Video game addicction

[SteamWake]

An interesting article from a strange source discussing video games and how they are designed to be 'addictive' from the ground up.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18461...dicted_p1.html

[kiwi_2005]

They call these "Variable Ratio Rewards" in Skinner land and this is the reason many enemies "drop" valuable items totally at random in WoW. This is addictive in exactly the same way a slot machine is addictive. You can't quit now because the very next one could be a winner.

How many times i use to grind to get that special drop. I was lucky with the rare pets or spirit beasts for the hunter class manage to find each one within a couple of hours but there would be ppl online that would sit and wait for days they would do it in pairs one would be online while the other slept etc.,. Pity i couldn't sell spirit beasts i would of made a mint of the desperado's. Few years ago one wow player in the UK sold his character for $9000 pounds cause the character had the rare weapons which is something like a 0.01% drop rating. But yes ppl will hang out in the game for days not hours days hoping for that rare drop they can't sleep as they might miss it otherwise.

Now imagine 'when' not if, but when Silent hunter becomes an mmo and they use such techniques mentioned. They put rare ships in the game that spawn maybe 0.03% if you manage to find one of these ships and sink it you will be reward with some awesome booty and the booty was different each time. There will be a lot of tired subsim members roaming the boards.

I no longer play WoW. 2010 i left this game for good!

[Wolfehunter]

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

How many times i use to grind to get that special drop. I was lucky with the rare pets or spirit beasts for the hunter class manage to find each one within a couple of hours but there would be ppl online that would sit and wait for days they would do it in pairs one would be online while the other slept etc.,. Pity i couldn't sell spirit beasts i would of made a mint of the desperado's. Few years ago one wow player in the UK sold his character for $9000 pounds cause the character had the rare weapons which is something like a 0.01% drop rating. But yes ppl will hang out in the game for days not hours days hoping for that rare drop they can't sleep as they might miss it otherwise.

Now imagine 'when' not if, but when Silent hunter becomes an mmo and they use such techniques mentioned. They put rare ships in the game that spawn maybe 0.03% if you manage to find one of these ships and sink it you will be reward with some awesome booty and the booty was different each time. There will be a lot of tired subsim members roaming the boards.

I no longer play WoW. 2010 i left this game for good!

Worse.. I've witness people get married online in games like everquest... Truly odd... I was part of a guild. Moderators and guild leaders would setup a the scene in there guild hall for the ceremony.. I can understand roll play...but some took it too seriously..

Addiction to a whole new level...

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by Wolfehunter

Worse.. I've witness people get married online in games like everquest... Truly odd... I was part of a guild. Moderators and guild leaders would setup a the scene in there guild hall for the ceremony.. I can understand roll play...but some took it too seriously..

Addiction to a whole new level...

We used to do that in MUD all the time. Bridesmaids were all the more beautiful in a text console.

[Castout]

In anything there are some people who take it to the extremebe it in politics(dictatorship, tyranny or fascism) down to sex, gaming, smoking or drinking.


I for one is more concerned about internet addiction. I believe that too many of us can't live a day without having to browse the internet. I'm probably one too.

As for gaming in my opinion board gaming is the one to be watched out for in terms of its addictive influence.
I've played boardgames 4-5 hours straight and feel I could go on and on if not because I had to go out.
People whose hobby is board gaming usually collect to hundreds of games even though they rarely play all of them but a small group of their collection.

In my personal experience I find board gaming to be FAR more addictive than electronic gaming.

[razark]

Originally Posted by Wolfehunter

Worse.. I've witness people get married online in games like everquest... Truly odd... I was part of a guild. Moderators and guild leaders would setup a the scene in there guild hall for the ceremony.. I can understand roll play...but some took it too seriously..

Addiction to a whole new level...

Yeah, my first wife left me for some guy she was married to on a MUD. Yeesh. Good riddance. (As a side note, she recently decided to leave him, but then realized she couldn't walk away from that kind of paycheck without any skills to hold a job of her own.)

There's a lot to be said for someone who bases their entire existence off of what happens in a game.