Are Gamers Psychotic – Or Is Gaming Therapeutic?

A recent radio ad went like this:

EMPLOYMENT COUNSELOR: Employment office, may I help you?
YOUNG MAN: Yeah – I’m lookin’ for a job.
EC: I see…what kind of experience do you have?
YM: Well, I took out all the bosses in Roads of Vengeance – oh, and I just completed Level 63 of Elves and Elements!
EC: Oh, you’re a game programmer?
YM: Nah – I just play ’em.
EC: I see…well, let’s talk about high school.
YM: What system’s that for?
EC: Uh, the “education” system…
YM: Yeah, that’s probably 64 bit –
EC: Excuse me?
YM: I don’t think they make very many games for that console.
EC: Okay…hang on a sec, let me connect you with our Gaming Department…
YM: Great!

At this point, there’s a click and the line goes dead.

YM: Hello…? Hello…?

Now, the point here is that gamers seem to get a bad rap from the media. Either they’re seen as losers who have no lives outside of gaming, neglecting their studies, their friends…or there are headlines about the effect of violent games on the violent behavior of certain youths.

As for the first point – while it is true that some young people spend too much time gaming and perhaps not enough time on their studies, as far as not having a life – well, except for the fact that interactions take place online in cyberspace, there would seem to be little difference between the friendships and camaraderie formed in a gaming community and that of the local “animal” lodge (Elks, Moose, Eagles, etc.) or bowling league.

Read full article after the jump!

A recent radio ad went like this:

EMPLOYMENT COUNSELOR: Employment office, may I help you?
YOUNG MAN: Yeah – I’m lookin’ for a job.
EC: I see…what kind of experience do you have?
YM: Well, I took out all the bosses in Roads of Vengeance – oh, and I just completed Level 63 of Elves and Elements!
EC: Oh, you’re a game programmer?
YM: Nah – I just play ’em.
EC: I see…well, let’s talk about high school.
YM: What system’s that for?
EC: Uh, the “education” system…
YM: Yeah, that’s probably 64 bit –
EC: Excuse me?
YM: I don’t think they make very many games for that console.
EC: Okay…hang on a sec, let me connect you with our Gaming Department…
YM: Great!

At this point, there’s a click and the line goes dead.

YM: Hello…? Hello…?

Now, the point here is that gamers seem to get a bad rap from the media. Either they’re seen as losers who have no lives outside of gaming, neglecting their studies, their friends…or there are headlines about the effect of violent games on the violent behavior of certain youths.

As for the first point – while it is true that some young people spend too much time gaming and perhaps not enough time on their studies, as far as not having a life – well, except for the fact that interactions take place online in cyberspace, there would seem to be little difference between the friendships and camaraderie formed in a gaming community and that of the local “animal” lodge (Elks, Moose, Eagles, etc.) or bowling league.

As far as the violence goes…let’s face it. We humans are, at our core, a violent lot, with savage impulses going back millions of years – little different from the jungle apes we’re descended from. The difference is, most of us have the intelligence to recognize the fact and channel that savage, primitive energy into more constructive (or at least less destructive) activities such as sports, artistic pursuits, politics and yes – online gaming. If one feels the overwhelming urge to lay waste to an entire village, far better be it that one does it in a “virtual” world where it does no-one harm.

To say that MMORPG’s are the exclusive province of young men between the ages of 12 and 25 is inaccurate at best. In fact, the community for one popular game, The Sims 2, has active fans well past sixty. Other MMO players include civil servants, attorneys, construction bosses, nurses, and (you middle-schoolers will love this) even a few schoolteachers.

Role-playing, whether online in the gaming world, or in the “real world” (i.e. community theatre, Society for Creative Anachronism and even psychotherapy) provides healthy release for some of our darker – or simply sillier – impulses, and may even help us learn a bit about ourselves.