I recently stumbled upon an interesting web site:
http://www.banwarcraft.com/
As you can probably tell, the main idea of it is to encourage visitors to sign a petition which demands a ban on World of Warcraft, the grounds being that the MMO is fuelling video game addiction and is, I quote: “Present[ing] a clear and present danger to the mental, social and cultural development of teenagers and young adults in the United States.”
So, everyone under the age of thirteen and over the age of twenty-five, and those of you that reside anywhere else in the world are fine, then. Phew, that was close!Not only does the author give examples of how the nefarious MMO has devastated four bright, young lives which are, frankly, of a rather dubious provenance (one of the self-titled WoW addicts writes that: “Warcraft meant being accepted into clans and gaining levels for your account so you could be highest in the overall rankings”, not how a genuine player would describe the game, in my opinion.). He also offers us a handy list of how we can help to combat the evils of WoW:
- Sign our petition on GoPetition.com - click on the link here.
- Tell all your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues about the dangers of World of Warcraft, and ask them to sign our petition.
- Write to your local newspapers and radio stations asking them to do an item or feature about the dangers of Video Game Addiction.
- Contact your local and state representatives, and ask them for their help in addressing the problem of Video Game Addiction.
- Ask your local schools, colleges and local libraries to block access to World of Warcraft game on their networks and computers.
- Mention the http://www.banwarcraft.com/ website on your blog or social bookmark page (i.e. myspace, delicious, digg, etc.).
- Demand that Blizzard Entertainment establish a department to review and address Video Game Addiction in relation to their games.
- Send an e-mail directly to Blizzard Entertainment asking them to make changes to World of Warcraft - see our example e-mail here.
I’m afraid that Banwarcraft.com suffers from being poorly written. There, I said it! The term ‘video game addiction’ is bandied about willy-nilly, despite ‘video game’ being a huge umbrella term which covers consoles, MMOs, heldhelds, gaming applications on your mobile phone, and every single video game from the now ancient Sinclair ZX Spectrum to the more modern, remarkable incarnations, and bizarrely, the author insists on exclusively blaming Blizzard for the problem of addiction, going so far as to call for this ban on only World of Warcraft (one of many Blizzard games) as though a veto on this solitary title in an ocean of similar games would be some kind of cyber-panacea.
Why then should just WoW be banned? Well, the author fails to explain how he came to the conclusion that WoW alone was the origin of video game addiction. No evidence is presented, no sources given. If Banwarcraft.com had done any research at all it would have quickly become clear that although WoW appears to be the market leader it is in fact built upon the shoulders of giants.
Much of WoW’s gameplay has been adapted from other video games and while it makes a very pretty Frankenstein’s monster it most certainly is not in any way, shape or form unique. In fact, many of WoW’s designers themselves hail from a myriad other games studios. If the author calls for a ban on WoW, he must also tackle every single other MMO; Age of Conan; Warhammer Online; EVE online and even Runescape. Do I even need to mention the offline games?
Even then, a ban on all video games would count for nought. What would the ex-WoW, teenage players do if their servers were suddenly shut down? I doubt they would suddenly embrace their parents as omniscient benefactors and throw themselves into charity work. Instead, they would alt-tab to Crysis, Empire: Total War or FEAR 2. What if they didn’t have access to the offline games either? Well, one option would be to dabble in a bit of underage drinking, sex, and drug abuse.
Addictive Personalities
WoW has a vast, truly international player base, and although the subscription figures that Blizzard released last year don’t tell the whole story the simple truth is that eleven million players are bound to include people with unhealthy attitudes to self-regulation.
If someone has an addictive personality they can always find a means to fulfil that urge, whether it is through an obsession with alcohol, gambling, sport or collecting stamps the self-destruction could be difficult to curtail. Too much of anything can be a bad thing and if someone is so deeply immersed in any activity that it becomes an unhealthy fixation it could be an indication that other areas of their lives are greatly troubled. Perhaps they (like many teenagers) are going through socially awkward phases, perhaps they are being bullied. Maybe the parents are to blame for not being able to discuss problems with their children.
Or maybe they just enjoy playing the game.
I will readily admit that WoW is structured to make you want to keep playing (and paying) and there is always something to do in the game but since the demise of the old PvP honour system there is nothing in the game that absolutely requires a player to be in front of their monitor for hours and hours at a time. (Please comment if you think of one.) A casual player can by and large achieve the same things that a hardcore player does, albeit more slowly. Personally, I played WoW a great deal for the first couple of years since its release and despite my zest for raid content in The Burning Crusade I made the difficult decision not to raid in Wrath of the Lich King so that I could keep my evenings free for real-life social activities.
So, it is the player themselves that must regulate their own play time. Just like in life, choices present themselves constantly and you have to make your own decisions. You can’t blame video games for that.
All games offer a temporary immersion in fantastic, rich worlds where people of all ages and backgrounds can socialise and leave behind the stresses of modern existence. In my time as a WoW player I can honestly say that I have met some of the best people that you could hope to meet, learned a great deal and enjoyed myself socially just as much as any time in the rest of my life. WoW has been a very positive experience, which is its raison d’etre.
Banwarcraft.com’s author actually states:
“While it is clear from academic research and studies that the use of video games can be beneficial when used as part of a wider range of applications to support educational programs and to help individuals develop specific skills.
The benefits of using video games can include improved hand-eye coordination, reflexes, motor skills and concentration. Video games can be used in a positive and supportive manner by assisting with learning and education.”
Banwarcraft.com is just another example of the poorly researched rhetoric that the media likes pedal as factual news. The website’s author should login to the game some time, he would soon realise that WoW has a many benefits to offer the participant and, unlike the ubiquitous television, the game itself does not contain swearing, violence or sexual abuse.
He would probably like to start as a Troll, it seems fitting.
No comments:
Post a Comment