This post wont exactly relate to gaming addiction, but instead what fuels the addiction and who is used to keep shoveling the coal into the MMORPG fire. MMORPG's are a huge industry today, if you have read my first post you know that Vivendi games makes roughly 150 million dollars a month from the game WoW alone. People that play these games are obsessed, some so driven to become the best that they use their own money to purchase gold online through private companies. These companies make there gold by what is called farming. These companies are often China based where there is a tons of cheap labor and these people are paid to sit at a computer for extremely long shifts and play MMORPG's with there only goal being to make gold. This gold is then stock piled and sold to people online via gold buying sites.
Wikipedia has a large compulation of the realities of gold farming. Some of the facts on there are sad and shocking.
While I have never done it I know people who have purchased gold online through sites like http://www.wowgold3000.com/ for large sums of money. As enthralled in the game as I was I could never justify putting out that kind of money for a leg up on my online competition, it just never seemed right. I had also heard of the conditions that the people worked in who farmed that gold. When I played WoW back in the day you could often find players who were unresponsive, played with no morals and spoke only Chinese. I in fact learned a little Chinese just to be able to somewhat communicate with them. These people were gold farms. They would say in one zone all day rapidly killing monsters in hopes of rare drops which could be sold so they could get their pay checks. All in all it was a rather sad ordeal, but as long as there are people out there willing to buy the gold for these high prices there will be people selling it.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Time spent? What earned?
j from "Everquest Daily Grind: mmorpg infinity (no beyond)" typed a fascinating post about time spent in certain aspects of ones life.
"Let's face it: You are spending 10-20 hours a week on your MMOG of choice? Move along, you likely have little to worry about MMOGs impacting your well-being negatively. 30-50 hours a week? It's time to stop being such a fierce defender of your game existence and insist that it's yo choice to live your life, buddy. After all, you're not ACTUALLY fighting for the last tree on earth. Or trying to find the cure to save the world from Armageddon.
At best, you are only harming yourself. At worst, you are causing some heavy-duty damage on others who rely on you being in this world.
P.S.: And before you start thinking that it is "only" time that is the difference here, think again... time is limited and at the same time pervasive in all aspects of our lives - the length (and sure, the type) of your commitment to a particular aspect of your life and the combination of those commitments shapes who you are as a person."
This post really started me thinking about time allotment in my life. While I did once play computer games at the rate of which it was harming me and the people around me, today I do not. I do though spend copious amounts of time doing other things that aren't productive. It's really just me being lazy in my life. When I got done playing a MMORPG I would have a sense of accomplishment. I would gain some in game money, gain a level or get some new fancy sword and that would keep me going. The MMORPG allows for instant satisfaction every time. Nothing in the game world can ever really be that bad, it has it's minimal highs and minimals lows. This is very different from the real world in which great things can happen instantly and change your life in a flash, or on the other hand terrible things can occur and do just the opposite. The Game world is safe, it's comfortable. There is little to no risk in playing a MMORPG, little to gain little to lose if you look at it from a players perspective. If you turn the table though and look at the broader picture this is a huge amount that is lost. You spend countless hours doing something that doesn't get you anything but minor entertainment and lose all of the experiences you could have had interacting with the real world.
There is always the risk of getting hit by a bus or getting struck by lightening, but are those risks so great that it is justified to sit inside and play a mindless computer game for 30-50 hours a week? I think not. Like j said if one is playing the game for 10-20 hours a week it is just a fun hobby and there is little to worry about. Though if someone is playing for 30-50 there is a problem and in my opinion way too much is lost.
"Let's face it: You are spending 10-20 hours a week on your MMOG of choice? Move along, you likely have little to worry about MMOGs impacting your well-being negatively. 30-50 hours a week? It's time to stop being such a fierce defender of your game existence and insist that it's yo choice to live your life, buddy. After all, you're not ACTUALLY fighting for the last tree on earth. Or trying to find the cure to save the world from Armageddon.
At best, you are only harming yourself. At worst, you are causing some heavy-duty damage on others who rely on you being in this world.
P.S.: And before you start thinking that it is "only" time that is the difference here, think again... time is limited and at the same time pervasive in all aspects of our lives - the length (and sure, the type) of your commitment to a particular aspect of your life and the combination of those commitments shapes who you are as a person."
This post really started me thinking about time allotment in my life. While I did once play computer games at the rate of which it was harming me and the people around me, today I do not. I do though spend copious amounts of time doing other things that aren't productive. It's really just me being lazy in my life. When I got done playing a MMORPG I would have a sense of accomplishment. I would gain some in game money, gain a level or get some new fancy sword and that would keep me going. The MMORPG allows for instant satisfaction every time. Nothing in the game world can ever really be that bad, it has it's minimal highs and minimals lows. This is very different from the real world in which great things can happen instantly and change your life in a flash, or on the other hand terrible things can occur and do just the opposite. The Game world is safe, it's comfortable. There is little to no risk in playing a MMORPG, little to gain little to lose if you look at it from a players perspective. If you turn the table though and look at the broader picture this is a huge amount that is lost. You spend countless hours doing something that doesn't get you anything but minor entertainment and lose all of the experiences you could have had interacting with the real world.
There is always the risk of getting hit by a bus or getting struck by lightening, but are those risks so great that it is justified to sit inside and play a mindless computer game for 30-50 hours a week? I think not. Like j said if one is playing the game for 10-20 hours a week it is just a fun hobby and there is little to worry about. Though if someone is playing for 30-50 there is a problem and in my opinion way too much is lost.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Where Does The Negativity Stem From?
What makes a MMORPG player so different from everyone else? Why has soceity shunned these people and are they partially responsible? Where were the negative ideas formed?
I think all of these questions are personal. By that I mean it is different for every individual. Certainly there are more productive hobbies, but that can be said about most of the passtimes we have in our world today. If you went surfing for 50 hours a week you might become very good at it and eventually be able to call yourself a professional surfer. But what if you play WoW for 50 hours a week. You could then say you are a profession mmorpg player. I dont think it has quite the same charming ring to it. Sure with surfing you are out in the world, being physical, getting exercise even perhaps a nice beach tan. With WoW though you are trapped inside sitting at a computer eating cheetos and packing on the pounds, trying to hide from the sun like a vampire. At first glance this comparison seems very one sided, most people would clearly say that 50 hours of surfing, while it is alot is far more acceptable that 50 hours of playing a computer game. Why the double standard though? Saying you are addicted to surfing or sports of that nature has a postive stigma tied with it. While from my own personal experience being addicted to computer game doesn't score you any points.
I think alot of this has to do with lack of understanding. If you meet a woman or a man depending on your preference or gender you would probably be far more likely to tell them about your surfing obsession than your WoW obsession. While it is probably true that just from basic appearance a avid surfer will have a superior physically than that of a avid WoW player there is more to it than that. Almost everyone in the world knows the general idea of surfing, WoW on the other hand even as popular as it is and with it's constant adds and commercials is something more mysterious, but not in a good way. People that dont play computer games probably haven't heard of the game and if they have they probably relate it to that nerdy pimple covered fellow that breifly referenced it in highschool. So with that said I think it is a utter lack of understanding. I personally would never strike up a conversation with someone I didn't know about playing a computer game such as WoW, most because it has a large chance of falling flat on it's face. By that I mean if the person doesn't know what it is then explaining it will be a boring drawn out plea of acceptance. They also might have an idea, maybe a friend plays the game or maybe they get that image of the pimply guy from highschool. If they do know a bond can be formed, but this is a rare occurance.
From my own personal experience I have seen a negative attitude toward people that play computer games, more specifically MMORPG's and I wonder where that started. I have been playing games like WoW when a relative, friend or anyone comes over, the person usually feigns interest and it ends up forming into a long drawn out on conversation about something I dont want to explain and something they really dont care about in the first place. Though due to the politeness of the guest they countinue to try and understand eventually, usually awkwardly the subject gets changed. So where does the
I think all of these questions are personal. By that I mean it is different for every individual. Certainly there are more productive hobbies, but that can be said about most of the passtimes we have in our world today. If you went surfing for 50 hours a week you might become very good at it and eventually be able to call yourself a professional surfer. But what if you play WoW for 50 hours a week. You could then say you are a profession mmorpg player. I dont think it has quite the same charming ring to it. Sure with surfing you are out in the world, being physical, getting exercise even perhaps a nice beach tan. With WoW though you are trapped inside sitting at a computer eating cheetos and packing on the pounds, trying to hide from the sun like a vampire. At first glance this comparison seems very one sided, most people would clearly say that 50 hours of surfing, while it is alot is far more acceptable that 50 hours of playing a computer game. Why the double standard though? Saying you are addicted to surfing or sports of that nature has a postive stigma tied with it. While from my own personal experience being addicted to computer game doesn't score you any points.
I think alot of this has to do with lack of understanding. If you meet a woman or a man depending on your preference or gender you would probably be far more likely to tell them about your surfing obsession than your WoW obsession. While it is probably true that just from basic appearance a avid surfer will have a superior physically than that of a avid WoW player there is more to it than that. Almost everyone in the world knows the general idea of surfing, WoW on the other hand even as popular as it is and with it's constant adds and commercials is something more mysterious, but not in a good way. People that dont play computer games probably haven't heard of the game and if they have they probably relate it to that nerdy pimple covered fellow that breifly referenced it in highschool. So with that said I think it is a utter lack of understanding. I personally would never strike up a conversation with someone I didn't know about playing a computer game such as WoW, most because it has a large chance of falling flat on it's face. By that I mean if the person doesn't know what it is then explaining it will be a boring drawn out plea of acceptance. They also might have an idea, maybe a friend plays the game or maybe they get that image of the pimply guy from highschool. If they do know a bond can be formed, but this is a rare occurance.
From my own personal experience I have seen a negative attitude toward people that play computer games, more specifically MMORPG's and I wonder where that started. I have been playing games like WoW when a relative, friend or anyone comes over, the person usually feigns interest and it ends up forming into a long drawn out on conversation about something I dont want to explain and something they really dont care about in the first place. Though due to the politeness of the guest they countinue to try and understand eventually, usually awkwardly the subject gets changed. So where does the
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
It All Comes Down To Priorities
As I have said in my previous two posts that I have encountered some shocking and horrible things in my time playing games. These things mostly root from misplaced priorities. The things that people would sacrafice to continue playing the game were truly astounding to me. I dont want to give any wrong impressions here though. Atleast 95% of the people who play these games dont act nearly as crazy as some of the people I will be describing in the next paragraphs. They make up a small portion, a portion that I feel need help.
The two people I am going to describe I have never met in person. All of the information I have learned about them and anything they have told me was ethier through in game chat or through a program called Ventrillo (vent) which allows people to join a server and communicate with eachother via voice chat. I will also be using fake names as not anger anyone, this is really just a precaution as I have no way to verify that the names they gave me were even their real ones in the first place.
I will start with a couple. I will call the jane and jim. I was in a WoW guild with jane and jim for about 5 months. I talked to them extensively in the game and on voice chat and some of the things I learned about them and their family saddend and depressed me. Jane and Jim have 3 small children together 4, 5, and 7 the oldest. Jane stayed home with the kids every day while jim went off to work as a electrical engineer. While jane was supposidly watching her two youngest children she was also on WoW nearly the entire day, she would get off around lunch time if she wasn't too busy to do so around 12:30, but there were days when she would play solid from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm so I have no idea what her children were doing or eating. She would always get off at 3:00 pm to pick up her oldest from school. When Jim came home around 6:00 pm she would get off and make dinner and eat I suppose. Right after that though no later than 7:00 both her and jim would be on to atleast 12:00 pm if not later. I would hear all kinds of things through their microphones. One of the most memorable times was when we were in a raid and everytime ethier jane or jim talked (In ventrillo you hold a button down which opens your mic so people hear what you're saying) we heared screaming and crying in the background for 2 hours. It got to the point of where our guild leader asked jane or jim to go and tend to their children while we waited. Shortly after the crying stopped. I had originally thought it might have just been their children being difficult, but the more I paid attention I realized these people spent little to no time with their children and it took someone in the game to order them to do it. This happend several more times throughout the following weeks and it eventually came down to our guild leader removing them from the guild and telling them that they needed to take care of their children before they worried about WoW. Sadly this failed, they joined a different guild and from what I know still play the same amount as they did then today.
I really believe that people like this need help balancing the priorities in life. If their children rank below a computer game then I dont think they should have had any. This sadly though is only one example of people neglecting something in their life that should clearly be higher ranked than a computer game. Hopefully there will eventually be a good way for people like this to get help.
The two people I am going to describe I have never met in person. All of the information I have learned about them and anything they have told me was ethier through in game chat or through a program called Ventrillo (vent) which allows people to join a server and communicate with eachother via voice chat. I will also be using fake names as not anger anyone, this is really just a precaution as I have no way to verify that the names they gave me were even their real ones in the first place.
I will start with a couple. I will call the jane and jim. I was in a WoW guild with jane and jim for about 5 months. I talked to them extensively in the game and on voice chat and some of the things I learned about them and their family saddend and depressed me. Jane and Jim have 3 small children together 4, 5, and 7 the oldest. Jane stayed home with the kids every day while jim went off to work as a electrical engineer. While jane was supposidly watching her two youngest children she was also on WoW nearly the entire day, she would get off around lunch time if she wasn't too busy to do so around 12:30, but there were days when she would play solid from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm so I have no idea what her children were doing or eating. She would always get off at 3:00 pm to pick up her oldest from school. When Jim came home around 6:00 pm she would get off and make dinner and eat I suppose. Right after that though no later than 7:00 both her and jim would be on to atleast 12:00 pm if not later. I would hear all kinds of things through their microphones. One of the most memorable times was when we were in a raid and everytime ethier jane or jim talked (In ventrillo you hold a button down which opens your mic so people hear what you're saying) we heared screaming and crying in the background for 2 hours. It got to the point of where our guild leader asked jane or jim to go and tend to their children while we waited. Shortly after the crying stopped. I had originally thought it might have just been their children being difficult, but the more I paid attention I realized these people spent little to no time with their children and it took someone in the game to order them to do it. This happend several more times throughout the following weeks and it eventually came down to our guild leader removing them from the guild and telling them that they needed to take care of their children before they worried about WoW. Sadly this failed, they joined a different guild and from what I know still play the same amount as they did then today.
I really believe that people like this need help balancing the priorities in life. If their children rank below a computer game then I dont think they should have had any. This sadly though is only one example of people neglecting something in their life that should clearly be higher ranked than a computer game. Hopefully there will eventually be a good way for people like this to get help.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The general idea
I would consider myself to have a addictive personality. I get hooked on things very easily. I become obsessed, thoughts of whatever the newest thing is cloud my mind. To lose interest in one thing I become obsessed with another. It has never been anything illegal for me, such as drugs or alcohol, but games and more recently poker have been the subjects of my infatuation. I play tons of computer games, video games, online poker. It keeps me entertained. They're relatively cheap and online poker even provides me with some extra cash. I at this point have no probelm stopping at anytime. I have total control over myself, mostly because in the past year I have built willpower. Willpower is the main thing that decides wether you are in control or the addiction is in control.
A computer game addition is not only devistating to your life, but extremely embarrasing. If you are addicted to meth or alcohol you can tell your family and friends and they will get you help. If you are addicted to computer games they will laugh and just brush it off. People dont take gaming addiction seriously, even though people have died from sitting at the computer for too long. If your friends call you up and ask you to go somewhere and you turn them down because you have a raid in a few hours you sound ridiculous. But if you tell them your parents need help with something its perfectly accepatable, so you lie. All sorts of games have held me back from positive experiences I could have and should have had. WoW (World of Warcraft) which I mostly discussed in my first post was the biggest problem for me. Of course I never reached the extremes of peeing in bottles so that I dont miss a second of play time or drinking energy drinks so that I can play for 72 hours nonstop. I have though spent upwards of 12 hours playing with minor breaks in between, steup manitory play time schedules which I at the time believed to overrided all other responsibilities in my life.
The main goal in all of these MMORPG or any multiplayer game is to become that best that you can be. Wether that means collecting all of the best possible armor and weapons in mmorpg's or being unkillable in a first person shooter (FPS). One of the main hazards with the mmorpg is raiding. Raiding is a forming a large group of people anywhere from 10 to 40 people and trying to complete a dungeon together. The encounters in these dungeons are complex, they require coordination and practice before they can be mastered. A large dungeon will consist of 5-10 bosses which drop very disirable items when they die. To master one of these dungeons guilds (groups of people who form together that share a common goal) take on average a few weeks to master the fights and be able to complete all of the bosses. To do this schedules are setup. Often times a schedule will look like this -
Tuesday - 7:00pm - 12:00pm server time
Thursday - 7:00pm - 12:00pm server time
Saturday- 4:00pm - 12:00pm server time
Sunday- 1:00pm - 7:00pm server time
Good members of the guild make the times 95% of time, Casual members 80% of the time and below that you are kicked from the guild and deemed worthless. On top of this members are expected to "farm" materials to make potions for these runs. Farming consists if killing easy soloable monsters many times until the desired drop comes in a large enough quanity to create the potions required. Once a guild has learned all of the fights and has finished the dungeon (killing the final boss) the dungeon is then completed every week so that all of the members of the guild can gain all of the items that they desire from the dungeon. Players are also encouraged to PvP (Player versus player) Which allows the benfit of items and prestige. Prestige is the main goal in these games. People want to be the best they can be, and to do that more and more time playing is required. To be the best you can be you need to play more and more often, creating an addiction that wont let go. In one of these major raiding guild it is more or less required to play 30+ hours a week and if you are in any sort of leader position in your guild there are loads more responsiblities. WoW creates a unending cycle by creating better and better items that players must play more and more to get, which keeps players coming.
A computer game addition is not only devistating to your life, but extremely embarrasing. If you are addicted to meth or alcohol you can tell your family and friends and they will get you help. If you are addicted to computer games they will laugh and just brush it off. People dont take gaming addiction seriously, even though people have died from sitting at the computer for too long. If your friends call you up and ask you to go somewhere and you turn them down because you have a raid in a few hours you sound ridiculous. But if you tell them your parents need help with something its perfectly accepatable, so you lie. All sorts of games have held me back from positive experiences I could have and should have had. WoW (World of Warcraft) which I mostly discussed in my first post was the biggest problem for me. Of course I never reached the extremes of peeing in bottles so that I dont miss a second of play time or drinking energy drinks so that I can play for 72 hours nonstop. I have though spent upwards of 12 hours playing with minor breaks in between, steup manitory play time schedules which I at the time believed to overrided all other responsibilities in my life.
The main goal in all of these MMORPG or any multiplayer game is to become that best that you can be. Wether that means collecting all of the best possible armor and weapons in mmorpg's or being unkillable in a first person shooter (FPS). One of the main hazards with the mmorpg is raiding. Raiding is a forming a large group of people anywhere from 10 to 40 people and trying to complete a dungeon together. The encounters in these dungeons are complex, they require coordination and practice before they can be mastered. A large dungeon will consist of 5-10 bosses which drop very disirable items when they die. To master one of these dungeons guilds (groups of people who form together that share a common goal) take on average a few weeks to master the fights and be able to complete all of the bosses. To do this schedules are setup. Often times a schedule will look like this -
Tuesday - 7:00pm - 12:00pm server time
Thursday - 7:00pm - 12:00pm server time
Saturday- 4:00pm - 12:00pm server time
Sunday- 1:00pm - 7:00pm server time
Good members of the guild make the times 95% of time, Casual members 80% of the time and below that you are kicked from the guild and deemed worthless. On top of this members are expected to "farm" materials to make potions for these runs. Farming consists if killing easy soloable monsters many times until the desired drop comes in a large enough quanity to create the potions required. Once a guild has learned all of the fights and has finished the dungeon (killing the final boss) the dungeon is then completed every week so that all of the members of the guild can gain all of the items that they desire from the dungeon. Players are also encouraged to PvP (Player versus player) Which allows the benfit of items and prestige. Prestige is the main goal in these games. People want to be the best they can be, and to do that more and more time playing is required. To be the best you can be you need to play more and more often, creating an addiction that wont let go. In one of these major raiding guild it is more or less required to play 30+ hours a week and if you are in any sort of leader position in your guild there are loads more responsiblities. WoW creates a unending cycle by creating better and better items that players must play more and more to get, which keeps players coming.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Gaming Addiction Is For Real.
In this blog I will attempt to explore the world of electronic gaming and my experiences with it. I have been playing video games and computer games alike for well over thirteen years of my life at this point. Everything from Atari to Xbox 360. All types of games, from Pong that consists of a black screen with a score board, pixle ball and two vertical moving paddles to Crysis which has so much detail and action with in it, the top computer technology of today can barely run it at full force. The name of the blog is "Gaming Addictions" and this will be the main thing I will be discussing here. I have seen many friends ruin their lives by devoting too much of their time to games and I as well have struggled with the addiction. Computer games and video games can be amazingly addictive. Of all the types of games that are out today, by the most addictive breed has to be the MMORPG "Massively Mutiplayer Online Role Playing Game." MMO's are essentially whole entire virtual worlds, where players can become a hero, villan or whatever they want to be. They are the ultimate for of expression, players can do pretty much whatever they want to do with very little real world repercussions. I have personally tried many of these and know all to well of their siren calls. Some of the biggest are Everquest, Everquest 2, Runescape, and the king World Of Warcraft. I will primarily be focusing on WoW (World of Warcraft) throughout this blog. WoW is one of the most popular games of all time. It is in fact so popular that there are currently over ten million paying subscribers. This means that ontop of purchasing the game which now costs $20 (originally $50) the subcriber pays roughly $15 a month to play, slightly cheaper if they buy 3-months or 6-months at time. Blizzard Entertainment, owned by Vivendi games also relased a expansion pack to WoW called The Burning Crusade (BC), which costs $30 and is fairly essential to playing the game at this stage in it's developement. Most people that dont play games look at those numbers and are shocked. Why would someone pay $50-$80 to buy a game and on top of that pay $15 every month to play it? Why would someone play the same game that only adds moderate changes every few months via patches (free updates that add things and eliminate bugs) for three years? Why do so many people play WoW? What makes WoW so great? Having played this game for roughly two years, with many breaks in between my own experience tells me that people pay so much and keep coming back because the game is so addictive. I myself was a WoW addict. I would sometimes play the game 40 hours a week, as though it were a full time job. Sadly though this pales in comparison to some of the people I came across. The real life events that these "addicts" neglected were astonishing to me. One of the more extreme examples that comes to mind is when a man in my guild(In game large scale groups of people that you work with to accomplish goals with in the game world) missed his daughters wedding to play the game. I have known people who consistenly play WoW for 80 hours a week, making it their number one priority and essentially their life. The main goal of this blog is to open some eyes and hopefully enlighten some people.
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