Project Overview

The recent surge in online gaming, which allows players to play virtually with other people via the internet, has exponentiated the number of people who play computer games and neglect more important tasks such as school, work, and other social activities. The online games in particular that cause such problems seem to be massively multi-player online role playing games (MMORPGs), which cause many adolescents and young adults to be enveloped in their own imaginary world.

When any repeated behavior can be deemed an addiction. How do you classify a gaming addiction? Despite being in a society where people are increasingly accessible to new technology and better games, how do people become addicted to MMORPGs? Is an online gaming addiction just as dangerous as substance addiction?

The purpose of my project is to uncover why MMORPGs are more addicting than other online games and whether the role-playing characteristics of MMORPGs increase the likelihood of addiction.