How to Cure an MMORPG Addiction

Video games - who knew there could be such an addiction? Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games are games in which players engage in a vast world with thousands of others players. These players venture out and complete quests, level up, earn money, make friends, and so much more. Take Blizzard's World of Warcraft for example - it's highly successful, has a huge fan base, and is currently the most populated MMORPG on the market.

Personally, I've never played World of Warcraft, but I've played a few of other MMORPG games. My first was EverQuest - I never really got too far into it. I guess at the time I didn't understand the concept and just dropped it.

I started playing RuneScape for a bit, too, and that kept me quite content for awhile. The graphics killed the feeling for me, and I couldn't quite grasp it as I was young at that time, too.

But then came the video game that mine as well have come premade in a syringe - Final Fantasy XI (my old review can be found here). FFXI never got a lot of recognition as an MMORPG, especially compared to World of Warcraft, but it was a favorable MMORPG. I bought it on a total whim since my friend got it and became heavily indulged. At first it was for fun - playing with my personal friends and logging on occasionally. But something happened over time - I became heavily addicted. I'd hop on as soon as I got home from school for hours on end, just sitting in front of my television with a keyboard and a controller. My friends, my personal friends, that I had been playing with and I branched off since our levels between jobs became too large, each of us becoming more enthralled in different aspects of the game.

Fast forward 4-5 years later - I am still playing. By this time I have a few jobs at the level cap, tons of quests and missions completed, great weaponry and armor, and online friends that felt closer to me than some of my friends here at home. At this time I still play, a lot, but I've dwindled down somewhat. With every new expansion pack that comes out a new hype builds and I start to play at a stable rate again. One day I finish up a party with some random people and log off. Something happens - I don't play. A week goes by and I try to log on - wrong password. Hm? This is where this article comes into play. A surge of complaints surfaced - many players couldn't get on due to a "wrong password". The only way to validate your account to reset the password was to give customer service all of your information and a credit card. I called multiple times and got the same respone every time - "That's not the right credit card." I lost everything that I had worked for. Despite the mass amount of hackings, Square-Enix did nothing to help their players - the people that have been supporting their games and company for years on end.

After that I tried playing again, but it didn't last long. I quit altogether - I wasn't wasting years on end to work for stuff I had already completed. Yes, the community was great and the game was enticing, but it wasn't worth putting in the time... again.

But this article is meant to be about "cures" for the MMORPG addiction. There are a few things you can do. Because, despite what you may want to believe, these addictions can run so deep that you can lose friends, wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, and other personal relationships. MMORPGs can affect your education and school, lower your ambitions for completing real life tasks, and isolate you from immediate society.

1. Let It Die - and Don't Revive

"Why don't you just stop playing the game?" some people ask. It's merely not that simple. MMORPGs are heavily enticing games that bring players into an alternate reality. Essentially it may feel like a second life - a second life in which you can carry out fantasies, explore, complete quests, and more. Plus, there's no burden of paying bills, and annoying people can always be blocked in some way. Doesn't that sound great to any person? Overall, it's not that easy to just drop the controller/keyboard. It's like a gambler sitting at a BlackJack table and they're on a streak - would they want to leave? No.

The player themselves must be the one to initiate the cancellation of their account. If an account is canceled it may be recovered, so ensure that you (or the addicted player) doesn't recover the account. Otherwise this "cure" is pointless.

2. Moderate Play

Not everyone needs to get up and quit their games. Of course MMORPGs are still a viable (and safe) way of having fun. Think about it - would you rather have someone sit at home and play a video game for fun or go out to a bar, get blasted, and drive their vehicle home? Video games aren't a terrible form of entertainment. In fact, I find video games to be a satisfying recreational activity.

In order to cut down on play time players need to take time into account. One of the problems with MMORPGs is that players lost track of time way too easily. Set an alarm that will go off after a certain amount of time has been played and do something else. Go indulge in other activities, whatever they may be. Just please, put the controller down and nobody will get hurt.

3. Find A New Fix

If playing video games is that addictive to a player, than maybe it's time to find a new hobby to take it's place. If someone is so addicted that they cannot even bare the though of putting down a controller/keyboard, that's when a new hobby may be necessary.

Players with this sort of strong addiction should try their hand at going to the gym, reading, or just going out and socializing. Maybe these players can indulge themselves in their education and/or work instead of playing the MMORPG. Any way you look at it - something has to fill that time slot.

4. Go On The Quest Together

The quest to quit is especially hard if other "real life" friends play the MMORPG with you. This was the case with me initially - my buddy got it first, I got it, and then another friend got it. We would usually "party up" all the time in the beginning of our MMORPG endeavor. Over time one friend quit, came back, quit, came back, and so on. Another friend played more than I did, but we never really played together anymore because we wanted to do different things within the game. But for those of you who do play with friends, quitting will be much easier for those groups of friends that quit at once.

Think of how hard it may be if a player quits yet his friends still play, then subsequently talk about it at work or school? It's like talking about liquor in front of an alcoholic - they'll reminisce and relapse.

5. Get Professional Help... and not from a NPC

If your addiction is so great that you stop eating, sleeping, drinking, and performing daily activities, you may need professional help. There have been cases of people dying while playing MMORPG (very extreme cases, but it does happen). If you're one of these players than please contact a professional.

In The End
MMORPGs are very fun - which is why they're dangerous. Living a second life in a fantasy world is something many people would want to do, especially in these times where there's a lot of negativity, corruption, war, and economic turmoil. Why not escape? But when an digital escape turns into a digital addiction, that's where the problem manifests itself into the core life of a player. It's like a virus, slowly taking over you.

However, when MMORPGs are played moderately, and responsibly, they're great fun that has a ton of positive attributed to them. But that's another article for another day.