Compulsive Gamers "Not addicts" per BBC

[TomBeraha]

I happened across this article as part of my morning routine. It left me with a strange feeling. Does the rest of the world view gaming the same way as the US does? Do gamers in the UK get ostracized for enjoying playing games with their free time? I certainly can accept the difference between a player like myself who plays 1-2 hours a day, more if I've got the time, (as based on work / going out / other obligations) and someone who's skipping school, social engagements etc to play WOW or COD4 for 5-10hrs a day.

Do people who play that much automatically need assistance? It seemed to be an underlying assumption that ran through the article and it disturbed me. Is there a line when gaming is truly excessive? Is it worse or better than other hobbies which can take equally as much if not more time?

[link]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7746471.stm[/link]

 

[Praelanthor]

i think the line is where gaming takes a priority over your life e.g skipping school missing social situations with friends to play games i think WoW and grind tastic MMO's are a large cause of this problems they are time sinks requireing huge amounts of time to get to the point where the game is actually worth it to play

 

[beddo]

A guy at work never used to come round to gaming parties even when we offered to play his fav(Halo) because he gets too upset when he loses. Lost some friends because of it.He just plays WOW all the time. A bit tragic really.

 

[Resistance205]

I think this is where people start blaming MMO's for all this. Many people skip school and work just to play games like WOW. I don't see what the big deal is with games like that. Sure i play games and sometimes i might not be bothered to go out and instead decide to settle down and play a nice game of Half-Life.

It becomes excessive when you go for more then 24 hour without sleep becasue you need to play a game. You dont need to play any game for that long, no one does under any circumstances.

 

[Baonec]

I'd say it's not an addiction personally just a vicious cycle for instance i have a friend who has racked up in excess of 37 days on COD4 which is just insane when he has been at the same level since day 13, while playing he lost friends which meant instead of going out he played more.

 

[Redlac]

I thought I was a gaming addict, got a bit worried about it too. So I tried a week off without them. Didn't miss them after about day two. That made me happy. I wasn't an addict, I can live my life without them. With this knowledge, I spend hours playing knowing I'm playing for fun and entertainment.

It's an interesting point the article makes that these gamers are using their gaming sessions to escape real life, which is kind of the point of the things. They seem to have a kinship with the extreme SciFi fans, in that they are frustrated with the real world and bury themselves in escapism.

This is going to get me thinking all week.

 

[Mariena]

I often feel horribly bored, just sitting behind my computer. I must have around 10+ games installed and sometimes I just look around my games folder... going.. "meh.. nope.. naaah.. bleh. boo. Not this time.. don't feel like it. Not in the mood. Headache." .. Nevermind that last one.

I don't game like I used to, and I'm only 22! Though I guess that's a good thing.

It's probably just that I've seen it all before. Played countless of RTS games, RPG games, shooters, military sims, even combat flight sims.. It's just.. all the same.

BLEH! Addiction failed taking me hostage.

 

[scnj]

I play games loads, but I never used to skip school for them. And I always make sure to have time for friends/girlfriend and other obligations. I'm not addicted to them, I just happen to spend a lot of my free time playing.

It's worth noting that sometimes I find a game that I like so much, I have to finish it just to see how it ends, but I don't think that counts as an addiction.

 

[742]

i have stayed up for 24 hours playing video games before, but only when they were REALLY fun. and i generally didnt realize it was that long until i looked outside, realized how late (early?) it was, then went to sleep.

i used to skip school for video games. except on the days when my computer wasnt working, then i skipped school to read.

i have skipped out on real life friends to play video games... generally when they were being boring.

do these things make me an addict?

 

[Darthracoon]

I may be an addict but I'm not as bad as this kid i saw on the German news where he had skipped school for 6 months because of COD4 and WOW now that is an addict(sorry i couldn't find the video).

 

[MintyFreshBreathGuy]

You can become addicted to anything. Hell people get addicted to running and shopping, why not one of the biggest phenomas (**** spelled it wrong) in cultural history too. Course that's just my view of it.