MMO Addiction

[Lyion]

Interesting links and comments at Slashdot on MMo Addiction. Check it out here: http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/03/1 ... 186&tid=10

[Tikker]

I used to spend easily 60-80 hours a week playing EQ

was I addicted? I don't think so
I just loved playing

I used to spend 30-40 hours a week playing piano, I don't think anyone would say I was addicted to playing piano
I just loved playing


/shrug, it's just a hobby that a lot of people like to spend outrageous amount of time doing =P

[Lyion]

80 hours a week for a hobby is a bit excessive. I was there too, Tikker.

Any hobby you are doing for 12 hours a day every day as an adult is an unhealthy addiction IMO.

[Tikker]

it might be somewhat unhealthy, but i'm still saying it wasn't an adiction

[Lyion]

The guy downing a bottle of Jack a day doesnt feel he's addicted either. He can stop at anytime.

I was hardcore addicted to EQ. It's why I walked away from the game in 2001. Any game that you invest 40 hours a week is borderline addiction. If you are doing 80 hours thats definitely not healthy, even if it isnt interfering with your real life.

[Drem]

I have absolutely no problem clocking in four or five hours a session every day to practising piano at the university. I would hardly compare it to playing EQ, though, because honestly, did you walk away from your 40 hours of EQ a week with anything? With piano you walk away with knowing that you're a better pianist than at the beginning of the week which actually goes towards something (your eventual performance).

That's how I look at it. It might feel the same, but per Lyion's analogy to drinking, it really isn't.

[Lyion]

I have absolutely no problem clocking in four or five hours a session every day to practising piano at the university. I would hardly compare it to playing EQ, though, because honestly, did you walk away from your 40 hours of EQ a week with anything? With piano you walk away with knowing that you're a better pianist than at the beginning of the week which actually goes towards something (your eventual performance).

That's how I look at it. It might feel the same, but per Lyion's analogy to drinking, it really isn't.

If you were playing Piano 80 hours a week solely as a hobby, I'd consider that as much a problem as 80 hours a week of EQ.

We're not talking a week, or two, or a month. We're talking sustained years of this type of behavior.

[Drem]

how is it a problem if i end up teaching in a university or cutting a record deal? i don't really see either of those as a problem compared to what 80 hours a week or EQ does to a person. beethoven, charlie parker, jimi hendrix, and every other famous musician spent their childhood and the ensuing rest of their lives playing music 12 hours a day.... look where their "problem" got them. there is nothing problematic or wrong with playing music in any way that you look at it. i've played since i was 7 or 8 and i've never been more glad to have had a "problem" than i am right now, considering my currently abilities as a pianist.

[Lyion]

how is it a problem if i end up teaching in a university or cutting a record deal? i don't really see either of those as a problem compared to what 80 hours a week or EQ does to a person. beethoven, charlie parker, jimi hendrix, and every other famous musician spent their childhood and the ensuing rest of their lives playing music 12 hours a day.... look where their "problem" got them. there is nothing problematic or wrong with playing music in any way that you look at it. i've played since i was 7 or 8 and i've never been more glad to have had a "problem" than i am right now, considering my currently abilities as a pianist.

My point is just if a 'hobby' interferes with real life it is detrimental.
Obviously if one is a concert pianist or a professional musician then this isn't a hobby, its a career. Big difference.

If you are a wannabe musician and are playing 12 hours a day, neglecating your family, fucking up at your job, and screwing up your life then its no different than 12 hours of EQ.

[Drem]

Right. It's my focus right now in studies, but, wasn't always so. Had I not practised whilst it wasn't my "career" so to speak, like from when i was 7 til before I started college, I would be up the creek without a paddle, figuratively speaking. Music is in a very different category if not galaxy than a computer game. You won't see any EQ addicts go "I bet suddenly if I tried I could be a lead programmer for Sony because I played this video game a lot." Do you see where I'm coming from? Music is infinitely deeper and more complicated than a computer. It takes decades to understand and be fluent in what you do.

12 hours is a little much for me because I do have other social business to attend to as well as a job and full load of credits, but nearly all spare time that isn't seeing me at work or in a classroom or at a party will see me sat in front of a piano.

Through my upbringing and experience around music and musicians all of my life, I could never ever discourage someone from practising an instrument as much as they want as they tend to responsibility. But I figure that goes without saying, and were expecting you to have thought the same. Though now I believe we're thinking about different terms of addiction. =)

[Drem]

Err, then I suppose the opposing arguement would be the same for a computer person. Justifying their hours of study to become a programmer or engineer somewhere, etc. It's understandable either way and in a career sense then either way is fine. I just feel music is a more productive and fruitful outlet or hobby. When a kid plays piano for hours a day people notice and say "Wow he's amazing. He should study in college and become famous." Whereas people who play EQ for hours a day usually don't have anyone around that say anything to them, and when they do they talk about their bronze longswords and their new orc platemail and all their friends ridicule them for playing.

See what I mean? No one is going to say "that faggot plays piano all day what a loser."



But now I'm just turning this into a completely subjective arguement. Disregard...

[Tacks]

So if people are making a career out of playing games it's ok then? So as long as society acknowledges you get paid to do what you're doing then it's all the sudden ok to be obsessed?

I don't see a problem with doing something you enjoy as long as you want if it's not harming anyone. If you go to work, do a good job, pay your bills on time and come home to play games for 8 hours a night what are you really hurting? Your social life? That can also be obsessive if ya ask me. Different strokes.

[Drem]

Yeah it's fine either way and I don't have a lot of room to talk since I used to play EQ pretty intensely in my hayday. Like I said, I was getting a little too subjective.

[Tikker]

I have absolutely no problem clocking in four or five hours a session every day to practising piano at the university. I would hardly compare it to playing EQ, though, because honestly, did you walk away from your 40 hours of EQ a week with anything? With piano you walk away with knowing that you're a better pianist than at the beginning of the week which actually goes towards something (your eventual performance).

I got an all expenses paid vacation to San Diego out of playing EQ hardcore

I probably could have made a shit ton of cash ebaying too, but I always thought ebaying was lame

I always looked at it as just something I loved to do

If my body could handle it, I would have played hockey 80 hours a week, but since the body shuts down after probably 20 hours a week, you're limited that way

With EQ, it's mostly mental so you can put in the time you want

/shrug

[Lyion]

Through my upbringing and experience around music and musicians all of my life, I could never ever discourage someone from practising an instrument as much as they want as they tend to responsibility. But I figure that goes without saying, and were expecting you to have thought the same. Though now I believe we're thinking about different terms of addiction. =)

Yeah, you are talking about passion towards a career goal. I'm solely talking about hobbies. There is some overlap and my point is still what it is even if its your longterm goal.

I have this argument with friends of mine who have been hardcore band people since their teens and refuse to accept responsibility in their 30s.

They make a few $k a year, play music full time, and one has 3 kids he isn't supporting.

[Kramer]

when discussing addiction, the only one who can truly decide if it is an addiction is the individual...

playing a game for 80 hours a week does sound like addiction, I played for around 10 months and had to stop because i was married, working and in grad school.....

I was playing to escape reality, numb myself, which is a general definition of what an addiction does....

but if playing 80 hours a week in a virtual world isn't an addiction, it sure doesn't sound vey healthy or productive....

but i am sure everyone else is wrong

[Tacks]

Honestly if I decided tomorrow "hey I wanna stop playing this, i'm addicted!" I could. What is so bad with doing something you enjoy? I don't do it to "escape reality" or to get away from things in life, I do it because it's F-U-N.

[Darcler]

I play video games now because Gidan does. There is nothing to do here at 7 when he gets home. My daughter isnt old enough to really play with yet. She is just as happy to "stand" in my lap in the computer chair as she is playing on a floor gym. So instead of being bored, I log in and go afk most of the time, just sitting by him. I was done playing video games when he moved down to TX. I just played to be with him.

Before him, on EQ, and when I was in my other marriage, I played because I didnt want to talk to my ex. I became addicted. I played anytime I wasnt at work.

I dont remember where I was going with this, but I was addicted to EQ. Played every waking moment when I was home, even when I didnt want to.
Now, I play as a hobby. I am logged on 5 hours a night, but actual playtime is maybe 15 min a night.

Again, no idea what the original point to this was...

[Tikker]

when discussing addiction, the only one who can truly decide if it is an addiction is the individual...

playing a game for 80 hours a week does sound like addiction, I played for around 10 months and had to stop because i was married, working and in grad school.....

I was playing to escape reality, numb myself, which is a general definition of what an addiction does....

but if playing 80 hours a week in a virtual world isn't an addiction, it sure doesn't sound vey healthy or productive....

but i am sure everyone else is wrong

It's not about right or wrong

All I'm saying is that it's possible to put in what others would consider "excessive" amounts of time into a hobby, without it being an addiction

[Tossica]

It's also possible to do a lot of coke for a long period of time and not be addicted... unlikely, but possible.

[horendus]

I think it becomes an addiction, when and only when it starts to interfere with your personal or professional life. As with anything else, it is not spending time doing something that classifies it as an addiction. It only becomes an addiction on a case by case basis when it becomes uncontrolable.

I would classify playing EQ as an addiction only if you are constantly "calling in sick" or neglecting necessities such as eating, drinking, paying bills, feeding the dog, using a toilet, etc...

I would NOT classify playing EQ as an addiction if it were played on a regular basis and it didn't interfere with your life outside of your home.

Just like anything else, it CAN be an addiction, but cannot be cast as "if you play everquest, then you are addicted".

[Tikker]

I'd agree with that~

[Lyion]

I would NOT classify playing EQ as an addiction if it were played on a regular basis and it didn't interfere with your life outside of your home..

Except if you have a steady job and are playing 80 hours a week you have no life outside of your home.

[Tacks]

If I wasn't playing video games I'd be watching TV. I don't want to go out into society unless I have to=P

[Tossica]

It's totally possible to customize your life around your addiction. Junkies can lead normal lives, hold jobs, maintain a family etc. It doesn't mean they aren't addicted.