not to touch his stuff.

10-Their idea of romance is a screen lit dinner. It just isn’t the same as a candle lit one but seriously, take what you can get!

Hikikomori

A combination of excessive gaming and social pressures in causing more young people to retreat to their bedrooms in the Japanese problem hikikomori.

Hikikomori is a phenomenon in Japan where reclusive individuals choose to withdraw from social life and seek out extreme forms of isolation.

Often this begins with a traumatic event in the outside world and the individual seeks the sanctuary of their room and computer where they will not be judged by the online community.

They sleep during the day and are awake at night where they play games and socialise only with their gaming friends. For these people, online games provide their only outlet for socialisation. However, it can also be these games which encourage the players to retreat from the outside world and real relationships in the first place.
It is a national problem in Japan with recognition from the government and action plans in place to help prevent more youths from retreating.

Throughout the rest of the world it is not as widespread a problem as there are traditional elements that add to the Japanese reclusive nature such as the close son and mother relationship and social and academic pressures. However, there is an increase in the amount young people who are seeking solitude and are living their life purely through their games.

While government recognition in Japan has meant there is treatment for those shutting themselves in and support for their families, as it is not yet a large scale problem throughout the rest of the world, help is not readily available anywhere else.