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MMOs as the Opium of the Masses?
Keridwan
Member Posts: 118
How do we locate MMOs in a wider social, cultural and political milieu? What designated or latent mechanisms and aspirations feed into the ideology of the MMO? Some claim that MMO's are for people who are politically and intellectually subdued. People who lack balance and outward looking sensibilities. How would we prove critics these wrong? Others claim that MMOs neutralize any political stance because they are part of a pervasive consumer culture, where only immediate, short term gratification counts. Others even claim that the culture of MMOs contribute to a selfish individualism, where aggressive competitivness reigns supreme, and even when people do share its ultimately about personal reward and gain. For the counter arguments the defenders of MMOs will claim they are a harmless pastime, relaxing diversions and "we are only having fun, so stfu" or else "It's just about enjoyment, so WTF are you talking about?" Don't talk to us about gender, race or religion. For these MMO's are somehow isolated from any material reality. The real world is "bracketed off" at the point of immersion - at that point of "login and password". As nothing more than forms of escapism, MMOs temporarily immunize from those harsh realities. So, politics are best left alone while we get on with our levelling. Leave the "pseudo-intellectual bullshit" to one side they will tell you.
The story goes that once upon a time television was the root of all evil in society, subsequently video games were the root of all societies evils . And if you go back and read the certain critical histories, Sci Fi was the root of all societies evils (That horrible Jules Verne or Edgar Rice Burroughs), and Comics were destroying young peoples minds. Are MMOs the present day "opium of the masses"? Those horrid Futurists who loose their sense of reality. We may ask what societal value MMOs make? Do they create a perverse form of psychological docility or meaningful engagement? Do they rest on a sort of psychological reductionism (e.g. only my desires and 'rights' count) or do they contribute to a form of sociability?
Did Karl Marx famously say "World of Warcraft is the opium of the masses". Ooops, no, we are mixing that up with senior Chinese official Kou Xiaowei, who just said "Although China's online gaming industry had been hot in recent years, online games are regarded by many as a sort of spiritual opium and the whole industry is marginalized by mainstream society." Online game sales in China in 2007 were $1.46 billion, a more than 60% increase over the year before. There are 40 million online game players in China. So now the Chinese state wants to crack down on "undesirable elements of online games", and I don't think they are talking about gold spammers.For the person with an addictive personality, or the person who's real life is one-dimensional MMOs can be very very addictive. We all know people who have quit their jobs, left their partners and even forgotten to feed their dog. Some people vanish into MMOs for the feeling of advancement or progression that they don't have in real life. Which in extreme cases means they are forgoing real life committments to advance their in game character.
For some MMOs become the single most important indicator of well-being. They become the defining feature of a solipsistic self, with progression in MMOs being the equivalent of a search for attainment that satisfies the production of desire. Is it true that the typical MMO player tries incessantly to track down through various sources missing virtual object(s) that will fill her lack and turn her into a cyborg human being. The impossibility of fulfilling this desire leads to ever increasing demands for new sources of satisfaction and a spiralling escalation of false needs. Perhaps this is an indicator of the incessant dissatisfaction that is constantly shown with new MMO releases. It is not really a case that these new releases are dire. Rather our expectations always rise as fast as our situations improve, with satisfaction afterwards quickly levelling out. After a period of adjustment, individuals return to their baseline levels of MMO satisfaction leaving players on a ‘‘hedonic treadmill’’ of insatiation. MMO players become the ultimate cultural signifier of the dissatisfied consumer. ‘Make me happy’ becomes the consumptive mantra of the MMO player. So we get banal threads like "Are you Happy with today's MMORPGs?", "My Perfect MMO" and even "Fun game nowadays?". In this sense the benchmark of good gaming has a ‘fictitious character’, rooted in hopes, dreams and aspirations until such time as they are actually realized. The desiring opiate of the MMO fastens on to aspirations of quality of life as part of an accumulative process that never quite happens.
Are MMOs representative of the explosion of New Age psychology, with ‘self-help’ guides feeding the culture of nacissism? Is the economy of the MMO essentially about making all things equal in the land of gaming. Thus distinction becomes increasingly impossible because all MMOs essentially signify the same thing – they are ‘objects to be consumed’. Nothing more, nothing less. The psychology of self-expression and self-fulfillment with your typical MMO player becomes merely a matter of product choices, short term gratification and banal acts of consumption. Knowing how to consume is a chief marker of distinction for the addicted MMO player.
The economic bubble burst and the credit crunch loom somewhere large in all of this.
Comments
"re-cre⋅a⋅tion" [ree-kree-ey-shuhn]
"a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment."
This is what MMOGs are.
This is what Television is.
This is what fiction books are.
Whenever I read a philosophical, psychological or sociological wall of text denouncing any of the above, I'm reminded of one of the interesting and comforting dichotomies of life; that people can be very smart, very educated, and still completely wrong.
Playing: EVE, Final Fantasy 13, Uncharted 2, Need for Speed: Shift
What's up with all the pseudointellectual bullshit lately?
Just beautiful.../sniff
o/
Wow, thats one of the best post I've read on the internet and definetely on these forums. Wish I had a little more style to express that in a manner more deserving.
The only major indicator that I don't think you mentioned was how much money people will spend on virtual currency and objects. EDIT You and I also forgot about those people who died playing games because they didn't eat and drink.
That last sentence probably gives you an indication on how I feel about it. I myself don't have much of a life
and I play video games excessively not really MMO's but still. However my reasons for this aren't really because I played games and got addicted thus neglecting my family friends and other venues of life. Personally I think you've exagratarated the issue, with great affect and I wouldn't change that mind you 
because its a growing problem for several reasons. Mainly that kids today are exposed to these games for longer periods of time and the games are getting more addictive.
As for "MMO players become the ultimate cultural signifier of the dissatisfied consumer. ‘Make me happy’ becomes the consumptive mantra of the MMO player." I think that your right in suggesting it may be a great cultural indicator to the dissatifaction and failure of consumerism.
and I'm again to tired to post more coherently and put more thought into this though.
The stimulation of reading your post is wearing off
Just want to make clear how much I enjoyed reading it though, great post.
I cant help but wonder if thats a copy paste. I cant help but feel I have read that post before. Not that I read the whole post to be honest.
The thing is MMO's are not the opium of the masses. They are just games we all play. Im tired of the pretentious drivel associated with mmo's
Amen, bro.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
That somehow reminds me about Jonathan Blow's ("the indie guy who made Braid") rant saying that novadays MMOs are "unethical" in that they exploit the same psychological mechanisms, over and over again.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3786/jonathan_blow_the_path_to_braid.php?print=1
It's not like World of Warcraft came out of nowhere, and it's not like no other game is trying to copy World of Warcraft. Everybody is trying to, with the same gameplay mechanics. They exploit these psychological phenomena that are pretty well understood by designers right now, and will get a better understanding of over time, because that's how it goes. But they know what they're doing. That's what makes it unethical.
...
Whereas when you play World of Warcraft -- and what I'm about to say is a generalization, since different players enjoy different things, obviously -- a lot of the appeal of playing World of Warcraft is not in the core gameplay mechanic, because it's boring, a lot of the time. Sometimes when you're on a really good raid with a team and you're getting teamwork going and that's a close call, that can be exciting, but if you graph out what players are doing over the average 12-hour play session or whatever...
That's obviously hyperbole, but if you're looking at what activities they're actually performing, there's not that much good gameplay in there. I think what keeps them in there is, at first, the level ding, because it's very addictive to get that. "Okay, I've got more gold. Whatever." And eventually, they've made this huge time investment and they've got a character there and they know what that level ding feels like and the next one is pretty far off, but they can get there! And it's not any better, because this is like number 67. It's got to be better than 66!
Whatever, trying bring people down since you can't find a mmo you like.
Please take into serious account the following general principles that are central in MMORPGs, like in most computer game categories (abstracts taken from Wikipedia);
A computer simulation, a computer model or a computational model is a computer program, or network of computers, that attempts to simulate an abstract model of a particular system.
Virtual reality (VR), is a technology which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, whether that environment is a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world.
In other words, games help us escape from the daily routine in a creative, entertaining manner that stimulates our fantasy, making vivid representations of complex environments in which players interact. Having said that and being an active EVE online player I would like to mention the following;
1) Computer games are being played by everyday people who actually have a normal life, work, grow families, socialize, etc.
As with any platform, there are all groups of people. From my experience interacting with users, I would have to agree that computers in general (especially the Internet) and games in particular (with MMOGs holding the lion's share) have become a short of addiction, among younger ages in my country, in the city I live in and in a specific social-economic target group. However it is philosophically and socially dangerous to generalize or specialize without proper justification, analysis and respect to each and every single individual.
2) There are all sorts of miserable human souls out there who don't play computer games, you can blame politicians, injustice, "the system" and many other factors for that. You can keep blaming football, advertisements, modern lifestyle, alcohol, drugs and rock&roll for traditionally being "opium for the masses".
3) Yes, we live in a consumer society (unfortunately) and sometimes get impatient about the next big thing, until we find it. I will totally agree with you here, but it is a general phenomenon, not a computer-related one.
4) If we want to be honest towards ourselves, we need to address the real problems. If you would like to see computer gaming innovation with a positive influence, check Clim City (http://climcity.cap-sciences.net/) currently only in French but soon to be released in English as well.
5) People need gaming and MMORPGs, because they add to our well-being and relaxation (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy). Modern societies try to persuade us that all our lives worth is working 16 hours / day until we drop dead!
NO WAY!
Thank you for your time reading this post.
Kind Regards,
Jim.
Well its not hard to predict that the OP's post wouldn't go down well here
but the quoted post is your rallying point? by that definition of recreation all drugs, are just "re-cre-a-tion" too, thats why people do them.
I personally think the OP exaggerated the issue but really its a valid point. You look at it chronologically and the impact on those things on the masses, from fiction books to television is a huge difference, its to early to tell the increasing impact between TV and video games ((probably to early to even know the real impact of TV) but there are some real worrying indicators.
I'm not going to stop playing video games because of it but than again I smoke, gamble and would still be doing certain drugs if I had didn't have mental health issues because those things were and are ""a pastime, diversion, exercise, or other resource affording relaxation and enjoyment." I never did really hard drugs but still drugs society deems unacceptable and when your doing these things without immediate consequences they never seem to live up to the negativity people talk about them with.
That's what Opium is, at least when not used medicinally. The real question is at what point does a recreation become harmful? With opium it's at pretty low doses. With MMOGs it's absurdly high.
I agree, the question than is are they addictive? If they are than a little bit can still be dangerous because the more you do it the more you will want it. Personally I cannot see people dying from them because they'd prefer to play than get up and drink water for a second, spending obseen amounts of money on virtual currency and objects and even neglecting real relationships if they didn't have that affect on certain people.
You should get a Ph.D. in something if you don't already have one, because you can write a doctortal thesis with this sort of rambling bullshit that sounds well reasoned and intelligent, but doesn't really say much.
MMORPGs = movies. Entertainment for cheap.
40 million in China play MMORPGs? In a population of over a Billion, that's a tiny percentage, hardly indicative of a large trend.
The Opium of the masses is opium, in the form of heroin or prescription drugs like oxycontin.
Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
As for the only thing you do actually address, you've misunderstood. 40 million playing in China and the percentage of the total population isn't the point at all. Its the rapid increase which the OP claims is 60% over one year in 2007.
Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
As for the only thing you do actually address, you've misunderstood. 40 million playing in China and the percentage of the total population isn't the point at all. Its the rapid increase which the OP claims is 60% over one year in 2007.
I believe your glass house analogy fails, because although I did not say much, I did not write much either.
IMO the increase is still insignificant. What if you increase something from 1 to 2? That's a 100% increase. See what I mean? When you say, MMORPG players have increase 100%! it sounds dramatic. Until you learn that it was one person playing, and now it's two.
Cheap entertainment is going to be popular in a bad economy. I can play an MMORPG for 14.95 per month. It's a lot less than a boat, a motorcycle, a trip to Las Vegas, going to a strip club, etc.
Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
As for the only thing you do actually address, you've misunderstood. 40 million playing in China and the percentage of the total population isn't the point at all. Its the rapid increase which the OP claims is 60% over one year in 2007.
I believe your glass house analogy fails, because although I did not say much, I did not write much either.
IMO the increase is still insignificant. What if you increase something from 1 to 2? That's a 100% increase. See what I mean? When you say, MMORPG players have increase 100%! it sounds dramatic. Until you learn that it was one person playing, and now it's two.
Cheap entertainment is going to be popular in a bad economy. I can play an MMORPG for 14.95 per month. It's a lot less than a boat, a motorcycle, a trip to Las Vegas, going to a strip club, etc.
I'm not going to argue my use of the glass house analogy
If murder rates in a population of 20 million increase by 10 percent (that's probably going to be under 1k people murdered total (being a increase of 100) not 40 million but still a tiny percentage of the population) than its a big issue. Imagine if it were over 60% increase in a population of 2 billion. The fact is 60% in sales with a country of billions.If drug use, gambling, smoking, alchol abuse or hell even kids buying lollie pops or skateboards than it is dramitcally indicative of a trend. As I made clear in my example it doesn't even need to be something like murder it could be sales of lolliepops, 60% in over a year is indicative of a trend, hell 10% is enoguh to cause alarm bells if its a extremely important issue despite the small % of the total population it affects.
It's not games or the internet ; it's the flaw of information . Being a species that IT'S characteristic IS "problem solving" , that causes a huge amount of other situations arising! Enough said.
Edit: OP,OP... I almost bit the bait ... Must be the looks ... No doubt!
Signature!!!...
You are quite right. I can't help but feel that this post was just some way for the OP to use their brand new thesaurus. You can't call something that is a smaller segment of something else the "Opium of the Masses." MMO's are a smaller segment of video games; they are a different kind of video game.. but a video game none-the-less. You also can't say that TV USED to be the main culprit... because it still is. I still see TV commercials and ads that ask you to get your children away from the TV and have them go play outside... I've seen no such ads for MMO's specifically. You're trying to elevate MMO's to a much higher plane than they currently are in. You say millions of people in China are playing MMO's, but let's use some perspective since they have over a billion of people...
It's weird that I come to an opposing conclusion to the writer of the original post with respect to games. I would say games have become the last vestige of free expression under the guise of fictional worlds and characters. Whether it's the reference to torture in WOTLK that got press or whether it's the fact that almost always the characters in many games are libertarian of a kind (left/right/without-adjectives). It's the fact that games do seem to appeal to folks that think for themselves more often than not (whether it's thinking for themselves in respect to entertainment or more 'vital' choices), that seems to make me wonder what slow boiling brew of revolution (social or otherwise) is simmering in the gamer communities.
I'm not saying we're (gamers in general) a cluster of Sandinistas waiting to happen, but I am saying that there's more individual drive in an average gamer than what I've found in your average non-gamer (save for business types and such). It's just too bad some don't transport their drive and inventiveness in games to the real world. As it seems there's an invisible barrier that one puts up between the mechanism of the choices they make in a game and the mechanism of the choices they make in the real world.
Grats OP, very good troll.
This post made me smile!
Also on the topic of recreation, posted by many : Yes that's how it is re-creation no doubt! re-chewing and re-hyping and a general "re-" situation
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That's an interesting perspective considering that the most popular MMOs are the ones that have had almost all possible choice, risk and consequence removed. Any and every bit of actual decision making has been completely stripped away so as to never suffer a user through having to think for himself.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
That's an interesting perspective considering that the most popular MMOs are the ones that have had almost all possible choice, risk and consequence removed. Any and every bit of actual decision making has been completely stripped away so as to never suffer a user through having to think for himself.
It's still a choice as one is choosing not to choose. It's strange, but it's still a choice. Plus, some folks choose based on other subjective values they're considering (such as what appeals to them artwise, what 'feels' better in gameplay (how they measure the sense of time in gameplay...), and so on) what game they like. Rather than simply looking at the objective quantities in relation to other games (almost every game has a hero complex to them, often with an ideal male cast as the messiah, and so on...).
That's an interesting perspective considering that the most popular MMOs are the ones that have had almost all possible choice, risk and consequence removed. Any and every bit of actual decision making has been completely stripped away so as to never suffer a user through having to think for himself.
It's still a choice as one is choosing not to choose. It's strange, but it's still a choice.
Wow.
On that note, I'll head off to another thread and leave you to this one and your Rush albums.
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
Yep, I love Rush. I'm listening to The Necromancer on Youtube.