Bryan W. Alaspa 1Addiction to the avatars
March 10th 2010 14:33
What is an addiction? There are a lot of people who have a very narrow view of what is and is not an addiction. There are those who say that only addictions to things like drugs and alcohol are real because they involve ingesting chemicals that alter your perceptions or contain things within them that become addicting. I don’t believe that is the case. I believe that a person can become addicted to anything that makes them feel good.
Whatever the addiction, when an addict is in full addiction, the results can be profoundly tragic. A recent news story appeared that stated a couple from Korea had become so addicted to an online game that they neglected their own, real life, child at home. That real life child starved to death because the parents were so addicted they only fed the child once, in the morning, and then left it alone all day while they spent time in internet cafes playing this game.
I know it seems crazy. How can anyone become addicted to a game? The fact is, I have seen it happen. Hell, it almost happened to me when I discovered one of those online “avatar” games like “Second Life.” What I played was not Second Life, but it’s younger and slightly more perverted cousin. Nevertheless, it was powerfully addicting.
The couple in Korea were reportedly poor and both parents were out of work. The game involved creating characters and then working and building a virtual life. You were then “rewarded” with some kind of perfect child with super powers that you then had to nurture. The better you did, the more respect you got in the game.
Drugs, essentially, mask the real life of the person taking them. So, too, goes alcohol. People get addicted to the rush they get when they win as they gamble. Some get addicted to the powerful pleasure that comes with sex. Others get addicted to the rush that comes with stealing. All of those things involve some kind of chemical release in the brain that, for a time, makes the person forget where they are, what they are, and focuses them entirely on the moment. The same thing happens in those video games.
While I was on that game I met a young girl and we supposedly entered a relationship. Of course, over a year later, I see that the relationship was no more real than the game. In fact, this girl was in college and she spent so much time playing this game she was skipping classes, in danger of failing classes, and in danger of being kicked out of school. She would spend her entire day in a room playing this game. To her, everything was soon the game, including our supposed real-life relationship.
I have managed to never get drunk and never get high. I know that I have an addictive personality. When I realized she was starting to drag me down with her addiction into some kind of addiction of my own, the relationship ended. I do not know what became of her.
I think that this tragic story out of Korea is just one of many around the world. It is probably the first casualty of what will, ultimately, end up being many more. With the increasing ease of access to the internet, more and more people are likely to get lost in fantasy worlds that let them be someone or something else and forget about what real life is all about.
Of course, like many who drink or even dabble in drugs, there are plenty who do not fall into addiction. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who play these games and do not lose focus. As such, these games should not be banned. They can be a lot of fun. I just think the world had better prepare itself for more stories like this. I doubt it will be the last, by far.
Whatever the addiction, when an addict is in full addiction, the results can be profoundly tragic. A recent news story appeared that stated a couple from Korea had become so addicted to an online game that they neglected their own, real life, child at home. That real life child starved to death because the parents were so addicted they only fed the child once, in the morning, and then left it alone all day while they spent time in internet cafes playing this game.
I know it seems crazy. How can anyone become addicted to a game? The fact is, I have seen it happen. Hell, it almost happened to me when I discovered one of those online “avatar” games like “Second Life.” What I played was not Second Life, but it’s younger and slightly more perverted cousin. Nevertheless, it was powerfully addicting.
The couple in Korea were reportedly poor and both parents were out of work. The game involved creating characters and then working and building a virtual life. You were then “rewarded” with some kind of perfect child with super powers that you then had to nurture. The better you did, the more respect you got in the game.
Drugs, essentially, mask the real life of the person taking them. So, too, goes alcohol. People get addicted to the rush they get when they win as they gamble. Some get addicted to the powerful pleasure that comes with sex. Others get addicted to the rush that comes with stealing. All of those things involve some kind of chemical release in the brain that, for a time, makes the person forget where they are, what they are, and focuses them entirely on the moment. The same thing happens in those video games.
While I was on that game I met a young girl and we supposedly entered a relationship. Of course, over a year later, I see that the relationship was no more real than the game. In fact, this girl was in college and she spent so much time playing this game she was skipping classes, in danger of failing classes, and in danger of being kicked out of school. She would spend her entire day in a room playing this game. To her, everything was soon the game, including our supposed real-life relationship.
I have managed to never get drunk and never get high. I know that I have an addictive personality. When I realized she was starting to drag me down with her addiction into some kind of addiction of my own, the relationship ended. I do not know what became of her.
I think that this tragic story out of Korea is just one of many around the world. It is probably the first casualty of what will, ultimately, end up being many more. With the increasing ease of access to the internet, more and more people are likely to get lost in fantasy worlds that let them be someone or something else and forget about what real life is all about.
Of course, like many who drink or even dabble in drugs, there are plenty who do not fall into addiction. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who play these games and do not lose focus. As such, these games should not be banned. They can be a lot of fun. I just think the world had better prepare itself for more stories like this. I doubt it will be the last, by far.
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