Addicted: How Do You Quit an MMORPG?

I found another interesting article regarding addiction to the internet, or more specifically, MMORPG's on digg.com. MMO's and MMORPG's tend to take over people's lives, they're known for destroying relationships and livelihoods. Unlike substance abuse, addiction to MMORPG's are hard to counter. This article basically talks about the dangers of MMORPG's and how to quit this dangerous addiction. In the past, in China, there were accounts of Online gamers that died after a 3 Day Online Marathon.

I have a lot of friends that are addicted to internet gaming/MMO's/MMORPG's and with this in mind, I thought about the parallel between substance/drug addiction and internet/gaming addiction. Unlike chemical addictions like alcohol, cigarettes and other substances, the addiction to an MMO is not physical. However, it is both emotional and psychological. The MMO tends to fill in a gap hitherto left vacant by an unfulfilled social life. MMOs can, in many ways, bring some sense of false emotional satisfaction to the user. The addiction to MMOs can be difficult to overcome. Being an avid gamer, I stopped playing MMO's because it was too time consuming and reality hit me hard and I realized I have to focus on "real life." But with that being said, Asian countries suffer greatly from internet/gaming addiction and there are actual MMO treatment clinics that opened up in China and other Asian Countries to counter this addiction. Furthermore, another article talks about how the Chinese Government will soon begin a mandatory program which will see all online video game players registering their real information for anti-addiction monitoring purposes. I hope that the US doesn't get too addicted to MMO's or MMORPG's. But if this trend reaches the America's, I won't be surprised if MMO treatment clinics opened up here as well, I always feel like we're the last country to receive foreign/international products/problems. What do you guys think?

WoW promoting torture and murder?

Thought I would share this interesting review regarding the new "Death Knight" class introduced to World of Warcraft along with the most recent expansion. It's a fairly dated article, but I feel it's still relevant to the sentiments of those concerned with any adverse affects violent games may have on players, as well as the subtle messages that may be promoted through gameplay.

I can't agree or disagree with the reviewer's stance that the forced roleplaying aspect of the Death Knight's initial storyline promotes bloodthirsty and psychopathic virtual behavior because, well, I've never actually played a Death Knight or experienced the gameplay that goes along with it. What I've come to understand from this article, however, is that some players object to Blizzard's decision to force them to torture, maim, and kill. The Death Knight is apparently an extreme form of constricted role play with little beginning options as to where to go and what to do. As opposed to players picking and choosing their quests and objectives within the vast universe of WoW, anyone with a Death Knight is required to advance through a premeditated storyline before stepping out in the freer world of the actual game.

I recently created a Blood Elf character for my class research, and I recall having to complete quests which required that I kill a certain amount of non-hostile animals. The difference being, of course, that I chose to do the quest and I wasn't shuffled right along on a direct storyline path. I also acknowledge that the Blood Elf, as allied with the Horde side of the game, is apparently supposed to be an "evil" class. However, the underlying plot of WoW is obviously war; and in war, there are two sides to every story. I don't necessarily agree that there are good factions and bad factions within WoW, just severe disagreements and misunderstandings.

In any case, players are required to have already played a level 55+ character in order to play a Death Knight, and I'm far from that. As such, I admit to having very little direct experience with the similarities and differences of the Death Knight and Blood Elf classes. However, the article does reveal some fascinating elements of a virtual world's variable gameplay and how even the slightest constrictions create in-game animosity.

Death on Facebook

On Facebook, the 'real-life' death of a user brings mourners and curious people alike to the recently deceased person's profile page. The news of a person's death spreads quickly among social networking sites, especially with the ability to post statuses and scroll through newsfeed. With the emergence of social networking sites, the process of mourning and remembering the deceased has greatly evolved.

Before the existence of the internet, it probably would have taken many days for news like this to spread. But with social networking sites like Facebook, it can take only a few days before a deceased person's profile page is transformed into an obituary page. People leave messages on the profile page wall, set up memorial groups, and post photos among other things. But when Facebook learns of a death, it removes any record of the deceased user on the site after a month. This article shows an example of this; how a person's death is now dealt with differently from people who had weak ties with them. Online social networks bring together diverse mourners connected by one person. However, unfortunately at the same time Facebook has also become a place where reporters go to get detailed information on the recently deceased.