Synthetic Worlds by Edward Castronova

Synthetic Worlds by Edward Castronova focuses on how people around the world interact, communicate, and live in the virtual worlds of MMORPGS. Castronova is obviously a supporter of people who play and for all insensitive purposes he himself is one of these people. The book starts out about how to build a character and get started in a MMORPG, all MMORPGS must include a membership(it may or may not cost money), an avatar or character(with an original name), and a computer or platform on which to join these virtual worlds. I can easily relate to Castronova when he goes into detail about how difficult it is to create your own name that no other player has claimed. I myself rely on two names Richea and Adelphi which almost 95 percent of the time are free. I personally do not play MMORPGS but have at least dabbled with WOW and Ragnarok, I primarily play FPS's like Resistance and Counterstrike which are both online with up to 40 people at a time. Castronova defines MMORPG players in simple terms, most players fall into one or more of these categories in relation to their MMORPG of choice. MMORPGS all have, explorers, socialite's, achievers, and controllers without these different types of players the game would become unrealistic and boring to the point that their virtual world is not as realistic and their real world hence defeating the point of MMORPG. On page 80 Castronova states that to have a happy player the virtual world has to resemble the Earth, the Earth is "persistent, physical, and interactive". A MMORPG developer must follow these physical rules when it comes to creating their gamers environment but developers are allowed to bend the rules and change the environment as they see fit as long as it still applies to these rules. Castronova explains that most people who play MMORPGS are not trying to escape the real world just extend the real world into a virtual one and connecting the two. This connection between the two can cause as lot of problems as Castronova goes onto explain. Many players have admitted to being harassed or harassing other players outside of the MMORPG world because in game rules do not allow it according to the EULA "End User Licensing Agreement" and the COC(Code of Conduct), ToS(Terms of Service) contracts. Many people have had their accounts stolen and sold for actual money. In China much of their crime was a direct result of MMORPG theft of accounts. The object of money in MMORPGS is very real, in games that you are required to spend money in the money or gold you earn during the game then to the player gains a sense of actual value, many people have attempted to sell their MMORPG accounts and money on Ebay. The games currency can then be used to purchase weapons and good in order for your avatar to survive. A few more things Castronova touched on were FPS's or first person shooters and their comparison to MMORPGS. FPS's are fast-paced and usually involve far fewer players in a closed area with a common goal or killing each other, capturing the flag, or working as a team to stop terrorists as he describes with Counter-Strike. On the other hand, MMORPGS a primarily slow-paced, with huge highly detailed maps while you play along with hundreds of thousands of people. MMORPGS are meant to hook and keep the player paying and playing for longer and establishing solid connections and friendships with other players. In conclusion I believe everything Casanova explains to be very true, he understands that MMORPGS can be dangerous to some people particularly depressed anti-social individuals who mis-interrupt the fact that their character is not real but at the same time he addresses all the benefits of playing these games. Socialization, learning, business/economic, and completion skills. Many of the tasks in MMORPGS require involved thinking and immediate action which can help any individual in the real world. I loved how he explained that MMORPGS are not an escape from the real world instead and extension of everyday life. These social networks allow people from all over the world to connect and relate to each other and in the long run I believe MMORPG players will have a higher racial tolerance then our current adult generation. I believe it is healthy to experience new activities and have fun in life and if a person enjoys MMORPGS I cannot understand why people criticize and accuse these players of being losers that are anti-social. We see horrible things happen everyday on the news and around us and a chance to escape might just give everyone a little piece of mind and freedom from the "real" world.

Does Video Game Addiction Exist?

I personally believe video game addiction can exist, based on the fact that I myself know several addicts that cannot pull themselves away from the television or the computer but at the same time I feel that if they were not addicted to video games they would be addicted to something else. Looking at the article entitled “Does Video Game Addiction Exist” by Mark Griffiths and Mark N. O. Davies they give detailed examples and conditions that video game addicts experience.

Looking at the young age of gamers today, a younger gamer can become “socially isolated” and become unable to “develop social skills” with other children of their age, (364) if they are allowed to play too many video games. Many gamers, regardless of experience level have been known to have “epileptic seizures” (364) many times because of an underlying condition to photosensitivity but it can sometimes be sudden with excessive play. These are some mental conditions that arise from video game addiction but there are also many physical conditions that also arise. According to Griffiths and Davies repeated and addicted players can develop “blisters, calluses, sore tendons, and numbness or fingers, hands, and elbows directly as a result of their game play”(364). In addition, reports and studies have been done that show that some players experience “negative effect on both heart rate and blood pressure” (364).

Looking at my two of my friends that I consider gaming addicts I can sometimes clearly see some of the symptoms of addiction. On page 362, Griffiths and Davies list the main addiction components, “salience, tolerance, euphoria, chasing, relapse, withdrawal, and two different types of conflict.” Looking at two of my friends I can easily classify them as gaming addicts. One in fact was kicked out of school for playing too much World of Warcraft and the other had to withdrawal from all of their classes for failure to attend any classes. The first one had all of the symptoms he was a vegetable that sat in front of his computer 20 hours a day while the other only shows four or five of the components he has also made attempted efforts to stop playing as much unlike my first friend.

In conclusion though I do believe video game players can become addicted but I also believe that it should be simple to quit which makes it not as addictive. My World Of Warcraft friend could not help himself and lived in a fantasy world whereas my second friend cannot be found without a controller in his hands if he is in his dorm room but he is still able to complete classes and make time for social activities. I myself have some of the components of a video game addict but I, like my second friend do not let it consume my life. So in a sense video game addiction does exist but I also think if these people didn’t play video games they would be addicted to something else may is be drugs or alcohol. These people may just have an addictive personality that is always in search of something to cling onto and use for a “buzz” or “high” (362).