5 ms·

Posted it the other day on another thread, will post it here again so people can see it. Here is my own experience with this. As crazy as these articles have b

Posted it the other day on another thread, will post it here again so people can see it. Here is my own experience with this. As crazy as these articles have been about gaming addiction being a medical condition are, I believe it. I'm in my early 20s, ever since I was in my mid teens I was addicted to video games. All through grade school and in college now, I struggle to put the controller down. I routinely don't get enough sleep because I can't stop playing. As soon as I come home I am on, and I won't get off until the early hours of the morning. It's a mixture of reasons why I guess; it keeps my mind off of reality, I enjoy the satisfaction of winning frequently, and it fulfills my desire of being in a progression based system. Achievements, knowing that my actions will eventually unlock achievements and level-ups, it keeps me going. I can't play games that don't have progression systems of some sort because I feel like without progression, it's a waste of time. Sure you can kind of get that in the real world, but it's harder and takes so much longer. Why do that when I have an easy alternative sitting on my desk? I really want to break my addiction to gaming as it really does affect some parts of my life, especially academic.

bootstf 8y ago
It's not that far fetched, really. For a lack of a better word, modern video games are increasingly "manipulative" when it comes to incentivizing players to play more, and without sounding conspiratorial, gaming companies probably benefit a whole lot from gaming addictions fueled by progression systems like you mentioned. Compare that to classic games like Earthbound where an in-game character will bug you repeatedly to take a break if you play for too long. An extreme and nostalgic example, but mostly my point is that developers are much better at developing "hooks" in a gameplay loop that keeps a player going now in addition to games being way more stimulating.
kibwen 8y ago
> As crazy as these articles have been about gaming addiction being a medical condition are I appreciate that you're sort of equivocating here to preemptively deter the critics, but I'll take a stronger stance. Gaming is indisputably "addictive" in the layman's sense, even if people seem to get grumpy over using the term "addiction" for anything other than substance abuse. Regardless of what we call it, the detriment to daily life is similar. I myself experience some minor form of game addiction: I played World of Warcraft about a decade ago, and even though I only played for two years and even though I was the furthest thing from a hardcore player (I never even got a character to max level, I just loved making alts), to this day I still get occasional and inexplicable cravings to play it. These episodes aren't prompted by anything I can perceive. It feels like a tugging in my heart, the same sort of ache you might feel when you watch a loved one suffering yet are powerless to help them. I've played a whole damn lot of games in my life, but that's the only one that I've ever jonesed for.
- jlelonm 8y ago
  Same. It's the strangest thing - I watched porn from around 14 years old to about 4 years ago (when I was 22), and I had intermittent cravings until about a year later (23), when they stopped completely. When I gave up social media (although I've since relapsed and am now back on it), I didn't have cravings for it after a while. But with WoW.... I literally have a craving every couple months, without fail, even though I only played for about 2 years from 2004 to 2006.
- naravara 8y ago
  With MMOs it might be the melding of an addictive feedback loop with actual socializing. Most WoW addicts I've met seem to have pretty tight relationships with their guildmates or in-game friends. You hear something similar from people who quit smoking, about how they miss the social aspect of taking breaks to go outside and chat.
  - krageon 8y ago
    After you quit smoking you can just still take breaks and go outside with your still-smoking friends though. After you quit an MMO it's really hard to get the same amount of social time with your former mates, especially if they still play.
ericdykstra 8y ago
Just play enough clicker games until you realize that "progression for progression's sake" is nothing but an empty dopamine hit. Games can be a fantastic story-telling medium, a competitive environment where you can test your skill and intellect against real human opponents, a lot of pure fun, or a way to spend time playing cooperatively with friends. All of these can be worthwhile activities in different ways. Grinding mindlessly to make some numbers go up is not worthwhile at all. Playing a game just for the progression that you wouldn't play otherwise is a sign of addiction and can have a substantial negative impact on your life. I love games, but some self-awareness about what they are actually doing for you goes a long way to making them a part of a healthy, productive life rather than something that destroys it.
- naravara 8y ago
  >Just play enough clicker games until you realize that "progression for progression's sake" is nothing but an empty dopamine hit. That might be clear for you, but it's not for everyone. The way the OP describes his motivation for gaming sounds extremely similar to people with gambling addictions. Self-awareness isn't enough for everyone. Some people are just wired to respond to that dopamine hit from progression systems in an especially strong, self-reinforcing way. They need more help and one of the first steps to that is endorsing more ethical game design that doesn't go so heavily into building addictive feedback loops.
  - beenBoutIT 8y ago
    Sadly, these people are effectively destined to be exploited by one thing or another. From crack rock to food or sex or anything else that they find enjoyable.
- RHSeeger 8y ago
  - a fantastic story-telling medium - a competitive environment where you can test your skill and intellect against real human opponents - playing cooperatively with friends. - Grinding mindlessly to make some numbers go up All of those are different things that it's possible to enjoy. I would hesitate to say any one is more "correct" than the others, other than how socially acceptable they are.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
bytematic 8y ago
Personal question I know, but do you have ADHD? I think there is a relation between motivation and 'wanting' dopamine 'infusions' that also plays into why people with ADHD might thrive in that environment.

bootstf 8y ago

It's not that far fetched, really. For a lack of a better word, modern video games are increasingly "manipulative" when it comes to incentivizing players to play more, and without sounding conspiratorial, gaming companies probably benefit a whole lot from gaming addictions fueled by progression systems like you mentioned. Compare that to classic games like Earthbound where an in-game character will bug you repeatedly to take a break if you play for too long. An extreme and nostalgic example, but mostly my point is that developers are much better at developing "hooks" in a gameplay loop that keeps a player going now in addition to games being way more stimulating.

kibwen 8y ago

> As crazy as these articles have been about gaming addiction being a medical condition are I appreciate that you're sort of equivocating here to preemptively deter the critics, but I'll take a stronger stance. Gaming is indisputably "addictive" in the layman's sense, even if people seem to get grumpy over using the term "addiction" for anything other than substance abuse. Regardless of what we call it, the detriment to daily life is similar. I myself experience some minor form of game addiction: I played World of Warcraft about a decade ago, and even though I only played for two years and even though I was the furthest thing from a hardcore player (I never even got a character to max level, I just loved making alts), to this day I still get occasional and inexplicable cravings to play it. These episodes aren't prompted by anything I can perceive. It feels like a tugging in my heart, the same sort of ache you might feel when you watch a loved one suffering yet are powerless to help them. I've played a whole damn lot of games in my life, but that's the only one that I've ever jonesed for.

jlelonm 8y ago
Same. It's the strangest thing - I watched porn from around 14 years old to about 4 years ago (when I was 22), and I had intermittent cravings until about a year later (23), when they stopped completely. When I gave up social media (although I've since relapsed and am now back on it), I didn't have cravings for it after a while. But with WoW.... I literally have a craving every couple months, without fail, even though I only played for about 2 years from 2004 to 2006.
naravara 8y ago
With MMOs it might be the melding of an addictive feedback loop with actual socializing. Most WoW addicts I've met seem to have pretty tight relationships with their guildmates or in-game friends. You hear something similar from people who quit smoking, about how they miss the social aspect of taking breaks to go outside and chat.
- krageon 8y ago
  After you quit smoking you can just still take breaks and go outside with your still-smoking friends though. After you quit an MMO it's really hard to get the same amount of social time with your former mates, especially if they still play.

ericdykstra 8y ago

Just play enough clicker games until you realize that "progression for progression's sake" is nothing but an empty dopamine hit. Games can be a fantastic story-telling medium, a competitive environment where you can test your skill and intellect against real human opponents, a lot of pure fun, or a way to spend time playing cooperatively with friends. All of these can be worthwhile activities in different ways. Grinding mindlessly to make some numbers go up is not worthwhile at all. Playing a game just for the progression that you wouldn't play otherwise is a sign of addiction and can have a substantial negative impact on your life. I love games, but some self-awareness about what they are actually doing for you goes a long way to making them a part of a healthy, productive life rather than something that destroys it.

naravara 8y ago
>Just play enough clicker games until you realize that "progression for progression's sake" is nothing but an empty dopamine hit. That might be clear for you, but it's not for everyone. The way the OP describes his motivation for gaming sounds extremely similar to people with gambling addictions. Self-awareness isn't enough for everyone. Some people are just wired to respond to that dopamine hit from progression systems in an especially strong, self-reinforcing way. They need more help and one of the first steps to that is endorsing more ethical game design that doesn't go so heavily into building addictive feedback loops.
- beenBoutIT 8y ago
  Sadly, these people are effectively destined to be exploited by one thing or another. From crack rock to food or sex or anything else that they find enjoyable.
RHSeeger 8y ago
- a fantastic story-telling medium - a competitive environment where you can test your skill and intellect against real human opponents - playing cooperatively with friends. - Grinding mindlessly to make some numbers go up All of those are different things that it's possible to enjoy. I would hesitate to say any one is more "correct" than the others, other than how socially acceptable they are.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

bytematic 8y ago

Personal question I know, but do you have ADHD? I think there is a relation between motivation and 'wanting' dopamine 'infusions' that also plays into why people with ADHD might thrive in that environment.