Capt. Obvious: Too Much WoW Bad For You
Sometimes I feel researchers study on the most obvious of things. Case in example is a recent study by British and German researchers who have come to the conclusion that online games like World of Warcraft can become addictive, calling it “cyberdependence” or “cyberaddiction”. They are rating it on part with gambling addiction, saying that it should be treated. Here’s a bit:
The experts think that in France and Germany between 1% and 2% of all MMORPG gamers have developed an unhealthy habit of spending too many hours in front of a monitor, which seriously affects their social life (d’oh, who needs one…). The numbers are revealing: most hard-core gamers spend between 35 and 40h per week messing around with their upgradeable character. In a separate study conducted in France, the Forum for Internet rights (le Forum des droits sur Internet) had found that more than 60 percent of the French gamers admit to spending more than 10h/week playing, while 5 percent of them arrive at 30h/week.
Apparently, they are not recognizing it as an addiction, but rather as a “moral weakness”. The article goes on to state that the line between fantasy/reality gets blurred and that real-life social ties can be replaced by “virtual bonds” (EverQuest marriages, anyone?). The person’s behavior also changes significantly and is also susceptible to low self-esteem, among other things.