In this modern generation, online gaming has ‘taken the lives’ of not only teenagers, but adults too. In this generation where online gaming is a world-wide phenomenon, it wouldn’t be a surprise if in the near future people would fall into the likings of the virtual world and literally ‘discard’ their precious social life.
The addiction of online gaming is so great that teenagers would not only play for hours, but possibly for almost a day! And the only breaks an addict would have are toilet breaks (yes, one would even have his meal in front of his computer). Some cases of online gaming addiction are so extreme that they require psychiatric treatment. For online gaming to cause such problems, what actually makes it so exciting and addictive?
An article entitled ‘Fears of a PC game addict’, written by Joyce Lim, tells about a couple in their early 30s, though mainly regarding the husband, who are hooked on an online role-playing game, World of Warcraft (WOW). The husband, Rod, is known to spend at least six hours everyday on the game, before and after he goes to work. A married couple spends half of their time on the virtual world; now that’s amazing.
You might wonder,” is WOW really that amazing to the extent where married couples play for long hours?” Yes, in the gamers’ perspectives. WOW simulates the world environment. To Rod, it's almost like a magnified version of IRC (Internet Relay Chat) because he makes friends online. You form friendships which make your game a lot more enjoyable. With WOW’s great graphics and gaming features, now it’s no surprise if a gamer gets addicted to it.
However, in my opinion, the thrilling experience of online gaming is only short lived, for eventually one would have to face the real world. Regarding friendships being formed online, it isn’t really a real one, literally. Behind those computer screens, you wouldn’t know the true colours of those ‘friends’ u make online. It is still between the gamer and the PC, nothing else. It really isn’t worth spending long hours with a machine.
One may not realize it, but spending long hours on the PC really affects your social relationships, and its obvious what type of person you are. Normally those addicts aren’t socially active; they have fewer friends. One would neglect whatever happens outside in the real world. In the article mentioned earlier, though Rod and his wife spends long hours online, Rod realizes that their obsession with WOW is worrying. He confessed that online gaming has affected his sex life, and that his biggest fear was not having any children as they’d rather play games.
In all, whatever the reason may be, do not let the likings of the virtual world conquer over your social life. While I admit online gaming can be thrilling, do know how to manage your time to play sparingly. Treasure the real world.
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The article can be accessed here.
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