I do not think people can be addicted to an MMORPG. I do not feel that there is anything about any form of video game that can cause addiction. I know a few people who play MMORPGs more often than should. At the very most I think someone can be obsessed with a game, but never addicted. I found the articles that we were suppose to read to be very interesting. Mainly because I have an odd interest in how humans think and why. I do not play any MMORPG because I was never able to get into them. I find them to be very boring, I do not enjoy being limited by what I can do until I get a certain amount of experience and level a certain amount of times. I just want to go forth and kill stuff, so I occupy myself with hack-and-slash, shooters, and fighting games! However I have seen some of the effects that these MMORPGs can have. I have a friend who plays World of Warcraft and another friend who plays Final Fantasy XI online.
Neither one of my two friends do anything other than play online and occasionally eat and go to the bathroom, I doubt they bathe anymore. So, I understand what Sol Invictus was saying about how time consuming these MMOs can be. I personally do not agree with the idea of paying a monthly fee to play a video game when they are usually free. That has always bugged me, when I spoke to my friends about why they pay to play, they simply said that they are paying to use the server and interact with people. I still think it is strange, since I can turn on Left 4 Dead or Call of Duty and interact with friends for free or even invite them over and we play Rock Band until four O’clock in the morning.
I am not sure but I think people play those games and take them so seriously because it is away to escape from the bleak tragedy that is everyday life. This would explain why that user got so upset when Davis Myers kept killing him and threaten his life. Most people do not like it when someone interferes with their fantasy or something that they enjoy doing. If an RPG is how they spend their free time having someone who comes and constantly destroys that could be infuriating. I just think it is a little weird to be that into a MMORPG or any video game, but I understand why someone would want to play a game they have to pay subscription for. I guess my lack interest and lack of understanding is what shaped my view of the game genre. It does not really matter to me once you go far enough to threaten someones life over a game I think you have went too far.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I'm curious: if someone spent as much time doing drugs or drinking as your friends do playing online games, would you consider them an addict?
ReplyDeletePlaying games, for many people, triggers serotonin releases and affects the reward/pleasure center of your brain. Enough stimulus of this can lead to a mental addiction - this, often, is where people first become hooked on substances, with the actual physical addiction following later. Addiction is generally about feeding your brain too much of something that it cannot get in that quantity alone - and when it is removed, the brain demands more.
I guess it comes down to how addiction is defined; if it is a substance that is used to the harm of the rest of ones' life, and the drive for that substance stronger than any other drive, I'd call it an addiction - regardless of whether or not there are track marks or black lungs.
I agree with you when you say that you don't understand how people can become so consumed by these games. I have no experiance with them nor do I have an disire to start. I can understand why people can become upset if their charater's are destroyed after they put so much effort into them.
ReplyDelete