Danny:
Jes:
| Culture 6/18/2006 |
We should really cancel this whole genre. In fact, we should really cancel video games in general.
In fact, that's it. Video games are canceled for the week. Everyone, just go home. There's nothing to see, and there never will be. Video games are a thing of the past.
So, what's the difference between fandom and addiction? Can you possibly play an MMO and not be addicted, or is every mutton-chopped gamer screwed? For want of a term that I don't hate to use, why is "addiction" seemingly rampant?
First of all, a true MMORPG is a massive investment in time, by its very nature. As opposed to playing, say, a dozen console games a month, that same time is invested in one online RPG. (Or, in my case, they're simultaneous.) I can't say that time-clocked-in makes a game addictive on it's own. A massive player of MMORPGs plays, I would say - being one myself - about five hours a day, in a routine day. That's vastly steep for an average player. Then, you have to account for sleep (however diminished) and work (however grogilly). I'm of the opinion that this five hours a day comes directly out of other entertainment media time. Think prime time hours on TV. Dinner through bedtime. Television, console games, hobbies, and books. This is an alternative. There's no good reason to assume this time comes out of work or life.
You'd be hard-pressed to convince me that any entertainment is better than another; and just because gaming is niche, it's hard to say that it is worse. Quantity of time alone does not make one an addict.
If that were true, you'd all be peeing, sleeping, and crapping addicts.
And you'd all be gross.
Another reason an MMO gamer may seem obsessed is the need for scheduling.
MMOs are played with other people, located all around the world. Time zones apply. It may seem obsessive to schedule around an activity which is ostensibly played alone; however, real players realize that the game is not - in fact - played alone.
For most in-game activities, people need each other's help. I absolutely believe that missing dinner, or skipping dates, or school, or classes is unhealthy. Adhering to a Japanese schedule to camp Kirin at 3AM can be over the line. When done too often. It's no more unhealthy than coming home early to catch a TV show, or missing a movie to work through the day, or skipping your dinners to build a model. MMOs, by their very nature, inherit a sort of scheduling.
They are not as flexible as console gaming is, and they cover a worldwide scope. Tivo cannot apply.
Just... schedule reasonably.
Finally, and most importantly, why are MMO players so goddamn business-like with their games? Guilds have point systems, ego-dicks abound, and people who break the point systems are shunned. People are huge wangobblers in online servers.
MMOs are a massive investment in time and collection. MMOs, in essence, are fancified stamp collections with a monthly fee and a level grind. The entire goal of the game is to unceasingly improve and to collect every in-game item you can.
Stamp collectors value their stamps at different levels for trading; anime bootleggers do the same; and fantasy sports team players micromanage and watch every game. Guild point systems are a reasonable method of ensuring that you get only what you pay for. Raids are by neccesity a group activity. You need a way to value time and reward it properly. Point systems are the in-game variety of values and pricing. MMOs are just another collector's hobby, and if you have a better way to trade, I'd love to hear it.
As for being a guild leader, I'd rather eat a bag of dicks. I will lead a raid all day, but you have to be one monster of a jackass to want to maintain a point list.
Every leader's addicted.
I'm just calling for a rational look at new gaming lifestyles. Justifying seeming gaming addicted. Telling the difference between addiction and fandom. Take any of these "symptoms" and turn them up a little bit; you'll obviously get an addict. Too often, these "studies" come out, or this anecdotal evidence and every Hoarde and Hume is a rapist/murderer. That's 75RAP/37MRD.
Stupid-ass legal crusades; jumping to conclusions. Take an actual look. Of course most people aren't addicted. Of course some people are.
Take Admiral McFuckwitton. Whoever that guy is, who died while playing WoW, while in a public internet cafe, is a fucking hero. People must have been watching him. Shifts must have come and gone; people must have eaten, noticed, and left. And no one said a freakin' word. I would bet you 10:1 that people were taking bets on him. Guessing when the guy would leave. But he just shrugged them all off like chumps and continued whatever instance killed him.
Moreover, he didn't even die while playing the game. He died, finally, when someone came to get the guy, and made him get up and leave. If anything, this means to me: girlfriends and reallife should be illegal. Weekends should be cancelled.
By Danny
| Comments (2) | ||
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http://jesbohn.diaryland.com/images/addict-for-web.gif here you go! Sorry!!! xoxoxo
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How about an article aboutUwe Bol? I mean, he seems to have a personal vedetta to end video games as we know it.
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