A Children's MMO? MADNESS.
So many times, it happens too fast...you trade your passion for glory. Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past, you must fight just to keep them alive.
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Comments
Yeah, scary innit?
meh, mostly people who get addicted to anything are mentally weak, well exept for chrystal meth and all those things
I don't think so, I think some people just don't expect stuff to be so engaging and are in-advertantly sucked in, and then don't really even think that the huge amount of time they spend on the game is out of the ordinary so it never even becomes a matter of "I just can't quit" or a question of how weak their mind is.
The people I've known who are addicts, yes sometimes are weak minded, but other times are just irresponsible and then are hooked before they even question it.
Oh, and I like option 1 best
Ha ha, this may sound hypocritical, but I like option 1 best for irresponsible parents, but lean more toward option 2 for my own kids...not the full extreme of option 2, but more toward it than the extreme of option 1.
I think I saw a documentary on tv about this once, people die pretty often in Korea because of video games.
I can't imagine the U.S. is far behind since it's the global leader in Internet use per capita.
I think your article points out the darker side of games getting more immersive. People have this idea of game addiction as a parody of nerds being nerds and laugh it off, but it is a serious problem that needs to be dealt with seriously. I think sheltering kids from it is a bad idea, simply because sheltering is never a good idea. Sheltering or simply taking away will just lead to kids finding other means and other people to help them fulfill that curiosity and that addiction. It's a basic lesson the united states learned with prohibition and we're learning with abstinence education today. It's always better to allow and educate about how to make an informed decision.
That said, how to do that? Well, you could make the characters need rest just like people, increasing the realism in ways other than better graphics or better blood spatter. You'd need to put some sort of immersive limitation on the length of time a player could spend playing a game, without it seeming to interrupt anything. You could make it so in world of warcraft, the player will slowly lose energy on a meter that con only be recharged by not running the application that will slowly drain as you play, and your character will slowly lose speed and strength as it goes down, so a player won't have a quest interrupted because they'll understand their character (and in combination, they themselves) need rest and time away from the computer before they can take on another quest.
But that's just an idea.
Great article.
That is a really good idea and point. Have "realism" focused on reflecting parts of reality that limit addiction like rest and stamina...really great thought!
the xbox 9000: it can only be attributable to human error.
see? the problem here is the parents! they give their children too much time on the internet! (this is why nick jr.com has the time thingy on it) or did! now all they think a good time is spending 3 hours killing chickens on runescape! the parnets should ONLY give their children 1 hour on saturday and maybe sunday! make them spend the rest of their day outside in fact i would be outside just walkin up and down ze street but i has a bad ass sunburn right now from doing just that!
also after u r done helping Bomtoons help me out by leaving a comment on my post
I agree that parents SHOULD be more involved, but the sad fact is that a lot of them aren't.
Damn...last summer i spent about 10-12 hours (a day) playing RUNESCAPE....wtf!!!...Stupid internet..i admit that im a n addict...
Kids? I got a five year old cousin that plays WOW and he's a level 69 troll i mean WTF he spends like 14 hours a day on the computer....he eats alot (only) fast food...wtf he is only 5!!!!
Yeah, it's amazing that most people know someone like this.
And by the way i agree with assassinrabbit....im mentally weak....=P
I see your point
Part of me thinks its really all up to the person to have the willpower to have an actual life. I consider myself slightly addicted to the internet but I can easily pull myself away if I feel it's necessary.
True I've never been suckered into MMOs so I can't say I've been there, but people have told me how horrible it can be.
I do enjoy video games though and I have had a few moments playing games that I "just had to finish" but never to the point of causing social harm...
I dunno, I think it comes down to the willpower of the user and the state of their life.
Yeah, willpower is important, but for young people willpower is a quality they have yet to develop just because it comes through experience and being exposed to something with such HUGE power to addict seems like an unfair learning ground.
First off, excellent article you've written; this is a serious subject and I'm glad someone has taken his time to give it some thought. Addiction, we are used to the traditional causes such as alcohol or narcotics. But with the coming of the Information Age, human kind of plagued themselves with virtual addiction. This begs the question, what causes Video Game Addiction? Like you've mentioned, in the case of your friend, social problems may cause one to immerse themselves in a virtual world where they are accepted, praised, and perhaps even desired.
I wonder, would these "Video Game Addicts" be dependent on another form of superficial entertainment. For example, would a World of Warcraft "guru" be hooked on, let's say, Dungeons and Dragons if he had no access to WoW? Again, there are some correlation between anti-socialites and gaming addicts, albeit not strong ones. What can we, as a self-concious society do to help ourselves? Is it in the parenting that this problem spawns from, or the ways we treat each other that drives some to virtual madness?
I know first hand how dangerous video games can be. I am a third year university student and am happy to say I play no more than a couple hours of games a week. This is a giant improvement from my high school days of . . . approximately a few hours everyday. Those were dark times in my poorly lit room; the only light source being the PC screen in front of me. How did I "recover" I do not know. I think it may be the introduction of good friends that promoted "going out". But I digress.
Once again, very thoughtful article you've written and hopefully I'll read more from you.
And to add on to Jame's comment below me . . .
These kids really are good at FPS. I played Half Life with my 8 year old cousin a while back and he absolutely whipped my butt. THAT was a giant blow to my ego . . .
Thanks for the thought out response.
It is becoming a serious issue and, though complex, I think the first step is people, and especially parents, becoming aware of the issue and discussing possible solutions, and then applying what fits best for their specific situation.
well, I'm still in my teens so I wouldn't exactly know much about parenting anywho.
And to think some people think I spend to long on the computer... Looking at these stories, I can't help but wonder whether these people weren't already 'unhinged,' so to speak.
I think it's dangerous to assume these people already had some instability or problem beyond what every "normal" person has. My experience has been that even people with good upbringings and balanced lifestyle can fall prey to addiction.
So don't assume you're safe just because nothing like it has ever happened to you before.
I played World of Warcraft with my ex-girlfriend. As a social game it can be rather fun.. Solo it's just a pile of shit. To quote a kid I teach... "It's just a game where you click on lots of stuff".
They're terribly addictive.. That's why I just stick to things like my DS and games with actual endings.
Yeah, I really like the Wii's focus on getting people to return to "games are for parties" mentality where you play with people you know in real life rather than by yourself.
I think that's stupid.
When I play a Video Game for a really long time, I get tired & go do something else.
There's no way I'd play for 86 hours, even if I wanted too.
i for myself spent 2 years with world of warcraft and there were times when i just played too much ... but i still managed to go to school make my exams and meet friends ... i recently stopped playing world of warcraft cause it got pretty boring ^^ but i experienced that its not the game you get addicted too its the other players you made contact with. I played wow with a couple of real friends which is a factor too but when you're in a guild or whatever its called you just keep playin not to dissapoint your class or guild leaders or just your guild mates and i have to notice that it is fun indeed to achieve difficult things with your common gaming partners.
At last my guild was disbanded and most of my friends stopped playing wow and so did i ... there was just no more motivation to hang into it. Additionally one cant play one and the same game over and over for 2 years ... it just gets boring as hell.
Well you still would call me a nerd couse im still playing lotsa games like nowadays im playing often battlefield and my wii (my friends like the wii very much ) and watchin animes and im not good with girls but somehow i have to spend my time, dont I ?
But when playing wow i always made myself up a priority list and above wow there were my real life mates who are very cool and my school grades.
And even after the 2 years of wow i would consider playing a new mmo ... like eve but i always would take care of that the game would not consume my life ... thats important because its just an entertainment thingy
Yeah, the online-friend thing is a huge engine driving a lot of this stuff...I mean look at facebook and myspace, there's no value except having a huge list of "friends" you barely know.
It's good you had the self control to prioritize your life, many people unfortunately don't.
When I was younger, I used to play non- stop. I admit it, it even feels weird that I'm on the internet, saying this to someone that I don't know. I used to play runescape and warcraft lll all the time. Now, It's all changed. I had good grades all around, before and now, but I'm more responsible. I go outside, don't just sit around, a lot. This reminded me about it. I feel good comparing how I've changed. Thanks. No seriously, I mean it.
It's also good of how you see this and know to be careful on having kids addicted. In my book, that's a thumbs up!
Thanks for taking the time to comment and good job on digging yourself out of the rut!
thanks for addressing a pretty serious issu BoMtoons. i respect that.
it is pretty strange how people ca be so addicted to this kinda stuff. I think in some way addiction proned people (for the internet at least) start off with a pretty low self esteem, then is just shrivles upon the constant use. why wouldn't they be training themselves to hate the jobless pitiful REAL exterior they could work on that takes all that effort to change when they could easily level up and be stronger then thousands in the online fantasy worlds?
it's strange, but somehow these fake characters BECOME their identitiy and their real like befome their second life, and WoW, EQ, and second life, become their first!! lol.
i stumbled on this a few days ago and pretty much LOL'ed:
<a href="http://www.getafirstlife.com/">http://www.getafirstlife.com/</a>
anyhow, again thanks man.
(still working on my call man, i'll email you when i get it... i expect 4 months is, just working out some crap atm)
That site is hilarious!
"Fornicate using your actual genitals!"
Ha ha. Yeah, it's hard to believe that people get lost in the virtual world, but surprisingly easy to fall into...I mean, just try going for 2 weeks without checking your email...you'll go crazy!
im immune to internet addiction
i got it all out of my system at age 13 when i played runescape for 5 hours aday , Ive actualy tried mmos for the purpose of becoming addicted and I cant do it, games like world of warcraft are just too god damn boring for me.
Lucky you.
itsjms
Geez man, didn't think people would actually put their own life off for video games. This is very interesting and informative article you have written here. I think it's ridiculous to throw your life away for pixels? or gaming respect? I guess. I'm not sure really what they get out of it. Besides to one day wake up a realize they have nothing. I mean come on, they actually skipped school and WORK? Just to play some stupid online game. This could be a serious issue. And needs to be resolved.
You are also correct on the kids thing. More kids ARE starting to play more and more complicated games at a younger age. I remember super mario for the NES/ That was what I played when I was little and it was simple and I wasn't to good. But now there are 5 year olds on halo 3 and other online games and such that are much better than me. Its out of control. Thanks for writing this. It was interesting to read and respond to.
-James
BoMToons
Thanks for the thoughtful response.
I know, it is really crazy, but sometimes it sucks in even the most "cool" and "normal" people you might know. I know I can easily get addicted to games which is why I avoid playing most of the big ones like the plague.
Instead I got addicted to MAKING games...maybe not much better?