That Multiplayer Online Games, (MMOGs), encompass a vast amount of online activity on the Internet is truly an understatement. As an online gamer myself, it is easy to understand the attraction for some as well as the "Addiction" for others. While I don't necessarily agree that this form of entertainment is addictive in the clinical sense, the activity does lend to obsessive tendencies and has the potential to generate a great deal of stress to those prone to stress related afflictions.
People who play MMOGs do so for many different reasons. Some play to relieve stress buildup from everyday activities, some play for fun, and others enjoy the feeling of power they have over the environment within the game. Another aspect of MMOGs, that most are unprepared for initially, is the social nature of these virtual worlds. Coupled with the imaginative and mostly superhuman aspects of character development potentially leads to social stresses in very extreme ways. The vast majority of stress related issues in MMOG style games can be linked to social stresses that already occur to some extent in the real world.
For those who have never played, it can be very difficult to grasp how something that isn't real can cause so many problems. What they fail to see is that those who play are interacting with real people more so than simple fantasy characters. After a period of time, players get to know one another beyond the scope of their virtual playground. They learn about and become parts of each others reality. As such, they are subject to the same social issues that have plagued Human Beings since the beginning of time. They have the same arguments, the same desires, and the same needs.
One more common source of stress that affects the great majority of players is trying to find a balance between both worlds. As a species, Man is an interdependent creature. Sure, a man or woman can survive alone, but this typically leads to a very empty existence. The same goes for MMOGs. In fact, these games are designed to be interdependent. It is much more difficult to survive in the virtual world without help from others. If it wasn't so, we'd all be playing single player games. This need for interdependency lends to a sense of responsibility that players feel toward each other much as we see in real life.
"But Mom, if I quit now my friends will all die!"
Talk about a stressful dilemma. The amount of stress in this kind of circumstance is proportionate to the imagination of the player and the level of immersion within the virtual world they are experiencing. This is not an issue of age and can be equally as difficult to deal with whether its brother, sister, mom, or dad. To a player, leaving in the middle of a task in the virtual world is like bailing out on your buddy while your helping him move. In the example, all Mom knows is that Junior is playing a silly game and the trash needs taking out. Poor Junior, on the other hand, has difficulty understanding how taking out the trash can be so important when his friends are being decimated by a massive fire-breathing dragon. His level of immersion at the moment convinces him that this virtual task is much more important.
For most prepubescent players, this is pretty much the kind of stress you will find. As players move into their teens and beyond, the social issues may become clouded by more adult emotions leading to a greater variety of more specific stressful circumstances along with the more general issues previously described. They get angry at the "Idiots" who do stupid things in the game, become lifelong friends with people they only see as cartoon characters, and fall in love with heroes and distressed damsels.
To the non-player this sounds ridiculous. This same non-player that crushes over their favorite TV or music star, fawns over their personal trainer, or "shoots the bird" at the inconsiderate "Bleep" that cut them off on the highway. Sounds about the same doesn't it. To a point it is. The difference lies in a grown up sense of perception versus discretion. The non-player's sense of stress is derived from feeling things they can do little about. However, for the MMOG playing adult, there's the little devil sitting on the monitor telling them, "This isn't real! Its ok to have cyber relations with her, she isn't real, its not immoral." Sure, tell that to his wife who walks in on him making out with his elven dream girl. On the other hand, he can kill that "Bleep" that stole his loot. Its just a game, right? What players don't realize is the sense of unconscious guilt that begins to develop because they have crossed the line of their own morality and principles,assuming they had them at all. If they don't in the real world they surely won't in the virtual.
Poor Junior thought he had stress, wait until he grows up. Stress is not a good or a bad thing. Stress is a fact of every aspect in our lives. Almost everyone on this wonderful planet we call home has some activity they enjoy above all others. A certain thing they would rather be doing than anything else, and do. It may be television, sports, coin collecting, knitting, cooking, hunting or even MMOGs. What ever they choose, however intensely involved they become in their "Hobby", there will be varying levels of obsession and stress.
As I said, "Stress is not a good or a bad thing. Stress is a fact of every aspect in our lives." Whats important is how we deal with it and regardless of our obsession, we will deal with our stress equally as well, or just as badly. The success or fault is within ourselves, the obsession is merely the cure or catalyst.