Everquest addiction

[A1rh3ad]

I think I'm addicted to this game. The first thing I do in the morning is start playing. Sometimes morning becomes 5pm because I was up all night grinding. It's such a simple game yet for some reason it is far more addictive than any other. I'm now switching between characters leveling up multiple alts. My wife is the same way. We have different characters that we like to group together. My son gets a bit bored of the game and takes breaks to go play minecraft or roblox while we play other characters so we don't outlevel him too much. Why is this game so addictive? I'm not to the point where I am peeing in bottles waiting for camps, and I don't think it will come to that. This game is super addictive and I love it.

[skarlorn]

usually evequest is addictive to people who lack a healthy community environment and is especially fun for people who are depressed/feel bored in life.

The game is addictive because of how the dopamine reward system works

It's fun for a time tho

[Phenyo]

You'are commitment to this 'my family and wifes son loves to play to cover up my boxing' is pretty impressive to be honest.

[NachtMystium]

Originally Posted by Phenyo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

You'are commitment to this 'my family and wifes son loves to play to cover up my boxing' is pretty impressive to be honest.

hahahahahahaha


but for real tho OP, everyone wishes they were you that's why they all are here playing p99

[whippetofspades]

This is a fairly plausible explanation for one of the reasons EQ is addictive: http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/skinner.html.

Addiction is more likely to arise in people whose lives are lacking something. Lots of American GIs became addicted to heroin in Vietnam and forgot about it when they returned home. The rationalisation is that addiction was tied to a traumatic situation where there weren't societal support structures for them. Once they returned home to their families, most of them quit without effort.

[A1rh3ad]

Originally Posted by whippetofspades [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

This is a fairly plausible explanation for one of the reasons EQ is addictive: http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/skinner.html.

Addiction is more likely to arise in people whose lives are lacking something. Lots of American GIs became addicted to heroin in Vietnam and forgot about it when they returned home. The rationalisation is that addiction was tied to a traumatic situation where there weren't societal support structures for them. Once they returned home to their families, most of them quit without effort.

The problem with that theory is that most of eq is not instant gratification. Games today bore me because of too much instant gratification. There is a lot of down times and long grinding effort in play.

[solleks]

I love EverQuest

[A1rh3ad]

Originally Posted by solleks [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I love EverQuest

I agree. The lore is even interesting. Most games the lore is just an excuse to make things the way they are. The lore in EQ is very mythological and interesting.

[Videri]

Originally Posted by A1rh3ad [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The problem with that theory is that most of eq is not instant gratification. Games today bore me because of too much instant gratification. There is a lot of down times and long grinding effort in play.

If that is your takeaway, I think you may not have read the article in full, or you may have skipped something important. The article does not say EQ provides instant gratification. It says EQ begins with instant gratification, then develops to require more and more time and effort before dispensing gratification.

"The rewards cycle in EverQuest begins with instant gratifications. When you start a new character, everything you need to do is close by - finding the guildmaster; finding mobs to kill. The first few mobs you attack die in several swings and you make level 2 in about 5 kills. By the time you make level 3 half an hour later, you are more aware of the underlying skill points, the accumulation of money, and gain a desire to get better equipment. Gradually, it takes longer and longer to get to the next level. The simple tasks that you did to improve trade skills have become trivial, but the rewards you get - the blue skill points and the metal bits - drive you to perform tasks more elaborate than before because trivial tasks are no longer rewarded. The one-click reward disappears, and is gradually replaced by rewards that take more and more clicks to get. And suddenly, some of us find ourselves clicking away for hours in front of a forge or jewellery kit."

Even more important is the "random ratio" reinforcement schedule.

"Another kind of reinforcement schedule is the fixed ratio schedule, and the rat is rewarded every time it presses the lever 5 times. This schedule is more effective than the fixed interval schedule. The most effective method is a random ratio schedule, and the rat is rewarded after it presses the lever a random number of times."

Sound familiar?

"Because the elf cannot predict precisely when it will be rewarded even though it knows it has to click the mouse to get loot, the elf presses the lever more consistently than in the other schedules..."

EVERQUEST

[A1rh3ad]

Originally Posted by Videri [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If that is your takeaway, I think you may not have read the article in full, or you may have skipped something important. The article does not say EQ provides instant gratification. It says EQ begins with instant gratification, then develops to require more and more time and effort before dispensing gratification.



Even more important is the "random ratio" reinforcement schedule.



Sound familiar?

EVERQUEST

Yeah it all does make sense. Even from the start though the instant gratification isn't there and in fact the opposite. It starts off very painful. Then the more instant gratification begins. Not to say it doesn't apply at all here. It seems like a bit more than what the article states. The article actually applies more to theme park style mmos of today. Perhaps it's the process of refinement, a process that has made me lose interest in mmos. EQ is very dirty and unrefined and that is exactly what attracts me to it.