Video Game addiction

[civvver]

I don't think you're going to find well off gamers who are retired and just game unless they're celebrities or athletes or won the lottery. The reason is, most rich people who make their money through business or a career have an extreme passion for that business, and thus won't just drop it to play video games. I mean warren buffet still trades stocks, bill gates until recently was still running microsoft and now he runs his foundation. I think only like movie stars and athletes who maybe work 3-4 months a year and then have the rest off would be rich enough with free time to game like that.

But I do know through forums some gamers who are not well off but have enough savings that they don't work or go to school currently and just game. If you're single in a cheap place you could work a few years then not work a few if you chose to.

 

[ls612]

I've never gamed for more than a couple hours on end, I can't imagine playing computer games (even new releases that I love) for 6 hrs without doing something else for a while. Maybe that's just an aspect of my personality, I like to have a variety of activities in my life.

 

[cardgame]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote

Ha, nice save.

 

[FriendlyFire]

I've never gamed for more than a couple hours on end, I can't imagine playing computer games (even new releases that I love) for 6 hrs without doing something else for a while. Maybe that's just an aspect of my personality, I like to have a variety of activities in my life.

Play Civ == one more turn == 2.5 hrs vanishing

Its like some kind of time warp, people get sucked into addictive MMOs probably experience this thing where the time just goes very quickly. The thing with F2P MMOs is that people not only invest the time but huge amounts of money. People have spent thousands of dollars per year that is strange to understand. (thats when you are addicted)

 

[sherbz]

Play Civ == one more turn == 2.5 hrs vanishing

Its like some kind of time warp, people get sucked into addictive MMOs probably experience this thing where the time just goes very quickly. The thing with F2P MMOs is that people not only invest the time but huge amounts of money. People have spent thousands of dollars per year that is strange to understand. (thats when you are addicted)

For this reason, I don’t play MMO’s. In principle I am opposed to developers releasing a game, then offering perks at a price in order for people to have some sort of tactical advantage. Either that or some sort of subscription in order to play (World of warcraft im looking at you).

 

[civvver]

You're against subscription based? I agree many f2p mmo type games are scams to make money, but sub based make sense if you want good technical support. It costs money to keep all those servers running and release constant updates. Some smaller games manage to get away with less updates and only pay once for the title like The Secret World and I think Guild Wars operate that way. I'm not against subscription fees at all though, only against pay to win style.

 

[cardgame]

I honestly don't see the problem with spending comparatively exorbitant amounts of money on F2P games. If it's really enjoyable, say, I've put in 200 hours into it, that easily justifies ~$50 or so for me, considering there are many games I've paid good money for and not liked very much or just haven't played very often. For example, I spent $6 on the Origin Bundle, but I've only played one game, Mirror's Edge, and less than 10 hours at that.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Were not talking about $50 here, more like $5000
Thats not small money to spend, thats some serious cash but then this generation is spending cash on electronic goods and luxury items rather then say the previous generation.

 

[BvBPL]

Its not really any different from other addictions to non-drug using activities, like gambling, as far as I am concerned.

Gambling provides a very good example of how a behavior can become habit forming in a negative fashion.

Gambling is habit forming in part because the player has perceived agency. The player rolls the dice, decides whether to hit or stand, and which rows to go after on the slot machine.

When gambling, the board is constantly changing, requiring constant player attention. What was point? How many aces have shown? Is the wheel spinning faster or slower?

Gambling also involves many losses and gains in rapid succession. In addition, these losses and gains are generally immediate, rather than delayed. The loss / reward behavior results in constant psychology sticks and carrots to motivate the player to stay involved in the game.

All of this makes the player very involved in gambling. The player appears to have agency to affect the outcome, the game requires his attention, and the game rapidly gives and takes away. All of this is a mixture that keeps people involved and coming back for more.

All of the above is true in video gaming. In addition, video game also involves a bright screen, which has a slightly hypnotic effect. Not all of these are generally available to many other behaviors, such as watching TV, reading, or running. That's why we see less discussion about addiction to reading, because reading is not as habit forming as video games.

As far as I am concerned, these habits become an issue when they result in negative effects upon the participants' lives. Which is not unlike something someone once told me that "a drug problem is when drugs become a problem in your life." Video games certainly are a problem in plenty of people's lives.

 

[civvver]

But drugs also carry physical risk, even extremely low risk drugs like pot (you could still have a bad reaction or do something stupid under the influence). Video games don't really carry any physical risk. So I think it's a lot unlike your saying.

And spending $50 on free to play isn't a big deal but the addict can't stop at $50. The vast majority of players don't spend anything or spend very little, but the companies prey off a select few who spend thousands, much more than they can afford. That's where a huge chunk of their profit lies. It is predatory.

 

[BvBPL]

But drugs also carry physical risk, even extremely low risk drugs like pot (you could still have a bad reaction or do something stupid under the influence). Video games don't really carry any physical risk. So I think it's a lot unlike your saying.

I'm not making an argument based upon the physical risk of drugs.

I am saying that habit forming behaviors become a problem when those behaviors cause problems. Thats is similar to the statement about when drugs become a problem, but is not reliant upon a physical nature of drugs.