06 October 2010

MMO Addiction

MMORPG addiction is a popular topic these days. There are people spending every bit of spare time they have on them, arguably wasting their lives away, and people in Asian countries dying in front of their computers after 40+ hour "binges" has become somewhat commonplace news, so it's become somewhat of a controversial topic.

But what makes MMOs so addictive? Some have argued that it's due to the repetitive and long-winded approach to gameplay - making their players grind away for weeks, perhaps even months to reach the maximum level. This, combined with the satisfaction people get from each "ding", is thought of as being the biggest factor in people's addiction.

I say this is all a bit far-fetched, though. People don't spend months upon months and years upon years playing MMOs, grinding away, just for some insignificant levels. The real reason is far more obvious. You meet new people, you make friends, you join communities, you play with friends - these are the real reasons behind MMO addiction. People don't play MMOs to isolate themselves from others, they play them to interact with other people, if only in a rather unorthodox manner.


With MMOs being so lucrative, they're not going away any time soon, so this issue isn't likely to disappear. People need to learn to pace themselves and learn to take a break once in a while, but the games themselves and their creators aren't to blame for this whole controversy.

26 comments:

  1. Related video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XqHvrp1MRM

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  2. 3 people have died from world of warcraft. i believe if they could get so sucked up into a virtual world, they were already dead

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  3. This is certainly a prevalent, and growing, issue throughout society today. It's a shame to hear tragedies revolving around this addiction, and I hope steps are taken to combat this.

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  4. I dont get how you can get like that?

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  5. Ex-World of Warcraft addict here.

    MMORPG's are more addictive than heroine.

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  6. I'm an old WOW player, MMOs can suck your whole life !

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  7. It's tough, I had to quit WoW entirely

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  8. Gotta tell you, I was addicted to WoW.

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  9. Haha I'm also an old WoW player! I had a level 70 gnome warrior on Earthen Ring. I still get the urge to play it sometimes.

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  10. also a quitter here. as you said, mmos are just too time-consuming :/

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  11. there is no such thing. brb wow.

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  12. There addicting because you feel powerful when your better than everyone else and thats why people grind to get better

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  13. Gave up wow man, just had alot more going on, good time occupation if you have a not so busy life like mine used to be.. but its much better to not bother with it, honestly =D

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  14. current world of warcraft addict. I cant escape it. I dont know if I want to though.

    I think people just want to live a fantasy to get away from crappy lives too much

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  15. ex addict! got out a couple months back!

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  16. Good article! People also go to bars to interact with people in other (drunk) ways. I really don't see it as something to worry about.

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  17. I used to be addicted to WoW. I agree it's more of a social thing than most people think. I had a guild and a group of friends I used to talk to everyday.

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  18. i have had been things happen in my life when i get too involoved with playing video games - i try to avoid the temptation now

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  19. PROGRESSION! and the fact you want to be better than everyone else

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  20. Indeed a lot of people nowadays are getting hooked at these addictive games. There was even a report about that guy who sued a gaming company. We really can't blame certain game creators, hence it is up to ourselves if we allow such game to destroy our lives. Gaming is not that bad as long as you know how to manage your time.

    Happy Gaming!

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  21. I suppose im lucky that ive never owned a computer capable of playing a modern mmo

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  22. This reminds me, I saw that the longest straight video game session was held by a group of kids in europe that played for 54 hours or soemthing. I totally could beat that by playing wow for a super long time.

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