Posts with tag video-game-addiction

Britain's Telegraph newspaper has news about addiction therapists joining the game themselves, specifically to find and seek out players who might meet the definition of addicted to World of Warcraft. They're actually looking for official Blizzard support, too. I'm not sure how much help you can actually provide by chatting with a player in the game ("Hello, it looks like you've been online for the last 16 hours, are you addicted?"), but they want to do it.

Dr. Richard Graham wants to launch a program by the end of the year that includes some in-game outreach, and even he agrees that it'll be tough sell. Then again, maybe the guy just wants to play some WoW for free:

"While a psychiatrist may excel in what they do in the real world, they're probably not going to be very good at playing World of Warcraft. We may have to work at that if we are going to get through to those who play this game for hours at end."

Right. "Work.".

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Over the years, World of Warcraft has gotten some bad press from people who invest too much time into the game. Some people have had trouble with work, school, and relationships as a result of spending too much time in the virtual world and losing touch with the real world. One woman cited WoW as the reason for her divorce request; her husband dedicated all of his off time to playing, while neglecting his other responsibilities. In perhaps the most sobering case of game addiction, a young lady died of exhaustion as a result of a marathon WoW session.

As much as we may complain about Blizzard, there is no doubt that they have made a fantastically engaging role playing game. True, from a psychological standpoint they have mastered reinforcement schedules and give goals that compel you to keep going. It's an excellent game, but along with its MMORPG predecessors, it can become all-consuming and soul-sapping. Just remember that it is your job to make sure your WoW time is safe, sane, and balanced.