Chinese Gamers Circumvent Anti-Obsession Measures 176
Turtlewind writes "A survey by iResearch China shows that the Chinese Government's "anti obsession" measures, reported on Slashdot last year, are being bypassed by MMORPG gamers. While the controls - which force operators of popular games such as World of Warcraft to impose penalties on players who play for more than three to five hours a day - were welcomed by almost half of Chinese gamers, a core of around 14% of players admitted to registering multiple accounts to get around the restrictions. Meanwhile, the government seems to be taking a different approach to the problem of gaming addiction, planning a campaign over the upcoming summer vacation to increase enforcement of laws banning minors from internet cafes."
Not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
But, really, more than 5 hours a day? Doesn't your ass get numb?
two words (Score:3, Informative)
Re:two words (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not saying it's impossible, just not likely. If you're addicted enough to get more than one account, chances are, you sit there the entire time.
Or take the laptop with wifi into the bathroom with you...
Re:two words (Score:4, Funny)
Just my two cents!
Re:two words (Score:5, Funny)
Re:two words (Score:5, Informative)
"Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do. Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. " -- Mark Twain
Re:two words (Score:2)
Re:two words (Score:1)
Re:two words (Score:2)
I guess because people don't get paid at the end of every shift they work, they don't see that their reward is their paycheck.
Re:two words (Score:1)
Re:two words (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe that end of the year bonus is a reward...usually even with good ratings it's well below what you deserve. I guess I agree, a week
Re:two words (Score:1)
In the working world we call it a wage, it lets you buy real items, maybe even computer games. Nothing more rewarding then actualy being rewarded.
Re:two words (Score:1)
well I'm new so I'm still eager to do things, give me a few months before my eyes glaze over, having to answer to 8 bosses after I make a mistake on my TPS reports.
I'll soon feel like every day is worse than the one before, so that every day that you see me, that's the worst day of my life.
But until then life is good
Rebelion (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not surprising. (Score:1)
Or just a good pillow, or a good seat
I'm known among my family to be able to sit in front on the computer or a game console for around 8-10 hours. But I always take eating breaks or bio breaks.
People obsessed with games are everywhere, but I don't understand why only chinese and similars die because of it.
A female? 8-10 hours of gaming? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:A female? 8-10 hours of gaming? (Score:1)
Re:A female? 8-10 hours of gaming? (Score:2)
Re:A female? 8-10 hours of gaming? (Score:1)
Because they do it in public (Score:3, Interesting)
Because if you die at your home computer in your house, it just gets written as Trombosis [wikipedia.org], which is due to all that sitting without moving can cause. Or whatever else killed you.
If you do it in a cyber-cafe in Korea, they publish a story like "gamer dies after a month of playing Lineage!!!"
Note that in most of those cases the guy didn't exactly die at the computer, but did something like go to t
Re:Because they do it in public (Score:2)
Re:Not surprising. (Score:1)
Yes
Re:Not surprising. (Score:1, Interesting)
Actually, there are some hardcore addicted players - these are not the players who want to play for 5 hours, 8 hours or even spend their entire saturday playing. The addicted ones are those who
1) Take drugs to stay up insane ho
Re:Not surprising. (Score:2)
Re:Not surprising. (Score:2)
Re:Not surprising. (Score:3, Funny)
Only when I ride him bare-back.
Plus, he hates video games.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's like the idiots who were trying to criminalize junk food. Without a law to forbid me, I never eat the crap. If someone tried to make it I'd eat two bags of cheetos, smoke 3 packs a day and wash it all down with a few bottles of whiskey. Just for spite.
We need to teach them kids some good old fashioned rebelliousness as part of our outsourcing efforts. Make their government pay for enticing our corporations over.
Re:Not surprising. (Score:2)
I can see it now, the next celebrity diet:
"The cheetos, cigarettes and whiskey diet. By Kevin Federline."
Re:Not surprising. (Score:3, Funny)
That explains your heroine and crack addictions.
Re:Not surprising. (Score:2)
-matthew
Re:Not surprising. (Score:2)
Re:Not surprising. (Score:2)
Parents anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)
Where are there parents while they spend so many hours per day at these places? I think that they should bare some responsibility for their children's actions.
Re:Parents anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
That, or they're like American parents, and they think their kids are everyone else's responsibility. Is there a Chinese Jack Thompson?
Re:Parents anyone? (Score:4, Funny)
To be fair, the parents are busy spending 15 hour work days making your iPods in slave like conditions. Are you feeling any better now?
Re:Parents anyone? (Score:2)
Re:Parents anyone? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Parents anyone? (Score:2)
Re:Parents anyone? (Score:2)
They are busy raiding Molten Core or trying to gain exaulted rep with Argent Dawn. Which leaves very little time to deal with the children.
Well, you know what they say... (Score:3, Funny)
Well, a change is as good as a rest!
Gaming companies (Score:3, Interesting)
Worst possible solution? (Score:5, Insightful)
Man... are they really trying to solve the addiction problem by forbidding
the youngers from playing the games? I have no researches to base my ideas
on, but to me it seems that's the worst possible approach.
Bad habits cannot be eliminated. If you want to get rid of a bad habit, you
must replace it with a good one. The government should be doing some outdoor
activities campaigns or incentive to practice sports, or anything else
(the solution, of course, is not so trivial), but restricting the game
hours allowed, and blocking minors from internet cafes *without*
replacing this activity for something better will *not* solve
the problem.
Hell, it may sound a little pessimistic, but this "solution" may even
aggravate the problem if these kids/teenagers start developing even
worst habits like drugs or alcohol because they have nothing else
to fill their lives with.
Re:Worst possible solution? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Worst possible solution? (Score:2)
If you mean that those affected by the law will need something else to do during that time, well, that's just plain obvious and has nothing to do with replacng one habit with another.
Re:Worst possible solution? (Score:2)
It was my choice just as much as quitting videogames is their choice. My wife laid down the law, and I complied.
"Besides if you "fiddled with stuff" then apparently you did need something to replace the smoking with regardless of whether or not you decided to quit doing that as well."
But I didn't replace the fiddling with anything. Substitution is not the only way to kick a habit, and not only that, is often not the best way. A short-term
Re:Worst possible solution? (Score:2)
Or, you can replace it with a similar but less bad one. For example, I quit my nail-biting habit about eight months ago. To do this, every time that I put my hands up to my mouth to bite, I put my fingers in my teeth and simply didn't bite. Obviously, that's still disgusting, but eventually, it gave way to me losing the compunction to putting my fingers in my mouth at all.
Re:Worst possible solution? (Score:2)
This is already a big problem.
-matthew
News at 11! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:News at 11! (Score:2)
Re:News at 11! (Score:2)
Let the game companies do, and police, it then (Score:3, Insightful)
One good thing: it helps keep those MMORPG kiddies who play 12 hours a day from having such a huge advantage over gamers who only play a few hours a day and never get a chance to level up the same way. And it reduces the load on the gaming companies from those 12 hour a day players, who never free up resources for others to play on the same servers.
Let's have game companies make calculations about how to appeal to the most players and how to manage their resources to serve games. The advantages you sugge
Ouch. (Score:5, Funny)
Minors..? (Score:2)
Preventing minors to enter internet-cafés would target the wrong audience, wouldn't it?
What would those minors do when they have been DIEING to play a game because of all the media-hype around it, but couldn't because of local laws, and at a certain moment become "legal to game"?
Right.. play all they can to "catch up", even if it costs sleeping and eating...
Another Technique (Score:5, Funny)
Here's an idea (Score:2)
You could even make a quest/put in some kind of reward (honor points?) to encourage narc behavior.
Re:Another Technique (Score:2)
So. (Score:5, Insightful)
I appreciate that some people have a genuine problem with addiction, but I have to question society's priorities sometimes. People do literally work themselves to death, too.
Re:So. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So. (Score:2)
It's not social perception. It's more that playing WoW does nothing to further the goals of the Chinese government.
As opposed to? (Score:2)
As opposed to sitting in front of the TV and watching football? Or soap operas? Or channel-surfing to see the same news again and again? Well, gee, that's so productive. I soo want to be like those when I grow up. Not.
No, you "grow the fuck up" already. People aren't at work 16 hours a day lik
Re:As opposed to? (Score:5, Interesting)
A video game addict spends anywhere from 40-80 hours per week playing a video game. Marriages are ruined, children are neglected and people become more and more antisocial as the problem persists. Eventually, when they do wake up they have a very hard time dealing with the real world, getting back into a real social circle of friends and getting out of the house. Some even experience social anxiety.
I know, I was one of them. I was single so I didn't have a problem with marriage or children but some of the people I played with regularly...different story. I knew numerous people who had marriages fail due to gaming. Also, on many occasion after an 8 hour grind session you might hear "I need to feed the 2 year old". WHAT?! You've been sitting here for 8 hours, having barely gotten up to even use the bathroom and you have a toddler doing who knows what!?
College and high school students who become addicted also suffer from grades dropping or even flunking out of school.
Now, your examples might be relevant comparisons in a situation of casual gaming however they are completely at the other end of the spectrum from gaming addiction. Your examples are things that I used to tell myself to justify my problem. "I don't have anything better to do", "I'd just be watching tv", "It's keeping me out of trouble". You know, they all sound like good reasons to continue gaming and very justifiable but in the end, the fact was that I didn't have anything better to do because the addiction had consumed so much of my life that I had lost interest in things that I liked to do (besides gaming). They were all excuses to make sure I got my EQ fix. Since then, I have found new things I like to enjoy. I've made new friends. I actually get out of the house on nice afternoons or weekends. For the 2nd summer since 1999 I actually have a tan!
Gaming addiction is one of those things that is more easily justified in the mind of the addict than drugs. It's also a very tough addiction to break if you've fallen to the point that your self esteem is tied to the characters in game. Every mental social mechanism ends up tied to the game, your sense of reward is tied to the game. When you remove all of that, its a personal rebuilding process from the ground up.
Re:As opposed to? (Score:2)
No, a large percentage of the population watch sports and tv alone.
There are people who can not take a break for them without it causing mental distress.
Gaming has a unique interactive quality that may prove to have other effects, but people get addicted to TV and sports viewing.
re: gaming addiction (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:As opposed to? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:As opposed to? (Score:2, Interesting)
An addiction is self destructive behavior whether it be mentally destructive, emotionally destructive, physically destructive or financially destructive. Kids are not immune to this. Sure, the consequences may be different but the resulting personal damage is usually the same. Antisocial behavior, weight gain, lack of physical activity, "replacement" scenarios in which a person repla
As an outsider... (Score:5, Interesting)
When life is so force-fed and censored as it can be in China, outlets like MMORPG's are the only form of "freedom" and people flock to them... so much so that it is an epidemic.
On top of this I see a problem where the more people inside playing MMO's are not out pumping money into the economy for goods, services, entertainment, etc.
As an avid gamer, and someone who has worked in this field, I actually find this sad. It is not that WoW is such an amazing game, as it is a sign of how low many people value their lives and free time. Gaming is one thing, _needing_ to spend so many hours inside a virtual world is another. Most MMO's aren't really that great, and force long grinds and tedious gameplay with little reward for the time and money spent. This is not confined to China either, it is just magnified there. MMO's are a bad trend, and one that needs to be channeled in a different direction. Massive online playable games are good, and are very engaging, but they need to become more than long, drawn-out time wasters and overflowing coffers of money... they need to become fun and exciting and to the point even if this comes at the expense of some profit. I'll admit Guild Wars had me hooked for a few months myself, but the endless nerfs and radical gameplay changes that constantly rendered my time and effort useless made me remember why MMO's are a sham. I just think that many people are missing the real story here... WHY are MMO's such a big problem, what is the root of this problem?
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
Exactly. Why is China messing with the "bread and circuses" formula? It's worked so well in the past.
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
Re:As an outsider... (Score:5, Insightful)
Apart from the social aspects of MMOs, I'd say one of the defining factors of their addictiveness is that they're basically easy. You can progress (i.e. gain material rewards) without really having to think much. Contrast this with the real world where reward is not proportional to time or effort.
Re:As an outsider... (Score:1)
I guess that's exactly why I prefer playing than doing something else. Thanks for putting words on my thought.
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
My guess is that it is basic human evolution. We evelooved over the ages so that 99% id the populat
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
No, not really. I do think the social aspect is the main thing that keeps people on MMORPGs. To progress you have to group up, and so you meet people, some you like, some you don't, you join a guild, you log on to see who else is on, you go on naked Deadmines runs, you chat to people about real life, etc. I'd hardly call games passive entertainment, nor would I call someone who cooperates but doesn't lead "passive".
I don't know why some people a
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
As an "outsider" what makes you think your average Chinese person is wandering around in desperation looking for this so-called "freedom" that he's missing? How is being trapped in a MMORPG with it's own authoritarian arbitrary rule any different from whatever distorted reality you're implying these foreigners live in? And ultimat
Re:As an outsider... (Score:3, Interesting)
It is even more sad that you have no concept of what life is actually like in China for the average citi
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
Take a gander at recent news with the struggles of Google in China, read about the censorship that happens daily in many parts of China. Read about the PLA and their antics and billion dollar "industry"... like I stated before take a minute and actually understand that it is not anywhere near what you are claiming. Rural areas of China do not have ac
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
You are way off base of what is being discussed, and I believe are failing to see the bigger picture. If you just wanted to sound cool and rail on America, then never mind, if you truly want to understand the issue I am speaking about then click the link above. I have a feeling you still won't care or want to understand,
Re:As an outsider... (Score:2)
All that I am stating is that in rural areas
Are you outside the US, then? (Score:2)
When life is so force-fed and censored as it can be in China, outlets like MMORPG's are the only form of "freedom" and people flock to them... so much so that it is an epidemic.
Er, personally I know a handful of people in the US who've gotten seriously hooked on MMORPGs. The ratio of people I know with a gaming "problem" on that scale to people I know with a drug or alcohol problem is -- well, let's say there are more gamers and leave it there.
What does that mean about the U.S., based on your "escape i
ADHD (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:ADHD (Score:2)
Re:ADHD (Score:2)
The truth is that living in China sucks so much, the perfect fantasy of WoW is that much more alluring.
Re:ADHD (Score:2)
Bring it on! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Bring it on! (Score:5, Funny)
For extra effect (Score:2)
Re:Bring it on! (Score:2)
Re:Bring it on! (Score:2)
Re:Bring it on! (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:Bring it on! (Score:2, Interesting)
Then stick to yo
Are we supposed to be idiots? (Score:3, Insightful)
Power Gamers (Score:1)
Is this the same China we keep bitching about? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that somewhere, somehow we lost a bit of touch about China's reality. Perhaps the government isn't as powerful as we thought...
If I was the chinese govt, I would issue ID cards with photograph and fingerprint to all people over 12, and then over 18, and use that to verify that the teenagers can't REALLY access internet cafes.
Oh well.
One thing i'm curious about (Score:1)
Pro Democracy loophole (Score:4, Funny)
My dwarf warrior will be named "Tiananmen Massacre".
I'm the only party member my kids need (Score:2)
As the very sort of person who sees the problem being acted on here, I would deeply resent any attempt by Tipper Gore, Jack Thompson, or any politician to impose even the standards by which my kids were judged, let alone the specific measures to enforce them. That'd be every bit as likely to intr
Hey, awesome (Score:2)
Actually, with WoW they added parental controls a while back.
I imagined someone would have thought of that. Cool.
If only Blizzard had tastes as refined as their game engines, I'd be buying their products. As it is, the voice acting, the general goofy fantasy setting... Meh. It was all sort of cute, but wearing, back with Warcraft II. (The Myth series and Bungie pre-MS sort of showed me that it could be done with some class, and I haven't been back Blizzard's way since.)
Stop criticising theChinese government! (Score:2, Insightful)
"Come on!!! This is the f***ing Chinese government. They don't give two shits about your health." Its obvious you never lived in china. Ive lived in a chinese University for a year now and I hope to clarify things about the evil chinese government. Yes they are communist. No that doesnt mean people cant have a life here.Most things are the same as at home(In ireland) but with a safer society. 95% of Chinese people agree with rules like this. Its obvious the chinese gov
Re:OK, what is wrong with people? (Score:2)
Secondly this benefits people outside China when you read it carefully. You play WoW for 5 hours and then every hour your drops and exp gain lowers by 10% (don't know the figure sbut I figure this is how it works). So that way if you play for 5 each hours you're getting 50% of the benefits you were getting before, now take that to another 10 hours and you gsain nothing.
No one is stopping you