by Jeff Woleslagle on Aug 24, 2006
So what exactly does being addicted to MMO's mean? What is harmful play and what is not?
Gamasutra has posted a fascinating article on this current hot topic which takes a look at a university thesis recently written on the subject. It really exmaines in detail the idea of MMO addiction.
The study, which examined in-game behaviors on a number of levels, found that playing with real life friends, side activities like exploration or taking pictures, and membership to social guilds may be related to less harmful play. On the other hand, stealing from or otherwise manipulating players, along with membership to more goal-oriented hardcore raid guilds may be related to addiction. Player versus player activity was related to both less damaging and addictive behaviors on different levels of data analysis. While these relationships are present, it is not known whether games are actually the cause of this behavior, or if these are simply behaviors that already addicted players seek out.
You can read the full article here!