Online Gaming Isn't Just Child's Play

An Addiction To Internet Gaming Tore Apart One Woman's Life And Family

(CBS)  To her son Josh, she's just Mom. In the small Arkansas town where she lives, she's Kay. But it took years for Kay Johnson to admit who she really is, CBS News science and technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg reports.

"A recovering addict," Johnson said. "I'm a former gaming addict."

She's not talking about gambling, but an addiction to computer games. For nearly four years, Johnson immersed herself in a never-ending online adventure game called Final Fantasy. In it, players battle creatures, go on quests and socialize with others. For Kay, it was all so alluring that she shut out the real world as her Internet addiction took over.

"My children would come up to talk to me and I'd say, 'wait, wait, Mom's busy. I'll be done in a minute … just give Mommy another minute,'" Johnson said.

These minutes became hours as she played day and night.

"It was my world. It was everything that was anything to me," she said. "My kids, I loved them and I would be there for them, but this is where all my time went."

That was a problem, considering she has two teenage boys, one with special needs. Johnson was playing online around 50 hours a week — but incredibly, her husband was playing even more.

"I had seen the side of my husband's face and the back of his head probably more than I've seen his face during most of our marriage, because he was sitting at the computer," she said.

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Only On The Web: More with former online gaming addict Kay Johnson

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Her husband declined to be interviewed on camera but acknowledged both of them were obsessed by the game. She says they were so obsessed they both stopped working, sending their finances into a tailspin.

"We would take the credit cards and pay the electric light, the groceries and the rent — and, of course, that adds up to a lot of money," she said.

Johnson's case is extreme. Sieberg says he's among the millions play who play and don't get addicted. Even so, many games now come with a warning, reminding players to "have a life." In fact, Internet addiction may soon become an official psychiatric diagnosis.

"It turns out that Internet addiction can be almost identical to other forms of chemical addictions," said Dr. Eric Hollander of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

Hollander treats impulsive behavior, and says that some people's brains are simply wired in a way that makes them vulnerable to addiction. Whether it's alcohol, cocaine or even the computer, quitting causes withdrawal.

"They can experience all kinds of uncomfortable physical sensations when they try to cut back on their Internet use," Hollander said.

He prescribes counseling and sometimes anti-depressants like Lexapro, mood stabilizers like lithium and opiate blockers like Naltrexone. But Johnson quit cold turkey — and took her anger out on the game.

She took the gaming disks and … "I crushed them!" she said.

Johnson has decided to file for divorce, and is determined to remain "game free." She also wants to send a message that even what looks like child's play must be taken in adult moderation.

[opfor311]

I'd love to comment, but I've got to get back to playing World of Warcraft......

[psykiblue]

I think the world needs to see more of gaming addiction and what it can do to a person and their interaction with the outside world. I do not think that comments that gaming addiction doesnt exist or its such a small percentage so why does it matter are helpful at all.

It is also important to note that the dr on the show talked about counselling as well as antidepressants to help those coming out of an addiction. I realize that some people such as my self are anti-drug, however for some people it is the only thing that works to help them put their life back on track and back together. It was not a push for drugs, it was simpling telling the public what has been found to work for those with problems of addiction.

I enjoyed watching the interview and the segment posted online, I think it would be beneficial for people to see similar pieces being done and how its affecting reallife. One thing that I know helped me was www.gamerwidow.com a great site for support. I have met a lot of fantastic people through this site and would recommend anyone dealing with gaming addiction or a gamer check it out. We welcome all walks of life there not just widows.

[sevenveils]

WoW

[zunath]

Stop blaming the game and start blaming yourselves. It's NOT the game's fault that you can't stop. It's yours!

[faeril10]

Great segment tonight! I think it showed insight into just how bad gaming addiction can be and how it can affect ones life and their family. As Daniel Sieberg mentioned, not everyone does get addicted to gaming. Some of us are good at managing our time and priorities, but for others that is harder and not as easy. I personally love video games! but there are certain games I haven't picked up because I know I may have a tendency to lose track of time if you will. *lol*

Even though gaming addiction has gone on for some time, it hasn't been as widely covered and many think they are the only ones dealing with it. There are a lot of wonderful communities and resources online that can help those dealing with addiction as well as the gamer widow(er)s.

One of those is a site I help run, my very close friend that is like a sister to me is the Founder and dealt with being a gamer widow as well as an addict herself. We have a diverse group of members: gamer widow(er)s, gamers, ex-gamers and friends and family members of gamers that help make up our community. There are a lot of good stories and great people there. Thank you CBS for airing this story and shedding light on an addiction that isn't as publicly known!

Melissa Taylor
COO & Creative Director
GamerWidow.com

[crooked80]

My husband is also addicted to final fantasy. But he is still in denial. He doesn't play 50 hrs but plays a lot. But ignores everyone and acts like he is in a different world when he plays.

[michellem99-2009]

I don't play the role playing games.I do play the off line games that I have installed. I love solitaire,bowling,hoyle board, and cards games. I don't care for the ones with action as I would lose track of what's going on. I saw something about 2rd life on TV. I really did not care for it and never played it. I do play solitaire on line.Before computer,I played using a deck of cards.

[dayneoframuh]

I have not heard one person say they actually play Final Fantasy XI. I for one do. How much do I play? 4 hours a week max. I'm sorry, but you putting too much emphasis on FFXI (Final Fantasy XI) and not enough on World of Warcraft is blatent and uncalled for. WoW has probably 10 times the userbase of FFXI.

This disclaimer on FFXI is nothing new either. It was there when the game came out. In fact, FFXI is the ONLY game that has this disclaimer. If she ignored that its her own fault. Square-Enix (makers of the game) apparently cared enough to put that in the game. Does that make this game more addictive? No. No other MMORPG has a disclaimer like this.
Get your facts straight.

Like some people have said, "In moderation." It's perfectly okay to play 10 hours or more a week. 50 hours seems extremely excessive. Smashing the game discs? That didn't do anything. It's still out there.. she could walk down to the store and buy another copy for $20.
Characters are kept online for 1 year prior to cancellation.

Let me vouch for some of the FFXI community and say quite a lot of us don't have that kind of (excessive addiction) problem.

Shed more light on WoW addiction and then we'll talk. Last count (I checked) there were 19 million subscribed players to WoW.

[clockwork-]

First, a thank you to CBS for airing this segment; I%u2019m always happy to see a news channel (a premier one during prime time no less) air stories like this.

I%u2019m a former gaming addict, being 2 years clean now. Talking to people about both my situation and the problem in general, the discussion sometimes turns to rather or not computer/internet/gaming addiction can be considered an %u2018addiction%u2019. Lines are drawn where certain symptoms, withdrawals, or tendencies must be met before it is deemed worthy of the title of %u2018addiction%u2019.

Personally, I don%u2019t think meeting such a distinction is important, and it certainly does nothing to help the people in these situations. Rather or you call a person who sits in his/her room gaming for 45-50+ hours a week a gaming addict, someone compulsive, someone with a lot of free time, or just a hardcore gamer doesn%u2019t change the fact (to me) that it IS a problem. Giving it the title of %u2018addiction%u2019 (or some compulsive behavior disorder, etc.) doesn%u2019t change anything about the situation, or make solutions any more obvious.

Glad to hear that Kay is walking down a happier path, and good luck to any gamers (the ones this story pertains to) that are sitting there reading this.

[dustijade]

lol try conqueronline.com its free to play and we never sleep.

im sorry but i think acutally having a real docter diagnos someone with an addiction to gaming is just anouther way for people to get on depression pills and call it disability then they can get a free check every month which means more time to play online.
i play several online games and i still run my household, raise my kids, work a part time job, and have free time for family.
I think this woman just was in an unhappy marriage and the game was her exscape thats why shes getting divorced.
thats just my opinion.
but i still respect yours and see some good points.

[djgreend]

I agree with the above poster. You cant singel out a MMORPG titel and call it bad. Realy it comes down the the person them self for allowing them selfs to get totaly engrossed in the game.

I have @ one time played FFXI to much and neglicted my RL duties, but only took my famliy to check my *** to get me to realize i was playing to much. Now i play when i can i dont make time to play.

BTW people who play WOW are much worse. FFXI is for the people that like there MMOPRG's more tatical.

[fonic8gw]

I own a PC LAN Game Center, so definitely understand and relate. I GOTTA have a fix of
on-line Call of Duty 2, every day. But just like with everything else, extremes carry luggage.

[finaldrg]

Personally, I play Final Fantasy XI as well, and I don't know many players who suffer any sort of addiction. At least not compared to my friend who plays World Of Warcraft (His addiction effected his behavior to the point where it ended our friendship). The warning it places before you log on has always been there. Though there is a bit of irony that they have a disclaimer but put you through specefic events that may require multiple hours at a time to accomplish.

This report gave me the vibe of an attempted "media scare". You can't blame an industry on an individuals lack of an ability to moderate. The gaming industry is often a scapegoat for bad parenting or behavior that the general public wouldn't find acceptable.

[goslings151]

ther may be some ppl addidcted to games but in most part its bitter ppl that are not in a relationship for other reasons and dont want to own up to why stuff failed so this is the easy way out for them

[psykiblue]

I think some people need to a show a lot more maturity when posting a comment. To be defensive over a game that people who posts comments apparently have no problem playing reeks perhaps this hits too close to home.

Gaming addiction is becoming more serious, perhaps research articles on it, and how parts of the brain are stimulated in similar ways that drugs/alcohol do. Would you deny that alcoholism/drug addiction is not an addiction?

Educate yourself before opening your mouth and making yourself appear unintelligent and immature to the world. Talk to those who are widowed by a game, whose marriages are destroyed all because of a game. Then make rude comments and idiotic suggestions.

Drs just dont hand out pills like they're candy and not all gamers who have problems with addictions see a psycharist. Some see psychologists who are unable to write prescriptions for any kind of drugs as they have no MD background. Perhaps next you'll see they're using the excuse of gaming addiction to get use of their couch in.

[michellem99-2009]

I did find the story interesting. I feel that there are gamers who may play longer they ouaght but I don't think medicating is the answer.I love the computer but due legally blindness and some games like the 2rd life is the one I saw on tv have players buying using real money things. In the 80s they had games every where, kids whould play them. Just now they're on computer. Have fun.

[p4uswep2]

The problem is with the persons and not with the games. I think it has a lot in common with alcoholism, drug addiction or gambling addiction. It's a way to avoid thinking about your problems and boost your (very low) self-esteem. I think the problem get trivialized a lot by gamers and also by parents who think that its better to have their kids at home playing video games than not knowing where they are and what they are doing. I really think that there's a lot more people addicted to online gaming than you could believe. Having been in a few guilds (a group of people playing an online game together) there was always a few people who, like me, were online most of the day, most days. Our addiction become an inside joke and we just laugh at it and then when something threaten to stop us from playing, we get angry, aggressive and deny the existance of any addiction.

Personally I've wasted close to 10 years of my life playing online games. It went from skipping school here and there up to beign on welfare so I could play more. One day I just decided to stop. I haven't been playing online for a month now and I'm trying to get a life going.

[lyrus-2009]

People who become addicted to online gaming are not automatically teen game junkies. If they became addicted to the game it is because there is something missing from their lives that they don't understand how to acquire. They are also just as likely to become addicted to drugs, ***, or Nascar (yes a joke). Its easy to point at games as being responsible and it is entirely the gamer. WoW (as a player of multiple 70's) not only warns against excessive playing, but even includes notes in the loading screens about NOT playing the game all the time. At least gaming addictions do not have immediate affects like drugs, in addition to being illegal. The biggest thing to remember in the case of children is that it is just as much the parents job to monitor their childrens play as it is the child's.

Speaking from experience (I was almost addicted at one point) my wife got involved in my playing and played with me. When she was unable to play as often I found that I didn't want to play as much either! It wasn't a much fun without someone to play with. Showing interest in their activity encourages them to open up making it easier to discuss things. Don't stand back and criticize as that will only force them deeper. True addictive personalities will suffer if you cut them off. You need to understand WHY they play and then show them how to get the same things from life without the game.

[booyaw_77]

Well, fer me its my spaceship. I travel around the galaxy, fighting pirates, trading goods, and being Mr. Stud. Its what ya buy a computer for. Or for that matter a television set or a DVD player: Ya wanna escape. There's nothing lacking. There's just the opportunity for immediate escape. And I wouldn't even call it an addiction. An addiction is psychological need. This is a medium. A noosphere.. A concept not only known by gamers, but you CBS. And you CNN.. And you foxnews. And all you people.. There's nothing more real about you. You make the whole world peckkkker scandals and ya make them believe your own president is a nazi who attacks his own buildings. There's no difference between us and you.. Don't believe it.

[itwasntme000]

Final fantasy sucks....... The last good one they made was FF8 i believe.. After that they went downhill badly.

WoW is where it is at. Yea some people get a little carried away with the games but that happens in every game their is. For those that say WoW players are much worse may be right because it is such an amazing game. The better the game the more addicts their are. Along with lyrus, I to have multiple lvl 70 chars. with over 100 days of playing time between all my chars. (most of it was spent flying on the afk airlines tho haha). Anyway tho my point is you really dont have to spend alot of time playing a game like this to progress thru it. I would say if you schedule off like 15 hours a week to play when your guild is raiding (karazhan or gruuls lair right now). It really isnt that much.(granted you spent the time to gear your char up already)

The game is addictive yes but I think the thing that adds to it the most is the people you play the game with. As in, I personally am on ventrilo talking with people perodically every second i am on WoW. Its the fact you actually hear a persons voice and their reactions to things, that makes playing the game and doing instances the most fun.

[theexhere]

B.S. I worked full time for a local contractor the first 2 years of our marriage. He then retired and I started my own buisness. She maxed out my credit cards (w/o my knowledge) less than 1.5 yrs from the day we were married. I've never quit any job during our marriage and she never had one till after the credit card situation. She then quit her first job after 3 weeks and has only had part time work since. If you would like the names and numbers of business's and individuals, to verify any of what I say, I'll be happy to provide them to CBS. I declined the interview because the entire story couldn't be told in the lenght of time allotted.

[itwasntme000]

BTW people who play WOW are much worse. FFXI is for the people that like there MMOPRG's more tatical.
Posted by djgreend at 10:29 PM : Apr 30, 2007

ff a more tatical game?????
ok i havent played ffxI but try doing a 25 man raid in WoW or the old 40 man raids in WoW and tell me the raid bosses don't take amazing coordination between every member. And you need every person their to know how to play their character and to know their role in the fight, where to stand, where to move to.

[itwasntme000]

Posted by TheExHere at 08:54 AM : May 01, 2007

????? *** are you talking about man?????

[tsarmina]

I play online games. City of Heros, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars.... I'm lucky if I play 3 times a week. I have a job, a house, a boyfriend, my dogs... a life. I can certainly feel the pull to play more, I enjoy my playtime and my online friends. My boyfriend was the one who introduced me to online gaming and we have fun playing together... and have had fun playing along with other couples/families. One just needs to know when to draw the line and take a break. Spring is here- go outside! :)

[theexhere]

Gamming addiction/obsession is real. The problems caused by abuse are a fact. There were more than just gamming problems with this marriage but for her that was the main problem. I used the game to escape from my real world troubles and that was my fault. I think it's a topic that warrants more detailed study and just to say it's someones fault they didn't control their life is not enough. Thats like saying a drug addict should control his use of a substance and he will be ok. I used the virtual world to get away from real world stress. In doing this I also ignored more of the things in the real world than just my stress and thats where the problems begin. My stress level is much lower now and I no longer play online games. Quiting gamming has been simple for me. If you want to learn more visit the website mentioned here and read some of the accounts. It opened my eyes to a lot of what I did over the past few years.

[kay--2009]

Part 1
Hello, I%u2019m Kay from the segment. I%u2019d like to say thank you to CBS, my producer, Karen Raffensperger and Daniel Sieberg for portraying my story so eloquently. Thank you to GamerWidow.com for all your support. It%u2019s great to see the responses this segment is receiving here and in Tech Talk.

Imagine for a moment you take the worst secrete from your closet and put it on National TV. It was my choice to do so, and I did it for the right reasons. Game addiction, excessive playing, whatever you call it, is a growing, very real problem. A virtual world affects real life. I%u2019m not proud of what I did and I don%u2019t blame a game; however, I do know gaming was a large contributor to the demise of the marriage. It was our choice to allow it to interfere with our real lives.

[kay--2009]

Part 2
This is just the start of the coverage, and documentaries being filmed and due out this year. Some are calling it the addiction of the century. It doesn%u2019t matter the wording you use or your choice of MMORPG, ORPG or RPG, they can be compulsively played. If you have a computer and/or gaming system with internet in your home; everyone is at risk.

Daniel asked me this %u201CWhat do you want to say to the addict out there who might be watching this?%u201D I replied %u201CI%u2019m not doing this for the addict, because this is prime playing time and probably won%u2019t be watching. I%u2019m doing it for the widow of the gamer; let them know they%u2019re not the only one out there going through this. They are not alone.%u201D It%u2019s that simple. I am a gamer widow.

[michellem99-2009]

I don't ask for credit cards. Word of advice here from an older person.It is your business but bad credit will hurt ya in more ways today.Do be careful. A postee said some thing about credit card usage with out his knowing about it. It is your business to know where those cards are use or abused.It is your name. Today they run credit checks for just about everything.I truly feel credit should be used wisely. It is shocking she allowed herself to spend money,clearly needed for daily living,abused the cards. Keep a record of the credit cards as one does for their check book.

[nlm2383]

????? *** are you talking about man?????

Posted by itwasntme000 at 09:03 AM : May 01, 2007

itwasntme000, I have a feeling TheExHere is her exhusband now deciding to give his side of the story... Now that he's heard hers, even though he declined to comment before, hes feeling ganged up on. Poor baby....

[kay--2009]

It is the ex. And as I recall when I personally asked him to appear with me, for his side of the story, he replied %u201CI don%u2019t want to be misrepresented.%u201D

[rf35]

While I do think that games, not just MMORPGs but offline games as well, can be addictive, I also think that there must be other underlying problems that are the reason people are driven into the game world. Perhaps what needs to be addressed when treating "gaming addiction" is what factors contributed to the person shutting out the outside, real world in favor of the game. A bad marriage, low self-esteem, neglect/abuse at the hands of a loved one? I can see how all these factors might drive a person to find solace in the anonymous world of the Internet. One can rebuild themselves into a beautiful, brave, heroic person; a person they feel is ideal. They go on to try and live their lives through that ideal person they have created. Whatever is preventing them for getting out into the real world, the game becomes the vehicle to get the social interaction humans crave. However, this is such a low-level form of social interaction that they need to spend 10 times longer to get the same effect as going out and actually socializing in person.

Whether it is an on-line game, Internet chat rooms, or virtual worlds such as Second Life (not exactly a game), these are all escapes. What needs to be looked at is what the person is escaping from. Then treat the disease, not just one symptom. Whatever you do, don%u2019t blame the game. These are wonderful, fun diversions when played as they are meant to be.

[mcgoonagle]

This isn't about one game vs. another, nor is it about pop psychological interpretations. I play FFXI and have three characters I'm developing, and I party with my wife under our various guises. I also played the old command-line "Adventure" 20+ years ago. Role playing games can engage me in a way that most other computer games do not. MMPORG games are fun, and when I have a good session, I can almost forget that all I'm doing is shifting bits in a database. If you want to lose yourself in these games, you can, but you had better ask yourself why you want to do it.

[psykiblue]

Some people can play in moderation. I can, and no issues with logging off when playing if there is something that needs to be done or if I'm playing some on xbox simply turning it off. However I am not in a guild nor do I raid nor do I intend to. I play the game maybe for a half hour before its no longer fun and sign out.

Yes usually people have more issues then just the game and use it as an escape. However the issues is that they wont get off the computer long enough to fix the problems or even begin to. How can a widow(er) fix problems on their own without their partner. They simply cannot do it alone. Hence the neglect, the hurt, the pain, and everything else is borne out of all that.

[iarendiel]

While I agree that there could be such a thing as Gaming Addiction, I think that whatever coverage is done, it should be stressed that just because a person chooses to play the game, doesn't indicate that they 'will' or 'are' going to eventually become an addict. I couldn't help but get the impression that the underlying message being communicated through the segment was that MMORPG's, and other computer games were being viewed in a negative light, as a result of this person's story. And to those who have said it before, and I am in agreement with them: It is the person who chooses to play the game's fault, not the game itself.

[mcgoonagle]

I've being a little mental arithmetic and I'm confused. How did the wife max out the credit cards playing FF as TheExHere claims? An account can carry up to 16 characters at slightly under US$30 a month. Even if you have 100 characters in multiple accounts that is still only about $200 a month. Was she buying new computers every month? The only way she could do that, solely in the game, would be to engage in Real Money Transactions. That is a violation of game policy and should have had her kicked out.

[theexhere]

I don't think anyone said she maxed them out spending the money on gamming. She stated we used them to pay day to day living expenses while playing the game and not going to work. I said thats a lot of BS as I was employed full time during the time she secretly maxed out the credit cards and I never called in sick or missed work to be online. I worked construction and there were days that I was off due to rain or other weather.

Someone mentioned keeping close tabs on your cards just like your checkbook. I wasn't aware she had the card numbers and was using them as she would get the mail each day while I was at work and dispose of the statement before I got home. Neither of the companys would send a statement if you had a zero balance and no activity so I never thought anything was wrong.

Yes I declined to be interviewed for the same reason all of what you said to them was not shown. I didn't want to tell a complete story, only to see 3 minutes that someone else chose to be all that was aired.

[psykiblue]

What would you say to gaming companies bringing in psychologists and others to be various aspects of the game more 'addictive'. Not saying this is necessarily happening, but how would you feel?

I feel people are focussing on the games being played or how the feature talked about drug therapies rather then the real issue at hand. That gaming can be addictive, can destroy lives and families. No one is disputing that such gameplay has other underlying issues that are being pushed aside so people can escape in a virtual world.

No one is saying OHMYGOD epidemic but they are saying it is causing issues in life, relationships and other things.

[mcgoonagle]

In your early morning post, you said that she maxed out the credit in the first 18 months of marriage. If you were able to start your own company at that time, I do not question that you had the financing and the drive to do so. However, you also state that your wife was not working at that point. So you were paying all of the cost of living expenses, such as utilities and groceries. The game is not that expensive, even with a full slate of characters. If she was buying currency from Chinese gil farms, she could have maxed out all of her accounts for a few thousand dollars. That max: 99,999,999 gil, goes an awful long way in the game.

The question becomes: was it the game, or was it other spending that was the real problem? Was the game behavior just the last straw?

[momentkeeper]

In this day and age most people have computers and internet access in their home. For those who say "it is the persons fault for not following the disclaimer" you are saying the same thing as someone who tells a junkie not to take drugs.

I played FFXI for 3 years and I have played WoW for about 6 months. The major difference is almost EVERYTHING in FFXI requires you to have a group or a specific set up to complete it. WoW allows people to solo the entire game if they choose. When I played FFXI every single evening of my life was planned out. Some people are saying "just walk away it's not that hard", it is when people you game with call you and want you to run events with them. It's a lot more difficult to tell a person no than a computer.

WoW has not had that effect on me AT ALL. My hubby and I play together 2-3 nights a week and that is about it. When we want to walk away from WoW we do. We have just as many friends as we did in the other game, but since the game allows you to be so independent, you don't have people constantly needing help, and you are not a person who constantly needs it either. You log in, you play, you log out. BAM DONE.

That alone is probably why WoW currently stomps FFXI in it's subscriber base. You don't have to play 4 hours a night to accomplish something.

Oh! To the person who said WoW doesn't have a disclaimer...it does.

[itwasntme000]

Posted by Momentkeeper at 03:14 PM : May 01, 2007

Wow is far from being an independent players game...
Ok yea you need to lvl up to 70 which can be done independently but seriously that is not even one ioda what the game is about. The game dosent start till you reach lvl 70. Then you rely heavily upon getting groups together for instances to gear up and get rep up. Once you are decently equipped then you start what is the purpose of the game. End game content where you NEED a guild to do anything. This is when people can begin to rely on you to do things. For me once i did a 20 , 25 , 40 man raid nothing else in the game even seemed fun but that.

[itwasntme000]

What would you say to gaming companies bringing in psychologists and others to be various aspects of the game more 'addictive'. Not saying this is necessarily happening, but how would you feel?

Posted by psykiblue at 02:24 PM : May 01, 2007

A psychologist would have no clue what would make a game more addictive hahaaha.
It takes a gamer to tell you what is more addictive. And gamers make the games sooooo. This is essentially what they do.
The Bigger and seemingly endless things to accomplish in a game is a big part of what makes a person keep on playing.

[radly82]

The best part about this all is that the people who talk about this being an addiction totaly forget about the addictions THEY have. I came home from a 10 hour work day one day... Grabbed some food and sat in my chair.. After about 3-4 hours of playing FFXI my girl friend (whom i live with) smirked something to the effect of "you are STILL playing that" insinuating that im doing something wrong or am "addicted". All the while she was watching TV.. For hours... and does so everyday JUST LIKE THE PEOPLE WHO SAW THIS ON TV! Think about it. So its ok to watch TV for hours upon hours everyday but not play and have fun for hours? Humm... Just watching this program took an hour or more out of your life, then you went online and wasted more time posting and reading this. Then people are gonna watch the "follow ups" to these.. More hours wasted. Its all a weird and stupid consept. Yeh people can be addicted, they can be addicted to anything, i dont need to see it on the news.

There are thousands of people who are going to watch this and get the wrong idea about MMO's or game in general... Then they are gonna go home and sit infront of their TV's for 50 hours a week.

[booyaw_77]

Well said, Radly. And I totally agree. Whose the one who gets to pick and choose which is the bad habit and which is the good one? If you ask me, what those addicted to the news do is far far worse than any other fantasy world.

[psykiblue]

A psychologist can tell you what can trigger someone who exhibits any sign or addictive behaviour unless of course you are a psychologist yourself? Perhaps take a degree, learn!

The problem is not the activity itself, its the time spent, the promises broken, the time lost with family, friends and the outside real life that's an issue.

If someone watches tv all the time and does not do anything but watch tv and neglects everything including their families then yes it is a problem. However if your partner watches tv out of boredom because once again you're on the computer playing with your guild, raiding and ignoring her and will not spend any time with her then the problem is on you.

You comment about well this is better, this is worse etc. Take responsibility for your own actions and quit trying to make your actions less reprehensible.

You know a solution can be found, and compromises can be made. My marriage is proof of that. However both parties need to be willing to put each other first instead of a game coming before a marriage and all that a marriage entails.

Gaming in itself is not a bad or horrible thing. It is the multitude of people who play and take it to such an extreme that they have essentially alienated their loved ones and also possibly their work and work place.

In the end, it is all about balance.

[michellem99-2009]

I watched the visuals of Kay. And she pulled her tower out from where it is and turned it. The side was open and no panel. I said why did she do that. She needs the hard drive plus CD-ROM drive.If she removed them then computer can't do any thing. The OS platform lives on the hard drive.That tell computer what do.

[aise7]

Can I have your account details if you're not playing anymore?

[theexhere]

Posted by McGoonagle at 02:56 PM : May 01, 2007

The question becomes: was it the game, or was it other spending that was the real problem? Was the game behavior just the last straw?

(This is my opinion and not hers and I'm not sure how she might feel about this). Initially we both played the games and neither of us thought there was a problem with excessive gamming at that point. The credit cards situation destroyed all the trust I had in her and I almost left her over this. This was the first major problem for me with regards to the marriage. As stress mounted, I turned to gamming instead of confronting what was causing the stress just to escape the stress. My gamming became increasingly excessive and I think that was the first major issue for her.

For me there the of loss of trust in her, not getting the help I needed to clear the card debt and her inability to control her spending.

For her it was pretty much total neglection as all my spare time was spent on the game.

I didn't recognize what I was doing to her at the time it was happening. I like to think that if I had, I would have been able to get control of it sooner.

[gamergyrl]

Interesting how in the interview it was stated that the ex declined to be interviewed yet here he is spouting all of these proclaimations as if they're truths. Interesting what one will do under the anon of the internet rather then own up to their mistakes to something.

Take responsibility for your actions mrexhere rather then trying to shift focus away from what you've done. Seek counselling, it can be very beneficial to help those who cant help themselves and own up to their actions. Has worked for centuries I'm sure it'll continue to in the future.

To all the other gamers who keep getting defensive over this article. Stop. Unless you are seeing behaviour in yourself that are mirroring the things that were discussed in the Interview. It wasnt a gamer bashing session or a drug pushing session. It was simply about the dangers that can be involved with WoW, Final Fantasy and other such games.

[theexhere]

It's also interesting how you can declare them to be "proclaimations as if they're truths." since you weren't there and all of a sudden you are the expert on whether it's truth or not. Also interesting how you chose to hide under the ID of GamerGyrl now too.

[redstripe11]

This article just seems to feed the "I'm a victim mentality that is so prevalent in our culture today."

At what point did we lose sight on how to differentiate between a hobby, a habit and an addiction?