/sci/ - Science & Math

addiction is entirely subjective.

>>10024182
They hire the top psychology graduates to devise the most addictive gameplay possible and incorporate it into their games.
The effect is exponential because of the presence of other players so you can show off your shit.

>>10024182
>People crave real life admiration and power.
>Everyone in an mmo is relatively powerful compared to our world.

????????????????
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PROFIT!?!?!?!?!?!

>>10024182
Gives you the feeling of empowerment, allows you to socialize with other people in a more comfortable environment, gives you continuously escalating rewards for completing dungeons, allows you to explore the world and fulfill your sense of wanderlust, and lets you customize your character however you want. What's not to get addicted to?

>>10024182
Social pull to show off. People want to show off their bling. MMO has tons of ways to do that. Other games usually only focus on one or two aspects. MMO has combat pve numbers, pvp digits, gear cosmetics, mount cosmetics, thousands of achievements, etc.

There are people in it

I made some badass houses in eq2. I had a motherfucking helicopter. Wow really dropped the ball when they didn't do player housing; they could have pulled more players from eq2 if they had. And yeah, it was to show off.

I use to live live vicariously through MMOs before I realized it was a waste of time. Now I just sit at home alone and depressed when I have nothing to do.

Your shitty thread doesn't suddenly become /sci/ related just because you preface it with "psychologically speaking"

>>10024182
They offer an alternative reality in which people can make it regardless of real-life accomplishment. Other people playing the game cannot see you on the screen, but can only face the avatar on the display. In this manner autistic flaws are being obscured; anyone can play a brawny warrior or sexy priestess and even be respected by other players after investing serious time.

If we are going to speak in terns of conditioning, you have to keep in mind that intermittent rewards are most effective in establishing addictive behavior. Low drop rates of coveted items can get a fanatical player to "farm" for weeks or even months. Like the slots machine an individual is performing the same behavior over and over again to acquire that reward: "Surely it is my turn of luck now", in ignorance of basic rules of probability. It is just a more sophisticated version of the Skinner box.

Interaction with other players likewise serves to reinforce MMO addiction. Everybody wants to win, have nice gear, and attain top level. With others around you, this becomes even more important. Nobody wants to be perceived as a newb scrub n00b, so work has to start for that new outfit. Once you have done that, you may as well clear out the entire area and finish its quests. On days that you do not feel as motivated to play, you are being baited in the game by daily rewards: no playing today, no bonus. And do not forget the raid that your guild planned this Thursday.

After a couple of years when most game goals are accomplished, psychological conditioning loses its charm. At this point all the incentives that have held the player in the MMO simply lose their power and the player will realize that he wasted thousands of hours on a mediocre game. This person closes the game thinking that maybe next week he will have another go. But it becomes 5 years fr him to log in the game again only to be surprised that he actually liked this pos.

>>10024182
It gives you more social cues and mental social rewards than other games.

>>10024886
At least you had fun with MMOs

>>10024182
because we are social animals, and social video games serve as a stand-in for socializing

>>10024185
This is true. Even physiological alcohol addicts are only "addicted" subjectively speaking, from the stand-point of those around them who believe they should be able to hold down a job and not let their relationships fall apart. So yes, addiction is subjective.

>>10024182
Games are achievement porn. MMORPGS are that but on steroids.

>>10024886
You should take that one final step and stop being a pussy

>>10024182
statistically people play them for a far longer period of time than other video games, and the goals are much more focused on progression. the mmo form when successful overrides your active mental state and you enter into a guided succession of events which give a highly net positive feedback. the more successful mmos have a very net positive feedback through creating content balanced towards general difficulty based on previous experiences in and out of the game. this is why you see similar people playing the same mmos and shifts in demographics happening when the mmo form shifts substantially (casualization/appeal to experienced players/graphical changes/etc). I know this from playing mmos for years and at this point I'm no longer affected by the process through too much repeated exposure; from what I've seen, most other people also reach this point inevitably, but we won't so easily in the future when mmos are more detailed in design.

>>10024182
that looks so gay holy shit

>>10024948
Good post

What the fuck is up with all the MMORPG threads? These games are not ever worth playing.

Because you're not pretending to be another character. The character is actually "you". When you complete missions and obtain virtual wealth, it gives you a real sense of achievement.

Lootbox-rewarding type games are the most addictive currently

>>10025240
I wish they were, though.

>>10024182
Are they? They've never held my attention. Haven't gotten max level in any of them

>>10025268
for most people they are, Anon

>>10024182
They're really not...

>>10024182
because MMOs are designed to be played over long periods of time so you pay for many months of subscription
they accomplish this by making everything take a long ass time to be achieved and rewarding you with virtual wealth (as opposed to purely enjoyable experiences, compare wow to an actually good game and realize that mashing frost bolt against boars isn't exactly the pinnacle of video games)

>>10025613
>5% of divorces in Britain cite "irreconcilable Fortnite"

>>10024948
literally me lol, eve online consumed my teenage years and now im a brainlet who wonders why he even bothered with that game

>>10025255
What is loot box

>>10024886
If you're gonna do nothing you may as well play video games.

>>10025808
legal gambling for teh kieds

>>10025813
Or how about don't do nothing. What a concept!

In an MMORPG you are the msot powerful thing, you have the best gear, the highest ELO the best everything


irl you are a fat neckbeard with pimples and no gf

same thing with cigs, alcohol, food, porn all addicting

>>10025821
Anon is obviously depressed and incapable of leaving his cave. Video games is a viable alternative to reduce his suffering.

>>10025832
You're saying the untold millions of people who waste their lives playing games are all clinically depressed? I don't care about this guy's particular problems. These things are a scourge and addressing that is much more important than them being an outlet for the depressed. There are healthier alternatives for the depressed anyway.

The thing that gets me about most MMOs is that they play like non-games. Everything is about mashing some buttons repetitively until x mob dies. The skill ceiling involves memorizing a rotation of button pressing while avoiding standing in a red circle. No mmo has ever pulled me in to the point of a addiction. Oh, except Diablo 2, now that was a real man's game.

>>10025835
That's not what I said at all.

>>10025837
Good.

>>10025836
>Diablo 2
Not a MMO

>>10024182
I think it has to do with the sense of long-term involvement. In a single player game, you can be heavily invested on the short term, but soon enough you'll reach the end and "win" the game.

In MMORPGs, that feeling of having done everything comes weeks/months later, if it comes at all. And then you usually have a new form of gameplay you can partake in once you've reached that point (building wealth, engaging in PvP, etc.)

>>10024182

I find mmos to be the lamest form of any style of game. Hell, Id rather play mario on a gameboy.

>>10026200
This

>>10026200
You sound like a person that claims one thing and does another. I bet if you played WoW for 3 months you would get super addicted to it just because it would surprise you and give you feels

>>10026481
You sound a like person that can't understand people genuinely like different things

>>10026497
Everyone likes dopamine release

>>10026514
Lol dude, what I'm saying is people get dopamine releases in different ways. People can feel and recognize accomplishment/reward from different things.
Really activates my almonds.

>>10024186
love it when game companies hire psychologists

>>10024182
people have been playing World of Warcraft for something like 20 years now. Every month they pay, what is it, $15 for their subscription? At this point they've invested too much money and time to abandon the game even though it objectively sucks balls and looks like shit.

>>10026877
sunken cost fallacy

>>10024948
Isn’t the same thing true for all the people buying brand name clothing and the latest tech gadgets to show off on Facebook? Facebook is really one big MMO for normies. You grind for likes and present yourself to the world through an avatar that represents only the parts of yourself that you want others to see. Similar if you want money or even academic achievement. Not all of these “games” are as rewarding as the others, though.

Ultimately, if you choose to value something, whether it’s money or fame or a loot box, you’re playing a game. It’s up to you which one you’re playing.

>>10024182
escapism

>>10024182
thread for a different board with a
>science word -ly
in front of them are top tier

>>10025240
> These games are not ever worth playing.
Orly? Present your quantitative criteria that allows you to come to this conclusion.

>>10027567
world of warshit doesnt let me shoot people with fake guns on realisticish looking plausible modern battlefields.

mmos provide small tasks that provide continuous reward In a tight feedback loop. mmo reward is partially social, the most powerful reward

>>10027574
Battlefield doesnt let you equip a sword and slay a dragon. Accept that the idea that all mmos arent worth playing is astronomically retarded and is as juvenile as saying saying art is pointless.

>>10027574
I find games like Battlefield orders of magnitude more boring than games like WoW. Some of us like to immerse ourself in fantasy.

>>10024933
The state of this board

>>10027587
Little did you know, you're actually the retard. You say art isn't pointless, so you understand that it's value is subjective to each person right? Kind of like games are to people, which is what fps Chad was getting at.