Hooked to Online Gaming

Have you ever been told that you have been spending a lot of time on your Ipad or laptop or on that stupid Online Game? I am sure every male of the species would have heard that. And yes, I was one among them too not long ago. I was never a fan of online gaming – only once in a blue moon play of literati or chess or the 800 piece puzzles. That’s as far as my online gaming used to be until a year back.

It all came to a turning point when one of my colleagues introduced me to a game called “Goodgame Empire”, a game inspired from the old “Age of Empires” pc game but more sophisticated in its own way and with the additional drawback that it was an online multi-player game. I was so hooked to the game that I was spending a lot of time on the game while at home, over weekends and even while “spending time with family and friends”. I spooked them out because I was so hooked to it that it was more of an addiction than the spirit of gaming.

The virtual world was a realm of very high profile individuals – I initially thought it was just played by kids or people who find some spare time. But no, these guys are so dedicated on the game that they are even ready to spend a load of money just to prove their strength in the online world – some of my contacts in linkedin are actually people from the game – from sheriff of some county in Texas to paramilitary officers to Engineers and even CEO of biotechnology firms. In the Goodgame Empire game, I was first part of a league of extraordinary people who spend around $100 on normal days to get those jazzy gadgets to win a tournament or win by attacking people. I must applaud the people who build these games though because they really lure you to put money into the game through various ways – a fancy tool or powerful armor or stuff like that introduced before a war of all leagues or tournaments.

Gradually you find yourself also pulled into their whirlpool of getting hooked into the game and spending money just so that you too get the edge over other poor souls who don’t have option to buy one of these. Initially you may spend a $5 and think that it such a small amount and then you keep increasing, until finally perhaps you get your credit card bill which gives you the shock of your lifetime. Well it didn’t take me to the credit card level for me to realize that I was spending time and money on this game, just a strong warning from my Dad on the behest of my inlaws who visited me and found me so engrossed in the game. They thought I had changed for the worse, no social contacts or going outs or even talking to them.

I didn’t even know I was addicted to the game until my father gave me a ring and told me about it and to stop it once and for all. Since then I have stopped the game, but to tell you the truth, it was very difficult. I didn’t know what to do after checking my emails and there was always the urge to just stop by and have a peep inside – but I refrained. After a week of stopping the game, I was having enough time and turned a new leaf from the “couch potato” I had been since playing the game. I used to do a lot of reading and writing and exercising before the gaming fiasco gobbled me up.

There are a variety of online games available and some of them are really interesting. Mostly men find it more interesting to play them than women but yes, you do find women in them too. Mostly the win and losses aggravate to hate speech and cyberbullying. Players, developers, gaming companies, and professional observers are discussing and developing tools which discourage antisocial behavior but mostly it’s not to the extent of being banned from the game because it’s always about money J.

Well I have now started playing another one, but now I know the urge to control it. We’ll let us hope I don’t get another wakeup call on the new game. Clash of clans :-)