Car News

A couple of observations...

1) I think that like any hobby, if it is done to excess, MMOs (or even
Paper RPGs) can distract from the rest of your life and work and family
suffer as a result. This would apply equally to someone who was completely
obsessed with Model Trains for example or hangs out at the pool hall every
night and never stays home with the family.

2) As noted in the article, where MMOs are shared by a couple, it can have
a positive impact. Like any activity that the couple does together,
interacting with each other for large periods of time can bring you closer
to your partner and deepen your friendship. Once again, this could be true
for any activity and is not particular or unique to MMOs or RPGs.

3) A lot of MMOs focus on various long term methods of "grinding" to
achieve goals which requires hours and hours of play time. The intent of
the game companies is that it keeps long term interest by forcing the player
to have goals which are achieved gradually over time and not allowing them
to reach the "End" without many many months of effort. The downside of this
is that it adds to the addictiveness and time impact of the MMO so that it
is more likely that other aspects of the player's life are affected. A
player must make a significant time commitment in order to keep up with
online friends.

This negative is not generally present in campaign type RPGs where there is
no pressure to keep up with teammates because you are all constrained to the
same schedule. Although, organized play as done by WotC and Paizo is
beginning to incorporate some of the "grinding" characteristics of MMOs. I
have seen a handful of players who cycle through events at several different
gaming venues each week in order to accelerate leveling their characters.

I think it behooves MMO designers to look for ways to interest players that
don't encourage excessive time commitments in order to encourage a balance
between game time and real life. The problem is that from a business
viewpoint, they have little incentive to diverge from a proven model.

Rick


-----Original Message-----
From: Hawke
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2012 3:46 AM
To: car-pga@googlegroups.com
Subject: [CAR-PGa] Online role-playing games hurt marital satisfaction, says
BYU study

http://news.byu.edu/archive12-feb-mmorpgs.aspx

Online role playing games negatively affect real-life marital satisfaction,
according to a new Brigham Young University study published Feb. 15 in the
Journal of Leisure Research.

The study reports that 75 percent of spouses of sword-carrying,
avatar-loving
gamers wish they would put less effort into their guilds and more effort
into
their marriage. The researchers, led by graduate student Michelle Ahlstrom,
and recreation management professor Neil Lundberg, studied 349 couples to
learn how online role-playing games such as World of Warcraft, affect
marital
satisfaction for both gamers and their spouses. And in some cases, gaming
even
increased satisfaction.

--

------
-Hawke Robinson


The RPG Research Project
http://www.rpgr.org

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"CAR-PGa: The Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games" group.
To post to this group, send email to car-pga@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
car-pga+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/car-pga?hl=en.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CAR-PGa: The Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games" group.
To post to this group, send email to car-pga@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to car-pga+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/car-pga?hl=en.