RPG - addiction or self help?

[ibakecakes]

The latest book to keep me amused at the moment is exploring online role playing games. The book is following the fate of a study done to see if there can be any positive benefits gained by people who enter such games, taking on completely different characters to their normal selves. The test study participants were those who were quiet, often loners and it aimed to see if they gained any benefits from assuming another personality online.
What are your thoughts on this? have you ever been involvd in RPG's? Are they an addiction once you get into them? Can there be any link between online personas and real life?

[Jo van]

I don't think Rocket Propelled Grenades can ever be the answer....

This is going to be about sex eventually ......isn't it....?

[ItsMargo]

Yes, I think it does - or can - translate to real life. Although not RPG in the strictest sense, my daughter played games like NeoPets when she was oh I guess 13 or 14 and she ended up with several different profiles with very different personalities. One was male. When I realized what she was doing we "had a chat" and she presented a pretty compelling case for the benefits of different personalities. She, shy and socially awkward, was experimenting with personalities, communication and relating. Oh, she didn't use those exact words, but it clearly was her intent to figure out how to get on with people. She said people reacted to her male profile much differently than they did her female profile; that she could say and do things as a male and as a female that had a completely different reaction. I allowed her to keep her profiles with the caveat of working towards integrating what she learned into who she said she was. Pretty much what we do in life, right?

Still socially awkward at 18 (she's a geek and a jock so it's "hopeless" lol) I see her putting various strategies into play. Like today, when she was off to meet a friend and explained to me that they were such different personalities that she had to find an end destination or a goal because they (the two of them) couldn't be trusted to just hang with ease... the focus made it possible to work around awkwardness. (They are off to take in the busker festival and talk around the activity). That's a fairly sophisticated coping strategy and one, I am quite sure, her online activities has helped her reach.

[chopper]

ever since i was young iv always been obsessed with the game snakes and ladders..i was schoolboy champion of s and l in 1973 and mens champion in 1980..1983 and mixed doubles champion in 1992 and 1997..but the problem is now i think im a ladder..you could say im sort of a jack the ladder..i just love em..i one time try to shag one that was propped up againt some scaffolds outside the local bingo hall in the high street..iv even had two ladders in bed at the same time..a 3some..but the best ladders i like are the ones you see in womens stockings..whuuuurrrrr..lets get it on..

[restless_native]

As I do quite enjoy killing things on my PS3 I did try that World Of Warcraft a while back.

I just couldn't get into it at all. For something that's supposed to just be a game people don't half seem to take it seriously. So based on my experience I would probably say that anyone who immerses themselves in that kind of thing is probably a bit mental.

[danno]

I think when it becomes an addiction (you did mention addiction in the OP title) that saturates ones life and interferes with other aspects, self-help isn't going to happen. The reverse I think. The self-help part may be one getting themself away from the rpg sites and off the computer altogether.

I am not so sure that a rpg would be beneficial in regard to socializing in the real world, here are a few reasons:

-Rpgs are fantasy based, the participants assume fantasy roles. Games like Everquest and World of Warcraft don't usually reflect real everyday life scenarios.
-The participants are engaged in a virtual world, communication with other participants is different than communicating in real life. Body language, facial expression, tone of voice, actual tactile contact (handshake for instance) are missing. I suppose some rpgs try to emulate these qualities, but not to the degree that occurs in real life.
-The participant is still, in the physical sense... alone. There is no company, or sense of personal space, yours and others personal space that is. I think that's why some rpg fans may feel awkward when in close proximity to other real people. They may not be sure as to where that personal space boundary lies. I don't say all of them, but I have seen known rpg fans shy away from people not near enough to call it an invasion of personal space.
-Let's face it, for many naturally shy people, it is much easier to sit down and "socialize" online without having to actually socialize out in the real world. I find this simply enables the shyness to continue in regard to the real world. I really don't see a benefit there.

Links to online personas and real life would depend on how serious the rpg fan takes the rpg experience. Some might assume part or even a larger part of that online persona to cope with interacting in the real world. If the online persona helps to bring out core qualities in the person, and they are able to show those qualities in a real world situation, that I would consider a benefit. But even here, if the online persona becomes the person, then the pendulum has swung too far the other way, the rpg fan is not being themself as a person, but some character in a fantasy world. Kind of like an actor who immerses himself in a role in which he can't break out of.

[restless_native]

Has anyone ever had any experience of second life?

I had a look at that once too. That is a seriously odd place. I really struggle to understand how anyone who spends a lot of time in there could be considered to be a well adjusted.

[Roxy127]

Has anyone ever had any experience of second life?

I had a look at that once too. That is a seriously odd place. I really struggle to understand how anyone who spends a lot of time in there could be considered to be a well adjusted.

Restless,who says they're well adjusted...................?

[restless_native]

Restless,who says they're well adjusted...................?

You may have a point.

I suppose it's useful to know that all of the freaks are in one place.

[Spoon]

What are your thoughts on this? have you ever been involvd in RPG's? Are they an addiction once you get into them? Can there be any link between online personas and real life?

Second life etc is for sad fat old men with B.O who have been married for yrs longer than they ought to but know in real life they aint getting a shag elsewhere so they choose to pull a hottie with a stunning figure(sad old wench who cant get any either) to have virtual sex with because in some way it validates their existance on this planet and makes them feel all wanted n stuff.


Anyone up for it?