MMORPG Project: Gamers Wanted

I looked at the survey. It looks valid for those here. It asks alot of questions about your game-playing habits. If that is a trigger for you, to start gaming again, please do not take this survey. Your real life is more important! Liz

I took the survery.

somehow it posted twice.

Survey taken- didn't bother me a bit- Honestly, I found it quite introspective- when I sat back and looked at the page of answers I had filled out, I shook my head, and said aloud, "yup, this is why I'm at OLGAnon, and this is why I'm getting professional help." Hope your study goes well, good luck with your degree :)

Well, it depends- I found it introspective, in that I had already answered a great deal of those questions myself- in relation to time spent in-game and whatnot, I was very far on the right side of the survey... Clearly, addictive behavior. It might help others who are unsure if their behavior would be considered "addicted", so long as they are honest with themselves. Disadvantages, well... I can see why Liz posted a note of caution- it does cause you to spend time thinking about being in-game, and for some people, that would be enough for relapse, and that is something we don't want to see.

I took the questionaire, although I found that my "addiction" games are more like forum groups with a gaming aspect, like Gaia Online, and the survey didn't quite fit for that... but I filled it out for Runescape, since I do have a fondness for that game. :) Hope your project goes well.

I found it to be very interesting in the fact that it made me think about some aspects of gaming/my behavior that I hadn't already considered... I think it would be a potentially helpful thing for all of us to try, just because I think many of us would be surprised by some of our answers... it's different when you really see how much you play written out in front of you. =O

Hey Conan- I took your questionnare as well. Interesting. You may want to check out Nick Yee's "Daedalus Project," if you haven't done so already... it seems very similar to what you are doing, and you might get some ideas for analyses or follow-up work. Just a thought.

Hope you enjoy my survey. I hated seeing how disgusting I am.

Thanks Liz for screening it. I took the survey and answered based on my experience as I played Lord of the Rings Online. MMORPGs have not been a serious issue for me. I've always struggled more with First Person Shooters but I will say that I had found LOTR Online earlier, I may have never started playing Battlefield 2... I was actually turned off of MMORPGS by Everquest. I never had much fun with it when I tried the demo and so I went to FPS games.

My son did not have any problem with computer games, until he started playing his first MMO - Everquest. He had played "regular" games (games that end) for 10 years before that.

MMO addiction is very real, in my opinion. While I will not classify that someone is addicted based on how much time they spend playing, I do think that an excessive amount of hours played is one of the most important indicators that a problem may exist. I also think that in order for something to be labeled as an addiction the task you are doing affects no only you but those around you. But lets be clear, MMO doesn't just mean that it is an RPG. Battlefield 2, Halo, Counter Strike, Planetside, Warrock, and various other FPS games are also MMOs. I only wish to plug that in.

Oh, I definitely believe MMO addiction exists. I believe that you can also get addicted to non-MMO games. I agree with shinjaon that you can't call someone an addict just based on the number of hours they play, just like you can't call someone an alcoholic just based on the amount they drink. It has to have had adverse effects on the rest of their life (health, relationships, education, employment, etc.)

Part of the problem in classifying a gaming addiction is that some people play excessively but they are able to cut down playing time when given enough reason to. I consider a major aspect of gaming addiction is that the gamer can't cut down on playing time. Another thing to keep in mind is saying that behavior addictions aren't chemical is not accurate. All addictions are chemical, however some use chemicals as an addicting factor and some don't. Becoming addicted includes the physical reaction to nicotine. Games don't use chemicals to addict people, but once they are addicted dopamine production goes down unless they're playing, essentially giving them a high. So if you're going to call something a non-chemical addiction you have to define what chemicals are involved and how they are used. We call things like gambling and gaming behavioral addictions too, but that's not true either-they become physical in all the same ways as drugs. People have been saying for a long time that its possible to become addicted to just about anything given the right conditions-so why the hesitance to accept gaming as an addiction? There are people that have to go through a specific routine each day or their world falls apart, and it can be true in a very emotionaly dependent way-how is that not an addiction?

Having observed my own behavior and the behavior of others when it comes to MMORPGs, there does seem to be a pattern which starts out with a very excessive amount of hours played for a given amount of time at the beginning. This has to do with the newness of the experience and how interesting and intriguing it is for the individual. At some point, a 'safety valve' for most people seems to kick in when the individual realizes he or she is spending too much time playing. Some people will be able to cut down their playing time and regulate it, where others cannot or will not. People who come to play MMORPGs who do not tend to have addictive personalities may find themselves playing until very late for days or weeks at the beginning, just like someone who does tend to be compulsive/obsessive. The difference is the non-compulsive type person will see his behavior and be able to consciously make a change to limit his play time, where the other person cannot. I believe part of understanding what happens with an "addicted" gamer, is in understanding how and why certain people are able to consciously make a change in their life while others cannot. Some people, despite how much pleasure and enjoyment they get from the game, are able to make choices to limit their play or cut it off altogether. I also believe that this will correlate to other areas in an individual's life which he can either control or not control when it comes to priorities. Therefore, someone who who cannot limit his online gameplaying probably has a history of being unable to limit other activities in his life which give him pleasure or which fulfill certain psychological needs. All of this, I must say, is speculation on my part from my personal experiences and from the observations I've observed in others. Class, discuss... Ron :)

Professionals are typically the last to accept changes...everyone here who has dealt with excessive gaming knows it should be listed in the books. We are only waiting for the "high ups" to come to the same conclusion.

Most of the "high ups" (professionals) have never played a computer gamer or an mmorpg game in their life. They have no concept of what we are talking about. The only reason I know about the problems computer games can become in a person's life, is because I saw what happend to my son after he started playing Everquest.

There is professional, a psychologist, who did play MMORPG'S. She made a video series on youtube about gaming addiction. If I find the link, I will post it. (I think I already posted it somewhere in the forums here.)

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U1T9ZumALk&feature=related There are 4 parts to her series. What is the name of the website that is dedicated to the hatred of wow? I am familiar with www.wowdetox.com .

I checked out that website. No offense, but it seems like it attracts infantile clientele.

I refuse to put links to those sites on my blog. There's ones like gamingsucks.com or something like that. If people have nothing constructive to say, then I'm really not interested in visiting their site.

Bravo Brad