How much time do you spend online? A study into the fast developing world of virtual reality.
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Are you addicted?
Are you or do you know anyone that is "addicted" to any kind of Virtual Reality? If so please let me know by leaving a comment.
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I know of one person who will be in world non stop 24-hours day. who will threaten his mother if she even mentions that it is time to come off, or that she would like to use her own computer.
My wife has been staying up all night on SL. Worse, she has started lying about it. Tells me she was in bed all night and just got up early to get on SL when I know she never came to bed. Says she only is on SL for a half hour when I know she has been on for many hours. Recently she missed work to sleep all day because she was on SL all night. She gets testy if I try to talk to her while she is logged-in and avoids me online if I am logged-in.
I really don't care if she wants to have a fantasy life on SL - it may be healthy in many ways. But, it seems like she is going off the deep end and forgets that everything on SL is pretend.
It's definitive damn addictive. I started to play with SL a week ago, created an alternative identity for me, and was sucked into it almost immediately. After one week, I actually removed the SL software from my computer because even though I just spend two, three hours a day in SL even my day and night dreams began to circle around it. As an analytic person I would tend to state that people with very high imagination capabilities, like me, may not be perfectly suited to cope with such an immersive system, at least not when they have a real life, too.
This is an extremly addictive behavior! It is not a game, it is an escape from reality, only to have seemingly "perfect"social intercation with God-knows-who on the other end. My husband actually partnered with some girl in this game and they completly frll in love. All though to them, it was just friendship in the game. But I ask you do friends snuggle in a scripted basket and make out? Do they cuddle and write songs to eachother? Do they tell eachother they are the love of their SL lives? No, that is a romantic relationship. Game or not? I say not! It is a chat room with fantasty places and activities. I hate that my husband has become so addicted. He would spend every free minute on this "game". And when I would ask for some time, even on Christmas and my birthday, it only started a huge fight. He became untruthful in everything that revolved around SL. And all of his "friends" and what they did on the game dominated every convrsation we had. I am now trying to work through this affair and salvage my marriage. To do so, I have requested that he sever all contacts with and from SL. Now he is depressed because he actually feels like he is missing something or hurting his true "friends". But how can they be true friends when they don't even know what the other looks like, their phone number, or anything that would make sense to those of us still left here in the real world. That is why this is NOT a game. It is dangerous and I warn all who attempt to "play" that this is a way to socialize with others in a seemingly perfect world, where you only learn what each of you wants to reveale to eachother!
Yes i agree with johnyboy90 it is all about setting up an alter-ego, often protraying a completely different personality online to that in the real world, there seems to be less a fear of rejection as it is only you and the computer screen, any social awkwardness is gone.
I wouldn't say thay're "addicted" for this person, i think it's too strong a word. But i know of someone who spends a lot of their time on their console playing games like halo2/3 etc. This person gets everythig done like chores and homework, but then when they have a spare moment they goes on that. But then that is the whole point of these things, to get people to play them. And creating online games more people will join in and as you say "become addicted"
7 comments:
I know of one person who will be in world non stop 24-hours day. who will threaten his mother if she even mentions that it is time to come off, or that she would like to use her own computer.
This can indeed be an addiction!
My wife has been staying up all night on SL. Worse, she has started lying about it. Tells me she was in bed all night and just got up early to get on SL when I know she never came to bed. Says she only is on SL for a half hour when I know she has been on for many hours. Recently she missed work to sleep all day because she was on SL all night. She gets testy if I try to talk to her while she is logged-in and avoids me online if I am logged-in.
I really don't care if she wants to have a fantasy life on SL - it may be healthy in many ways. But, it seems like she is going off the deep end and forgets that everything on SL is pretend.
It's definitive damn addictive. I started to play with SL a week ago, created an alternative identity for me, and was sucked into it almost immediately. After one week, I actually removed the SL software from my computer because even though I just spend two, three hours a day in SL even my day and night dreams began to circle around it. As an analytic person I would tend to state that people with very high imagination capabilities, like me, may not be perfectly suited to cope with such an immersive system, at least not when they have a real life, too.
It is addicting, for many people who can't and won't balance RL with SL.
This is an extremly addictive behavior! It is not a game, it is an escape from reality, only to have seemingly "perfect"social intercation with God-knows-who on the other end. My husband actually partnered with some girl in this game and they completly frll in love. All though to them, it was just friendship in the game. But I ask you do friends snuggle in a scripted basket and make out? Do they cuddle and write songs to eachother? Do they tell eachother they are the love of their SL lives? No, that is a romantic relationship. Game or not? I say not! It is a chat room with fantasty places and activities. I hate that my husband has become so addicted. He would spend every free minute on this "game". And when I would ask for some time, even on Christmas and my birthday, it only started a huge fight. He became untruthful in everything that revolved around SL. And all of his "friends" and what they did on the game dominated every convrsation we had. I am now trying to work through this affair and salvage my marriage. To do so, I have requested that he sever all contacts with and from SL. Now he is depressed because he actually feels like he is missing something or hurting his true "friends". But how can they be true friends when they don't even know what the other looks like, their phone number, or anything that would make sense to those of us still left here in the real world. That is why this is NOT a game. It is dangerous and I warn all who attempt to "play" that this is a way to socialize with others in a seemingly perfect world, where you only learn what each of you wants to reveale to eachother!
Yes i agree with johnyboy90 it is all about setting up an alter-ego, often protraying a completely different personality online to that in the real world, there seems to be less a fear of rejection as it is only you and the computer screen, any social awkwardness is gone.
I wouldn't say thay're "addicted" for this person, i think it's too strong a word. But i know of someone who spends a lot of their time on their console playing games like halo2/3 etc. This person gets everythig done like chores and homework, but then when they have a spare moment they goes on that.
But then that is the whole point of these things, to get people to play them. And creating online games more people will join in and as you say "become addicted"
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