Parents Sue Gaming Companies Over ‘Video Game Addiction’, Because That’s Easier Than Parenting::Video game addiction. Sigh. Big sigh, even. Like, the biggest of sighs. We’ve talked about claims that video game addiction is a documentable affliction in the past, as well as the pushback that claim has received from addiction experts, who have pointed out that much of this is being done to allow doctors to get…
The recent lawsuits against gaming companies over ‘video game addiction’ seem to overlook the importance of parental guidance. It’s easier to blame external factors than to address the root causes at home. The principles of the AA twelve steps teach us about taking responsibility and seeking personal growth, which can be applied to parenting as well. Just as recovering from addiction requires commitment and support, guiding children through their challenges needs consistent involvement and understanding. Instead of looking for quick fixes, parents could benefit from actively engaging in their children’s lives and setting healthy boundaries around gaming and other activities.
This author seems pretty comfortable mocking the concept of games being addictive.
Loot boxes need to stop for sure, but things like limited-time content are 100% designed to form habits and ultimately feed gaming addiction. Season passes or weekly achievements require you to log on and grind out challenges at regular intervals to avoid missing out on rewards that are required for competitive play.
I know plenty of people who have had to make an active choice to stop playing certain games because they found they couldn’t play the game ‘on their own terms’. It sucks as an adult, but kids without fully developed brains capable of rational thinking would stand no chance.
things like limited-time content are 100% designed to form habits and ultimately feed gaming addiction. Season passes or weekly achievements require you to log on and grind out challenges at regular intervals to avoid missing out on rewards that are required for competitive play.
Hell, even subscription-based games like MMOs. After all, if you’re paying every month for something, you want to get your money’s worth.
Depends on the implementation: I liked Eve Onlines model where, yes, you had to pay the sub but your character would train skills even while offline.So at least to me there was less of this classical fear of missing out.
