The Psychology of Virtual Worlds:
Addiction and Aggression
Walter Wang--December 2014
Part One: Online Gaming is the New Cocaine:
About 1.2 million or one-seventh of the world’s population play video games and of those gamers, 700 million meet up, interact, and play in various online games such as Second Life, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft [2]. These players meet new people to play with, form teams with strangers to play in online tournaments, and even hop off their games and onto websites such as Reddit and Facebook to discuss the new patch for the game or gather party members for certain difficult quests or raids. Players are able to speak to each other using built in VoIP, message each other using in-game chat, and even trade in-game items for real money! Online video games has far surpassed its original boundaries as a form of entertainment and has given many a double identity in a separate digital world. Things seem to be going smoothly for publishers as more and more people are sucked up into their games as the video game industry is expected to grow from $67 billion this year to over $82 billion in 2017 [17]. However, the rising popularity of online virtual worlds has brought with it a significant problem that no one is fully equipped to solve: gaming addiction. If this new mental illness is not taken seriously and if society continues to ignore this problem there will be serious ramifications.
To better understand addiction to online virtual worlds and games, one needs to take a closer look at how gaming culture developed. How it was shaped through the early years of arcade games such as Pac-man, Street Fighter, and Space Invaders to the evolution of gaming with the rise of MMOs and MOBAs. Playing too much video games has always been a stigma in society and this addiction can be traced all the way back to the very beginnings of games: the arcade machine. Pong, known as the game that ignited the gaming revolution, was first installed at a local bar in Sunnyvale, California in 1972 [15]. The game became so popular so quickly that the bar owner complained a few days later that the machine was broken, only to find out the coin box was flooded with quarters and jammed the game [16]. Pong was very popular since it was new, never before seen technology fused with the sport of Ping-Pong all played on a small black screen encased in a giant cabinet. But what made it really special was that it appealed to the human nature of competition. As Zylo the Wolf, in a review on Pong, writes, “What made Pong so popular was not just that you could control something on a screen to either move up or down, but you could also challenge a friend in it [23].” Competition was the starting point of gaming culture and this was best exemplified by the high score ironmen of the 1980s. Jeff Dailey, a 19 year-old, had an obsession with the arcade game Bezerk, where players control a character that is trapped in a dangerous maze filled with evil robots. In May of 1981, he died of a heart attack right after achieving an extraordinary high score of 16,660, the first video game to claim a life [13]. An arcade game that had blue, yellow, and green pixels moving around on small screen claimed a life because a teenager was so entranced by this virtual and digital game that he disregarded his real world well-being.
About 1.2 million or one-seventh of the world’s population play video games and of those gamers, 700 million meet up, interact, and play in various online games such as Second Life, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft [2]. These players meet new people to play with, form teams with strangers to play in online tournaments, and even hop off their games and onto websites such as Reddit and Facebook to discuss the new patch for the game or gather party members for certain difficult quests or raids. Players are able to speak to each other using built in VoIP, message each other using in-game chat, and even trade in-game items for real money! Online video games has far surpassed its original boundaries as a form of entertainment and has given many a double identity in a separate digital world. Things seem to be going smoothly for publishers as more and more people are sucked up into their games as the video game industry is expected to grow from $67 billion this year to over $82 billion in 2017 [17]. However, the rising popularity of online virtual worlds has brought with it a significant problem that no one is fully equipped to solve: gaming addiction. If this new mental illness is not taken seriously and if society continues to ignore this problem there will be serious ramifications.
To better understand addiction to online virtual worlds and games, one needs to take a closer look at how gaming culture developed. How it was shaped through the early years of arcade games such as Pac-man, Street Fighter, and Space Invaders to the evolution of gaming with the rise of MMOs and MOBAs. Playing too much video games has always been a stigma in society and this addiction can be traced all the way back to the very beginnings of games: the arcade machine. Pong, known as the game that ignited the gaming revolution, was first installed at a local bar in Sunnyvale, California in 1972 [15]. The game became so popular so quickly that the bar owner complained a few days later that the machine was broken, only to find out the coin box was flooded with quarters and jammed the game [16]. Pong was very popular since it was new, never before seen technology fused with the sport of Ping-Pong all played on a small black screen encased in a giant cabinet. But what made it really special was that it appealed to the human nature of competition. As Zylo the Wolf, in a review on Pong, writes, “What made Pong so popular was not just that you could control something on a screen to either move up or down, but you could also challenge a friend in it [23].” Competition was the starting point of gaming culture and this was best exemplified by the high score ironmen of the 1980s. Jeff Dailey, a 19 year-old, had an obsession with the arcade game Bezerk, where players control a character that is trapped in a dangerous maze filled with evil robots. In May of 1981, he died of a heart attack right after achieving an extraordinary high score of 16,660, the first video game to claim a life [13]. An arcade game that had blue, yellow, and green pixels moving around on small screen claimed a life because a teenager was so entranced by this virtual and digital game that he disregarded his real world well-being.
Addiction:
Now fast-forward 10 years to the introduction of massive online virtual worlds such as Ulitma Online, EverQuest, and Maplestory where players create avatars, idealized versions of themselves, and started venturing off into the four corners of these digital worlds [8]. As shown above, arcade games, rudimentary compared to today’s video games, are deadly enough. Now think about these colossal digital domains filled to the brink with content to be explored and in cases like Second Life, can completely replace the real world. Gamers now are not only addicted to games because they are striving to get the highest score but also because they are immensely rewarded for exploring and conquering these vast new digital worlds, socially obligated to get on and play, and because they are able to escape from the real world [4]. Psychologists, such as Joseph Hilgard, a researcher for the University of Missouri-Columbia, found that World of Warcraft and Runescape, popular MMORPGs are ridiculously addicting because they are built to abuse the reward pathways in the human brain [6]. PRE, or Partial Reinforcement Effect, is where reward is offered randomly such as when players have a small chance of obtaining loot such as that rare piece of armor for every monster they slay [6]. In addition to this, MMORPGs offered something that no game or simulation had ever had before: a sense of community. In these massive MMORPGs, players joined guilds and were actually responsible every day for doing a certain quest, raid, or errand for the guild. As video game Ryan Van Cleave, in his autobiography Unplugged, states that he was “plugged in” to WoW because he “had promises to keep" [4]. Finally these virtual worlds are addicting because they allow many people to escape the real world. A study published by the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction found that “41% of gamers played online to escape and 7% of gamers were classified as individuals who were at risk of developing psychological dependence for online gaming" [7]. Is it ethical for people to be spending more time in a digital world and disregarding their real world responsibilities? There are even some who would rather be in the virtual world than in the real world! However, from a utilitarian perspective society cannot afford for people to harm society just because they are obsessed with a game.
Addiction Policy:
These virtual worlds can cause people to be so obsessive and need to be properly addressed by medical scholars and governments around the world or there will be serious social consequences. For example, Rebecca Colleen Christie was sent to prison for allowing “her 3 ½ year-old daughter to die of malnutrition while she spent hours playing World of Warcraft" [22]. In 2013, an American couple were arrested for neglecting their two-year-old, because they were obsessed with their characters in Second Life [1]. Many have died while playing games for days straight and in extreme cases, parents like Kim Yun-jeong and Kim Jae-beom accidentally starve their daughter to death because they snuck out at night to play Prius Online for hours on end [1]. The list goes on and on. Gaming addiction needs to be recognized as a serious mental illness with the proper resources allocated to research and treatment. Right now in the United States, online addiction only merits one page in this year’s DSM, the manual for diagnosing mental illnesses [3]. Many countries, where video addiction is rampant such as Korea and the Netherlands, where addiction has risen by 66% in the last year, have adopted strong policies to curb online gaming addiction [9]. In Seoul, Korea, the government passed a law dubbed he “Cinderella Law” which forbids anyone under the age of 16 from accessing gaming websites after midnight [10]. In the Netherlands, there are 8 major clinics that treat up to 500 clients for video game addiction [9]. The United States needs to take a stronger stance, such as that of South Korea, and treat video game addiction as a serious mental illness and start educating the public about the dangers of such obsession.
Now fast-forward 10 years to the introduction of massive online virtual worlds such as Ulitma Online, EverQuest, and Maplestory where players create avatars, idealized versions of themselves, and started venturing off into the four corners of these digital worlds [8]. As shown above, arcade games, rudimentary compared to today’s video games, are deadly enough. Now think about these colossal digital domains filled to the brink with content to be explored and in cases like Second Life, can completely replace the real world. Gamers now are not only addicted to games because they are striving to get the highest score but also because they are immensely rewarded for exploring and conquering these vast new digital worlds, socially obligated to get on and play, and because they are able to escape from the real world [4]. Psychologists, such as Joseph Hilgard, a researcher for the University of Missouri-Columbia, found that World of Warcraft and Runescape, popular MMORPGs are ridiculously addicting because they are built to abuse the reward pathways in the human brain [6]. PRE, or Partial Reinforcement Effect, is where reward is offered randomly such as when players have a small chance of obtaining loot such as that rare piece of armor for every monster they slay [6]. In addition to this, MMORPGs offered something that no game or simulation had ever had before: a sense of community. In these massive MMORPGs, players joined guilds and were actually responsible every day for doing a certain quest, raid, or errand for the guild. As video game Ryan Van Cleave, in his autobiography Unplugged, states that he was “plugged in” to WoW because he “had promises to keep" [4]. Finally these virtual worlds are addicting because they allow many people to escape the real world. A study published by the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction found that “41% of gamers played online to escape and 7% of gamers were classified as individuals who were at risk of developing psychological dependence for online gaming" [7]. Is it ethical for people to be spending more time in a digital world and disregarding their real world responsibilities? There are even some who would rather be in the virtual world than in the real world! However, from a utilitarian perspective society cannot afford for people to harm society just because they are obsessed with a game.
Addiction Policy:
These virtual worlds can cause people to be so obsessive and need to be properly addressed by medical scholars and governments around the world or there will be serious social consequences. For example, Rebecca Colleen Christie was sent to prison for allowing “her 3 ½ year-old daughter to die of malnutrition while she spent hours playing World of Warcraft" [22]. In 2013, an American couple were arrested for neglecting their two-year-old, because they were obsessed with their characters in Second Life [1]. Many have died while playing games for days straight and in extreme cases, parents like Kim Yun-jeong and Kim Jae-beom accidentally starve their daughter to death because they snuck out at night to play Prius Online for hours on end [1]. The list goes on and on. Gaming addiction needs to be recognized as a serious mental illness with the proper resources allocated to research and treatment. Right now in the United States, online addiction only merits one page in this year’s DSM, the manual for diagnosing mental illnesses [3]. Many countries, where video addiction is rampant such as Korea and the Netherlands, where addiction has risen by 66% in the last year, have adopted strong policies to curb online gaming addiction [9]. In Seoul, Korea, the government passed a law dubbed he “Cinderella Law” which forbids anyone under the age of 16 from accessing gaming websites after midnight [10]. In the Netherlands, there are 8 major clinics that treat up to 500 clients for video game addiction [9]. The United States needs to take a stronger stance, such as that of South Korea, and treat video game addiction as a serious mental illness and start educating the public about the dangers of such obsession.
Part Two: Language, Language, Language:
It is common knowledge that in today’s society, internet users use profanity and foul language on social media, online blogs, and forums. However, what is truly disturbing is that the it is common to hear people screaming at each other and wishing others “get cancer and DIE” in online games such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends [11]. In fact, the word “rape” or “raped” is accepted by the gaming community as slang as is used in place of phrases such as “get owned” or “you suck” [19]. Developers of video games have tried to stymie this problem with language filters and bans on players who use excessive language, but it is simply not enough. Developers and publishers need to place more measures to censor and remove toxic behavior from their online worlds and games [19].
It is common knowledge that in today’s society, internet users use profanity and foul language on social media, online blogs, and forums. However, what is truly disturbing is that the it is common to hear people screaming at each other and wishing others “get cancer and DIE” in online games such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends [11]. In fact, the word “rape” or “raped” is accepted by the gaming community as slang as is used in place of phrases such as “get owned” or “you suck” [19]. Developers of video games have tried to stymie this problem with language filters and bans on players who use excessive language, but it is simply not enough. Developers and publishers need to place more measures to censor and remove toxic behavior from their online worlds and games [19].
Aggressive Language in Virtual Worlds (VIDEOS)
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Aggression:
The current buzzword on the current online video game behavior is “toxicity” and boy are some games filled with toxic players. Conflicts between residents of virtual worlds or gamers in online video games can get pretty heated and result in what gamers call “raging”. When a player doesn’t perform up to another players standards, or when a player is “trolling” the game (see Leeroy Jenkins), or a player is simply upset because he is having a bad day, he will proceed to hurl countless demeaning insults. These range from the simple “noob” to “you’re a fucking idiot cunt, go fucking die of cancer and AIDS you gay ass bitch [12].” Add in the fact that players can now speak through their microphones through in-game VoIP makes it all the more pleasurable. In addition, players do not feel the full brunt of their consequences when interacting with other players as players are anonymous. They sit in front of a computer screen, hidden by a made-up username and they can say whatever they want, no matter how offensive his or her opinion or view is. This goes back to care ethics where players only care about those they are closest to. Virtual worlds only exacerbates this problems as players can neither know nor see any of the people they are playing with, making them more likely to say what they want and do what they want no matter the consequences. Take this Second Life clip for example where a guy can just blatantly spew racist slurs left and right [18]. Despite this awful language, the majority of toxic players are not punished. What is more concerning is that the profanity used in these games can grow exponentially as more and more online users use the same language. Many studies such as those done by Eureka Alert and Brigham Young University have found that exposure to online video games cause higher levels of tension and aggression among young people [21].
Aggression Policy:
Many companies and developers have proceeded to censor or ban players who exhibit excessive toxic behavior. This policy is used by companies such as Microsoft where they banned thousands of Xbox live members for excessive cursing [5]. There is a problem with this policy as banning players do not necessitate reform. From a deontological viewpoint, banning these players are great since they violated the terms of service and are doing harm on many players. However, these banned players could move on to another game or purchase another account and simply poison more people. So on the whole, there is no net benefit for banning these players. Other companies such as Blizzard take away instant messaging all together and only allow certain phrases to be said such as “Hello” or “Thank you” in their immensely popular online card game Hearthstone. This model, however can only applied to a simple online game like Hearthstone and applying to massive worlds such as World of Warcraft would result in many censorship problems. Riot Games, on the other hand, is valiantly trying to fight toxicity head on by trying to reform toxic players and if ban them only as a last resort [14]. They emphasize reform and positive reinforcement for well-behaved players. In fact, Riot Games, has hired a plethora of scientists to help them regulate toxicity in League of Legends, the biggest online community ever [14]! From a utilitarian, this is the best course of action, as players are incentivized to reform and are banned if they refuse.
The current buzzword on the current online video game behavior is “toxicity” and boy are some games filled with toxic players. Conflicts between residents of virtual worlds or gamers in online video games can get pretty heated and result in what gamers call “raging”. When a player doesn’t perform up to another players standards, or when a player is “trolling” the game (see Leeroy Jenkins), or a player is simply upset because he is having a bad day, he will proceed to hurl countless demeaning insults. These range from the simple “noob” to “you’re a fucking idiot cunt, go fucking die of cancer and AIDS you gay ass bitch [12].” Add in the fact that players can now speak through their microphones through in-game VoIP makes it all the more pleasurable. In addition, players do not feel the full brunt of their consequences when interacting with other players as players are anonymous. They sit in front of a computer screen, hidden by a made-up username and they can say whatever they want, no matter how offensive his or her opinion or view is. This goes back to care ethics where players only care about those they are closest to. Virtual worlds only exacerbates this problems as players can neither know nor see any of the people they are playing with, making them more likely to say what they want and do what they want no matter the consequences. Take this Second Life clip for example where a guy can just blatantly spew racist slurs left and right [18]. Despite this awful language, the majority of toxic players are not punished. What is more concerning is that the profanity used in these games can grow exponentially as more and more online users use the same language. Many studies such as those done by Eureka Alert and Brigham Young University have found that exposure to online video games cause higher levels of tension and aggression among young people [21].
Aggression Policy:
Many companies and developers have proceeded to censor or ban players who exhibit excessive toxic behavior. This policy is used by companies such as Microsoft where they banned thousands of Xbox live members for excessive cursing [5]. There is a problem with this policy as banning players do not necessitate reform. From a deontological viewpoint, banning these players are great since they violated the terms of service and are doing harm on many players. However, these banned players could move on to another game or purchase another account and simply poison more people. So on the whole, there is no net benefit for banning these players. Other companies such as Blizzard take away instant messaging all together and only allow certain phrases to be said such as “Hello” or “Thank you” in their immensely popular online card game Hearthstone. This model, however can only applied to a simple online game like Hearthstone and applying to massive worlds such as World of Warcraft would result in many censorship problems. Riot Games, on the other hand, is valiantly trying to fight toxicity head on by trying to reform toxic players and if ban them only as a last resort [14]. They emphasize reform and positive reinforcement for well-behaved players. In fact, Riot Games, has hired a plethora of scientists to help them regulate toxicity in League of Legends, the biggest online community ever [14]! From a utilitarian, this is the best course of action, as players are incentivized to reform and are banned if they refuse.
Sources:
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- Dean Takahashi, "More than 1.2 billion people are playing games," VentureBeat, last modified November 25, 2013, accessed December 2, 2014, http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/25/more-than-1-2-billion-people-are-playing-games/.
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- Gross, Doug. "Xbox gamers suspended in cursing crackdown." CNN. Last modified November 26, 2013. Accessed December 3, 2014. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/26/tech/gaming-gadgets/xbox-live-cursing-ban/.
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- "LoL: The Most Toxic Player I Have Ever Seen." Video file. Youtube. Posted by JokerismLoL, May 13, 2013. Accessed December 3, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdg6cnE6IyM.
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- McWhertor, Michael. "The League of Legends team of scientists trying to cure 'toxic behavior' online." Polygon. Last modified October 13, 2012. Accessed December 3, 2014. http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/17/3515178/the-league-of-legends-team-of-scientists-trying-to-cure-toxic.
- "Pong." In Wikipedia. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong.
- Popper, Ben. "Sore Thumbs, Blood-Shot Eyes And Rehab: A History Of Video Game Addiction." MTV. Last modified July 6, 2010. Accessed December 2, 2014. http://guycodeblog.mtv.com/2010/07/06/history-video-game-addiction-pong-berzerk-ultima-game-boy/.
- "School Violence: Echoes from the Digital Playgrounds." 2013. Accessed November 14, 2014. https://www.bja.gov/Publications/Drakonats-School_Violence.pdf.
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- Skiffington, Dillion. "League Of Legends' Neverending War On Toxic Behavior." Kotaku. Last modified September 14, 2014. Accessed December 3, 2014. http://kotaku.com/league-of-legends-neverending-war-on-toxic-behavior-1636894289.
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