World of Reality v. World of Warcraft
According to Dr Maressa Orzack, founder and coordinator of Computer Addiction Services, 40% of people who subscribe to World of Warcraft choose the latter.
In a recent interview she estimates that 40% of those that play the game exhibit addictive behaviors. A staggering number when one considers that many activities considered to be addictive show rates of only 5-10% addiction. Granted, 40% is only an estimate. But, if we are very generous and assume that the actual value is just half of that, we're still talking about 20% of 6.5 million subscribers (and growing) that are hooked.
According to Dr Orzack, addiction to video games is nothing new, but has skyrocketed with the advent of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG's) like Worlds of Warcraft and others. She explains how video game addiction is very real, and is analogous in many ways to gambling addiction. Orzack says that both gambling and video game addictions are addictive because the rewards are presented as variable ratio reinforcement. This is characterized by a system that has the player (playing the slots, or a video game) continuing to play despite failures until they've achieved a goal. But, once that goal has been achieved, they'll still keep playing.
Games that were once stored entirely on a cartridge or DVD, by nature, had to have an end. So regardless of how addictive the gameplay may have been, the games that I grew up playing could only keep me roped in for a finite amount of time. However, with online games, the gameplay is potentially ever-changing. Because developers are now able to add new content to their games post-purchase, there need not be any end to the game.
I'm no expert in the field, but I'm of the opinion that people become addicted to behaviors (not substances) to cope. There is some coping skill that they need to get by in the world, but lack; so the solution is to engage in a different reality (the casino, or the internet) in which that missing skill is not required in order to get by. I don't think that record addictions to internet gaming is a sign of corporate brainwashing. However, I do think it is such a perfect illustration of our times, that this much of our younger generation are so thoroughly unprepared to handle the real world, that they opt to live in another one.
"World of Warcraft: like the real world, only easier".
In a recent interview she estimates that 40% of those that play the game exhibit addictive behaviors. A staggering number when one considers that many activities considered to be addictive show rates of only 5-10% addiction. Granted, 40% is only an estimate. But, if we are very generous and assume that the actual value is just half of that, we're still talking about 20% of 6.5 million subscribers (and growing) that are hooked.
According to Dr Orzack, addiction to video games is nothing new, but has skyrocketed with the advent of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG's) like Worlds of Warcraft and others. She explains how video game addiction is very real, and is analogous in many ways to gambling addiction. Orzack says that both gambling and video game addictions are addictive because the rewards are presented as variable ratio reinforcement. This is characterized by a system that has the player (playing the slots, or a video game) continuing to play despite failures until they've achieved a goal. But, once that goal has been achieved, they'll still keep playing.
Games that were once stored entirely on a cartridge or DVD, by nature, had to have an end. So regardless of how addictive the gameplay may have been, the games that I grew up playing could only keep me roped in for a finite amount of time. However, with online games, the gameplay is potentially ever-changing. Because developers are now able to add new content to their games post-purchase, there need not be any end to the game.
I'm no expert in the field, but I'm of the opinion that people become addicted to behaviors (not substances) to cope. There is some coping skill that they need to get by in the world, but lack; so the solution is to engage in a different reality (the casino, or the internet) in which that missing skill is not required in order to get by. I don't think that record addictions to internet gaming is a sign of corporate brainwashing. However, I do think it is such a perfect illustration of our times, that this much of our younger generation are so thoroughly unprepared to handle the real world, that they opt to live in another one.
"World of Warcraft: like the real world, only easier".
