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RPGs are addictive

Ben Oliver | 5th Dec 2006 | 10:00

Recently, it’s come to my attention that there’s been a massive fall out over the addictive nature of games. At first I thought this a knee jerk reaction made by over protective parents who were worried that little Timmy wasn’t getting enough sun and should really run around more.

Then I had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity. I started to examine my own sordid past with games. Most games are addictive. They offer new levels, weapons, cars and general unlockables in return for your dedication. Games generally become repetitive and after the first few hours they are easy to drop.

RPGs are different. RPGs are incredibly addictive. They make you stay up for hours on end, repeating the same mantras, ‘give it another hour’ and ‘just until I reach the next level up.’ How many hours are wasted going round in circles, fighting the same creatures over and over just to get those few extra experience points? When Final Fantasy IX came out, in true junkie style, a friend and I played it for three days straight. We survived on tea and biscuits and only ventured out when stocks of one or more of these became depleted.

Remission

I have been RPG-free for three years; Baldur’s Gate II was my last hit. Baldur’s Gate II has the extremely original premise that you’re an orphan who avenged your adopted father and killed what turned out to be your evil brother. Sibling rivalry never ceases. This time around you’re captured by an evil sorcerer who essentially steals your soul.

The main plot doesn’t take up too much time. Instead you spend several crippling hours doing side quests. Voluntarily! Selecting which class of character you want to venture forth as seals your fate. From then on you’re hooked. Choosing a career as a thief for example, allows you to take control of a dodgy hideout in the middle of a dock. Once there, various missions involve keeping control of the gang, financing your operations by any means and other sordid activities. That’s only one of several different classes available.


Escapism

A major draw of the addiction is escapism. You can go to the office, see friends down the pub and then slay entire communities of helpless farmers all in a single day. If you live a good and constructive life you now have the remit to wreak carnage and destruction. The huge choice and variables is also a factor. Limited in older games, new MMORPGs offer choices in character improvement and seemingly endless opportunities for modification.

This is where the habit can really get out of control. With RPGs that are single player, the reactions of NPCs (Non-Player Characters) were entertaining but ultimately you’d say, ‘I need to see some real people now.’ The problem with online RPGs is that everyone’s already there!

So why do we do it to ourselves, what makes RPGs so addictive? Primarily it’s the idea of self-improvement. Geeks, it would seem, are just as bad as gym rats or new age hippies. When playing an evil character you’re still trying to improve upon how evil you can be. You might be an ugly, smelly Orc but you can still be the strongest smelly Orc in all the (virtual) world.

All games offer escapism to a degree. It is games that create entire worlds and allow you to create a character to represent yourself, that become totally engrossing. With the option of constantly changing content and as many ‘real’ people as you want to enjoy that content with, its no surprise that people like to spend hours and days playing MMORPGs seeing how far they can go.

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