addiction
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Chinese game addicts seek help in progressive Internet addiction centers
As the Chinese race ahead to catch up with the West, they do so with the intent of creating better lives for themselves. The past several years have been characterized by rapid progression, but all those perks of modernization come with a price, which some of China's citizens are beginning to pay. As incomes rise, so does the prevalence of the various maladies of modernization we've come to know well -- not limited to obesity, substance abuse, and addiction. While an addiction to a substance has a physiological aspect to it and is rarely disputed as a true addiction, non-material addictions to work, sex, and even shopping are on the rise in China. Such issues have been difficult to officially label as actual mental illnesses in the country. Others, like Internet addiction, have only recently been classified as such in China.
World of Warcraft listed as one of the 30 most offensive games
The conservative Christian investment firm, the Timothy Plan, has released a list of the 30 most offensive games on the market (Warning: link is to a PDF file). This list details the areas of sex, nudity, gay / lesbian, violence, cartoon violence, language, comic mischief, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, demonic, and game addiction as things that are against any "morally responsible" mutual fund to invest in.In other words they don't want you to invest, like they don't, in companies that make games which deal with any of the above areas.World of Warcraft is on the list. It has an overall score of a 9, which means it is half as offensive as Grand Theft Auto IV. According to the Timothy Plan, WoW is morally deficient in sex, violence, language, alcohol, and game addiction.Some investors will take this advice, and that's their right to do so. After the break we'll examine areas in which WoW is morally deficient, according to the Timothy Plan.
You know you play too much WoW if...
I admit it. I play too much WoW. That's alright, if you're visiting this site, you probably do, too. I have found it interesting how WoWisms have made it into my everyday life. I'm not talking about weird things like naming a kid Onyxia or getting plastic surgery to look like a Blood Elf. Some WoW habits just become normal. So here goes, you might play too much WoW if:...words like gank, pwn, and aggro have made it into your regular vocabulary.... you find yourself hitting your push-to-talk key to the person next to you, on the phone, or any other place that's not Vent.... You've had nightmares that involve Death Knights, Murlocs, or *shudder* Gnome Rogues.
Joystiq Interview: How to quit games for a year
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/How_to_Quit_Video_Games_for_a_Year/'; Though he may not necessarily be a "hero" in the traditional sense of the word, Matthew Shafeek is something of a folk legend in the Joystiq offices. Against all logic, Shafeek decided to mark his 29th year of life with the complete abandonment of his favorite hobby, video games. He's getting close to the 365-day finish line, and in the interim he's managed to read more, learn some recipes, travel, run a half-marathon and catalog all his progress on his blog Paused. We recently caught up with Shafeek via an email exchange to find out why he quit, when he's going back and from where he draws his staggering, iron resolve.
FCC Commissioner blames WoW for college drop-outs
Yes! Finally, we have a new target of blame for college drop-outs. According to FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, online game addiction - namely World of Warcraft - is "one of the top reasons for college drop-outs." And here I was thinking it had something to do with decreased funding for education or lowered standards for college admission. Silly me. This statement by Tate was in addition to a similar statement by University of Minnesota Duluth officials that voiced the same concern in an interview with GamePolitics. Needless to say, they're pretty fired up about this over at our sister site WoW Insider with what is mounting up to 130+ comments on the post so far! Leave us your own comments below and let us know what you think about this.
FCC Comissioner: World of Warcraft causes college dropouts
Oh boy. Deborah Tate is an FCC Commissioner (and will be for another three years at least -- she was appointed for another five year term in 2007), and claimed in a speech about telecom policy and regulation last week that "one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction -- such as World of Warcraft -- which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide."Never mind that World of Warcraft, is a game, not an addiction, and never mind that most of those 11 million people play it and are completely healthy socially and financially, and never mind even that any evidence you'd find that World of Warcraft causes dropouts is anecdotal at best. Can you really blame a game for someone making the choice to leave college? We, as you might have guessed, think not.And there's more: Tate's Wikipedia page says that not only has she spoken out strongly in favor of DRM, and not only has she taken talking points directly from Clear Channel in trying to work on the Sirus/XM merger (a government official speaking the words of a corporation, that's just what we need), but she has also blamed television for childhood obesity. Nice one. One more reason why we are thrilled to see that we may finally get some folks in the FCC who actually know what they're talking about when it comes to online gaming.
Pascal's thoughts on multiplayer games
Pascal Luban at Gamasutra is now up to part three in his series on the multiplayer megatrend in the game industry. Part one explored how game creators use multiplayer modes, online distribution, and downloadable content to increase the life span of the game. Microtransactions are also used to increase the money-making potential and also increase the speed at which "fast games" can be consumed. Finally, he explored how more interactive, believable environments enhance the gaming experience and will continue to do so as rendering abilities increase over time.The second article explored the accessibility of games and the need to play them in smaller bursts rather than long marathon sessions. This stems mainly from the types of players (meaning more casual and older players). The latest discussion is around cooperative games, quality control, mobile gaming. And then, buried on page 4 of the article, is the bit that hits us hard - asking once again if MMOs are a public health risk. There have been claims for years now that gaming addiction is a very real problem - and there have been many answers over that time. For us, we just know that we love the games and are going to continue playing them... and looking forward to the last part of this article series.
Video games not so addictive after all
Over the holidays, when Auntie Mabel starts railing at you for your inability to put down that "Nintendorn GameWii thing," you can happily tell her (or whomever) that it's perfectly okay -- you're not addicted to gaming. After a lot of fuss over long hours of gaming, a rehab center in Amsterdam that began a treatment program for video game addiction a few years ago. Now, however, those same individuals who began the program no longer think that gaming is the issue. Instead, the root of the problem lies elsewhere. Keith Bakker, the clinic's founder, says that "ninety percent" of the kids they're treating are not addicted to gaming, though the symptoms are sometimes similar to people in the throes of substance addiction. But now that they've worked with so many patients, Bakker believes the root of the problem lies with parents, and with schools, for not noticing the feelings of isolation and social frustration that can often lead young gamers to escape for hours each day with their consoles. This is interesting to us, of course, as gamers, because it reinforces the same things many in the community have said when games are linked to various crimes. Now, if only we can take games completely out of the equation -- because they're just a convenient tool for escape, after all, and now even science knows they're not the cause -- maybe we can start to help kids who are struggling to find ways to fit in.[Via Terra Nova]
Compulsive gaming a social problem, not an addiction
Slowly but surely, people are finally starting to gain an actual understanding of gaming, and it's a nice thing to see. The BBC recently reported on gaming addiction with some insight from Keith Bakker, the head of a clinic in Europe targeted at helping gamers. 90% of gamers who spend long hours gaming, he says, aren't addicts at all and addiction counseling isn't the right treatment. Compulsive gaming is a social problem, not a psychological problem.This is a sentiment many gamers (the non-compulsive kind, mind you) have held for a really long time. Games aren't the problem for young gamers. Poor parental care is a problem, environment is a problem. Communication is important. Healthy environments are important. Games for teenagers tend to be an escape, a place to go where you don't necessarily need to deal with real problems at that age, like social issues, personal troubles, stress and anxiety.
Gaming may be social problem, not an addiction
The head of the Smith & Jones Centre, the first and only clinic that treats "gaming addiction" in Europe, has now said that he believes gaming may not be an addiction after all.Keith Bakker, the founder of the clinic, is now saying that compulsive gaming behavior may be a social behavior rather than a psychological addiction. Through treating so many of the gamers that have walked through the clinic's doors, Bakker has realized that while the symptoms appear to be addiction, the sources of the problems are on a more social and emotional level
European clinic admits game addiction isn't the issue
A couple of years after opening, a "game addiction" clinic in Amsterdam is still doing swift business, but its founder says he has realized that game addiction isn't really the problem. In fact, Smith & Jones Centre founder Keith Bakker says that 90 percent of those diagnosed with addiction are actually just compulsive gamers, pegging excessive gaming as a social problem rather than a psychological one. (And hey, he realized this just a little more than a year after the AMA. Great job!)Not that the clinic has stopped taking money to treat over-gaming, oh, no, no, no. They've simply focused treatment on teaching patients more social skills to help re-acclimate them to the world. Right ... so, basically, Bakker has become Mystery.[Thanks, Usman]
15-year-old collapses after playing Wrath for hours on no sleep or food
Reader Danny sent us this article from Holland Sweden, where apparently (a rough translation of the piece, thanks to Google, is after the break), a young boy of 15 was taken to the hospital after collapsing while playing Wrath of the Lich King. He reportedly had played the game for fifteen hours straight, and because he'd only gotten two hours of sleep and had almost nothing to eat the entire time, felt cramps and apparently collapsed from exhaustion.Obviously, it's a stretch to blame this on the game -- doing anything for 15 hours straight with no sleep or food won't be good for your health. There were millions of people who played this very same game this weekend (some probably even for the same amount of time or more) and had no problems at all -- they realize that to stay healthy, you take breaks, get sleep, and eat healthy. But this kid (and his parents) didn't do things correctly, and as a result, he ended up in the hospital.Hopefully the kid's all right, and the parents have learned their lesson: they have decided to limit his time in front of the computer, which is exactly what they should do if he can't limit it himself. The article ends by saying that "teenagers" around the world are playing the new expansion, except that the average age of gamers is now up to just under 30, and the average World of Warcraft player is actually older than that. Fortunately, the vast majority of them know how to enjoy the game and stay safe and healthy at the same time.
MMO addiction drives man to poison family
Addiction as it applies to MMOs and internet activity in general is a contentious issue. Many of the more unusual or extreme stories regarding the actions that result from digital addiction tend to come to us from Asia, especially China. The pace and fervor with which China's internet savvy population has seized the web and all that it offers -- both good and bad -- is staggering. The web has become integral to entertainment in China, particularly for the younger generation, but it's brought with it a host of societal problems and crime. Only days ago, the Chinese government classified Internet addiction as a mental disease, a fact which may well stay the execution of Hu Ange, a 22-year-old man who poisoned his own parents... apparently so they would not interfere with his addiction to the online game Legend. Hu was sentenced to death, but the case is now being appealed on the grounds that he is mentally ill.
Internet addiction defined in China, entire Engadget staff now officially certifiable
While American psychiatrists continue to debate whether an unhealthy affinity for all things online is really an illness or just a passing fancy, their Chinese counterparts have made up their minds. After creating halfway-houses and clinics to wean netizens off of their dependency, doctors there have now drafted an official classification of internet addiction for people who spend six hours or more online daily. The affliction's symptoms include poor sleep, irritability, mental distress, and (surprise, surprise) a "yearning to be online" -- a condition that we typically call "visiting the in-laws." We're not entirely sure if this means that Chinese physicians can now subject anyone who is symptomatic to mandated shock therapy, but we've gone ahead and indefinitely postponed our 2009 Shanghai meet up just to be safe.
The Daily Grind: Are you actually addicted?
Here at Massively, we spend a lot of time with MMOGs [Well, duh! -- ed], and even more time at our desks and computers, scouring news, doing research and all of that. By non-gamer standards, we spend an immoderate amount of our weeks in front of our monitors, either actively gaming -- or writing about it. It isn't fair to say we're actually addicted to it, though. We still actually have normal lives, families, commitments, relationships and all the other hurly-burly of daily life. Spending a lot of time doing something, or even making an unusual activity a high-priority doesn't qualify as addiction, unless it is causing you harm in some way. You might as well say that a person who has lost the use of their legs is addicted to wheelchairs and handicapped parking spaces, or that a ball-player is addicted to the game, while still maintaining a normal life. No harm, no foul; as they say. With that in mind, dear readers, we've got a tough question for you to think about. Are you actually addicted? Oh, we often like to say we are, but is your passion for MMOGs (or for one MMOG in particular) so strong that it actually interferes with the rest of your life, or are your life's various elements all in working order?
Dr. Phil solves our online gaming addiction problems
On this past Monday's episode, the Dr. Phil Show explored online gaming addiction with some special guests who have lived through some nightmare situations. As is expected with a daytime TV show like this, the focus was on the negative effects of online gaming on families, finances and a person's well-being. Maybe they need to do a show on the dangers of watching daytime TV all day?We'd imagine you could guess our views on something like this, and we'd assume that most of you share this same opinion. Sure, genuine addiction that leads to a total neglect of responsibilities is a serious issue, but when non-gamers see something like this, they jump to conclusions about how all online gamers are addicts. As someone once pointed out in the comments section of a previous post on this same issue, anything can become an addiction. You can become addicted to exercise with the exact same results as we see on this show. Regardless, this issue will continue to be showcased by the major media as online gaming's popularity grows. Check out an interesting post-show development from one of that episode's guests, and share with us some of your thoughts on the subject.
Age of Conan conquers The Big Bang Theory
This week's episode of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory prominently featured Age of Conan, and its A-story dealt in a light-hearted way with online gaming addiction. If you're unfamiliar with the show, the premise is as follows: two extremely geeky twenty-something males -- both scientists at Caltech -- move in across the hall from a pretty but not-too-terribly sophisticated blonde woman. Commence unlikely friendship and all the humor that comes with it!In this week's episode, one of the two geeks is playing Age of Conan when the girl comes over. She starts playing the game and becomes addicted, rejecting responsibilities and basic hygiene for the remainder of the episode. The premise sounds typical, but the episode has a certain wink-like-quality to it. It's all in good humor, and there are a lot of inside jokes that only players of the game could get. Funcom's active participation becomes evident when cut-scenes rendered exclusively for the show make an appearance. It's likely that Funcom paid for this product placement, actually. We've embedded a brief clip after the break, but you should check out other (unembeddable) scenes at the show's website (watch any clip from season two, episode three), but be aware that CBS insists on living in some long-dead century by not making the complete episode available online.[Thanks, C.A.] Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
The Daily Grind: How should we fight addiction?
We talk about addiction with some regularity here. The genre we cover is designed to be addictive; MMOs that make money are MMOs that keep people subscribed or buying new items for several consecutive months. Latest in a long history of addiction-issue coverage at Massively: a link to the blog of Exgamer, a recovering MMO addict.Exgamer suggested that some of these games should come with a warning label: "this software can and has been shown to cause addictive behavior." Such a warning might be helpful to consumers who know they're prone to addiction. On the other hand, some folks argue that the software does not on its own cause unhealthy addiction, so the label is unfair.To deny the basic reality of the MMO addiction problem is ridiculous. But given that agreed-upon premise: how do we curb this? Are warning labels a good idea? Would they even be effective? What measures would you suggest to fight this illness?
Recovering MMO addict chronicles his struggle
It's easy to be flippant about MMO addiction. On the surface, it sounds like a histrionic misrepresentation of this hobby of ours. Practically all of us will have erred on the side of the unwise at some time or other, putting in more hours in Azeroth, Hyboria or Paragon City than our responsibilities really allowed for. That might be succumbing to a game's addictiveness, but it's not remotely the same as being addicted.Brad, who calls himself Exgamer on his blog, is a recovering MMO addict, and he's sharing his story with the world through his site. Whatever one might personally think about his stance, his religious outlook or his experiences, the courage and tenacity involved in putting his life out there day by day are unquestionable. There's also a conspicuous lack of blame or finger-pointing, and an explicit refusal to condemn the games themselves or the players.Brad gives a lucid summary of his position, which we've reproduced after the cut.
Confessions of an MMO addict
Gaming addiction is a sensitive subject with many gamers, and we'd imagine that many people who are reading this right now may have or have had concerns about their own level of gaming addition at some point. In a recent blog post over at gamezig.com, Blackwings takes a look at some of the warning signs and experiences he's had himself with MMO addiction.The subject has been discussed to death on so many different levels, but when someone can cite their own experiences, it always brings the truth a bit too close for comfort. Plus, Blackwings says that he wrote this post in anticipation of next week's Warhammer Online release, just to get out one last warning on the evils of MMO addition. This post does a good job of letting you know what to watch out for, without beating you over the head with the guilt stick. It's certainly something to think about.
