Gamers risk addiction

By: Stephanie Daniels

Posted: 10/29/08

Bradley Evans, a computer science junior, slays Doomwalkers and dragons in between classes.

With the alias of Kiddiebabies, the Night Elf Druid, Evans regularly explores "World of Warcraft," a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, also referred to as MMORPGs.

These types of games were created to allow players to interact with millions of others in virtual worlds.

MMORPGs give students something to do to kill spare time, but NT alumnus Daniel Folmar said the games can prove more than a hobby - they are addicting.

Folmar minored in addiction at NT and has done extensive research on gaming addictions.

"There are people who let it relieve stress and people who let it become stress," Folmar said. "But when it gets to 10 hours a day, that is too much."

Other popular role-playing games include "Everquest," "Warhammer" and "City of Heroes."

Folmar said common gaming addictions are found in the ages of 13 to 21. Children growing up on games can suffer from social disorders because their social interactions are limited to online.

"There are kids now that get home from school and go straight to their computer instead of playing outside," Folmar said.

He said serious health effects that can be linked to gaming include epilepsy, obesity, arthritis and loss of sleep.

But Evans said he just plays for fun.

"I've been playing computer games for about 15 years," he said.

Evans said sometimes he catches himself playing when he should be studying.

"If I am studying, it can relieve my stress, but if I start to lose, it can increase my stress," he said.

Family members of addicted gamers have created Web sites such as gamerwidow.com and gamingsucks.com to unite the community of people who have lost loved ones to gaming.

"People leave their husbands or wives because of gaming," Fomar said. "Sometimes gamers cheat on their significant other with another online gamer, and some gamers eventually get married to one another."

But Folmar said gaming can be a great way to get in contact with other people outside of school or work.

"Games are a great way to interact, but it is when the game becomes reality that it can be dangerous," he said