Everyone has at least heard a story of a friend of a friend who played WOW(World of Warcraft) so much that they dropped out of college. Or stopped going to school. Or stopped seeing their friends.

Psychologists still to this day like to argue over whether video game addiction is real or not. Those of us who live in the real world and not with our face stuffed into academic theory can see that this is obviously real.

It's not unusual at all for players to play 12+ hours in a single day.

Players consistently report the following:

Cravings to play the game while away from their computer

Feel that they can't stop playing

Feelings of anger when they're forcibly stopped from playing

A massive negative effect on their real life

The following is a post on an online addiction forum from the wife on behalf of her addicted husband:

"Every spare moment, he spends playing. He gets extremely volatile if his gaming is interrupted or if I request help with the house or kids. He gets home from work and gets on the computer and plays until 2 or 3 in the morning"

"He lives to play. I am secondary. Our two beautiful girls, and another due in January, are secondary. Housework is secondary. Romance is secondary (I have been turned down or ignored many times when wanting to have sex or date night). Our life is secondary"

In the most extreme cases players have died from overuse of the game. Some develop mental illnesses. Some end up on the streets. Others develop physical illnesses like epilepsy.

VIDEO GAME ADDICTION IS A THING.

It's possible to become addicted to any video game but MMORPG'S (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game) seem to cause the biggest problems with addiction.

This is no coincidence.

Because MMORPG's like World of Warcraft are addictive BY DESIGN.

With traditional games, you pay a one-off fee of $40 and the game is yours.

Traditional game developers don't really care what you do with the game after you buy it. The goal is to sell as many copies as possible. You can chuck the game into a river right after purchase for all they care.

But MMO's are different. MMO's make their money through a subscription model. Pay $15 a month for access to the game. This difference is very important.

The goal of an MMO is to keep as many players subscribed as possible. Whatever it takes to keep them on the game.

Even if it means treating players like lab-rats and encouraging addictive behaviour in teenagers with under-developed brains.

(MMORPG’s are Superstimuli)

THE SKINNER BOX