This quote made me think about how long I can spend on the internet clicking link after link after link without reaching an end! Expansion packs (for example the Sims 'Pets', 'House Party', 'Vacation' etc.) emphasis the endless options available in online and game communities.
I found some interesting blogs which investigate video games and their addictive qualities. 'Behavioural Game Design' and '5 Creepy Ways Video Games Are Trying to Get you Addicted'. It's easy to see how users can become confused between their role and identity in real and virtual worlds.
Game designers are focused on hooking players into a repetitive pattern of game play. This tactic is based on BF Skinners invention of the 'Skinner Box' where rats are trained with a simple stimulus and reward. BF Skinner called this process 'shaping'. In the Chinese multiplayer online game ZT Online there is a devious strategy which rewards players who open the most 'chests' in a day. One woman tells of how she spent her entire evening opening chests (in fact over a thousand) to try to win the daily prize. She did not win as there was another player who devoted even more time to achieving this task. The attraction of the reward system can sometimes become too much to resist and disengagement from the game can become extremelly difficult. This happens in the same way gamblers are addicted to slot machines.
Just something to think about...let me know your thoughts :)
- What other factors are at work in video and online games to 'hook' users into repetitive play?
- Does anyone belong to an online community and feel that they aren't being trapped in 'Skinners Box'?
Carla Crago.
oh my god these hooks in games are actually my bane.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I have never reached the extremes of depriving myself of food, sleep, or any other needs (just turned slightly nocturnal, if anything i ate MORE food), but i did spent quite a lot of time during my gap year between school and uni playing ps2 and games on the computer. For instance, Kingdom Hearts (yes its made for young teens, shut up i love Disney). You finish one world, another opens! You finish the game after hours of play and OMFG theres a Kingdom Hearts 2!! And when I finished that one....WHEN DOES THE 3RD COME OUT???!??!??! It was ridiculously addictive.
Even online worlds can have this hook, for instance, Club Pengiun (which the kids I used to babysit introduced me too) became addictive when they introduced Spy games. As simple as it was, you follow clues to uncover some kind of mysterious crime (usually done by a polar bear) but every so often they'd release a new one and so you would check everynow and then and yep, subtle addiction.
So from my experiences, games often use levels as means to addict the user. This includes, levels of expertise (from measley little elf Link, to ultimate adult warrier Link), advancement in weaponry (including magical abilities), and current updates (such as expansion packs and sequels).
Even facebook sucks you in! What if a friend makes a hilarious comment on a picture? What if a new event is created?! NEW friend request?!?! PHOTO TAG???
Brb, gotta check facebook