An online activity that is especially prone to addiction is massively multiplayer gaming. Players can spend hundreds of hours in a single game while developing social relations within the game’s world. The all-time largest Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) is World of Warcraft, with over 9 million subscribers. Reports frequently go through the media of people losing jobs or dropping out of school due to excessive playing of the game. The most extreme cases of addiction are the handful of deaths from marathon gaming sessions (particularly in China where the government has actively attempted to curb game addiction.) The dominant game prior to WoW was Everquest, which despite having a much smaller user-base earned the moniker “EverCrack.” Massively multiplayer gaming addiction can clearly lead to problematic internet use where a player’s can face serious consequences in their real life.
There are a myriad of reasons why MMORPGs seem to be frequently result in PIU. The nature of the games is such that extensive time must be spent to advance your characters. An offline role-playing video game might take between 30 and 60 hours to finish, even the largest don’t extend much past 100 hours before you start repeating content that you’ve already completed. MMORPGs, on the other hand, easily require many hundreds of hours to reach the maximum level, and then the game becomes about working with a team and improving your playing style. Essentially, a player never really “completes” a MMORPG. There is also a degree of commitment that players feel once they’ve devoted time to a character. It becomes easy to continue playing since if they already spent x amount of time, they might as well spend a little more.
The social factors of Caplan’s theory of Problematic Internet Use and Psychosocial Well-Being definitely applies to MMORPGs. Within the game, players can interact with each other and usually form connections through Guilds. In Caplan’s theory, individuals with psychosocial problems “prefer online interaction because it is less threatening and they feel more efficacious.” In an MMORPG, a player can be socially awkward even as far as internet users go, but a player very skilled in the game will still easily make connections due to the focus on gameplay. As a result, players will feel significantly more socially successful in the game world, leading them to play more and more. The affordances of Internet Interaction discussed in Caplan’s model apply to MMORPGs. A player has an avatar that they can edit however they want (within the confines of the game) providing them anonymity and control of their self-presentation. They can portray themselves as their ideal, or in whatever fashion they’d like. There tends to be less self-disclosure in the game due to the game itself being the focus of interactions, but relationships in the game can become very intense due to the limited and specific interactions. The Guild becomes a player’s social group, and results the player being drawn ever deeper into their addiction.
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Online video games and video games themselves absolutely have addiction potential. I never really played WOW or Everquest but I had a friend who did and I rarely saw him. So I can easily estimate its addictiveness. Also, the stories of people in China or Japan gaming in café’s for days on end until they die from exhaustion just sounds ridiculous. I cant imagine anything computer related be that addicting but I guess it can be. I wonder why that never happens here? I think the largest aspect of the addictive nature of these games is that they a. take a long time to play and b. involve the interaction with other humans on a rather anonymous level. This definitely plays into Caplan’s theory on internet addiction. People who have low social competency can just play online to enjoy friendships.
I’ve actually heard from a student here who worked in the video game industry that many games, especially MMORPGs, are intentionally designed to be as addicting as possible. Considering the leveling systems, the time commitment needed to be good at the game, the expansive and open-ended worlds, and feelings of “ownership” of their character, it’s not surprising how MMORPGs can result in PIU. The clincher is definitely the lack of a coherent ending to the game, which encourages the player to keep improving, to keep spending time leveling and acquiring the best equipment, either for his or her own personal satisfaction or for the respect of other players. For those with psychosocial problems, as you mention, MMORPGs become an easy and unthreatening means of interacting with others. None of this is possible without spending ample time playing the game or interacting with other players, and there’s always a feeling that the game will move on if left unattended. Maybe it’s because it is such a novel situation and we often hear about it in the news, but I feel like MMORPGs may be the greatest source of PIU.
I don't understand how people can get so addicted to online gaming, but I have many friends who are. In fact, one friend pretty much dropped out of school to play games full time. He earned money by selling off characters he'd built up or selling off weapons and other game related goods. The fact that kids now DIE while playing is just ricidulous. It is a serious addiction that needs to be addressed. The video game makers should not create games that last for 60 hours. This is obviously encouraging dangerous addictions. I can see why the competition and dynamic nature of the game is tempting and appealing. You want to constantly get to the next level and it's interesting because it's always changing. I agree with you explanation of why gaming becomes a PIU. Good post! Interesting topic.
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