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Online Gaming: Addiction or Instinct??
infrared1
Member UncommonPosts: 440
Gaming With a Purpose
“Why do humans play recreational games?”
by Michael J. Ross
Why do humans play recreational games? A cursory response might be, "Because they're fun." But that immediately begs the question, why are they fun? What is it that we get out of playing games? There must be some significant payoff, otherwise children—and their parents, and their parents—wouldn't spend so much time pushing buttons on a video game controller or pushing pieces across a checkers board.
In fact, the payoff must be substantial enough to explain why children can easily become absorbed in their play, for hours on end—oftentimes putting up with hunger, thirst, cold, or pouring rain—to continue exploring the imaginary world of the latest multiple user dungeon (MUD), or simply splashing in a mud puddle. The same must be true for adults, who may declare to colleagues at the water cooler that they are too mature for games, and only minutes later fire up a golf simulator on their office computer.
The passion that some adults have for gaming can be taken to extremes, as illustrated by an old cartoon showing a furious bride, in full wedding regalia, standing outside the door of the local chess club. One of the club members, answering the door with a look of exasperation, tells her, "This better be important. He's in the middle of a big game." You'd suspect that, after that blunder, the groom will have even more free time to contemplate how he managed to win with a checkmate, and yet simultaneously lose his mate.
However, the majority of adult gamers are able to keep their gaming passions in check (no pun intended). This is especially true for people who have spouses or partners ready to remind them of unfinished household chores. It's difficult to justify spending a weekend with your buddies playing paintball when the back fence is in desperate need of painting.
The Psychology of Games
Some people may think that humans enjoy playing games simply because they are fun, or a mindless and distracting way to kill time. But this would not explain how legions of sane people can figuratively drive themselves crazy playing games that are more mentally challenging than any other activity in their lives. On a darker note, it has been argued that modern-day gamers will spend hours every day blasting monsters on their computers because they enjoy the thrill of vicarious violence. But this does not account for the enduring popularity of completely nonviolent games.
Current research into gameplay and its attractions suggests that the motivations and payoffs are far deeper and more complex than what is believed by conventional wisdom. During 2006, a number of studies were conducted to determine exactly what keeps gamers coming back for more. Four studies were published in the December issue of the journal Motivation and Emotion , and the results should come as no surprise to anyone who senses that their gameplay affords them with mental stimulation far more positive than what is portrayed in the mainstream media, or in congressional hearings.
One of the studies was conducted by psychologists at the University of Rochester and virtual worlds researchers at Immersyve Inc. . They teamed up to investigate the psychological draw of video games by studying not the mechanics of the games—which has been the typical approach so far—but instead studying the gamers . They found that players prefer games that provide positive experiences that are similar to real-world challenges.
Dr. Richard Ryan, one of the investigators, stated, "We find that people who are really drawn to video games stay there because it satisfies some very basic psychological needs. Certain games provide opportunities to feel a sense of achievement, freedom and even connection with other players." He also noted that, "The psychological 'pull' of games is largely due to their capacity to engender feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness."
Built for Fun
Game-playing may be such a central part of what it means to be human that some believe it could define us as a species—even more than traditionally accepted features of humanity, such as rationality and opposable thumbs. In 1938, Dutch historian Johan Huizinga published a monograph titled "Homo Ludens" (Man the Player), in which he argues that man is best classified not as the rational creature, but as the playful one.
Huizinga points out that, "A happier age than ours once made bold to call our species by the name of Homo sapiens. In the course of time, we have come to realize that we are not so reasonable after all as the 18th century, with its worship of reason and naïve optimism, thought us." He argues that, for humans, play is "just as important as reason"—in fact, "civilization arises and unfolds in and as play."
For anyone who has watched dogs, chimpanzees, or seals engaged in unrestrained playfulness, Huizinga's thesis may seem an overstatement. Nonetheless, he does have a point that gameplay is an essential component of human nature, and thus what it means to be human.
Gaming the Gamers
At the same time that researchers and social analysts are better understanding the psychological facets of games, computer scientists and application developers are looking to harness the tremendous amounts of time and mental processing that people devote to computer-based gameplay. This previously untapped resource is not trivial: In July of 2006, at Google, Carnegie Mellon professor Luis von Ahn pointed out that, in 2003, humans spent an estimated 9 billion hours total playing solitaire. In contrast, 7 billion human hours were required to build the Empire State Building, and only 20 million human hours for the Panama Canal.
There are probably countless ways that useful work could be accomplished by reformulating it as multiplayer gaming. For instance, searching the Internet for images has always been hampered by the lack of labels assigned to each image, since Internet search engines can match only text, and do not have the visual recognition that humans have. von Ahn developed an innovative solution, in the form of the ESP Game , in which two randomly selected volunteers are asked to provide labels for images that are shown to both simultaneously.
At first glance, this might not sound like much fun, but the results suggest otherwise: Some people play for more than 15 hours, and many regularly play more than 20 hours per week. Consequently, 70,000 players have already generated more than 15 million labels.
So, when your SO (significant other) chides you for spending time on the Internet playing some game that he or she deems purposeless, you can reply that you are not only fulfilling a deep psychological need in all humans, but also contributing to mankind's knowledge. But don't try this one on your wedding day.
Computer Edge Magazine, Sept. 7, 2007
Comments
..addiction imho
good read though
good post.
Its addiction, I can look within myself and not be blinded to my own faults. Video games are the difference between a 4.0 for me and a 3.4,
Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice.
i saw a similar video on youtube like this although i must warn you its really stupid in some sense
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rtv4LWLxM_M
?
Heres whats wrong with the post topic and the thread.
His description of "deep psychological need" is exactly the same as "addiction". You can break down a heroin addict into a person with a psychological need just the same.
Im sorry, but I just don't believe that people can become addicted to video games. The word addiction is being bandied about a lot these days to excuse bad behavior.
___________________
Sadly, I see storm clouds on the horizon. A faint stench of Vanguard is in the air.-Kien
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/12/13/
I think you need to read the article again. Yes it can have the same general description but the "deep psychological needs" are very different between a heroin addict and a gamer. The gamers needs are more human nature and give a safe way to escape reality.
I don't agree with your first statement. I've seen it first hand, ( my son ) and it is just like watching an alcoholic or drug addict. I do agree however with your second statement. Everyone wants to have an out. We have become a society that doesn't want to take responsibility for their own actions. So pass the buck, point the finger and make excuses.
could we delineate between psychological and physiological addictions? physiological would be your standard alcohol/nicotine/etc. dependencies, something where a substance is directly added to the body. psychological would be where an experience induces the body to produce a chemical.
I would think it would be instinct to seek out pleasurable experiences such as playing videogames. Playing videogames becomes an addiction when it's the only way to have pleasure.
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The less you expect, the more you'll be surprised. Hopefully, pleasantly so.
I am the self proclaimed leading expert on game psychology. I have been studying this for years and have made a few posts about it in the devs corner a while ago. I am a game inventor and the approach I like to take is a very psychological one.
I'll give you the quick sum up: it is mostly about challenge. This would extend to sports and individual challenges like climbing Mount Everest. We are built to enjoy challenges because they make us change and grow (just like we are built to want to have sex, because that is how we reproduce). But there are many unpleasant challenges in life that are forced on us. So it is fun and rewarding to enjoy a self administered challenge that we are in control of.
The online component is an additional pull that taps in to our need to communicate with others. This is great for introverts because they get to be alone and with others at the same time.
There are a few other issues, like people with ADD enjoying the focus they can have with games, experiencing advancement, visceral connections (like the sound of gun fire for some, or the exhilaration of speed for others, the ambience of a setting or the interest in a story)
I could elaborate more on different game types, but I think the above sums it up nicely. This is why I find World of Warcraft so boring, because there is very little challenge. In fact I would go so far as to say it's not even a game due to the lack of challenge. It's a virtual world.
I didn't read the whole thing more like the first paragraph.
why do we play games? because they are fun.
why are they fun? same reason books are fun to read, movies are fun to watch, games are fun to play, art is fun to look at ( personally i find drawing more fun than looking at art, but thats me ;p ) they are the closest thing you'll get with current technology to bringing your imagination alive for all to see and enjoy or to loave they are a way of you expressing yourself i guess.
In an essence games are art, you either love them or hate them, but everyone has an opinion on them. So i guess its an instinct since your instinct is to express yourself and what better way to express yourself than through a game thats basically in an essence interactive imagination lol
I feel there is a need to satisfy oneself through games, competition, and laughter. The best times in my life are usually just goofing around doing something silly. It does feel good to do something constructive, but there is nothing like the pure enjoyment of just goofing around and having some plain and simple fun. Anything in life can be addictive. Some people work to much, some people eat to much, etc. I guess the key is self discipline. I do feel it's important to just have some simple fun and laugh once in a while. It makes you feel a lot better.
Personally, I play games to keep myself from working all the time. I gotta keep myself occupied and challenged at all times or I start to freak out. I think a lot more people are this way than folks think, and scientists or whoever are just looking to enforce silly stigmas and fill the prescription bills/quotas with needless mind altering garbage. Does your child play too many video games? Ritalin can fix that!
People just like keeping themselves challenged and look for whatever medium they can to do just that. They form attachments with challenges they feel are fitting to their needs and stick with them until new needs arise. Folks might get a little too attached sometimes, but that happens with anything. Drugs or whatever won't fix it, perspective will. The game will be there tomorrow. That raid loot can be acquired another time.
It's not much science at all. It's just philosophy at the core... but if scientists decide to label it an addiction, then you can expect some drugs for it in your nearest pharmacy soon enough. After all, pills can fix issues quicker than talking can.
-- xpaladin
[MMOz]
AC1/2, AO, DAoC, EQ1/2, SoR, SWG, UO, WAR, WoW