MMORPGs and Diminishing Health

I’ve touched on the negative psychological effects that Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games can have on its avid gamers. However there are also dangerous physical effects players can acquire during excessive amounts of playing. Some of these side effects are stemmed from psychological dependence and addiction; while others are just arise from the physical task of playing these games.

Cases have been reported of people suffering physical ailments related to gaming. In South Korea multiple people actually died from cardiac arrest due to daylong gaming sessions without food or water. Although this is a rarity it still happens and needs to be addressed.

An article in Time magazine, states there is a strong correlation between regular gaming increased depression, higher body mass index (BMI), and numerous other negative physical and mental health issues. Increased body mass index is probably the most common of health issues avid gamers suffer. Time spent at the gym or partaking in physical activities is replaced by sitting in front of a screen pressing buttons. Increased BMI can result in cardiac arrest, diabetes, and stroke (National Center for Health Marketing).

There is such a strong correlation with excessive gaming and health issues that the website, video-game-addiction.org, was created to help users identify these health problems. Among the previously stated aliments that can arise from partaking in too much MMORPGs, various other health issues can arise. Many gamers suffer from migraines, sleep disturbances, and carpal tunnel syndrome. However there is a new physical ailment circulating doctor’s offices that is solely caused by gaming. It is called Playstation Palm.

 Over-enthusiastic and excessive handling of the “joypads” or remotes used to control gaming consoles causes Playstation Palm. This condition was identified in the British Journal of Dermatology and is identified by painful sore patches on the palms of the gamer’s hands. This condition marks one of the first to be solely caused by participating in excessive game play, whether that be through MMORPGs or regular video games. 

Gamer suffering from “Playstation Palm”.

MMORPGs can also have an effect on a gamer’s levels of brain activity. No matter how complex a certain quest may be, the truth is it will not utilize as much brain power as a regular daily activity would. As discussed on megagames.com, Akio Mori, a professor at Tokyo's Nihon University, conducted a recent study observing the effects of video games on brain activity. The results showed a higher decrease of beta waves the more one played video games. "Beta wave activity in people in the [highest amount of video game playing] was constantly near zero, even when they weren't playing, showing that they hardly used the prefrontal regions of their brains. Many of the people in this group told researchers that they got angry easily, couldn't concentrate, and had trouble associating with friends. Although these levels of brain activity are only temporary they can be extremely dangerous for children and adolescents who are still growing.

Youths who are heavy gamers can end up with “video-game brain” a condition where key parts of the frontal region of their brain become chronically underused, altering moods. This lack of use in the frontal brain can change moods and could account for aggressive and reclusive behavior. It is quite possibly that the gunmen in the infamous Columbine shootings suffered from this very condition. Causing them to act irrationally and take a dozen lives.

So although MMORPG gaming could lead to positive advance in the workforce, is it worth risking the possible physical and psychological effects that come with it? Like a balanced diet, video game consumption should be monitored and kept at a level where one can partake in an active and social lifestyle in the real world. 

-Kristen C.

Witches, Warlocks, and Wedding Rings

To expand on my previous blog post, here is a link to World of Warcraft's official forum site. This specific forum serves as an outlet to players who have fallen in love with other players online. What is alarming to me is how some players tell others they hope meeting in person won't "ruin" their relationship. This seems like a step back in general human interaction. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6009431560

-Kristen C

Gaming Effects on Psychological Interactions and Development

In my previous posts I’ve discussed how Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games can be beneficial in the workforce. However not all effects from playing these types of games are positive. MMORPGs are mostly known for their graphic displays of violence and their controversial representations of sexuality. Gamers who partake in excessive amounts of game play can sometimes be so secluded from reality that they act out in dangerous and harmful ways. Two students who were reportedly obsessed with Doom, another famous MMORPG, conducted the Columbine shootings in Colorado, killing 12 classmates and injuring many more. These games can be very influential on it’s players, adolescents especially. Although these acts of violence are extremely alarming and should cause concern in the general public, what really alarms me is the general lack of social interaction avid gamers suffer from.

A pilot study conducted by Zaheer Hussain and Mark Griffiths examines the psychological and social effects on online gaming with particular reference to excessive and dependent online gaming. By sampling 119 gamers ranging from ages 18-69, Hussain and Griffiths were able to conclude that 41% of gamers played to “escape reality”. Although this reason for game play is reasonable it becomes a problem when gamers express they enjoy the fabricated world of games like World of War Craft and Doom. When gamers choose fantasy over reality they are partaking in what is called psychological immersion, which is aided by the realistic graphics and enhanced social interaction many MMORPGs are known for (Hussain).

Thanks to the creation of avatars players can be retain an anonymity, which further disables their social interaction skills. I can imagine how being someone or something other then myself can feel more natural, but many avid gamers claim this to be true. MMORPG players state that they enjoy the fact that they can create not only themselves but the world their avatar lives in. Which give the player a taste of god-like power. Researchers argue that people have an inherent need to alter their conciosuness and to experience reality from different perspectives, and MMORPGs allow players to do just that.

Although I don’t play World of Warcraft I have played The Sims occasionally. Like World of Warcraft, you can create your own characters and even decorate your living quarters in the Sims. To be honest this was the main aspect that provoked me to purchase the game. I liked that not only could I create the characters I would play as but also control what they did in their lives. Sometimes I would spend hours on my computer creating and constructing different houses and creating entire families. I don’t play The Sims as often anymore because I realized how much time I spent with the game as opposed to going out to lunch with my own friends. When I was playing the game frequently I was experiencing what is known as flow, an altered awareness when playing online categorized by various feelings including enjoyment, temporary loss of self-consciousness, and an altered sense of time.  Although I didn’t play long enough to experience adverse effects, however they do occur.

Results from research studies show that flow was correlated with addictive inclination to MMORPGs. People gain such satisfaction from living in the digital world that they often neglect the beauty of the world around them. This makes me wonder how people in the future will communicate and gaming continues to gain popularity. Some players have claimed to fall in love with those they meet on online gaming sites, without ever seeing what the player looks like in person. It puzzles me how people can fall in love with fabricated avatars thrown into make believe lands but this is something that is happening more often. The emotional and psychological attachments people have with these games go against our natural humanistic desire to interact with people. Or is the digital simply the new means in which human interactions will occur? Whether it is the first or second option, it is still an alarming trend that continues to be studied.  

-Kristen C.

How World of Warcraft Could Save Your Business and The Economy

Learning guru John Seely Brown is not being even slightly ironic when he says that he'd hire an expert player of World of Warcraft over an MBA from Harvard. In this video Brown discusses the importance of guilds and self-constructed dashboards that allow players to think strategically and critically. They can also evaluate their own performances and constructively critique themselves and other members in their guild. Skills which Brown states are extremely important in today's business world. 


-Kristen C

Playing World of Warcraft Could Help You Do Better at Work - MMO Anthrop...

This video by ThePrinceOfMillAve continues to expose how MMORPGs can strengthen one's leadership and independent skills in today's fast pace and ever changing workforce. He expands on the coordination and cooperation skills necessary in "raiding" and other types of "questing" in goal-oriented and highly social MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft. He continues to state that these skills have a positive effect (notable in leadership ability) and can "spill over" into other activities external to the game.


- Kristen C.

From Larping to Leadership

As the concern with Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games continues to rise, some researchers and professors have realized the positive potential of these games. Games like World of Warcraft immerse their players into a fabricated world where they must accept and complete various challenges in order to advance to the next level or gain some sort of title. The urge instilled in the players to obtain these higher levels continues to grow as game play increases.  Some researchers believe that this type of relationship in the gaming world can be brought to today’s workforce and academic settings.

In World of Warcraft many players are part of “guilds”. Players form these guilds and often times require permission for others join. Once in a guild you work together as a team in order to take on various challenges in the virtual world. Guilds are extremely competitive and are ranked on World of Warcraft’s official website.  Many researchers believe these guilds may help players build their leadership experience, resulting in a positive relationship between in-game leadership and real world leadership.

At first I found this very hard to believe. How capturing fairies and battling mystical creatures can correlate with projects in the professional world seems extremely far-fetched. But as I continued to do research of my own I realized how MMORPGs can in fact benefit group based projects and leadership qualities in the workforce. Research conducted by YeiBeech Jang and  SeoungHo Ryu show that joining a game community and playing in teams provides people with a third place to improve their leadership skills and engage in enriching holistic experiences.

Jang and Ryu sampled 300 gamers and asked them to respond to the following statements on a scale from 1-10:

1. I often take a leader role in peer groups

2. I often take a leader role in informal meetings

3. I tend to influence other people regardless of my social position.

The results show that those who play MMORPGs regularly rated themselves higher when asked these questions. In a fast paced society that is constantly changed by technology, today’s leaders are no longer those who take important information and distribute it from a superior position. Instead leaders are those who make rapid decisions and persuade team members, while listening to others’ opinions and modifying while intergrading them to pursue higher missions. This type of leadership is exactly what guilds are made of.

The strategic environments that make games like World of Warcraft so appealing also allow players to partake in these virtual leadership experiences. Weather they are leading their guild into battle or partaking on some mystical quest a leader always emerges out of the group in hopes of raising their guild’s ranking. In shot these games provide players with easier ways to experience what they might not be able to in the real world. Plenty of adolescents are discovering leadership roles through these games before their classrooms make them aware of it.

Pat Galagan talks about this leadership relationship and calls it the “gaming disposition”. He claims those who have this disposition are better able to thrive in the contemporary workplace I previously mentioned. Those who have this gaming disposition are more bottom-line oriented, and like to be evaluated because their goal is not to be rewarded but to improve. They also understand the power of diversity, since a key element in MMORPGs is teamwork, and those with the most diverse guilds are often the most powerful. People who posses the gaming disposition also thrive on change, which allows them to adapt to more workforce settings.

After I reviewed these two studies I began to realize that MMORPGs really can have a positive effect on one’s leadership skills. After all the idea of videogames advancing individuals in the workplace isn’t anything new. Pilots use flight simulators and soldiers use virtual reality training programs to prepare them for warfare. Games like Word of Warcraft aren’t simulated reality like the training games mentioned, but the do provide a more general idea of leadership amongst players that can be utilized in real life. Perhaps one day companies will use MMORPs instead of employee handbooks to train their future employees.  

-Kristen C.