This is an interesting topic, and one I've discussed with friends (some who do and some who don't game), as well as teachers.
I love games. I would consider them my number one hobby. But this doesn't mean I play them at every waking moment. In reality, I play games much less than a few of my friends, even though I'd consider myself much more associated with the culture. I've had teachers express legitimate surprise when I told them I probably only play games, on average, two hours a week.
My problem with games comes in a different form. As I said above, on average I probably only play two hours a week. The thing is, I'll become obsessed with a game, absolutely obsessed, for a period of a week or two. I will forego social interaction to play the game more. However, after a few days, it won't take such a prominent place in my mind, and after about a week, I won't even really care about it at all. This happens every 4 to 6 weeks about. Does this count as addiction? Certainly, I will display addictive symptoms during this period: I will sleep very little, I will pass on social occasions, and the game will dominate my thoughts. Then, I'll get tired of it, and I'll move on. I'll burn myself out. Yeah, I'll keep playing, but the obsessive phase is over and I won't skip sleep or meals to play any more. I'll even go days, even weeks without even touching a game, aside from something like Cut the Rope on my phone on the bus or something. Perhaps the biggest evidence of this is that I started my WoW account 18 months ago, certainly long enough to get to level 80, but my main is only level 63. I will play intensely for a week or two, then pass on playing for months, during which I cancel the auto-renewing.
I love games. I would consider them my number one hobby. But this doesn't mean I play them at every waking moment. In reality, I play games much less than a few of my friends, even though I'd consider myself much more associated with the culture. I've had teachers express legitimate surprise when I told them I probably only play games, on average, two hours a week.
My problem with games comes in a different form. As I said above, on average I probably only play two hours a week. The thing is, I'll become obsessed with a game, absolutely obsessed, for a period of a week or two. I will forego social interaction to play the game more. However, after a few days, it won't take such a prominent place in my mind, and after about a week, I won't even really care about it at all. This happens every 4 to 6 weeks about. Does this count as addiction? Certainly, I will display addictive symptoms during this period: I will sleep very little, I will pass on social occasions, and the game will dominate my thoughts. Then, I'll get tired of it, and I'll move on. I'll burn myself out. Yeah, I'll keep playing, but the obsessive phase is over and I won't skip sleep or meals to play any more. I'll even go days, even weeks without even touching a game, aside from something like Cut the Rope on my phone on the bus or something. Perhaps the biggest evidence of this is that I started my WoW account 18 months ago, certainly long enough to get to level 80, but my main is only level 63. I will play intensely for a week or two, then pass on playing for months, during which I cancel the auto-renewing.
