Can I ask a question?

[Exedus]

Hello all members of the PMS clan,

I'm a university student and I'm currently putting together a paper for a psychology class about video game addiction. Please keep in mind that I'm a gamer as well. I've been a PC gamer for many years and love a good round of BF2.

The question I want to ask is: Do you feel that you are addicted to video games? I want you to back up either answer you give as well. I also want you to base this off what you feel video game addiction means and entails. I'm trying to get answers to this question from a many different sources. Thank you in advance to all of you who help out. :)

[H2O SkywalkerX]

i'm not a member of PMS, but h2o rather, do you still want my opinion on the subject?

[EpiK SkillZ]

Psh, no, your opinion doesn't matter here, Sky (SPAM)

I'm addicted to vidoegames, yes. If you take them away from me, I might need rehab or somethin :D

[PMS Evil]

i am very addicted to video games but being a girl i still have time to do sports, shop, and girly stuff :)

but if u take away my video games, i cry

[Exedus]

i'm not a member of PMS, but h2o rather, do you still want my opinion on the subject?

As long as your a member of a pro gaming clan I would love your opinion.

[PMS Fedaykin]

Hi, my name is Feday. I am a video game addict.

[Kicker of Tale]

Count me in as one.

most of my friends know that I play way too many video games

For me its my main form of recreation

Dont get me wrong I do stuff like golf, disc golf, rollerblading etc during the summer time but since I live in a cold weather state and its cold for a better portion of the year I play the vids

I simply do not like winter sport activites whatsoever

[Nokarot]

(In H2O, not PMS.. in case you might be categorizing the guys and the girls in this research. H2O is the guys division of PMS, if you didn't already know)

I find that there is potential to be addicted to a game.. to play it more then you should, to skip daily activites (classes, friends, or even just eating/showering and such). But theres a large line to draw when it comes to being addicted, and just really really really enjoying something to the point where you're willing to give other things up.

In the past, when I had less of a life then I do now (and I still dont have much of one, mind you), I played World of Warcraft.. I didn't have anything else to do, being out of school, jobless, and friendless at the time.. so I pumped 16 hours a day in to WoW. Addicted? No.. Too much time on my hands..? Yes.

Thats how it still is nowadays, except I'm doing a lot less gaming and a lot more making friends and moving on. So nowadays, a lot of my time is spent online, but not necessarily 'playing' anything.. If I'm addicted, its to the internet, not the games.. but I dont consider myself addicted- I just need to get my goals straight and figure out what I plan to do.

(and I'm sure you'll hear a lot of people mentioning WoW in their responses.. note that I quit long ago, so dont categorize me in to the WoW addiction in your report, if you do)

[Kelpie PMS]

I don't think I'm addicted to video games at all. It's my choice to play them and they make me happy. To me addiction means that you have to play or you'll go crazy. I have gone without video games and could go without them if I wanted to. Vidoe games are not my only source of entertainment. I like to read, alot, go to the movies, listen to music, make sigs, do arts and crafts :p, hang out with my friends, and go shopping. When I think of an addiction, I think of it taking over your live and that's all you want to, and do, do. Video games are a very large part of my life, they are a part of me as a person, but they do not run my life. Some people may say that because I play video games everyday that I'm addicted, but I'm not. I can stop at any time, I just don't choose to.

[H2O SkywalkerX]

yes i believe very truely that i am addicted to video games.

i truthfully do blow off my friends just to sit down and play on xbox live for hours.
however i believe without xbox live and any other online type thing, i would not be so addicted.

it's just the fact that i can go online, kill real people, then get off and go on with my day.

[Limafoxtrot]

While it is one of my favorite hobbies - I do not think its an addiction. I have other hobbies - I enjoy spending family time, going out to movies and hockey games, photography and other pursuits.

I think it can be an addiction for some, when like most addictions your life starts to revolve around gaming - to the extent that you sacrafice other activies, perhaps spend beyond your means, let it interfere with work or school. If you rack up credit card debt you can't pay to own every system and game, spend every waking moment playing games, become a recluse with no friends in the real world or at least friends you don't see or interact with anymore. Even get to skipping class - staying up until 3 am when you have work or class - I think all would be signs of addiction.

[Rip]

Hi, my name is Feday. I am a video game addict.
lol!

I would consider myself to be addicted in spurts, at times I will just really enjoy playing some games, yet at other times I get sick of playing. I would say anything over about 4-5 hours a day will lead to a general apathy of a game, and then i don't play for a while or until something new comes along. Things like E3 can also lead to gaming sensory overload, and it takes a few weeks to wear off. In general gaming can induce addictive behavior, however it varies depending on the person and the game. I think there are a lot of things in games like WOW which you will find are psychologically designed to exploit the gamer in a similar fashion to casino's attracting people with gambling addictions. In fact, if you want to focus on video game addiction, WOW is a perfect game to look into, it covers all ends of the spectrum. I know people who are able to moderate their play in the game and still enjoy it, others spend every moment they can in the fantasy world. Incredibly high retention rate, to the point it can even get scary at times. I've seen some people's lives go down the drain because of it, so I may be a bit biased, but definately a good topic of study. Also, it would be a viable study to look at the way addiction works between specific types of games, such as the FPS genre and the MMO genre. I think you'll find that its a very different interest pull. Anyway, good luck with your studies, I hated psychology (although there was a ton of interesting material), but there's plenty of great topics to talk about. I wish one of the 7hm gents was here, he would have had some great conversations with ya on the subject.

Addicted definitely, but addicted to the industry in general. I'm not going to put a negative spin on it, granted few addicts of anything would, but the behavior is less difficult to determine harm as other forms of addiction people are familiar with.

[diana3]

yes i believe very truely that i am addicted to video games.

i truthfully do blow off my friends just to sit down and play on xbox live for hours.
however i believe without xbox live and any other online type thing, i would not be so addicted.

it's just the fact that i can go online, kill real people, then get off and go on with my day.
I'm actually on the opposite side of Luke :).

I would never blow off my friends just to sit down and play xbox live. RL > XBL anyday.

I'm not addicted now.. but i used to be and I'm truthfully glad that my addiction is gone.

[ninja]

nah video games can't be really addictive unless...your spending like 500 dollars every weekend to play it..........stupid fun paintball......argh *shakes fist* :D

[The Geeky Panda]

I am not in the PMS clan but more of an H2O recruit,

I consider myself to be a video game addict. It really started when I got my N64 console when I was 7 or 8 and really did a kick start when I played The Sims, Unreal, and Half Life. Then I was hooked from there, now I play 10+ hours of gaming on my Xbox 360 or PC and go through community websites. I also work for GamerNode.com as a Forum Moderator and Reviewer if I submit my own work. Video Game Addiction needs to be well defined, there are alot of addicts but different kinds of em, like me. I play video games alot, but if I liek I have a chance to go out on dates with girls or hang out with my buddies, I go with those choices instead of sittting in my room all day playing games. I also spend alot of money now on video games, since I got a job most of my money is being saved up for upgrades on my computer to run games liek they were mean't to be, and also buying tons of games. I atleast buy 3-5 games per month and upgrade my pc every 6-12 months. I also go to LAN Parties and Centers to game, I go over my friends house and we all play Counter-Strike Source and other games on their LAN.

So yeh, I am a Video Game Addict

"LIVE TO GAME, GAME TO LIVE" FLIPINOM4D

[Lindsayxcore]

I'm adicted to video games yes and proud of it! lol:D

[Archer]

I've been addicted to video game for most of my life....since my family got the first console me and my 3 brothers would spend hours and hours playing together and useally start fighting when either one bet the other but it was fun....now i've moved on to PCs and spend alot of my spare time playing either online games or single player ones.

[Jumper PMS]

I would like to think that I'm not addicted to video games but in all actuality I'm afraid I am.. When you start to prefer staying in your room to play video games opposed to going out with your friends.. That can't be good.
When I was in school I think it affected things as well. I stayed up all night playing and got little sleep.. so I slept in class.
Mostly though I say gaming is my escape from everything else in the world. I started playing really heavily when I started going through some really depressing stages in my life, and it pretty much took me away from that.

I'm sure I could stop playing whenever I want.. I don't think my gaming will ever become that big of a problem where I'd need to stop. People just need to find a way to balance gaming with their everyday lives and they'll be fine :)

Hope it was good.