People can be "addicted" to anything depending on personality type and history. There's classic drug and alcohol addiction, which is a chemical dependancy, and there are other addictions such as gambling, gaming, chaos, and sex. Outside of the drugs and alcohol, those other activities aren't inherently addictive. People aren't going to stop having sex just because a certain percentage of people become addicted to it.

So what's the point of this thread?

Originally posted by rygard49

People can be "addicted" to anything depending on personality type and history. There's classic drug and alcohol addiction, which is a chemical dependancy, and there are other addictions such as gambling, gaming, chaos, and sex. Outside of the drugs and alcohol, those other activities aren't inherently addictive. People aren't going to stop having sex just because a certain percentage of people become addicted to it.

So what's the point of this thread?

 Actually they can't be addicted to any just anything.  The newest defintion of addiction based on diagnostic criteria is a disregulated recepotor reflecting the locus of control being exterior to the person. 

All others are considered an abuse because the locus of control is within the person. 

This reflects a fundamental difference between the two and is dependant on the cause, and thus reflects different treatment. 

Not everything is addictive, and not everyone can be addicted to it.  But everything can be abused - even extremely and dangerously so.

Gambgiln, gaming, chaos are no longer considered addictions but abuse. Sex is an iffy one because there are definately receptors associated wiht this.

Additionally the idea of an addictive personality has been disproven - well maybe not disproven but after 30 years of research into it there is no evidence for it at all, so that idea has been dropped. 

Now a certain number of people will be born with a disregulated receptor, and another number (both relatively unknown at this point) can have receptors become disregulating based on their actions.  But not everyone  can become addicted.  Current neural research is now showing that only about 20% (which is still high) can ever become addicted to hard drugs such as cocaine.  Marijuana - only about 4%.  Alcohol - almost everyone because it acts on about a dozen different receptors.

But everyone can certainly abuse thes things and many others - and still destroy their lives from it.  But the definition of addiction has now changed to reflect the locus of control.

Venge

edit - however I'm sure we'll be saying this for a long time.  It normally takes about 10-15 years before the research makes its through the masses.

edit - as we learn more about an issue, our understanding about them changes.  As our understanding changes so does the definition and thus the words we use to communicate the meanings.

I guess, the only thing I'm addicted to is gaming in general, but I can't play a single game for long (minecraft being the exception it seems). I can play a single title for a couple weeks for a couple hours a day, but then I always change it up to something else otherwise I get burnt out. That's why I find it hard to play MMOs these days since they're more about time commitment than anything (even casual ones seem to require about a few hours a week of committed playtime to be worth it). It would be funny if someone created an MMO that actually rewarded players for novel ways to alternate their playing habits (duration and role/mechanics). I wonder if such a game would sell in the current market with such a basic principle. :/

I'm having trouble trying to stay in a MMO.........so I decided to sub for 3 months of Rift :)

then hopefully I can stay longer in SWTOR and GW2, even possibly in TERA.

I'm sad about current games (maybe except rift and aion), but the future is looking bright.

When people say:

"you can get addicted to anything"

I think that isn't true to begin with, and it's often used as a justification for something.

It also doesn't take into account that some things are a lot more addictive than others.

(I think MMO are addictive btw)

I smoked cigarettes for 17 years,  I quit cold turkey 2 years ago.

I drank caffinated drinks for 20+ years, I gave up all caffiene about two months ago.

But when i'm on the road for a few weeks, all i think about is gaming... 

Maybe games are more addictive then nicotine and caffiene.  Or maybe its just easier to identify those addictions and overcome them, where video games are an obscure obsession and hard to isolate and overcome.

A week with out playing an MMO? Easy.

Try going a week with out using a computer or any other electronic device. That's hard.

Originally posted by Jimmy_Scythe

Go a week without playing an MMO. If you aren't addicted, then this should be easy.

I'll just leave this here and see what you guys do with it....

I'm not subbed to anything right now. They stopped making good mmo's mmo's that I enjoy playing, I stopped playing. Was easy.

Hello,I'm a Dwarf Priest,and I'm an alcoholic.

Originally posted by just1opinion

I don't think there's such a thing as "MMO Addiction" but rather specific game addiction, and THEN....it's not like everlasting for most people, so is it really an addiction?  Probably not.

 

I've been addicted to UO, EQ2, and WoW....but only until I got sick of them.  So I don't suppose they were really addictions but more just like projects from my hobby (MMOs) that I was really enjoying at the time.  I managed to work, eat, sleep, have a family, etc. during the years I played these games too, so again....not likely addiction.

 

Maybe MMO addiction does exist for those poor souls who lose their families and jobs because of a game.  I think so.

i myself was so heavily addicted to play eq1 back in 2002 that i only slept 3-4 hours a day so i could play 16 hours and still work some to pay for internet and sub.

some people have literally become so addicted to a game that they have played until they died of exhaustion related issues or dehydration.

some people (and it makes the news when they do) have sat and played games like wow, eq, and facebook farm until their child has died of neglect (both older kids getting in trouble with things they shouldnt get into and parent didnt notice, and babies starving in their crib).

so can people become addicted to a game?  you bet your ass they can

Originally posted by Tokyojoe

Hello,I'm a Dwarf Priest,and I'm an alcoholic.

i c wut u did ther

Originally posted by Jimmy_Scythe

Go a week without playing an MMO. If you aren't addicted, then this should be easy.

I'll just leave this here and see what you guys do with it....

Simple.  I've gone almost a year without playing an MMO.  From the looks of things, might be another couple, or forever, before I play again.

Originally posted by GreenHell

Originally posted by Teala

I do all the time...with todays games it is really easy thing to do.  ^_^

Same here. I haven't played an MMO in months.

Just check out the "top voted games" MMO list on the front page of the site.  Change it from "development" to "released" and see why so many of us have been all but cured of our MMO addictions.

I do seem to be addicted to MMO hype, checking the latest GW2 videos and such, even though it looks like it may not even be out untill 2013(?!?) but this is what addiction becomes when you're starved for it.

Only MMO on the horizon now is SWTOR, a sort of beacon of bad MMO design that's been getting hammered on almost as much as its been hyped.  My best hope of a fix, to just hope it isn't as bad as it looks, because there's just nothing else out there, with even Tera being pushed back another six months.

not addiction asuch but if somebody has got into the habit of logging in every day for 7 hours a day then they might find it tricky to break out of.

Originally posted by Jimmy_Scythe

Go a week without playing an MMO. If you aren't addicted, then this should be easy.

I'll just leave this here and see what you guys do with it....

I'll use it as an example of how people will call anything addiction when they don't understand compulsion, habit, routine, marketing, peer pressure or any of the other factors that prompt people to return to something when they have an arbitrary reason to stay away from it.

I'd think a sign of a greater issue would be ceasing to enjoy a particular form of entertainment for a week because some random guy on the internet told them to.

I'll just leave this here and see what you do with it....

I don't know about others but i have never been addictive to MMORPG. It could be because i love outdoors and love spending time with family and friends. When MMORPG become more than just a hobby and pass time activity, you know there is a problem.

Originally posted by Loktofeit

Originally posted by Jimmy_Scythe

Go a week without playing an MMO. If you aren't addicted, then this should be easy.

I'll just leave this here and see what you guys do with it....

I'll use it as an example of how people will call anything addiction when they don't understand compulsion, habit, routine, marketing, peer pressure or any of the other factors that prompt people to return to something when they have an arbitrary reason to stay away from it.

I'd think a sign of a greater issue would be ceasing to enjoy a particular form of entertainment for a week because some random guy on the internet told them to.

I'll just leave this here and see what you do with it....

Addition / complusion are 2 very different things. While you are right there are many factors that influence people's decisions / make it difficult for people to stop doing things, addictions don't have limits. You may be surprised about how common addictive (aka obsessive) personalities really are. While many may get themselves addicted to helping things (healthy foods, exercise, etc.) there are just as many who don't.

Also, addictions aren't limited to any one thing in particular. One may not necessarily be addicted to MMOs per se, but rather the act of playing video games (or even social video games specifically) as a whole. You see this a lot when people complain about immersion and getting fully engrossed within a game. Typically such a person doesn't want to casually enjoy a game, but rather get engrossed in it.

Compulsiveness is merely the ease at which a person can change what he's doing. A compulsive person would just as easily start playing an MMO as would go outside and go swimming.

Originally posted by AzurePrower

A week with out playing an MMO? Easy.

Try going a week with out using a computer or any other electronic device. That's hard.

You mean like when I go camping for two weeks?

Originally posted by Teala

I do all the time...with todays games it is really easy thing to do.  ^_^

The extremely sad truth. ]:

Originally posted by Loktofeit

Originally posted by Jimmy_Scythe

Go a week without playing an MMO. If you aren't addicted, then this should be easy.

I'll just leave this here and see what you guys do with it....

I'll use it as an example of how people will call anything addiction when they don't understand compulsion, habit, routine, marketing, peer pressure or any of the other factors that prompt people to return to something when they have an arbitrary reason to stay away from it.

I'd think a sign of a greater issue would be ceasing to enjoy a particular form of entertainment for a week because some random guy on the internet told them to.

I'll just leave this here and see what you do with it....

Touche good sir... Touche