Now to relate to the ‘movie’: the movie was obviously triggered by news shown on TV or published by the media, as will pretty much every movie related to the matter of gaming. Personally I wouldn’t blame the producer or the media, since it would be truly dull to come up with news about normal people who play for fun and games have very little or no negative impact on their lives. I mean seriously, how many times did you see a ‘happy’ story on the news lately (in general, not to mention about gamers)? How many positive news about gaming? The movie was most likely made on what I’d call poor research limited to certain areas. I guarantee that in certain areas of the world where people become aware of the necessities of life at an earlier age, compulsiveness to gaming is so low, you’d have to dig deep to find someone that just couldn’t stop playing.

Personally I’ve been gaming for well over 10 years now with various ups and downs in terms of daily playtime, having changed games, technologies, game genres and whatnot through the years. Sure at most times I’d rather not ‘waste’ my time working or doing other lucrative things that are ultimately my means of survival in favor of playing some MMO or whatever genre I’m in to at any given time, but that doesn’t mean I’d quit my job, neglect my health too much or quit out on any chance of FUN physical or social activity I may get. Some would argue and say that for certain people this decision may be impossible to take. No. It’s not. Just use your brain. Set some boundaries. Know better.

I found far too many others who spent as much or more time playing than I did, and I knew many, many people who after each expansion played their hearts out in order to max level their character as quickly as possible. I was one of these. I also knew plenty of folks who played *more* than I did, who were in Top 100 guilds.

I think to assume that the type of gamers shown in the film are some sort of rarity is to be a little bit self-deluded. While things changed immensley with the introduction of WotLK and the surge of “casuals” in WoW specifically, if you haven’t noticed people willing to play 6+ hours a night multiple times a week I’m not sure you are looking hard enough.

What I do find completely fascinating as someone who has quit and is pursuing ongoing treatment for what I feel comfortable calling a gaming addiction, is that there quite a few folks in the gaming addiction recovery camp who felt the movie didn’t high light the dangers and addictive nature of MMOs more clearly!

So perhaps, if we have gamers and those in the camp of gaming addiction recovery both feeling the movie didn’t present a fair picture of things–is it possible the movie might actually be balanced?

I actually liked the film myself, although I found myself filled with questions. Perhaps most poignant of all was the commentary by those who were in wheel chairs, about how virtual worlds are a great freedom for them.

As a gaming addict who used to buy gold, I also found myself feeling very sad for the working conditions the gold farmers endure–and wondered if any of the gold farmers ever find themselves “addicted”?

My comments aren’t meant to suggest that everyone who plays an MMO will be addicted. I don’t believe that to be true. But I also know I am not alone. I also don’t believe games are bad or evil, or anything silly like that. I just know that I can’t play without losing control of my life, and I sincerely wish that no one else finds the same to be true about their game play.

Los Angeles August 14th-20th The Downtown Independent
New York August 7th-9th The Tank Theater
Boston August 14th-20th The Somerville Theater
Austin August 16th-17th The Alamo Draft House *(If you fill it up they will extend the run through the week)