Study: Online Gaming Addiction Not as Bad as Previously Thought

[Josh]

[b][url=\"http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=15578\"]Study: Online Gaming Addiction Not as Bad as Previously Thought[/url][/b]

Research out of the United Kingdom suggests that online gaming isn't as addictive as once thought, but it can still be a very real problem for those people it affects, as evidenced by a recent survey of Asheron's Call (pictured) players. More within...

Addiction to online games and the Internet in general can be a serious problem. Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest was dubbed "EverCrack" for a reason. There have been countless stories of people getting lost for hours and hours, and even days, in virtual worlds like Blizzard's hugely successful World of Warcraft. In parts of Asia, some people have even gotten seriously ill or died after days of ignoring basic bodily needs (food, sleep, etc.). But is the situation really that bad?

New research from the U.K.'s University of Bolton investigated the levels of gaming addiction. Dr. John Charlton, Research Fellow in Psychology in the School of Health, Psychology and Sport, found that "incidences of addiction could be 10% lower than some currently accepted classification schemes suggest."

Charlton noted that previous studies have often compared gaming addictions to gambling, that the same symptoms that are used in the diagnosis of gambling addiction are also used for diagnosing Internet/gaming addiction. However, he believes that some of these symptoms are not appropriate for dependencies such as multiplayer online game playing.

"This is my second research project in this field to confirm this outcome; that several symptoms researchers had thought were important in diagnosing computing-related addictions were actually only indicative of high, but non-addictive, involvement," said Dr. Charlton. "This means that taking them into account when conducting research gives an incorrect result - 10% higher than is correct."

While the study found lower levels of incidences, don't be fooled. Gaming addictions are still quite dangerous and can be "potentially damaging for players' work, home and social life," according to Dr. Charlton.

In one online survey of 400 people who frequently played the MMO Asheron's Call, the average time spent playing in a week was 18.5 hours, and one person admitted to playing for 100 hours a week. Several players confessed that all this time spent playing online led to arguments at home and negatively affected their work and social life. Overall, more than 40 percent said their social life was suffering, 30 percent recognized gaming was interfering with their work, 40 percent said it was causing arguments at home, 50 percent confessed they were not getting enough sleep, and 35 percent said they missed meals to carry on playing.

"Asheron's Call (which is now discontinued) was a multi-player online role-playing game, the sort of game which can be particularly addictive. The game involved players in a role-playing adventure which was unpredictable and offered opportunities for social reinforcement from other players, both elements which have been proven to add to a game's attraction," explained Dr. Charlton. "'However, while our research suggests online gaming may not be as addictive as research has previously suggested, gaming addiction is a real issue for some people who find gaming seriously affecting their lives."



by James Brightman

[Tami]

I'm....not....addicted.

Seriously...there are times when I do game for hours (some of those GW quests and missions...dayum!) However, there are also times when I don't game for several days in a row, simply because I'm busy doing other things. I think that as in all things, if you can maintain a balance, you won't have a problem.

As so those serious game addicts in the far East, how many of them are employed as gold farmers? We all know that they're out there, and that for the most part they're operated like sweatshops - if they don't play and farm successfully, they don't get paid. I think the wages and the general living conditions of many people are more to blame than the games themselves.