MMORPG Subculture

This "subculture" is completely fascinating to me. I have tried to do a few psychological/social research projects on this but could never garner the support from the community (probably because of the hypothesis). I may have a few medical school faculty behind me to try again, but I wanted to get the opinion of current, retired, recovering, and never tried MMORPG players.

I know there are websites covering MMORPG "addiction", but two important things have yet to be elucidated regarding this phenomenon. First, nobody knows how to define MMORPG addiction (which is one of my research goals). It is apparent that there is some type of addiction occurring, but nobody has yet to find out what factors contribute to it, what maintains it, and what, if anything, predisposes certain people to it. This is the, "why" question. Once this is discovered, treatment is easy (other than not playing them). Some people take this MMORPG stuff way too seriously.

The second thing I want to look at is the socioeconomics of MMORPG in relation to play time. I did a survey of MMORPG a few months ago, and while my sample size was relatively small and probably not significant (N=54) it did demonstrate a CLEAR correlation between "real world" success (as defined by education, vocation, and income) and time devoted to MMORPG gameplay (it was a negative correlation, obviously). The big question that came out of that, other than if a larger N would be significant, is which is the cause and effect? Do people retreat to habitual MMORPG playing because of failures in real life, or does this unmoderated playing cause failures? This stuff was my dissertation work in my PhD program before I left to do the whole medicine thing (Why work just as hard for half the pay in PhD land?)

Anyways, I would like anyone to contribute their opinions, ideas, experiences, and stories of MMORPG playing. I'll update with mine later; this stuff is really interesting to me. (I was mad addicted to EverQuest for awhile and have several friends/relatives who are those, "30 somethings living at home with mom to play games all day" types because of it)

 

I think that the addictiveness is caused by the wanting to either.. become "famous" or simply the desire to progress. The way that MMORPGS are designed, there's always something bigger and better to do or obtain. I led a raiding guild in WoW, which was actually quite successful (was in the top 100 progressed at a certain time), and it was easy to see when people did or did not want to play the game. I no longer play today, as I realized at a certain point how much of a time sink MMORPGS are, and how useless it actually is to play.

When at either a roadblock or a place with nothing more to obtain, people would lose their will to play. But, when, say a new dungeon comes out or when things are easy going, people want to play more and more in order to obtain that certain item or beat that certain boss.

I think, like Steven Levitt said in the book, Freakonomics, that it's all about incentive. When there's an incentive for someone to play (i.e. a boss to kill, an item to receive, a level to gain), the player will want to play even more. However, when there is little incentive, the player will want to play less. The problem with MMORPG addiction, though, is that there ALMOST ALWAYS is incentive. It's never ending, and the developers constantly add more and more and more things to do, and that keeps the players hooked.

As for your latter question, I believe that it's the playing that causes the negative correlation with real world success. The time spent playing the MMORPG is simply taking over time that could be spent studying or working.

Hope this helps.

 

Well i am quite a big fan of MMOs. I played SWG on and off for two years (getting a jedi and everything), EQII for a bit, and then wow for quite a while. Ive seen a large variety of people. There are some people who seriously have no life. They get on every night to play for housr and hours. Then there are some that ill see on once a week for an hour. Im somewhere in the middle. Me and my friend often play in spurts. Im a smart kid myself. Im going to a very prestigious college next year and I honestly dont have any doubts regarding my potential for success. I think for me at laest, MMOs hurt me socially more than in the work field (or school in my case). When i get really into MMOs i wont go out for a while, but thats seemed to change as i got older. It really depends on the person. I think those people that are "addicts" arent affected by the games as much as it seems. Yes, they play world of warcraft every night for hours, but if they werent would they be doing something better? Im not so sure. Some might, but a lot of people its just their personality to play

 

Hmm I'm 18, been playing mmorpg's since the Diablo 2 days. I was higly addiced to WoW and korean MMO's. Maybe because I started young I do see the need to stop playing games inorder to learn, while older people see that they can continue playing while having a normal life because they already have this. On the other side though, like you said, there are those who are young and continue to play games nonetheless and do not progress with their lives.

In my response to the question of "Do people retreat to habitual MMORPG playing because of failures in real life, or does this unmoderated playing cause failures?" I believe this to be true yet we find ourselves playing games when our lives are perfectly fine sometimes. I see games as a means to pass time and escape. I play games to pass the time if I have nothing better to do and sometimes need relief from real life problems so I end up playing games.

My question HouseDo, have you ever thought about the self fullfilling factor of MMORPG's? Just look at the game Pokemon. Why spend hours of your time when you're a child just to lvl up pokemon? Children play this game as well as some adults to gloat to others to say that they have "this and that." "Oh **** I have a lvl 99 charizard!" "damn's, you's the bombs." Then they feel better about themselves. I know in WoW when I received an EPIC item I would gloat to my friends and this would make myself feel superior. In order to get this feeling again I play the game more, and try to get more items. The process never stops. Thats why MMORPG's have a never ending amount of new items.

Currently I play MMO games from here to there but I have stopped. College has just started for me and I know I don't have time for games anymore. Just giving my 2 cents about your study ^.^.

 

I think there are a lot reasons behind the phenomenon of MMO's. Initially I believe people play them because they are fun and it gives them a break from the "real world". However, once they get into the fairy tale land some begin to see a blurring of reality of real vs vr. I recently finished Oblivion which is not an MMO but did take me 120 hours and I completed it in 1.5 months, whilst holding down a 50 hour a week job, going to church and meeting the physically available needs of my girlfriend. I believe that it is possible to play them and not become "addicted" to them. Addiction is where the problem lies, whether its an MMO, porn, cigs, alcohol etc. The personality is addictive and it is manifested in other areas. The thing that I see is that if you were to poll the average person they would say the porn, cigs, alcohol and drugs are bad for you. However, most of them would in my opinion not look at video games in the same light and these are just generalizations based on my point of view. So my view on this is because the other things are listed as "bad" in society then the addictive personality has to be worked out in other areas. Since video games are not listed on the "bad" list in general, then people feel safe in feeding their addiction in this light. Now there are 2 paths for addictive personalities, they can either get help for the addictive personality or they can do things that feed that addiction, whatever that may be. So I don't think games are the problem, I think addiction is the problem and it is manifested in fill in the blank.

 

I just started this free mmorpg a day ago called Last Chaos. Im kind of enjoying it so far but ill probably uninstall it I can never quite get in the mindset to play these kind of games. I played WoW for 5 minutes and hated it, the only one ive really enjoyed was Diablo 2.

So I guess I couldn't be much help to finding out why people are addicted to it .

 

I'm 19 years old and an avid MMORPG player (currently on break until I get a new laptop). I have been playing them since I was 14 starting with DAoC.

I wouldn't call the MMORPG addiction a 'serious problem' that isn't 'treatable.' In my case, I choose to ditch friends and a couple of parties to raid with my guildmates, etc. What most people fail to comprehend is that MMORPGs aren't only games.. they're social-medium through which people interact with others who are, somewhat, similar to them and achieve relatively similar goals. The same functions of an ordinary society come into play when in an MMORPG and it is that sort of interaction that keeps players hooked. I doubt that a player without any 'e-friends' or 'guildmates' would play the game as habitually as an 'addicted' person would.

I'd compare the MMORPG community environment with that of the workplace, but the difference is, here, people like their job and work with others who do as well. These people interact, form bonds, and complete their tasks only to bond more in the future.

The core of the problem lies where the players can't acknowledge that it's just a game. But even that argument isn't viable because when people get attached to a community you (the concerned) don't understand, you lack the right to judge said community for what it's really worth. At the very least, I think the experience goes beyond collecting items and finishing quests.

Of course, this all falls under what type of player one is. Everyone has different goals in mind and just play the game in order to get 'the best items and standing.' Not necessarily much of a community attachment there.

I could, however, say that nobody (who's 'addicted') goes without community interaction and attachment. Usually people begin to worry about their 'addicted' friends when these stop socializing in 'the real world' due to the game. Maybe the 'addicted' player had a raid to attend to. I personally can't see why someone wouldn't be able to put the raid over a party. Addiction really starts when one's goals are fixed on things beyond community interaction and when one starts shrugging off their basic needs.

The best thing to refer to would be Maslow's 'hierarchy of needs' and see when/why/under what circumstances they put (real life)human interaction/basic needs/etc below (in-game)social interaction/esteem needs. Comparing and contrasting those events from the mainstream thought of your common teenager/adult who don't play games should give you something.

/shrug

 

Read Putnam's "Bowling Alone." This issue is more sociological rather than psychological.

You could hypothesize with a psychological theory, but like all psychological studies (at least in my belief), you're always going to run into making illogical fallacies. There are far too many variables at play to hypothesize on all MMORPG players.

If you wanted to find out why ONE person plays too many MMORPG's, then you can use a psychological theory.

You'd be much more successful with a sociological theory, and frankly, the more likely your thesis will be plausible.

If you're a psych major, you're screwed. This is a horrible topic and no one really cares. Why? Because while maybe people are ruining their lives, the fact is there is simply the lack of a deviant element here, and no one cares unless people are getting physically hurt or our tax dollars are going to waste on prisons and recidivists.