Sunday, September 12, 2010

Addicted to MMORPG

Nowadays there are many people who play online games like Warcraft, Dota, and Aion. Undeniably, most of the people will get addicted to the games once they start playing it. The worst problems of games addiction are students started to neglected their studies, unable to concentrate in work, and stay awake until late night. Some gamers wanted to quit but failed to do so, and even feel irritated when they are unable to play. According to The Psychology of MMORPGs, there are variety of mechanisms in MMORPGs that may encourage obsessive usage. It employ well-known behavioral conditioning principles from psychology that reinforce repetitive actions through an elaborate system of scheduled rewards. In effect, the game rewards players to perform increasingly tedious tasks and seduces the player to play continuously.

Signs of MMORPG addiction:
  • A preoccupation with gaming
  • Lying or hiding game use
  • Disobedience at time limits
  • Loss of interest in other activities
  • Social withdrawal from family and friends

References:
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2 comments:

  1. Tan Pei PeiSeptember 26, 2010 at 5:14 AM

    Hello Iman and Wong,

    I agree with you that online game addiction has become one of the most talked about issues these days, with the surge in online gaming.

    Of all the many different types of online games, massively multi-player online role playing game (MMORPG) is shown to be the most addictive (Aspen Achievement Academy n.d.). This can be seen as many teenagers and even adults are losing control on this type of online game. According to a survey (Yee 2002 cited in Woog 2007), MMORPG player on average spend 23 hours per week playing the game. Of these 70% reportedly played more than 10 hours continuously and 50% claimed being addicted to the game.

    South Korea having one of the highest numbers of MMORPG players in the world is one of the countries with the highest risk of MMORPG addiction (Young 2008). As stated by Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO), MMORPG addiction has been increasing rapidly in South Korea with approximately 8,978 cases being reported in 2005 (Young 2008). This shows how serious MMORPG addiction is. The MMORPG addiction problem in South Korea has gone far more than just students neglecting their studies or people unable to focus in their work as mentioned in your blog post; with some even causing death. For instance, as shown in Kim (Tyrer 2008), one MMORPG addicts in South Korea died after playing 86 hours non-stop without eating or sleeping. One of the more recent cases in 2010 involves a South Korean couple whose 3 month old daughter died of starvation because they were busy playing online games (Karp 2010).

    Due to the increasing seriousness of MMORPG addiction, government all over the world has began to step in, with numerous measures introduced to combat online game addiction. For example in South Korea, the government has called on game companies to banned online gaming after midnight for all school going children. In addition, internet connection speed will also be reduced once a player have logged on to a game for an extensive period of time (BBC News 2010). Other measures include demanding game providers to set up “fatigue system” whereby player will be at a disadvantage after playing for long period of time. This will be implemented by several popular MMORPG such as “Dungeon and Fighter", "Dragon Nest” and etc (Do 2010).

    Given the increasing number of online gamers, MMORPG addiction is likely to rise in the future, despite the numerous measures taken by the government. Nevertheless, in my opinion, companies in the online gaming industry will be seeing some impact on their businesses as these new rules and legislations are being introduced by the government to regulate online gaming, in their effort to reduce MMORPG addiction.

    References:

    Aspen Achievement Academy n.d., Why World of Warcraft is the most addictive videogame, viewed 26 September 2010, http://www.aspenacademy.com/warcraft.html.

    BBC News 2010, South Korean children face gaming curfew, viewed 26 September 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8617372.stm.

    Do, JH 2010, Curfew planned to prevent teens’ online game addiction, The Korea Times, viewed 26 September 2010, http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/04/113_64036.html.

    Karp, G 2010, Online gaming addiction, suite 101.com, viewed 26 September 2010, http://www.suite101.com/content/online-gaming-addiction-a274190.

    Tyrer, RJJ 2008, Addiction and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs): an in-depth study of key aspects, viewed 26 September 2010, http://gamecareerguide.com/thesis/090312_thesis_Tyrer.pdf.
    Woog, KM 2007, Computer addiction in adolescents and young adults, solution for moderating and motivating for success, Scribd.com, viewed 26 September 2010,
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/18729553/Computer-Addiction-to-Adults-and-Young-People.

    Young, K 2008, Addiction to MMORPGs: symptoms and treatment, Magellan Health Services Inc., viewed 26 September 2010,
    http://www.magellanassist.com/Mem/library/default.aspx?TopicId=267&CategoryId=0&ArticleId=1

    ReplyDelete
  2. chiewyiungSeptember 27, 2010 at 1:49 AM

    Hello Miss Tan,

    Thanks for your response and you have a great information. We appreciate it.

    Indeed, South Korea has the highest MMORPG gamers in the Asia. Beside that, South Korea is also well-known in developing MMOPRG games in Asia. Maybe that is why South Korea have lots of gamers and some of them are seriously addicted to it.

    MMORPG caused bad results in study,death,and there are still many other consequences. One of the most surpising fact I found it causes husband and wife to get DIVORCED as well! Some wife or husband give up to their marriage just because of the MMORPG! Ridiculous isn't?

    ReplyDelete

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