Question:
What would you say crosses the line between it being a fun past-time,
and an addiction?
Does it have to be harmful in some way to be labelled as an addiction?
I remember watching a documentary about these young Japanese men who
would just stay at home in their room all day and play games... Have
you heard any stories about extreme computer game addiction?
Answer:
*sigh* and yet ANOTHER discussion which starts off to make a "virtual"
thing into a "new" thing with new definitions and new rules and new fixes
needed.
Your questions do not involve computer game addiction as much as they do
the word addiction. I could go into a long discussion if you wish but
basically the answers are the same if you look into the subject of
addiction and then look at the computer games part of it.
NO it does not have to be haful to be considered addictive.
YES computer games addiction can become a case of self-destructiveness.
and for the next bout of questions...
NO I know of no specific programs to treat computer games addiction but
YES there are generic programs for addiction which can easily me modified
to handle this.
AND to bring it back into the charter of the website......
there are things that developers can do to help their games avoid causing
problems in this area which do NOT hurt their sales any. (I dont mean the
.sig thats just a funny I came up with for the complaints about the
Dominions 2 demo having a 40 turn limit)
Gandalf Parker
-- WARNING: this game is NOT suitable for students, interns, apprentices,
or anyone else who is expected to pass tests on a regular basis. Do not
think about Dominions strategys while operating heavy machinery. The
demo has built-in protections which should not be bypassed. They are for
your health as much as for monetary reasons. Do not begin on the full
version without first making arrangments for someone to check on you
daily. If you find that your game has continued for more than 36 hours
straight then you should consult a physician immeadiately (Do NOT show
him the game!)
