Can you be addicted to online gaming?
This is what we’re looking at for our next podcast with so much already out there and we being simple followers of trends. I had tha great idea of opening this up for some discussion before we get too into things and see what everyone that frequents this website thought as part of our pre-show discussion. Feel free to discus your take on this all over the internet topic.
For me, I don’t think “addiction” is the right word. That implies it’s a medical condition tied directly to the gaming. I think compulsion might be better as I tend to see online gaming addictions more as symptoms of bigger problems. How about you?
June 25th, 2007 at 8:44 am
I don’t see it so much as an addiction as I see it as a hobby. I’m sure there are some people that are actually addicted to gaming but I believe they have a deeper upnderlying problem there. If they are actually addicted to gaming then I’m sure that they could be addicted to anything they enjoy. IE: drinking, gambling, drugs, porn, etc.
I do believe that some people just have that addictive personality but for most people that are labeled “gaming addicts” are just enjoying a hobby they enjoy. Just ask an old lady that likes to knit or something like that. I’m sure they’d say they love knitting and like to do it as much as possible, but I’d also like to see someone say, “Hey, grandma is addicted to knitting. She needs help.” That may be a totally lame example but I think you get the point.
MMOs have a different type of aspect to them. It isn’t only the game I enjoy but the cmpany I keep in the game. I’ve made some pretty good friends in CoH and WoW. People I would actually consider as friends. That is not something to be taken lightly when judging someone as a “gaming addict”. I also enjoy the RP aspect of the MMO. You can do anything in an MMO you can set your mind to. As long as it is within reason. Plus if you have the right people to help you pull off the story then it becomes a really fun group activity.
Anyways, there is my take. I’m sure I left some things out and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but oh well.
June 25th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Addiction Is not a Word to throw away lightly. If one can walk way from a game with Nothing more then guilt then You are not addicted. There must be Withdraw symptoms with the said leaving to be considered an Addiction, In my mind that is.
June 26th, 2007 at 10:06 am
The word addiction is no longer used to mean a medical condition. It now means a condition that can be treated with insurance funds ( Said with tongue in cheek ). Are folks harmed by to much WoW? Yes. Do some folks need help balancing WoW and the rest of their lives? Yes.
Many folks who engage in an hobby don’t feel comfortable admitting that the hobby can be harmful. Just remember that any enjoyable activity can lead to harm when we don’t leave enough time to care for ourselves and those whom we need to care for.
June 26th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Hey guys, just found this on CNN, thought it might be useful to this discussion….. Or at least add fuel to the fire.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/fun.games/06/25/addiction.video.games.reut/index.html
June 26th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
How very timely, Reid, thanks!
June 29th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Hey, when do you record because i have alot of good info that i’m getting gathered up as we speak.
June 30th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Addicted? Nah. There is only ONE thing that us Humans have complete and total control over, and that is what we choose. Every decision we make is made in our own mind, and is under our very own power to control. Hold a gun to my head and tell me to decide on way or another or I’m dead if you want, it simply doesn’t matter: the decision is still mine to make. So, when someone sits down to log in, it’s their decision. When someone wants to log out, it’s their decision. Well, there it is.
July 1st, 2007 at 5:08 am
Now, I’m far in far too lazy a mood to do any research into the facts, but between learning that has been shoved far to the back of my head, some minor real life experience, and what some people would call an “addictive personality,” here’s what I think…
First of all, what is addiction all about? This is probably pretty obvious to most people. Addiction is a concept deeply embedded into our society. It’s in movies, on tv, in magazines. We learn about it in school. I just got curious and looked up “addiction” at dictionary.com. “The state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming…to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.”
That definition mentions two specific types of addiction: physical & phsychological. Some substances have chemically addictive properties. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your proclivities are…just by introducing them into your system, you run the risk of becoming addicted. In my mind, the idea of an activity, such as Warcraft, having a physically addictive quality, seems unlikely.
Hmm… my mind just took a long and strange trip that began wondering whether the act of breathing could be considered a physical addiction and ending questioning if fear of death could be considered healthy universally or only culturally…
…Now might be a good time to mention that I think too much and have a terrible habit of babbling incoherently until someone tells me to stop. Or in this case, when I run out of room.
It seems much more likely to me that if WoW addiction is real, it is phsychological. Phsycholocal addictions are ones that your mind creates. The substance or activity in itself is not addictive. Your mind can trick you, quite successfully, into believing that you NEED it. You can convince yourself of this so thoroughly, that you can actually go through withdrawl without it.
There’s another thing to consider when talking about addiction. Colloquial hyperbole. When I say that I’m crazy about my boyfriend, I don’t actually mean it. I may be a little crazy, but that was there long before he came around. I may say I’m addicted to chocolate, but that’s just exageration. Same thing for Warcraft. Yes, I sometimes play more than can be considered healthy. Yes, I would be extremely sad if it were to suddenly go away. But would it result in trauma? I don’t think it would. For me, Warcraft is just a very well-loved hobby.
HOWEVER, that is not to say that it can’t be something else. Addiction is not the right word. So what is? Escapism. “The avoidance of reality by absorption of the mind in entertainment or in an imaginative situation…” This definition may sound mild, but escapism can be just as dangerous as addiction. I’ve known more than one person who dropped out of college due to declining grades as a result of their preoccupation with World of Warcraft.
This is not, in my opinion, the fault of the game. I may have inclinations towards paranoia, but I don’t honestly think that the big wigs at Blizzard got together and say, “Hey! Let’s make a game that’ll ruin the lives of the world’s gamer community by enslaving them to a virtual world from which there is no escape!” At worst they probably realised that they’d make more money by creating a game that rewards based on the amount of time you put into it.
Anyway, I’m tangenting off into a rant. Back to the point.
My friends ran into the problems they did, because the desire for an escape from reality was already in them. Addictions can be escapisms and escapisms can be addictions, but this was never the case. I can’t speak for every “WoW addict,” but I think this probably true for the majority of them as well.
Going off into another direction, there is one last point I’d like to raise: the nature of many quests and features in the game. They’re set up in a way that keeps you coming back (whether you want to or not) in order to get them done. And many, many gaming types I’ve come into contact with are terrible completionists. They MUST complete every quest in every zone, get their reputation up with every faction they come across, learn every recipe that exists in the game for their chosen trade skills, get not only the best gear they can, but every piece of every set… It never ends. There is always something more that you can accomplish in the game. And whether you are a completionist or not, accomplishment feels GOOD. I suppose maybe some features of WoW make it addictive after all. However, they are manufactured and we still do have as much freedom of action as our psyches allow us.
Anyhow, I think it’s time for me to be quiet and go away.
If anyone disagrees with anything I’ve said, I’d love to hear what you think. Part of me can’t help but find trauma based on lack of WoW a little laughable, but I suppose some of things in my life that have been traumatic are just as silly, if not worse, so I keep an open mind.
July 1st, 2007 at 5:16 am
I just went back and reread others’ comments, and felt the need to point out that I wasn’t making a jab at Kelandros with my comment about addictive personalities. It was an independent staement aimed at all the people in my life (namely my mother whom I love dearly but is, well, my mom) who have pointed it out again and again. Don’t hate me!!! Okay. Really shutting up this time:)
July 3rd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
From what I have seen there are some people who can get really into it. I don’t know if I would say that they are addicted but in one case I think this person came the closest to addiction that I’ve seen. One of my friends, Icstorgle, plays WOW every day of his life. The only way he really ever gets dressed or showers is if someone calls him to hang out. There are even some times he wont want to hang out with you because of something in WOW such as a raid. Even sometimes when you call him he won’t pick up because he’s in battle. I know when school was in session he would skip classes, a lot, to play WOW. This hurt his grades a lot and no matter what anyone said he would keep doing it. jI’m actually really surprised that he isn’t a level 70 yet. But it seems he can’t stop playing. I think he needs help and I have tried to coax him out, with some of my ways, but it seems that he won’t budge. Got any tips? ~^.^~ Fera