For game addicts, bad games are more addictive

[wraggster]

via joystiq

Prof. Dmitri Williams, one of the leading academics in the gaming space, who was an expert witness at the U.S. Senate on the constitutionality of game banning laws, held a roundtable on game addiction at GDC. Williams referenced Carnegie Mellon University A. Fleming Seay's research on addiction in an MMO context.

The addiction, defined as "problematic use" by Seay, is when an entertainment product dominates and displaces other behavior,
causes conflict and not playing causes anxiety. Seay found that self regulation (self monitoring, self evaluation and self consequence) was difficult for certain people. This seems obvious, but like anything in academia, if somebody hasn't done the research it isn't legitimate. The other thing Seay found was people's affinity for a game caused their problematic use -- but the interesting part was that those with "problematic use" were those who didn't like the game they were playing. They would do the same actions over and over again, didn't find pleasure in their actions and got stuck in a rut.

Williams thinks now is a the time to start looking into the ideas of "gaming addiction" and "problematic use" before it gains traction. He says, "Coming up with a solution to that, is better than sitting in front of Congress in ten years."

[jwilds73]

I think we should do away with parachutes and bungie cords that way people won't get addicted to the thrill of jumping out of airplanes or bungie jumping.

Lets face it no matter what it is people are going to take something in their life they enjoy and over enjoy it.

It's quite evident that people like Prof. Dmitri Williams and Seay are addicted to performing studies and bilking congress for money to continue research and create new terms for addiction.

[StormB]

I think we should do away with parachutes and bungie cords that way people won't get addicted to the thrill of jumping out of airplanes or bungie jumping.

Lets face it no matter what it is people are going to take something in their life they enjoy and over enjoy it.

It's quite evident that people like Prof. Dmitri Williams and Seay are addicted to performing studies and bilking congress for money to continue research and create new terms for addiction.

lol! Well said that man!

[Broadus]

I have often found myself playing games that I didn't even enjoy, like Halo's single player, or a game that I found frustratingly difficult to beat but felt like I had some obligation to beat it.

[Basil Zero]

via joystiq

Prof. Dmitri Williams, one of the leading academics in the gaming space, who was an expert witness at the U.S. Senate on the constitutionality of game banning laws, held a roundtable on game addiction at GDC. Williams referenced Carnegie Mellon University A. Fleming Seay's research on addiction in an MMO context.

The addiction, defined as "problematic use" by Seay, is when an entertainment product dominates and displaces other behavior,
causes conflict and not playing causes anxiety. Seay found that self regulation (self monitoring, self evaluation and self consequence) was difficult for certain people. This seems obvious, but like anything in academia, if somebody hasn't done the research it isn't legitimate. The other thing Seay found was people's affinity for a game caused their problematic use -- but the interesting part was that those with "problematic use" were those who didn't like the game they were playing. They would do the same actions over and over again, didn't find pleasure in their actions and got stuck in a rut.

Williams thinks now is a the time to start looking into the ideas of "gaming addiction" and "problematic use" before it gains traction. He says, "Coming up with a solution to that, is better than sitting in front of Congress in ten years."

well this doesnt mean every single player, just a certain amount of gamers in the world.

I agree, there were some instances that even i had to play a game until finish though i never did like it, example would be a few months ago, i played all 4 of the NES Adventure Island games, though i am not a big fan of the series nor did i find the gameplay appealing, i still played it, just to feel recognition from beating it, the feeling is unexplainable, but i'm sure others feel the same way.

[jdnation]

I can relate in a way... I can get frustrated when I play a hard portion of a game a couple times over and fail... quite an interesting different take... but this isn't just a problem only found in games.