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The in-depth, socially interactive nature of Everquest allows players to form virtual communities and develop lasting relationships online and offline. Since the virtual world of Everquest is a parallel of the physical world, there are some people who become totally addicted and who play the game in order to escape real world troubles. People who become addicted and unable to regulate the amount of time spent playing have gotten divorced, fired, and become insomniacs with Everquest being the primary reason.¹ The addictive qualities of Everquest were apparent to the “users” themselves as fans coined the term “evercrack” as the title of the game which took away those many hours of the day. People who play the game claim to lose track of time, stay awake playing until the sun comes up or until they’re too tired to continue. Dr. Timothy Miller a clinical psychologist who has done work with Everquest and other MMOGs states that the two defining characteristics of addiction are that “The person regularly engages in activity for much longer than originally planned and (continues) doing it in spite of adverse consequences.” ² Thanks to a handy command used in the game that logs every minute a person is playing called “/played,” people are able to see how much time they have spent playing the game. Some people are so addicted that they have only been playing the game for a year yet have accumulated over 150 real time days played (3600 hours or over 24% of the year!!!).³ With more than three years of personal experience with Everquest, I know firsthand how it can destroy a person’s sleeping habits, study habits, and motivation to do anything but play the game. With its addictive qualities kept in check however, Everquest and other MMOGs are a great hobby that promote social interaction rather than social solitude offered by video games of the past. 1 CBS News. 2004. CBS Broadcasting Inc. 2 October 2004 & G4techTV. Worley, Becky. 10 February 2003. G4 Media Inc. 4 October 2004 2 When Games Stop Being fun. Becker, David. 2004. CNET Networks Inc. 2 October 2004 3 RPG Expert. Cosky, Eric. 2004. 2 October 2004 |
