"I knew then that I was in trouble, and just what kind of trouble it was. Like most players, I had joked about being addicted to the game. And sometimes--after I'd lost half my work day to a four- or five-hour "lunch break" of game play or as I lay in bed actually hoping for insomnia so that I could get up and slay lizard men for a couple of hours--I wondered whether it was more than a joke. But now I saw plainly that, at least as far as certain quarters of my brain were concerned, this was more than an addiction. It was a parallel life. A career, in fact, and in some ways a career more straightforwardly rewarding than the writing career I had chosen to follow in my real life. And as long as there was room to rise in this career -- as long as there were bigger monsters to slay, bigger piles of gold to amass, and a distantly attainable day when I might have some sort of revenge on the prick who'd killed my horse--then I would go on feeling compelled to pursue it right up to the limits of the sensible."
The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem...
I have yet to admit I have this problem.
Virtual identity is incredibly malleable. It can be whatever you want it to be. You can shape it, mold it and tweak it to portray almost anything you want. Whether you are a serious gamer or a frequent chatter, a lot can be said about the user, based on your virtual identity. Some people devote a lot of time to developing their virtual identity.
As Dibbell stated in the aforementioned quote, his virtual identity was almost a second career, which turned to his only career. I have never played Ultima Online, but I have heard of it. I am a participant in another online game with a reputation for adding gaming/computer junkies to getting their daily fix, World of Warcraft.
Over 10 million subscribers log into WoW everyday. According to a survey done in 2005, by http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001365.php, the average players spends almost 23 hours a week in the game. This is not including time spent out of the game reading articles, online and off, regarding upcoming events, patches and expansion materials. I consider myself a pretty avid gamer, having started since I was 8, way back in 1990 when I got my Nintendo, all throughout childhood and into adulthood. Because of time constraints between a full time class schedule and a 46 hour work week, I am well below the average, yet still find time to at least log onto the game for a few minutes each day to check and see if I have mail, or if any in game auctions sold (some items that are found can be put up for auction to other players in exchange for game money). If I was not so constricted, and if it would not get me in trouble with my wife (who is also a player in the game) I would spend much more time on the game. My problem with the game, and the amount of time I feel I need to spend in the game is because of story based game play. Each quest completed gets me a little more of the story-line and one step closer to reaching in-game supremacy. What that actually means, is a little vague. There is no real "end," as the game has had several expansions so even though you may reach an "end game event," it isn't the end of playing.
There are always things to do which is part of the problem. Each thing you do is recorded and accounted for with your characters. Quests, player vs. player events, and running through dungeons earns you gold, gear and reputation that is measured up against other players. This is what drives the virtual identity in this game, and others such as Ultima and Second Life, is that "competition" against other characters in having the most unique stuff and being more "individual" than the next guy. This is why I stay up until 3 A.M. trying to get to the next level or finish the next quest, to try and put more time in than the next guy.
But, I maintain I don't have a problem and can quit anytime I want.
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