Stop Buying Crap #21 – Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs

Ruining My Life and Productivity Due to an Online Game? Pft.

It’s been well over a year since there’s an addition to the “Stop Buying Crap” series. What a shame. Ya’ll must be terribly sad (alright probably not).

Joining the list of “crap” today will be every massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) that’s currently active with a thriving online user base.  This includes recent popular ones such as Warhammer Online and Age of Conan.  Heck, for good measures, lets throw in some upcoming ones such as Star Wars: The Old Republic and Stargate Worlds.  And of course, let’s not forget the big daddy of them all, with over 11 million subscribers across the globe: World of Warcraft.

For those that have been fortunate enough to not have a MMORPG intersect into their life (whether directly or indirectly), you may be a little bit confused right now.  Basically, a MMORPG is a genre of role-playing games, where a large number of players interact with one or another in a virtual, persistent world.

In short, you’ll be chilling in a virtual game world with your best pals, family, and new-found online friends — kicking virtual baddies ass and taking names.  Sounds harmless right?

Not quite.

Addiction, Lost of Sleep, and Inability to Quit. Oh My!

According to a now famous research conducted by Nick Yee, 50% of surveyed MMORPG gamers considered themselves addicted to MMORPGs. A majority of the gamers (60%+) have played a game for 10 hours continuously or more, while in another question, over 40% of male gamers claimed that they’ve often lost sleep due to game playing habits.  To make matters worse, 30% of the respondents in the 12 to 17 age group tried to quit the game but was unsuccessful in doing so.

To be blunt, MMORPGs, like many type of things we come across in life, can drive and cause addiction — and a costly addiction at that.  Imagine failing school, losing your job, and ruining your relationship due to excessive game playing.  To add insult to injury, you may be paying a monthly fee on top of it all.

Thus in conclusion, avoid MMORPGs, never buy a MMORPG, and if your kid or someone you know plays a MMORPG, strip them of all access to it and tie them to a chair to start the withdrawal process.

The end.

Alright, Actually It’s Not That Bad.

That was a bit extreme and in all honesty, lame and unfair.

This post was going to be a sarcastic, flame-ridden post, highlighting all and any negative stereotypes to playing MMORPGs, with plenty of jabs to all those people neglecting their real world responsibilities, whether it be their school work, career, or significant other.

In truth, the numbers highlighted above is definitely a cause for concern, but they were also acquired from a select group of gamers that may have been slightly skewed and biased.  Are the numbers of MMORPG gamers these days reflective of the ones surveyed by Nick Yee? Perhaps, perhaps not.

Regardless of what a current survey result will show, a healthy dose of perspective check will always do more good than harm when it comes to an avid gamer of MMORPGs.

MMORPGs Are Just Like Credit Cards. Seriously!

Let’s put this into a financial context so that the post will align a little bit more to the supposed theme of a “personal finance blog.” When you really think about it, MMORPGs are just like credit cards.

How so?

Credit cards are a financial tool for convenience or cash-flow management, while a MMORPG is a tool for entertainment or socializing.  Both are a double-edged sword where mismanagement and lack of balance can cause serious harm to the end user.

If you use a credit card irresponsibly, you have the potential to hurt your credit history, drive up debt, and cause serious harm and stress to yourself or loved ones.  The same applies for playing a MMORPG irresponsibly: you have the potential to neglect real life responsibilities and cause serious harm and stress to yourself or loved ones.

Unfortunately, unlike a credit card, addiction to a MMORPG is harder to break than irresponsible credit card usage. If you seriously suspect someone you know may be addicted to an MMORPG to the point where it affects their livelihood — an intervention may be required, whether its a simple talk or seeking of professional help (may sound extreme but there are real cases of addictions).

Some minor online tips on breaking MMORPG addictions:

• How to Overcome a MMORPG addiction
• How to Break a World of Warcraft addiction

An Open-Minded and Balanced Approach

This post would have been more entertaining had it just contained flames and jabs at the crazy world of MMORPG — after all, there’s plenty of materials (online weddings, to name one) — but taking such an extreme stance would have been a bit irresponsible.

Like credit cards, it would have been easy to join certain financial gurus and completely swear off credit card usage. It would also be just as easy to take the extreme stance and claim that MMOs are a new form of crack cocaine. But when you take such a stance without looking at it with a middle ground perspective, you’ll be doing yourself a disservice.

That isn’t to say that MMORPGs aren’t ripe for abuse in usage (remember, it’s a double-edged sword). The point is that as with many things in the world of personal finance (oh hell, and everything else in life) — you will usually be better off when you look at a situation in question with an open-minded perspective and an attempt to find a balanced approach.

If you want to read more on Nick Yee’s research and learn more about MMORPG psychology and addiction, you can visit The Daedalus Gateway: The Psychology of MMORPGs for some insightful reading.

If you have tips on breaking an addiction to MMORPGs, tips on avoiding unhealthy usage of MMORPGs, or if you have crazy stories on how MMORPGs have affected someone you know, please share in the comments.