Clarity
2015-04-29 11:37:50
My assignment this week is on the psychopathology associated with MMORPG and general Internet addiction. During this week, I have been reading many research papers and books on the subject, and found some particularly interesting statistics I'd like to share with you all! If you would like source material for these facts and findings, just ask! I did not conduct any research myself leading to these statistics, this is only a literature review summary, stemming from the book Internet Addiction, edited by Kimberly S. Young and Cristiano Nabuco de Abreu. The MMORPG chapter of this book was written by Lukas Blinka and David Smahel. World of Warcraft was a central example amongst the papers and books I read, but these concepts certainly apply just as well to RuneScape. The scary concept to consider is that much of this research comes from around 2005-2008. Statistics might be even worse and shocking these days!
Who Plays? How Much?
[INDENT]MMORPGs are played 25 hours per week on average, whereas other computer games and video games are played over 20 hours per week by only 6% of players, and 84% of players spend less than 6 hours per week playing.
The average age of MMORPG players is generally around 25 years, and there are more adult than adolescent players. Most often the gamers are men–their representation exceeds 90%, especially for younger players. The representation of women increases with age, and it reaches approximately 20% among adult gamers.
While the average intensity of play is 25 hours per week, 11% of players spend over 40 hours per week in the game world, which corresponds to a full-time job or high school attendance.
60% of gamers play over ten hours in one session from time to time, and other gamers have been known to play over 30 hours in one session.
The average time of play is approximately two years for adolescent players (aged up to 20) and 27 months for older players.
Players aged 20-22 spend the most time playing online games, with an average of almost 30 hours per week. Women appear to play significantly less by up to ten hours than men.
80% of players play with their real life friends.[/INDENT]
Motivation for Playing MMORPGs
[INDENT]Components of play: achievement, social, immersion. These components have a range of possible dimensions.
Preference of violence, aggression, and competition in games decreases with age. Women have a lower preference for these notions.
Social components are preferred more by older players. Players with addictive behavior will often consider these games their "second life."
Players consider their avatars an idealized, superior form of themselves. Individuals with lower self-esteem find MMORPGs extremely attractive. They provide a quick form of relief from the uncomfortable feelings of low self-esteem.[/INDENT]
Factors of Addiction in the Game
[INDENT]Flow phenomenon: flow describes a difficult activity requiring a certain level of skill and effort, usually related to some form of competition with others. Its creation is related to characteristic traits of MMORPGs (online social communication and a permanent system of tasks, rewards, and feedback). The player fully focuses only on the game and does not pay attention to anything else, and the game then feels "smooth."
During flow, other sensations are usually suppressed or completely ignored, including pain, tiredness, hunger, thirst, and excretion. A typical indicator is an altered perception of time, the activity feels like a few minutes while in reality a few hours have elapsed.
Players are generally not aware of play length, as they are consumed by the game.
The flow phenomenon model allows newer players to enter flow faster, whereas more experienced players need to spend more time - increased amount of time needed to achieve the same sought sensations - typical in increased tolerance with drug addictions and other styles of addiction.
Experience with the game increases "drug" tolerance of expectant sensations of achievement.
Thus, a leveling system like 1-99 where 1-92 = 92-99 is highly addictive.
The more players claimed they felt "more important and more respected in the virtual group," the more factors of addiction they displayed.
31% of all players agree that they feel more important in the MMORPG social group than in real-life social groups.
Tendency towards addiction grows with the tendency of dividing friendships originating in the virtual world from those originating in real life.[/INDENT]
Questionnaire: Are you addicted?
[INDENT]Below is a list of questions associated with the dimensions of online gaming addiction:
Salience: Do you ever neglect your needs (like eating or sleeping) because of online gaming? Do you ever imagine you are in the game when you are not?
Mood modification: Do you feel unsettled or irritated when you cannot be in the game? Do you feel happier and more cheerful when you finally get to the game?
Tolerance: Do you feel like you are spending ever more time in the online game? Do you ever catch yourself playing the game without being really interested?
Conflicts: Do you ever argue with your family, friends, or partners because of time you spent in the game? Do your family, friends, job, and/or hobbies suffer because of time spent online gaming?
Time restrictions: Have you ever been unsuccessful in trying to limit time spent playing the game? Does it happen to you that you stay in the game for longer times than originally planned?
Possible answers: (1) Never, (2) Rarely, (3) Often, (4) Very Often
If you are 3-4 in any dimension, the dimension is present psychologically.
3+ dimensions present: endangered by addictive behavior.
5 dimensions present: definitively addicted to online gaming.
27% of MMORPG players displayed all five dimensions of addiction.
6% of these addicted players claimed they were not addicted.[/INDENT]
This is scary stuff! Will update the post as I continue reading and reviewing available literature.
From: Anonymous 18-year-old MMORPG Player
The more I want to improve, the more time I should invest in the game. That's how the game works, unfortunately, and I always keep thinking that I could, that I should spend even more time online and do things now that I would otherwise do tomorrow.
Who Plays? How Much?
[INDENT]MMORPGs are played 25 hours per week on average, whereas other computer games and video games are played over 20 hours per week by only 6% of players, and 84% of players spend less than 6 hours per week playing.
The average age of MMORPG players is generally around 25 years, and there are more adult than adolescent players. Most often the gamers are men–their representation exceeds 90%, especially for younger players. The representation of women increases with age, and it reaches approximately 20% among adult gamers.
While the average intensity of play is 25 hours per week, 11% of players spend over 40 hours per week in the game world, which corresponds to a full-time job or high school attendance.
60% of gamers play over ten hours in one session from time to time, and other gamers have been known to play over 30 hours in one session.
The average time of play is approximately two years for adolescent players (aged up to 20) and 27 months for older players.
Players aged 20-22 spend the most time playing online games, with an average of almost 30 hours per week. Women appear to play significantly less by up to ten hours than men.
80% of players play with their real life friends.[/INDENT]
Motivation for Playing MMORPGs
[INDENT]Components of play: achievement, social, immersion. These components have a range of possible dimensions.
- Achievement: the notion of advancement, the progression of a player's avatar, both in experience, leveling, and obtaining better equipment. This gives the player higher power and status in the game world relative to others.
- Social: Solo play is allowed but not encouraged. 23% of males and 32% of females at some time disclosed intimate information in the game. This openness varies with age. Meeting fellow players in real life is more common for women (16%) than men (5%), with a higher tendency in older players.
- Immersion: Exploration of the game world and improving the appearance of the avatar, roleplaying, et cetera.
Preference of violence, aggression, and competition in games decreases with age. Women have a lower preference for these notions.
Social components are preferred more by older players. Players with addictive behavior will often consider these games their "second life."
From: Anonymous 19-year-old (65 hours/week)
I usually play to cause harm = I like to murder, steal, and do anything immoral in the game (it helps me relax at the end of the day). I cannot imagine being mean in real life. I'd say that in this respect, the game allows me to try unexplored possibilities.
Players consider their avatars an idealized, superior form of themselves. Individuals with lower self-esteem find MMORPGs extremely attractive. They provide a quick form of relief from the uncomfortable feelings of low self-esteem.[/INDENT]
Factors of Addiction in the Game
[INDENT]Flow phenomenon: flow describes a difficult activity requiring a certain level of skill and effort, usually related to some form of competition with others. Its creation is related to characteristic traits of MMORPGs (online social communication and a permanent system of tasks, rewards, and feedback). The player fully focuses only on the game and does not pay attention to anything else, and the game then feels "smooth."
During flow, other sensations are usually suppressed or completely ignored, including pain, tiredness, hunger, thirst, and excretion. A typical indicator is an altered perception of time, the activity feels like a few minutes while in reality a few hours have elapsed.
Players are generally not aware of play length, as they are consumed by the game.
The flow phenomenon model allows newer players to enter flow faster, whereas more experienced players need to spend more time - increased amount of time needed to achieve the same sought sensations - typical in increased tolerance with drug addictions and other styles of addiction.
Experience with the game increases "drug" tolerance of expectant sensations of achievement.
Thus, a leveling system like 1-99 where 1-92 = 92-99 is highly addictive.
The more players claimed they felt "more important and more respected in the virtual group," the more factors of addiction they displayed.
31% of all players agree that they feel more important in the MMORPG social group than in real-life social groups.
Tendency towards addiction grows with the tendency of dividing friendships originating in the virtual world from those originating in real life.[/INDENT]
Questionnaire: Are you addicted?
[INDENT]Below is a list of questions associated with the dimensions of online gaming addiction:
Salience: Do you ever neglect your needs (like eating or sleeping) because of online gaming? Do you ever imagine you are in the game when you are not?
Mood modification: Do you feel unsettled or irritated when you cannot be in the game? Do you feel happier and more cheerful when you finally get to the game?
Tolerance: Do you feel like you are spending ever more time in the online game? Do you ever catch yourself playing the game without being really interested?
Conflicts: Do you ever argue with your family, friends, or partners because of time you spent in the game? Do your family, friends, job, and/or hobbies suffer because of time spent online gaming?
Time restrictions: Have you ever been unsuccessful in trying to limit time spent playing the game? Does it happen to you that you stay in the game for longer times than originally planned?
Possible answers: (1) Never, (2) Rarely, (3) Often, (4) Very Often
If you are 3-4 in any dimension, the dimension is present psychologically.
3+ dimensions present: endangered by addictive behavior.
5 dimensions present: definitively addicted to online gaming.
27% of MMORPG players displayed all five dimensions of addiction.
6% of these addicted players claimed they were not addicted.[/INDENT]
This is scary stuff! Will update the post as I continue reading and reviewing available literature.