First Gaming Detox Center Opened in the Netherlands

[Lemur]

I think this is funny, but I can't be sure. Do you need help kicking the habit? (Sounds like an MMORPG detox center, really.)

Kicking the Habit

The first step, as always, is admitting you have a problem. Most gamers have encountered the issue, whether through anecdotes, in their own lives or via the stream of alarmist news of far eastern gamers' fatal marathon play-sessions, and now the Netherlands' Smith & Jones centre believes it might have the answer.

Founded as a house for 12-step programs of varying addictions, the centre is undergoing preparations for a new treatment residential program covering games. From the centre's website: "We began to see a need for such attention in this area in 2005, when a small number of clients being admitted into the WILD HORSES CENTER for drug and alcohol addictions were also telling us about their compulsive gaming behavior. [. . .] We had never heard of people spending up to 16 hours on a game trying to 'level up'."

Smith & Jones is just as forthcoming as to its method of treatment, claiming it has observed "withdrawal symptoms as chemically dependent people" and have concluded that the truly game-addicted have no other option than to give up the gaming ghost entirely, by means of replacing those "time warp" hours with real-life high-adrenaline replacements.

More information on the centre and its gaming program, set to open this July, is available at their website.

[Husar]

No, noooooo, I´m not sick, no really....I don´t need help.....my gaming has nothing to do with my heroin......it´s a whole different matter........no, leave me alone.......go away!!!!111!11.....please........nono..I will stop playing now....I ...erm...have..many friends....I can count them on my hand.....one......erm.......no, not a psychiatric....I´m fine thanks......thanks for the offer, but I´m not sick......no, I don´t need a doctor, my PC is only running for 40 hours now.......yes, I ate some...crisps.....water?....yes, there is water in Cola...right?........nono, my sentence building is alright, like my just gmarmar.....

Yeah, i think it´s funny, but obviously I don´t need it.

[The_Emperor]

Having played World of Warcraft for a while last year I can honestly say that gaming addiction does exist and I have seen its effects on others (as well as myself).

Games like that do destroy lives and stories have surfaced about people who literally died in front of their keyboards playing...

Needless to say I was smart enough to stop, but after seeing the effects of a rank 14 honour system grind on a friend of mine I can see how destructive these things can be on someone. (he stopped at rank 11)

All that said, the vast majority of gamers do not have a problem and playing can be a great passtime, but it is not always the case. Gaming, like drinking or eating needs to be done in moderation.

There is of course always the temptation to go a little overboard. MMO games though of course thrive on addiction and providing players with a lengthy grind to level up, a genre to stay away from imo.

[Husar]

All that said, the vast majority of gamers do not have a problem and playing can be a great passtime, but it is not always the case. Gaming, like drinking or eating needs to be done in moderation.

Exactly, I can ignore being hungry or thirsty for two hours maybe, but then I will definitely need to eat/drink, that´s why I can´t understand people playing until they die of exhaustion, there´s also no fun playing with closed eyes because you´re so tired.

[The_Emperor]

Exactly, I can ignore being hungry or thirsty for two hours maybe, but then I will definitely need to eat/drink, that´s why I can´t understand people playing until they die of exhaustion, there´s also no fun playing with closed eyes because you´re so tired.

yep and thats what i realised when i examined the pvp system in wow more closely.

In that game they have a pvp ranking system of items being purchasable when you reach a certain rank. Ranking happens weekly and your rank can decay if you do not get enough points by winning battlegrounds or killing the enemy.

As a system though your rank is calculated on how much you personally contribute to the global points pool vs everyone else in your faction, that means you need to get a flat percentage of the total faction share each rank for your advancement to be calculated.

Advancement starts off fast (one rank per week fast) and slows up as you get higher to the point where ranking up from 13 to the final 14 takes close to a month and a half.
But the worst aspect of this system is that your severely punished by points decay. I won't bore you with the calculations but in this system if you take a week off and do no pvp for that week it will literally take a month's worth of pvp to make up for the loss in rank points for that week.

The end result is players being forced to play for every hour avaliable to them in order to stay ahead in the points race. This happens every day, every week for close to 3 months to reach High Warlord of your faction to be able to buy the best gear...

I knew of guys who worked a 9 til 5 job and played all evenings til midnight and all day on weekends until similar times for months and they always cutoff at around rank 11 out of 14. (thats doing nothing but playing pvp in this game when your not working or sleeping)
Rank 14 is a 24/7 playing grind for months and it has screwed people up. Its also the reason why Blizzard are getting sued by the parents of a kid that died in front of his computer due to this lunacy.

I don't understand what makes a person to allow themselves to be pushed that far by a game, but it happens... And unrestricted systems being implemented like this "Honor system" just make it worse.

[Husar]

Advancement starts off fast (one rank per week fast) and slows up as you get higher to the point where ranking up from 13 to the final 14 takes close to a month and a half.
But the worst aspect of this system is that your severely punished by points decay. I won't bore you with the calculations but in this system if you take a week off and do no pvp for that week it will literally take a month's worth of pvp to make up for the loss in rank points for that week.

The end result is players being forced to play for every hour avaliable to them in order to stay ahead in the points race. This happens every day, every week for close to 3 months to reach High Warlord of your faction to be able to buy the best gear...

I knew of guys who worked a 9 til 5 job and played all evenings til midnight and all day on weekends until similar times for months and they always cutoff at around rank 11 out of 14. (thats doing nothing but playing pvp in this game when your not working or sleeping)
Rank 14 is a 24/7 playing grind for months and it has screwed people up. Its also the reason why Blizzard are getting sued by the parents of a kid that died in front of his computer due to this lunacy.

I don't understand what makes a person to allow themselves to be pushed that far by a game, but it happens... And unrestricted systems being implemented like this "Honor system" just make it worse.

Yes, I hate WoW, it kinda destroyed a clan I was in...
I never played it myself and don´t plan to, some people play it in the university on their laptops, I watched a bit, and still don´t want it.
The pvp system as you describe it sounds really bad, no wonder people play for very long. I play Americas Army from time to time, but at least I know I won´t lose any points for not playing for a month or two. Still, if I would, I wouldn´t care much.
It´s good to hear people sue Blizzard for that, I don´t think such a system is of any good, it sounds more like something that ensures people keep playing and making Blizzard rich.