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Are massively multi player online role playing games addicting. The answer is yes. Studies have found that you can relate the symptoms of a mmorpg addict to that of a Drug addict. There are 24 common signs of a drug addict provided by addictionca.com.
Drug addiction signs:
Increase or decrease in appetite; changes in eating habits, unexplained weight loss or gain.
Smell of substance on breath, body or clothes.
Extreme hyperactivity; excessive talkativeness.
Needle marks or bruises on lower arm, legs or bottom of feet.
Change in overall attitude / personality with no other identifiable cause.
Changes in friends: new hang-outs, avoidance of old crowd, new friends are drug users.
Change in activities; loss of interest in things that were important before.
Drop in school or work performance; skips or is late to school or work.
Changes in habits at home; loss of interest in family and family activities.
Difficulty in paying attention; forgetfulness.
Lack of motivation, energy, self-esteem, discipline. Bored, “I don’t care” attitude.
Defensiveness, temper tantrums, resentful behavior (everything’s a hassle).
Unexplained moodiness, irritability, or nervousness.
Violent temper or bizarre behavior.
Unexplained silliness or giddiness.
Paranoia — suspiciousness.
Excessive need for privacy; keeps door locked or closed, won’t let people in.
Secretive or suspicious behavior.
Car accidents, fender benders, household accidents.
Chronic dishonesty; trouble with police.
Unexplained need for money; can’t explain where money goes; stealing.
Unusual effort to cover arms, legs.
Change in personal grooming habits.
Possession of drug paraphernalia.
Most of the 24 common signs are easily linked to MMORPG addicts. A MMORPG game that is commonly know for developing addicts is World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft addictions are so bad that they were the deciding factor for psychologist recognize video games as an addiction. I have been tempted many times to play world of warcraft but i have an addicitive personality and know i would become an addict. I was able to use the excuse that it cost money in order to stop my self from falling to the addiction. However my friend bob introduced me to a game that is like a free WOW (world of warcraft) knock off. I stared playing the game on Friday, two days ago and I am already addict proven by the 20 hours I’ve logged playing the game.
This how a topical World of Warcraft addict lives
Many gammers like myself are in search of how to break our addictions without being denied the chance to express our selves the way we know how. Luke Smith a World of Warcraft guild member openly admits his controlled addiction in a online article that can me found at
http://kotaku.com/gaming/world-of-warcraft/feature-how-to-survive-an-mmo-addiction-143165.php
In his article he brings up this point
“As stupidly obvious as it sounds, surviving an addiction to an MMO involves not ruining the rest of your life before you get over the game”.
After living through a Halo 2 addiction, I know how true Luke Smiths words are. In the ninth grade when Halo 2 came out I spent all my free time playing online. The only thing I received from it was the nickname Halo kid and everyone in my school knows I can beat them in Halo. If you asked me thats nothing compared to what I lost. My girlfriend at the time broke up with me because I would always be to busy playing Halo 2 when she called to have a serious conversation. All of our conversations would involve her talking and I would grunt and say things like yes, ok, why, or when in response. She also didn’t appreciate only seeing me an hour out of the whole week after I was persuaded to leave my house. Also two of my best friend that i went to middle school with stopped talking to be because all I would talk about was Halo. The friends that I still had I barely talked to out side of school. It wasn’t till after i spent two years alone playing my Halo 2 that i realized what happened to my life. I then managed to pick up some of the pieces of my life and stay clean for a year. However I am slowly slipping back into the same situation.
My advice to other gamers like my self is to listing to Luke Smith and try to get help before it ruins your life like it did mine. If only I was warned early I know I would not be the same situation today. Taking Luke Smiths words to heart I am going to allow my parents to ground me before my life falls apart again and ask them to enforce a time limit on my game playing because video games are worse than drugs!
