#beyondinfluentialpodcast

Do You Believe In Video Game Addiction?

I want to ask you a question before we get started.  Do you believe in video game addiction?  I want to discuss the video game addiction warning signs because I believe it has affected me over the last few years.

What Is Video Game Addiction?

According to WebMD, video game addiction is like a drug addiction.  How may you ask?  The person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep going.  If the person does not get enough of that substance they get angry and very irritable.  Some kids get really angry, violent, sad and or depressed.  When parents take away the computer from their kids they cry and refuse to eat or sleep. What Are The Video Game Addiction Warning Signs? According to WebMD some of the signs include: Playing for increasing amount of time Thinking about gaming during other activities Gaming to escape real life problems Lying to friends and family to conceal gaming Feeling annoyed when trying to cut down on gaming Gaming addicts also drop out of other interests just because they are addicted to playing video games. So Why Am I Taling About This Today? I am talking about video game addiction warning signs today because I believe that I have been a victim of video game addiction myself.  However, I have never been diagnosed with it but I believe I still suffered from it. My Video Game Addiction Story I use to play this game called Runescape which is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.  It was quite fun and addicted.  I use to play it for hours on end like there is no tomorrow.  In the game, you can talk to other players and become friends.  You can also skill in the game to get 99 in all 27 or 28 skills.  I am not going to list all the skills but you can basically do whatever you want in the game as long as you don't break the rules. My Video Game Story Part Two When I got my computer taken away as a kid growing up I use to have tantrums.  When my brother needed the computer for homework I cried and pout.  There were times during the school day or maybe most of the day where I just think about playing Runescape when I got home.  Let's be honest I was never really fond of school when I was growing up.  So playing Runescape was like an escape for me to forget about all those tests and huge amounts of homework each night. My Video Game Story Part Three Just recently I started to rethink how I want to spend my time.  Why the sudden change of heart all the sudden that I am in college?  Well, starting in 2017 I started to get busier with my life.  Some of this busy things in my life include this website, karate, bowling, exercising.  There are also some other busier things in life that I do not find fun what so ever like Lyft and Uber.  But you got to do what you got to do to make money, am I right? Perhaps Online Multiplayer Games Are At Fault? Now don't get me wrong I am not bashing every single online multiplayer game, but you have to wonder if they are the ones to blame.  Let me give you a solid example of a never-ending online game.  Let's use Runescape again, shall we?  Runescape has these double xp weekends that start on the last weekend in September and February of every single year.  Xp stands at experience points I  believe and during those double xp weekends you earn double the amount of xp than any other day during the week.  During these weekends I use to play at least like 30 hours maybe even more.  My friends and I use to skype and just joke around and basically show off to each other how much xp we get each day. Still Not Convinced? If you are still not convinced about video game addiction being real then let's take it to the next step.  This year in 2018 Runescape announced that they were making an Android and Apple app so you can play on the go.  Sounds awesome, but do we really need to take the game on the go?  I thought it was an awesome idea until I joined my recent clan in the game.  Oh, I forgot to mention that there are clans in the game that you can talk with too.  Some of the people in the clan seem to be older than me and they are still playing the game.  That's when it occurred to me I want more out of life than playing Runescape. When Did I start Playing Runescape I started playing Runescape back in 2007 and I am officially stopping in 2018.  I believe I started playing because I was escaping my life problems.  Here is some example of some of my life problems back then.  My teachers were giving me too homework, bullies in school, what am I going to do after school? I Have Other Interests Now During those tough times in school, I played to escape from real life.  Perhaps I was filling a big empty gap in my life.  But no more because I have other interests now.  I am back at karate which I love, running a website which has its ups and downs.  Plus I am in college studying to become a personal trainer.  I wouldn't mind reading more books in life to keep my brain going.  During 7th grade, I use to read all the Harry Potter books in one year.

Do You Think I Am Addicted?

Do you think I am addicted to video games?  I still believe I am and that's why I am quitting Runescape for good this time.  However, I am not going to quit video games all together.  I found this Harry Potter game on mobile that is quite fun but it's one of those games where you can only do so much for a certain amount of time.  For instance, you can only play the game when your character has energy and then once you run out you have to wait for a few hours to recharge by itself.  Or you can buy energy with in-app purchases, which is just a waste of money.  This Harry Potter game has the right amount of time for me to enjoy a nice break and then right back to something else that I enjoy.  remember that post about social media manager I talked about Stay Focus app?  If not here is a little recap.  Here Come New Ideas for Managing Social Media for Business.  Well, I use Stay Focus to block access to the Harry Potter app until the weekend.

Are You Addicted?