Those crazy chinamen....

[Melbosa]

http://www.interfax.cn/showfeature.asp?aid=4913

The new system, developed under the guidance of the GAPP, stops individuals from playing online games for more than three hours by cutting the abilities of game characters. The new system cuts the ability level of a player's online game character by half after he or she has played for more than three consecutive hours. Once a player has played for more than five consecutive hours, the system cuts the ability level of that player's character to the lowest level allowed by the game.

[Darren Dirt]

The GAPP has defined the playing of online games for less than three consecutive hours as "healthy," playing three to five consecutive hours as "tiring," and playing for more than five consecutive hours as "unhealthy."  





Okay so any CoH TF is tiring, I agree... but unhealthy?



Seriously, though, not only is it obviously gonna get hacked within minutes once implemented, but this will stir up lawsuits from NCSoft and the like I am sure... Not to mention a family with multiple game accounts where they might all want to play in a single day (!)





Can you imagine tobacco companies being forced by the gubmint to put in some kind of timing device, so that the first 3 cigarettes of the day are tasty, then if you are on your 4th through 6th they taste kinda yucky, and the 7th and later make you vomit? Or beer bottles whose caps can only be opened with a specially modified and certified opener, which counts the # of opens it has done today etc.





PS: What bout if a user plays for 2hours 55 minutes, logs off, and then 10 minutes later logs back in (I'm thinking the CoH TFs as an example where this may be necessary in order for the TF to not get cancelled)...



Government: "We tell you what to do and not to do, because your mommy and daddy have stopped and you still can't be trusted to think for yourself!"

[Tonnica]

Government: "We tell you what to do and not to do, because your mommy and daddy have stopped and you still can't be trusted to think for yourself!"

I think this is created more out of need than gub'ment censorship. Children are running away from home http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/14/0420218&tid=206&tid=209&tid=10. People are being mugged online http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4165880.stm. One South Korean even died from playing continously without breaks for too long http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4137782.stm.



If this kind of thing is happening, of course someone is going to sit up and take notice. Sure, those sessions rounding out near 5 hours will be trickier to play, but it'll force people to get up and fufill their basic human needs. A life toll is not something that should be assosciated with a game made for fun.

[Melbosa]

But should the government be responsible for the darwin classification.  They child who runs away, is that the governments fault or a games?  The mugging, too convenient to blame your social problems on other forces, when blame comes down to upbringing and sense of right and wrong.  Dieing from gaming, I've gone longer than 50 hours strait with minor namps and small breaks, and survived, problem with that one is the guy had physical issues before the gaming. The prolonged strain of the event brought it on, just as a relay race or 48 cram session for college might have done.



So sorry I can't believe that the government must introduce sensorship on this based on the fact that events that may be related to games, but are not a direct result of gaming.  Otherwise we might as well ban Boxing, Hockey, Football, etc as I might take a stick, and slam a puck into someones throat because I've been without my hockey for a year.

[Fedora Gal]

This exact same thing started happening when movies became a large part of main stream television. The acts of some human beings were being blamed on too much television, or certain movies (for instance Natural Borne Killers, we all remember that one). The fact is that these people would have done what they did regardless of what they watched or what they played. The urge, or condition, was in them before and they just found a catalyst with whatever medium they blame it on. If it wasn't the movie, or the game, it would have been something else.



Gaming can be an addiction, just like any other drug, good example of this is EQ1, all those people who quit their jobs etc. If you have an addictive personality and expose it to the game world, sure your going to get hooked. But again, if it wasn't the game, it would be something else. The government should not have to regulate this, they do not regulate the amount of alcohol one consumes, or how much a person can smoke, those choices are left up to the individual.



In my opinion the governments should be focusing more on the parents. Since the introduction of TV into main stream society way back when I believe parents have been slacking on the attention they pay to their children. The TV, and the Nintendo are raising their kids instead of them. It should be the parents who are held liable for this and not the government. Instating limits on society takes away the freedoms of the individual to choose, and also just masks the problem rather than attacking it at the source.



I for one, just like Mel and I'm sure most have you have spent countless hours in-front of the computer (FRAG is an excellent example). But we all know when to take a break, get up and walk for a bit or watch a movie. We also know how to tell what's real and what's not. Because of the way we were raised!

[Tonnica]

My main reason to be devil's advocate on this topic is this: sure, people will probably get hooked on these things if they're easily hooked. But what's in place to help those who get hooked or family/loved ones that want to help the person who's hooked?



Is MMO addiction even thought of seriously in the world of mental health? Do psychologists and other professionals in the area of mental health even have enough knowledge and understanding to treat someone suffering from online gaming addiction? I don't approve of the Chinese government taking this issue into their hands the way they are. It does make me wonder though. Has anyone done anything at all in the metal health infrastructure to help those in need in China/South Korea where online gaming is considered and equivalent to regular sports? This doesn't mean that everyone in countries with a high percentage of gamers has to cancel MMO's (or all sports for that matter), but as it's becoming something as popular as sports then there should be something there to help people who go overboard. The point is clear that someone can get just as addicted to one thing as another, but the treatment will need to be handled differently. I doubt the methods used for getting a golf addict off the greens would work as effectively for getting a WoW addict out of raiding Onyxia's Lair over and over. There's a whole different set of mechanics to it, a whole online community to be torn away from, different feelings, different inputs.

[Melbosa]

So then we should have such a profession if it doesn't exist.  Good idea.

[Darren Dirt]

Is MMO addiction even thought of seriously in the world of mental health? Do psychologists and other professionals in the area of mental health even have enough knowledge and understanding to treat someone suffering from online gaming addiction? ... The point is clear that someone can get just as addicted to one thing as another, but the treatment will need to be handled differently. I doubt the methods used for getting a golf addict off the greens would work as effectively for getting a WoW addict out of raiding Onyxia's Lair over and over. There's a whole different set of mechanics to it, a whole online community to be torn away from, different feelings, different inputs.

Considering what you just changed your signature to (thumbs up btw!) and after seeing PP's 7th episode, I gotta say it's kinda ironic the points that you raise. Seriously, although me and Mel were laughing at the scenes and dialog in the "asylum", it is definitely an issue that is obviously challenging some individuals and their families (especially those youths who weren't "raised right", maybe it's along the lines of parental karma?) ... so perhaps we should all just settle down now, play some cards, chat with friends, watch some movies, and take a sabbatical/moratorium from MMOs for a day or two -- out of respect for those who are somehow unable to do so by their own willpower. :^|

[Fedora Gal]

*Ignores Darren Dirt, since she's not upset just making a logical argument*

Is MMO addiction even thought of seriously in the world of mental health?

Excellent point and definitely well thought out. I completely agree, perhaps it should be examined and classified as a clinical addiction just like alcoholism and drug abuse. And for sure there should be ways for these people to receive help. And I apologize, I didn't mean to generalize and say that all people who become addicted to gaming were not raised right, that is in no way the case (just have a few opinions on how SOME parents ((no one here)) are raising their kids these days, but that's a whole 'nother topic that I'm not going to get into here). I just don't think the government limiting the overall time played is the solution. Perhaps allowing the afflicted to be 'prescribed' a background program which does this, providing it is enforced would work. But limiting the access of the whole, because of the few is infringing, and definitely detrimental to the gaming companies because they would loose some of their clients to other games that are not limited.



I can almost Guarantee that a person who enjoys gaming/mmo's enough to become addicted will just exit the mmo when the limits hit and launch up another one.



Definitely well put Tonnica!

[Shayne]

What does a MMO junkie do when their game gets shut down?



I dont think its an addiction.  I think calling it an addiction gives the so called "addicts" a crutch to lean on.  I just think that comparing WoW to Heroin is rather wrong.



What is the withdrawl symptoms of a MMO addict?  Loneliness?  *haha*

[Mr. Analog]

They just move on to the next addiction...

[Darren Dirt]

*Ignores Darren Dirt, since she's not upset just making a logical argument*



I can almost Guarantee that a person who enjoys gaming/mmo's enough to become addicted will just exit the mmo when the limits hit and launch up another one.



Definitely well put Tonnica!

Sometimes I hate text on forums, the emotions are not accurately displayed sometimes. "I gotta say it's kinda ironic" was not against Tonnica, I was thinking out loud essentially saying a week ago I had not watched Ep 7 of PP so having seen it last night, and seeing a PP quote in her sig, I thought it was ironic-coincidental, not ironic-grammatical-meaning (PS: Alanis' song "Isn't It Ironic..." is more like "Isn't It Coincidental", curse you urban slang and linguistic laziness!)





To be clear, basically "I agree with the whole lot of ya". In other words, I was saying it is potentially a serious issue for a select few, and it is sad when that might go far... and I was semi-serious when I suggested taking a "respectful break from MMOs". And I am glad most of us on here are aware of our surroundings, and our own limits and weakenesses, enough to self-talk ourselves off the computer at 2am or 3am if we know we have work or other important stuff to do the next day



*glances at clock, wonders how much more time we will spend in this thread walking on eggshells instead of just moving on*

[Darren Dirt]

GamePolitics dot com had a mention of this, and what's interesting is the "update" at the bottom of the original article, re. the political discussions that gamers in China are known for.

UPDATE:

GP reader LitaGemini weighs in with some clarity as to what this issue may be all about: "Heard about this law at Futureplay (conference at Michigan State)... Often times the Chinese youth gather in cybercafes to play these games, and, in addition to gameplay, they're having discussion about real world political matters. The Chinese government therefore wants to limit their gameplay, which limits their cybercafe hours, which limits their political freedom. Tricky and insidious.

Hmmm.



http://www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/111942.html

[Fedora Gal]

I was thinking about this afterwards and you know most of the games have kinda built in limiters. Maybe not intended for this, but certainly a deterent. I've noticed that most of the 'time sink' mmo's have Vitality bars, where you get an xp bonus for having so much rest time in between gaming sessions. I've noticed that a lot of folks will play until this bonus runs out, then log out for the evening.



Not always a good solution, but I think it helps for some folks.

[lanruss]

Sounds good to me..!