The truth about gaming disorder, from Fortnite to World of Warcraft
|
Posted By: How May I Help You NC on July 07, 2019 As the number of young gamers has risen sharply, so have addiction narratives Alex Hern @alexhern Gaming disorder may be a newly recognised condition, but disordered gaming is anything but new. In 2010, a Korean couple was arrested for fatal child neglect spurred by an obsession with Prius Online. Five years earlier, another Korean man collapsed and died after a 50-hour session playing StarCraft in an internet cafe. In the west, World of Warcraft, released in 2004, was one of the first games to trigger addiction narratives in the mainstream press, with the game blamed for causing college students to drop out of university and others losing careers and families. What’s changed this time round is partially a matter of scale. World of Warcraft peaked in 2010, six years after launch, with 12 million subscribers worldwide. Fortnite, released less than a year ago, has more than 10 times that at 125 million. Even if nothing else had changed, 10 times the players probably means 10 times the stories of a disordered relationship with the game. The game’s free-to-play nature – it charges for cosmetic upgrades but anyone can download and play without spending a penny – means that a far greater proportion of those players are young compared with previous gaming phenomena. Not only are there more young people – who are not great at setting boundaries – but there is also more visibility of all types of play: an eight-hour gaming session that might be guiltily shrugged off by an 18-year-old student in a university town can prompt concern for that same student’s parents if they are just a year younger and living at home. But while Fortnite may have become the poster child for this latest run of gaming addiction stories, it is a mild example of the form. Games in Fortnite are short, typically running 20 to 30 minutes and the rewards for playing a lot are minimal, and cosmetic only. That’s substantially less demanding than more “hardcore” games, including World of Warcraft itself, which can require hours of continuous play and offers substantial in-game rewards, which can only be achieved by those who put in the requisite commitment. Similarly, Fortnite forgoes one of the more malign innovations the gaming industry has hit upon over the past few years, the loot box. Other games don’t offer rewards in a conventional manner: instead, players earn or buy loot boxes, sticker packs, and the like, which contain a chance at receiving the item they truly want, and a much bigger chance of receiving almost nothing. The unpredictable rewards this generates can be incredibly compelling, for exactly the same reason a slot machine **** people in. Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, has passed over other popular money-spinners in the gaming space. There’s no energy system, demanding money for continued access; there are no timers, offering the option to skip the countdown for cash; there is no possibility of paying to win, using real funds to buy digital advantages. Instead, the company seems to have taken a simpler tack: build a fun game, monetise it smartly and hope to make more profit from 100 million happy players than a million exploited ones. That cuts to the core of the debate around gaming disorder. If the poster child for the condition can be linked to that dubious term despite avoiding the exploitative techniques that have been adopted by its peers, what are games supposed to do to protect players from themselves? Can entertainment just be too entertaining for its own good? https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardi... If you enjoyed this article, Join BlackInAmerica.com today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
 |
How May I Help You NC
Management, See Moss Interactive Bellarmine University class of 2021 Member Since January 2011 |
Comments
More From This Author
Latest Blogs
 |
Here's An Interesting Thought Here’s An Interesting Thought
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Here’s an interesting thought, what if the Iran War, was actually a vehi ...more
Junious Stanton • 7 Views • March 20th, 2026 |
 |
HOW CLYBURN ON SMALLL BUSINESS ENTRPENEUR INCUBATOR CTRS, FLOTUS MAKES HISTORY, KING CHARLESS III COMMONWEALTHFor Immediate Release From Kingdom-Levine-Oliver Publisher, Inc.!
1) CONGRESSMAN JAMES CLYBURN – CHIEF OF GULLAH-GEECHEE NATION NEWS: “Small Business
Entrepreneur Incubator ...more
agnes levine • 163 Views • March 17th, 2026 |
 |
Alabama State University to Host Open House for Montgomery Interpretive CenterAlabama State University, through its National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture, in conjunction with the National Park Service, will host an Open House for the Montgom ...more
Reginald Culpepper • 237 Views • March 17th, 2026 |
 |
HOW COLLEGE PROMISE INTRODUCES LEARNING COMMUNITY, HELP TO THRIVE DURING UNSURE FEDERAL AID, COLLEGE PLAYBOOK.For Immediate Release From College Promise!
What’s New at College Promise
Introducing the College Promise Learning Community (CPLC)
With support from The Kresge Foundation https://kresge.or ...more
agnes levine • 424 Views • March 14th, 2026 |
 |
HOW ODEP SUPPORTS GENERATION Z WORKER'S MENTAL HEALTH, NATIONAL APPRENTICE WEEK (NAW) APRIL 26 - MAY 2, 2026!For Immediate Release From U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy!
Many of today’s younger workers—Gen Zs born between 1997 and 2012—grew up more comfortable talking ab ...more
agnes levine • 560 Views • March 13th, 2026 |
Popular Blogs
 |
Divorce in America in 2009 – What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
Join Brother Marcus and the cast and the crew of the Brother Marcus Show live this Sunday evening on February 1, 2009 @ 8:00 p.m. for another hot topic in our community! “Divorce in America in 2009 ...more
Brother Marcus! • 70,921,941 Views • January 27th, 2009 |
 |
VISINE ALERT!!!Seemingly innocent medication such as Visine eyedrops are used by people to concoct a mixture with similar effects as a date-rape drug.
When mixed with alcohol and taken orally, the eyedrops can l ...more
Siebra Muhammad • 118,690 Views • May 23rd, 2009 |
 |
Walk with me ''SCHOLARSHIP'' by DAVID JOHNSON STUDY of religion at the highest levelWELCOME to BLACK HISTORY by DAVID JOHNSON and friends !!
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT Christians Muslims Buddha and any other RELIGION...! history note !
1400's or700 AD
what was the religi ...more
DAVID JOHNSON • 106,001 Views • October 26th, 2010 |
 |
The Surprise WeddingOn June 7, 2013, Ryan Leak proposed to his girlfriend. Her dream was to get engaged and married on the same day, and so later on that night... He had planned her surprise dream wedding.
We have al ...more
How May I Help You NC • 104,435 Views • October 1st, 2017 |
 |
Famous Quotes Rotating Header Image Mind your own Business Quotes LMAOOUT OF ALL THE THINGS TO DO HERE ON BIA
WHY BE A SIDELINE HATTER ? THEN BECAUSE YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH YOU WANT TO RUN AND CALL MAMA ! BOOOOOO HOOOOOOO THIS IS FOR YOU !!!!
Thank you for your ...more
DAVID JOHNSON • 85,554 Views • November 3rd, 2010 |
