|
Not sure where to put this since I guess this is only watchable by the UK people, but there is a Panorama program regarding addiction to gaming. I also used search and found a lot of blog posts and closed threads, so perhaps the closed part answers the consensus of Team Liquid on the matter.
For people outside the UK, the BBC program Panorama is usually a very accurate portrayal of what ever they decide to investigate (be it corruption or Scientology and so on), this is because they have no reason to add bias, so when I read the quote below, it seems they've already reached a consensus that gaming is an addiction.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlmj0
There is the quote regarding it:
As pester power kicks in and the computer games' industry launches its latest products on to the Christmas market, Panorama hears from youngsters who've dropped out of school and university to play games for anything up to 21 hours a day. They describe their obsessive gaming as an addiction. Reporter Raphael Rowe, meets leading experts calling for more independent research into this controversial subject, and reveals the hidden psychological devices in games that are designed to keep us coming back for more.
So does Team Liquid think games are addictive and should there be preventatives in place to stop children getting so addicted they drop out of school?
|
On December 03 2010 07:49 unoriginalname wrote:Not sure where to put this since I guess this is only watchable by the UK people, but there is a Panorama program regarding addiction to gaming. I also used search and found a lot of blog posts and closed threads, so perhaps the closed part answers the consensus of Team Liquid on the matter. For people outside the UK, the BBC program Panorama is usually a very accurate portrayal of what ever they decide to investigate (be it corruption or Scientology and so on), this is because they have no reason to add bias, so when I read the quote below, it seems they've already reached a consensus that gaming is an addiction. There is the quote regarding it: Show nested quote +As pester power kicks in and the computer games' industry launches its latest products on to the Christmas market, Panorama hears from youngsters who've dropped out of school and university to play games for anything up to 21 hours a day. They describe their obsessive gaming as an addiction. Reporter Raphael Rowe, meets leading experts calling for more independent research into this controversial subject, and reveals the hidden psychological devices in games that are designed to keep us coming back for more. So does Team Liquid think games are addictive and should there be preventatives in place to stop children getting so addicted they drop out of school?
Yes I think games are addictive. I also think preventatives are called parents.
|
On December 03 2010 07:53 muse5187 wrote:Show nested quote +On December 03 2010 07:49 unoriginalname wrote:Not sure where to put this since I guess this is only watchable by the UK people, but there is a Panorama program regarding addiction to gaming. I also used search and found a lot of blog posts and closed threads, so perhaps the closed part answers the consensus of Team Liquid on the matter. For people outside the UK, the BBC program Panorama is usually a very accurate portrayal of what ever they decide to investigate (be it corruption or Scientology and so on), this is because they have no reason to add bias, so when I read the quote below, it seems they've already reached a consensus that gaming is an addiction. There is the quote regarding it: As pester power kicks in and the computer games' industry launches its latest products on to the Christmas market, Panorama hears from youngsters who've dropped out of school and university to play games for anything up to 21 hours a day. They describe their obsessive gaming as an addiction. Reporter Raphael Rowe, meets leading experts calling for more independent research into this controversial subject, and reveals the hidden psychological devices in games that are designed to keep us coming back for more. So does Team Liquid think games are addictive and should there be preventatives in place to stop children getting so addicted they drop out of school? Yes I think games are addictive. I also think preventatives are called parents.
Since this particular case regards youngsters dropping out of school I agree with what the above poster said, parents are the best preventatives. This isn't as serious as other addictions though, as parents can easily regulate how much their kids play, in a worst case scenario they can just sell/hide whatever console/PC the child is playing on.
|
You can do anything too much and call it an addiction, that doesn't make it an addiction. Unless their is an actual imbalance of chemicals it isn't really. There isn't a physical dependency to games as far as I know; these people should learn to balance their lives. If some one knits 21 hours a day would you say they have a problem too. Also as everyone else has said parents should be showing their kids how to balance their lives.
|
yes it's an addiction,but it's one of the easiest if not the easiest to get rid of.
Play sc/wow 20h/day
Find a gf/sports team
Stop video games
Do heroin for 3 years
Find a gf/hobby
Sell her/it for more heroin.
|
And that makes it the "easiest" why?
|
I don't think games are addictive, people who need to play them in an addictive manner are just filling some hole in their life. It can be said for many other activities as well.
Kids who are socially inept , afraid of failure, or aren't motivated to face life will procrastinate from what's important in any way possible. A game doesn't have nicotine, you can't say it is addictive because doing so ignores the real troubles an individual may be facing.
The only reason this subject gets attention is because video games have a bad stigma in today's society. I knew socially akward kids when I was younger who would literally sit and read harry potter all day, including re-reading. But no, there's no problem with those kids! They are reading!
|
calling for more independent research into this controversial subject, and reveals the hidden psychological devices in games that are designed to keep us coming back for more.
Finally someone who sees things from my perspective.
My comrade, we must not relent at exposing video games for what they are...we also must expose the entire literary institution for employing similar insidious, profiteering tricks, hidden psychological devices to trick us into buying more of them, lascivious tricks such "emotional attachments" [to fictional characters] and the dreaded "Cliff Hanger". Burn the books of those doublespeaking, vehement self serving intellectuals once and for all.
|
On December 03 2010 08:03 Judicator wrote:
And that makes it the "easiest" why?
holdthephonesum it up perfectly,video games *addiction* is just a hole in someone's life that can be filled by pretty much anything else.The same cannot be said about serious addictions.
Oh and there's no physical addiction,which is also important;)
Edit:@holdthephone:it's also true that you do not need a physical component to call something an addiction.Video games addiction is real,it's just nothing serious if *treated*.(stick his cock into the first vajayjay and hell burn his ps3 in no time).
You can compare it to gambling addiction,except gambling can actually be quite dangerous;)
|
[B] So does Team Liquid think games are addictive and should there be preventatives in place to stop children getting so addicted they drop out of school?
there is already a device that exists. its called parenting. i love reporters gross generalizations and clever wording. just by saying addiction you will try and relate this to cigarette smoking or other types of drugs. the problem is its an obsession. like the guy who works on his car for 16 hours a day. or the guy who plays guitar instead of getting a job. there is no physical need to play a video game. a heroin addict can want to quit but will be unable as heroin is truly chemically addictive. Unless there is evidence of a gamer unable to leave his console/computer under his own will then the story falls flat. Society is simply uncomfortable with those that don't care to be apart.
|
Video games are considered a vice, up there with drugs and alcohol. Kids can play sports in highschool and their grades will drop as they get caught up in the competitiveness and glory of it all -- but I have never seen an argument about kids playing sports.
And there shouldn't be. There is no addiction. It's a problem with the individual, and parents need to help sort those issues out. Turning off the computer isn't the way to solve the problem.
|
[B] So does Team Liquid think games are addictive and should there be preventatives in place to stop children getting so addicted they drop out of school?
Yes. Its called improving the quality of the system as a whole so certain children don't feel the need to escape reality in order to find titillation.
|
yeah video games are addictive so is food and music and television
|
People who quickly dismiss this as having no physical basis just haven't looked into it enough. There are very real chemical effects created through gaming, including adrenaline highs, sense of accomplishment, feelings of superiority/inferiority, and more.
That's not to say it's necessarily an addiction. I think the word is grossly overused, but I would also point out that just because something isn't technically an addiction doesn't mean it isn't a compulsive, damaging, difficult to over-come behaviour. In fact I heard a speaker on the radio this morning saying the very same thing about sex "addiction".
As for those talking about parenting, that doesn't really apply to a large majority of gamers. Sure you hear stories about kids raging over their games, but I'd bet a large sum on adults being just as likely to develop gaming "addictions". The OP specifically mentions university. Hell, I dropped a whole semester and failed various courses due to a gaming problem. Parent's aren't around at that point, so it's a bit late for their intervention.
|
If you were that distracted from school by games, you were probably going to hate your life if you stayed on a conventional path anyway.
Stack shelves and play Starcraft all day if you want. The majority of the most contented people I know do nothing but play Halo, eat pizza, drink beer and work in Tesco's (supermarket).
I mean I can name a number of things that are equally trivial and pointless that people fill their days with, but noone would call an addiction, like reading, watching movies, writing, drawing, building wooden housing fixtures, playing with car engines, talking to people, cooking, learning foreign languages (<3), shopping. Addiction is just a word designed to invoke a reaction in people.
Like declaring war on social problems, just media hype.
|
I mean, of course they are, but anything that is very nice to do can be adictive. Without adictions, life is just boring.
|
I wouldn't consider games as addictive. I like them, but liking is not the same as an addiction. I raided in WoW before starting University, and then I realized I couldn't do both, so I stopped raiding and ended up quitting WoW for a year (I was plain bored to be honest).
Maybe it does account as an addiction, but can you get bored of an addiction and then quit?
|
Reinforcement and reward through a Skinner Box type mechanism is a deplorable way to get people to continue to play a game. It's also how many popular MMOs function like WoW and Farmville.
The biggest issue facing MMO developers right now is how to get people into the Skinner Box mindset before they lose interest in the game. I dunno anyone who's played a game like WoW for a few months and then dropped it. They either play for a bit and move on because they see the grind or they get hooked into the reward system and stay there far longer then they should have.
Note: This is also why achievements are retarded.
|
I predict the next General forum thread to be titled: "Is video game addiction a disease?"
|
Let's turn a promising thread into a debate about petty semantics.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
