3 ms·

Reminds me of the studies with drug addiction and rats. IIRC some of the early studies about how certain drugs were so addictive were done with rats who basical

Reminds me of the studies with drug addiction and rats. IIRC some of the early studies about how certain drugs were so addictive were done with rats who basically couldn't do anything else, and when you give the rats other things to do in their life, suddenly the drugs aren't as interesting. I think the fundamental thing about playing repetitive games like WoW forever is that the skinner box is more interesting than real life, which is more an indictment of their real life than the game. Not sure how to fix that, though, and certainly there are people who can enjoy MMO's in moderation.

vharuck 5y ago
This may not be true for everyone, but it was for me. In college, I was skipping classes and ignoring friends. I just stayed in my room and played WoW. Then my graphics card kicked the bucket, and the game was unplayable. So I stayed in the library and read random books, skipping classes and ignoring friends. I wasn't addicted to WoW. I just had major depression. After dealing with that over many years, I got back into WoW. Played a lot less of it, then.
- TulliusCicero 5y ago
  I had the same problem with spending too much time in Warcraft 3 in college. I dunno if I'd say that I was depressed, exactly, but I was feeling overwhelmed by my classes. Like many of us here, I'd had a very easy time in high school, and I was unused to classes that would seriously challenge me, where it would be a struggle to learn some of the content. That, combined with new freedom (I was several hundred miles away from home, and my parents had been fairly sheltering/controlling) did not make for a disciplined student, and I ended up getting academically suspended. Came back several years later with my head on straight and retook the various classes I failed, mostly getting A's. Was actually getting an academic scholarship from my GPA by my last semester.
PeterisP 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park likely is the study you were thinking about, studying how the willingness/desire of rats to self-administer morphine changes depending on their living conditions.

vharuck 5y ago

This may not be true for everyone, but it was for me. In college, I was skipping classes and ignoring friends. I just stayed in my room and played WoW. Then my graphics card kicked the bucket, and the game was unplayable. So I stayed in the library and read random books, skipping classes and ignoring friends. I wasn't addicted to WoW. I just had major depression. After dealing with that over many years, I got back into WoW. Played a lot less of it, then.

TulliusCicero 5y ago
I had the same problem with spending too much time in Warcraft 3 in college. I dunno if I'd say that I was depressed, exactly, but I was feeling overwhelmed by my classes. Like many of us here, I'd had a very easy time in high school, and I was unused to classes that would seriously challenge me, where it would be a struggle to learn some of the content. That, combined with new freedom (I was several hundred miles away from home, and my parents had been fairly sheltering/controlling) did not make for a disciplined student, and I ended up getting academically suspended. Came back several years later with my head on straight and retook the various classes I failed, mostly getting A's. Was actually getting an academic scholarship from my GPA by my last semester.

PeterisP 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Park likely is the study you were thinking about, studying how the willingness/desire of rats to self-administer morphine changes depending on their living conditions.