Study: One in nine MMOG players addicted

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-11-29 12:25am

Poll of 7,000 online gamers shows that 12 percent exhibit at least three signs of uncontrollable habitual behavior.

Massively multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, and Second Life are becoming increasingly popular. All have celebrated milestones in their user numbers recently, with WOW announcing it has 7.5 million subscribers, Guild Wars selling two million copies (including expansions), and Second Life hitting one million users--many of which spend real money in the game.

But games like World of Warcraft are hard to switch off and walk away from, says Professor Mark Griffiths, director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University in the UK. That's because they have no end, and there's always someone online somewhere in the world.

A Nottingham Trent research study of 7,000 online gamers showed that 12 percent exhibit at least three of the diagnostic criteria of addiction as outlined by the World Health Organisation. These include: craving, withdrawal symptoms, loss of control, and neglect of other activities.

The survey was filled in by a self-selected sample comprising mainly of males with an average age of 21, and was concerned principally with the potential for addiction to online gaming. Griffiths said, "I'm sure if we'd done this survey looking at non-online players, looking at gamers that play on stand-alone systems, my guess is that the prevalence of addiction-like symptoms would have been much less prevalent."

According to Griffiths, the problem with online games is there will never be a point where the player has battled the final boss, tied up the story, and can turn the computer off with a feeling of satisfaction. "Of course the game never switches off, you can't even pause the game," he told GameSpot. "So if you are really into the gameplay, I can see why a small proportion of people do get hooked and feel like they don't want to leave."

Griffiths was also quick to point out that there are many positive aspects to playing games, and that those who play frequently can boast a number of advantages over the non-gaming population. Those benefits include increased reaction times and better hand-eye coordination.

The professor also told GameSpot that games had many other useful applications, including acting as 'distracter tasks' for those in chemotherapy, physiotherapy, and other painful treatment courses, and as a tool for people learning to drive and those in the military.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-11-29 12:53am

Get them to go abroad for a few months. Quickly puts WoW into perspective- ie. it doesn't mean shit and all that levelling up, raids, blah blah blah is a total waste of time, money, and effort.

Worked for me. I wasn't "addicted" per se, but I spent too much time on it, to be sure. When I got back, WoW didn't mean shit to me. I played it once to try and get back into it, and just couldn't see what the big deal was anymore. It seemed so ... silly.

Kojiro · Post by **Kojiro** » 2006-11-29 04:12am

I'd love to believe that but I have a friend who went abroad for six months and ended up buying a $3600 laptop to play on. He'd come online and tell us he was in some McDonalds (they have wifi) somewhere at 3 in the morning. It was really sad.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-11-29 04:15am

Vympel wrote:Worked for me. I wasn't "addicted" per se, but I spent too much time on it, to be sure. When I got back, WoW didn't mean shit to me. I played it once to try and get back into it, and just couldn't see what the big deal was anymore. It seemed so ... silly.

Everyone who plays heaps, then stops for x reason, has trouble getting back 'in'. I guess because it's actually so deeply lame that without the immediate 'involvement' there's nothing there.

In other news, 7/9 MMO players are addicted to a SHIT MMO.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-11-29 04:17am

Everyone who plays heaps, then stops for x reason, has trouble getting back 'in'. I guess because it's actually so deeply lame that without the immediate 'involvement' there's nothing there.

Yup, exactly that. It's easy to get caught up in it, but a little distance is all you need.

Kojiro wrote:I'd love to believe that but I have a friend who went abroad for six months and ended up buying a $3600 laptop to play on. He'd come online and tell us he was in some McDonalds (they have wifi) somewhere at 3 in the morning. It was really sad.

Sorry- but what a frakking loser. Six months seeing the world, and instead he was playing fucking WoW on a laptop in McCorporateDemonHouse.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-11-29 04:21am

I actually can't get 'in' to any MMOs. I *like* EVE, but I don't have the time to put in to get into all the corp stuff, the alliances etc. Mining, ganking n00bs and shit doesn't interest me, but unless you're going to spend your life playing a game it's hard to really get into it.

Kojiro · Post by **Kojiro** » 2006-11-29 05:39am

Vympel wrote: Sorry- but what a frakking loser. Six months seeing the world, and instead he was playing fucking WoW on a laptop in McCorporateDemonHouse.

No need to apologise, like I said, it was really sad. I once half joked that WoW was a worse form of gambling than poker and he took it really, really badly. In the end I got it out of him that it was the idea of being addicted to something with a negative connotation like gambling was what he objected to. He's better these days, but he has an addictive personality. He really needs to 'win' and WoW just seems to constantly throw it in your (his) face by not having an end.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-11-29 05:52am

Poker? Bah, end-game WoW is similar to a slot machine. You throw in over 4-8 hours of your life and maybe, just maybe, you'll get something that makes you better at either raiding or PvP. Some of the chances are below 0.1% for getting what you want.

It's my opinion that if you play an MMO, you should play with friends and keep it sensible.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2006-11-29 08:35am

For me, it was literally seeing the end game and going "Fuck it. I really don't need drama from a little better sword.".

I occasionally play with friends now, probably play the expansion with them, but the raid time? Fuck no. My time would be better spent brushing my cat's hair at that point.

Though I will say this. There are many ways with WoW to not be the "I spend 12 hours a day!!!" because to be honest...that is extreme loser territory...hell I felt bleh by doing the "I raid 3 days a week for four hours per raid...oi".

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2006-11-29 08:38am

One in nine is not so bad. I am sure if you took anything at all you'd find one in nine people addicted to it. I'm surprised it's not more--there must be a lot of casual gamers in MMORPG's like women, which is good. As for the increased reaction times and better hand-eye coordination, I thought that was debunked years ago?

Ravencrow · Post by **Ravencrow** » 2006-11-29 09:04am

Actually, it seems like they are only taking into account severe addiction behaviors. But even 10% would make quite a large number. If you are looking at WOW which claims to have millions of players subscribed, it's already 100,000 per 1 million players.

Medic · Post by **Medic** » 2006-11-29 06:42pm

brianeyci wrote:One in nine is not so bad. I am sure if you took anything at all you'd find one in nine people addicted to it. I'm surprised it's not more--there must be a lot of casual gamers in MMORPG's like women, which is good. As for the increased reaction times and better hand-eye coordination, I thought that was debunked years ago?

Naturally, I'm inclined to believe this in the absence of evidence.

Cause EVERY HABIT naturally either effects brain chemistry or presents itself as an 'always there' activity.

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2006-11-29 08:00pm

I was totally addicted to WoW at one point. Played far too much, let other things I had to do slip by. Ended up in the endgame, full of epic items. Complete Judgement armor for my character.
Then one day I had an epiphany. What's the point? What the fuck am I doing wasting my life here? So I quit. Completely. And yes, I suppose I did have withdrawal symtoms too.

The moral of the story is: MMOs wreck lives! Ban them!
Ok not really. Still, MMOs like WoW are nothing but timesinks that demand addiction; if you're not playing for the majority of your time.. you won't progress. At all. Ever.