MMORPG's: All Things in Moderation, Even World of Warcraft

MMORPG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) like World of Warcraft and EverQuest enjoy huge fan bases with millions of new subscribers flocking daily into what economist Edward Castronova calls "synthetic worlds". Unfortunately, to adapt a phrase coined by Uncle Ben from the Spider-Man movie franchise, with great popularity has come great scrutiny. Numerous media reports and psychological studies have focused on the harmful effects of addiction to MMORPG's, but are these studies showing all sides of the issue?

While it's certainly true that MMORPG's can be habit-forming, recent evidence suggests that membership in the kind of online community that these games create can also be an enriching experience. A study conducted by psychiatrists Helena Cole and Mark Griffiths found that MMORPG's can be "highly socially interactive environments providing the opportunity to create strong friendships and emotional relationships." Specifically, people who have trouble making friends in the "real" world often find it easier to interact with others and overcome natural shyness in online communities. So what is the factor that causes some players to become trapped in a cycle of self-destructive behavior and others to go on living healthy, normal lives?

The answer, according to MMORPG researcher Dr. Nicholas Yee, is the amount of time an individual spends playing, or as he puts it, "dependence is highly correlated with hours played per week." Similarly to the way in which gambling or shopping addictions form, players only open themselves to addiction and the accompanying problems when they play for excessive amounts of time. The solution to the problem of addiction, then, lies not in abolishing or stigmatizing MMORPG's, but in the old axiom, "moderation in all things".

One possible solution to the problem of MMORPG addiction would be to have the government implement technology that would limit the use of specific internet sites to a predetermined amount of time per day. Though this might work in a country like China (which indeed has already enacted these kinds of restrictions on internet use), previous experience tells us that Americans would likely resent any attempt by the government to regulate internet use in this manner.

Government regulation is also notoriously difficult to enact. Amy Jordan of the Annenberg Public Policy Center points out, "government media policymakers are in the unenviable position of walking the fine (and often moving) line between the best interests of a capitalist, speech-protected society and the best interests of the vulnerable [child]." If government cannot regulate MMORPG usage (as Jordan makes clear), then that leaves only one option--we must moderate ourselves.

The easiest means of achieving this goal is for MMORPG players and their loved ones to recognize the risks of addiction and to work together to ensure moderate use. Many MMORPG's, including World of Warcraft and EverQuest, now offer parental control features that allow parents to limit play by their children and these features are readily available and easy to use. The fact that very few parents take advantage of these features seems to show that only apathy about the risks of MMORPG overuse has prevented parents of players from ensuring safe use.

If parents and loved ones of players became more involved in moderating MMORPG use, the rates of addiction would decline and we could prevent its unpleasant effects. This would ensure that players could enjoy a healthy, fulfilling hobby without the dangerous effects resulting from MMORPG addiction.