Video Game Addiction Support Group

I've got several questions for the game-players out there. I think one of the reasons that addiction to electronic gaming is so insidious is that when you first take it up as just another "hobby" you are joining a "community."

Just as there might be the overall category
"Sports Fans"...broken down by sport, and then by team...there might be people who like MMOs, people who like single-player RPGs, or people who like FPS or RTS...and who then in turn like a specific game title within that type. And see, I know I can use all these abbreviations and be easily understood, because the "Gaming Community" has its own jargon, its own language really. And most of the people in the community really identify with it and with their peers in it.
I know that for me, if you asked me to list ten words that define myself, that describe who I am, one of the first ones that would have come to mind (until recently) would have been "Gamer" because it was very central to my identity, my view of who I am. Mind you, I saw myself as a Gamer long before I ever owned
a computer...even if the games in question were things like D&D, Risk, or Axis & Allies.

So I've got some questions for the gamers who've come to this site, whether they know they have a problem, think they might maybe, or are just curious.

1. Do you identify yourself as a "Gamer"?
2. Are you male or female (I'm curious because
the stereotype is that most Gamers are guys,
but I know many, many women who are.
3. What games have you played the most, or are
you playing now?
4. If you've devoted alot of time to a multi-
player game online, whether an FPS or RPG,
are you in a Guild?
5. Have you felt as if you could control and
self-regulate your computer or video game
use part of the time, but lost control with
certain games? If so, why do you think it
was? And what did you do?

For me, the times when I've really felt like I lost perspective, were because some specific new game would come out, and I would try it and it would really grab my interest. There would be this period of playing it to excess, until I beat it. Like binge drinking, I guess.
But they make these games more and more immersive, and bigger...with much longer story lines and more and more to do and see within the game world. So it isn't like you can just
play through the whole thing in a few days and toss it aside.

The game thats really sunk its fangs into me lately is Fallout 3. Oh God do I love that game. It manages to combine elements I like from both FPS and standard RPGs. My only regret is that its single-player. Well, that and the fact thats its the proverbial "monkey on my back".

And I realized that one of the main reasons I like it is because I can just walk around on this huge map and explore. I'll go up on top of something tall in the game, and be able to see literally for miles, and I'll say hmmmm... whats that over there on the horizon...and start hiking over there to check it out.

I know, this doesn't sound like a recovering addict speaking. Thats because I still haven't really accepted the notion of totally giving games up...there are very few things in my life right now that truly make me happy, and I'm reluctant to give up one of the main ones. I know I probably have to, though. Its just hard.

Oh, to answer my other questions, I've literally played at least the demo of every Fantasy MMORPG thats come out. Starting with Ultima. Played both Everquests for awhile.
I've never been an important enough member of a Guild to feel obligated to be on-line at certain times for raids or whatever, fortunately. Honestly, I don't really understand what the draw is with WOW, because though I've played it, and enjoyed it, I feel there are better games out there. Good marketing I guess.

I like a game to look real, so I'm not reminded that I'm sitting there watching a computer - as a result WOW is too "cartoony" for me, and I secretly hate it when people call their characters "toons". I want to lose myself in a game (which I guess is exactly whats happened, so be careful what you wish for). As a result, because I like history and mythology, I find Dark Age of Camelot to be the game I get into the most, even though its player population is much lower than it used to be.
Posted on 02/17/09, 05:02 am