Background.

I wanted to talk about the power of video games on one's relationships, time, and life. There is already a lot of research on this, but I feel like my own experiences and my friend's experiences help me realize the vastness of this phenomena. I recently started playing the video game World of Warcraft after a six month hiatus. If you know anything about video games you would know what this game is about, and maybe how it affects a person's life. If you don't know about the game, it's a pay-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). As in most MMORPGs, WoW players assume an identity of an avatar which represents them in the game world. Players explore the virtual world, fight monsters, perform quests, or join others to form raiding parties that battle with enemy factions. Some portions of the game can be enjoyed by solo players, while others are designed to encourage the formation of guilds which can work together for hours, days or weeks to succeed with a raid. Success in the game is rewarded with virtual possessions, gold, experience points and skill levels. All kinds of people play WOW, young and old, girls and boys. Surprisingly, the average age of a player is 28. Not too surprisingly, 84 percent of players are male and 16 percent are female. But female players tend to be older, with an average age of 32. (Most of this is directly from http://askbobrankin.com/world_of_warcraft.html)

There are a lot of criticisms about the game, for example, that it consumes a lot of a person's time and that it costs money to play each month. Some people don't think they should have to pay monthly, but obviously those people choose not to play xbox live or anything similar. There are also a lot of perks to the game such as meeting new and interesting people, letting yourself go and becoming anyone you want to be, and being able to role play if that's what your into.

I decided to make this blog because eventually if I choose to enter into the Ph.D. program I want to have my own personal experiences already written down for my tentative thesis. The thesis would be centralized around the idea of how WOW affects the psychological aspects of a person and how it may be correlated with depression.

As I said before, World of Warcraft takes up a lot of one's time. In the past few days I've probably played maybe 7 hours a day or more. If I count the past four days thats 28+ hours of playing a video game. Just think how much time I'm using up of my summer if I play every day. Last summer I didn't have a job and played a ton. This summer I have one and can't play as often, but I still play for probably too long each day. It's hard to limit yourself, especially in my situation because I have a friend who texted me to ask if I would come back and play after my six month break. He even offered to pay for the most recent expansion pack for the game (and that's $40!). I play whenever he is on so that it's worth the money he has spent to bring me back. And sometimes I feel bad for saying, "Hey I gotta run..I have plans" and etc. When its really important I do get off the game. Other times I purposely ask people to hang out so that I can have an excuse to get off the game.

The pressure of other players certainly affects how long a person plays, but it also affects the intensity of how hard the player tries to level and how fast. Personally, I am a fast leveler compared to most, but that is mostly because I play for so long everyday. I try very hard to level faster so that I can take my time getting gear once I hit level 80. Although, if I don't hit level 80 by the end of summer, I'm not sure what I'm going to tell my friend, but I really do not want to play into the school year. Last year I tried to play WOW during the year and it messed up my sleep schedule and homework schedule (Pssh I used it as an excuse to put off hw). WOW can negatively affect a person's grades in school. I was talking to my friend Neil and when the Wrath of the Lich King came out, his roommate and he played so much that their grades started dropping and they had to eventually lay off a lot on the game to get them back up. He didn't sound too bothered by the consequences of his immense playing time, only that he would get into trouble with his parents. Personally, my grades have not been effected by WOW, but that's because I know when to stop and study.

The one thing that WOW messes up most for me is my sleep schedule. Lately, my eyes have been bloodshot and irritated. I feel tired most of the day. Today, for example, I took a nap after getting off work, because the last of sleep I've gotten all week hit me hard. When I got up after the four hour nap I was still extremely tired. As we speak my eyes are feeling irritated...

I wanted to get into a little bit about relationships, before I came to a close with this first entry (I'm getting tired and I have to wake up early for work). I started playing the game because my boyfriend started after a who knows how long hiatus. I got interested from watching him play and tried the free trial and fell right into things. Sometimes when I am on too long while he is visiting me (when he's not on the game too) he gets upset that I care more about WOW than him. That is not the case, of course. Most of the time I can't get off because of my friends or because I can't say no to free help (like with an instance or getting better gear). Sometimes I even zone out so much that I can't hear him when he talks to me, and he eventually whispers me through the game, before I will notice what he wants. It sounds very pathetic once I write it down.

Some people cut off their relationships when they play WOW, because they end up blowing friends off once or twice to do a raid or something that they feel is more important than hanging out with friends. Then their friends eventually stop trying to invite them anywhere. The person ends up staying in their room all day playing, sometimes only to leave to get food or to go to the restroom. This can lead to depression in some individuals. The guy who ran the EVOKE program I was in as a freshman told me about his friend who's story is similar to the one I just explained. He went into a deep depression, never coming out of his room. He eventually stopped playing and had to freeze his account so that he would not be able to play again. Apparently he periodically looks up his characters, because he has such a strong bond to the game. I'm unsure if he role played or not, but that can make the game more real than for others who choose not to. When people mix up reality with the lives they have on a video game, trouble will ensue. Its hard to bring yourself back to reality, when the game is more fun and feels safer. I, personally, haven't had this problem, but I have heard many stories of people who have.

Well that is all that I think I want to add to this entry. More to come obviously, but for now I must get some sleep. A busy week ahead with work, and less time to spend on leveling my Death Knight, Sadie.

Chow, for now :)