Level up, level out: moving past the “addiction”

There are a couple of reasons why I’m calling this article “Levelling Up”, and we’ll get to each of them as this article passes. There’s just one question I want each reader to think about while reading this story, or even while playing whatever game you happen to be into now: what does it mean to like something or someone?

Recently, WoW Insider put up a video by Shutterbox Productions about MMOs called “Level Up”, which discussed some of the current perceptions surrounding such games, including the ability of those games to alter lives, relationships, and start addictions. When the narrator tells viewers, “What are we to make of these strange online communities? Dear viewer, that is up to you to decide,” I can’t help but refrain from stating similar opinions of disbelief that people still think that way.

Mostly because, as someone who spends a good portion of his time online, reading and writing about the gamers’ lifeblood, my perspective has to differ; otherwise, the fun that comes from gaming gets lost in the work that needs to be done.

The full article awaits after the jump!

There are a couple of reasons why I’m calling this article “Levelling Up”, and we’ll get to each of them as this article passes. There’s just one question I want each reader to think about while reading this story, or even while playing whatever game you happen to be into now: what does it mean to like something or someone?

Recently, WoW Insider put up a video by Shutterbox Productions about MMOs called “Level Up”, which discussed some of the current perceptions surrounding such games, including the ability of those games to alter lives, relationships, and start addictions. When the narrator tells viewers, “What are we to make of these strange online communities? Dear viewer, that is up to you to decide,” I can’t help but refrain from stating similar opinions of disbelief that people still think that way.

Mostly because, as someone who spends a good portion of his time online, reading and writing about the gamers’ lifeblood, my perspective has to differ; otherwise, the fun that comes from gaming gets lost in the work that needs to be done.

Addiction

What does it mean to be addicted? Wikipedia seems to give the best general definition for the term as it applies to games and other sorts of activities:

Addiction is a chronic disorder proposed to be precipitated by a combination of genetic, biological/pharmacological and social factors. Addiction is characterized by the repeated use of substances or behaviors despite clear evidence of morbidity secondary to such use.

While there is some inconsistency with this definition (doing work we hate could be considered an addiction under that banner), what it also connotes is that anything can have addictive properties and will probably create an addict out of at least one person, given the adequate circumstances to create an addiction.

Those who scoff at the validity of such assertions may be able to rejoice in their normalcy, but it doesn’t negate the validity of someone getting in way over their heads when they undertake an endeavor.

Levels are long and lonesome. - Image 1I like chicken-flavored ice cream… and MMOs.

What does the above header have to do with this article? Well, assume that you do like chickenflavored ice cream. Would you eat it every day?

You probably wouldn’t. The joy of eating something you like comes from being able to have it in moderation. Having one flavor of ice cream every day for the rest of your life might sound great, but you’re bound to hate eating it eventually, right?

When I saw the video about MMOs, I couldn’t help but wonder what else it meant. Personally, I’d have to say that most types of addictions and all hobbies all start out as things we like.

Azeroth: Paradise lost

I can’t help but think about it more because that inescapable feeling of World of Warcraft becoming work rather than play slowly reared its ugly head in my own life. The sense of awe and wonder at visiting a virtual world never goes away, but it does diminish with each new road taken and with each day spent in a routine.

I used to be part of the guild that started off being casual, but ended up becoming a raid guild. It was fun at first. Helping each other level up, seeing new content, getting stronger, helping newbies… there was something uniquely invigorating about that feeling of making a difference, and that’s what made me keep playing.

The problem started when the game took over the need for fun. Imagine feeling jealous of other players because of their gear or of wanting to see new content so bad that you’d slave over an instance to uncover more of Molten Core’s storyline. That was the pervasive feeling that slowly crept over me, and if you’re an MMO player, it’s one that we already have a name for: the grind.

There was only one thing that really stopped me from keeping on playing, and that was the wonders of prepaid cards and expiration dates.

Forget levelling up. Level out.

That’s why, when I got to thinking about it, as much as I wanted to get back onto my guild on Kul Tiras, I wanted to see if I could live without the game for a little while. Strangely enough, I managed to do so.

I went back to the gym, made more friends, got myself a job writing for this website and a spare part-time job helping kids, and I can now go back to playing WoW whenever I want to.

What I mean to say is that, my purpose for playing is having fun. If levelling up is becoming a chore, then there should definitely be alarm bells going in our heads to leave the playing field until we can level out our own neuroses and unhealthy addictions.

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