neils clark

If you or your kid(s), friend(s), and/or partner(s) play WoW, and you think it’s time to change a little something, then you might try playing around with “parental” controls. These allow for a password-protected account that can effectively block an account from being played at certain times. Today I played with the parental controls on my Warcraft account. As always, it caused me to ponder deep philosophical questions.

Setting the parental controls in WoW is pretty easy. You’ll need a personal email address and a computer. It took me about 3 minutes. Considering that I’ve played WoW for a grand total of nearly 3,000 hours, 3 minutes was pretty minor.

Are you looking to control someone else’s play? Let’s say that you’ve done some reading and you understand what’s going on with excess play in a game like WoW. Heck, maybe you’ve played it! Say you’ve downed Kel’Thuzad, and generally owned face. You realize that it can be a rewarding hobby, but you don’t think that the person in question is playing healthy. Maybe they skipped out on something special, like Christmas dinner, your 10 year anniversary, or your birthday party. Offer to take care of their parental controls, as a friend.

Some gamers with serious problems will deny those problems indefinitely and vehemently, but some others will listen. A big problem with controlling play, especially as a parent, is assertiveness. If your gamer owns their own account, and they are the only person who knows the password for that account, then they may opt not to give that to you. That’s their decision. You, however, may be the owner of other resources that they need in other play or non-play related scenarios. Somebody who has an actual addiction/dependency problem will often be unpredictable in how they handle restrictions, however.

The good side

Parental controls in WoW set time limits that eject you from the game during restricted times. If the game stops at 5:00 PM, then you’ve got to be done then. As most experienced players know, just saying to yourself “I’ll log off at 5:00 PM” doesn’t work in some or all instances. Your group may plan to be done with something by 4:30 – and the next thing you know it’s 7:59. “Raids,” which traditionally required up to 40 people to work together, were notorious for lasting over four, six, even ten hours. The other 39 often got very upset at anyone who decided to leave before the goal was accomplished, as it meant even more waiting for that 1 spot to be filled. Raids are just one example of pressures that keep people playing. When parental controls eject you out at 5:00, there’s no room to compromise the goals that you, your friends or your family have set.

Blizzard’s parental control program allows a high level of control and a number of presets. Click for a larger picture.

The bad side

The major problem with sweeping governmental legislation and parental controls: loopholes. With MMO games, there are a few major loopholes to watch.

-Account sharing. If someone plays a lot, there’s a chance that they have access to someone’s account. If there’s disagreement about how you’ve limited your gamer’s account, it’s possible that they can ‘borrow’ another one.

-Another account. Similarly, they might just go buy a new account. If the gamer has a relatively advanced character, then it isn’t far-fetched to imagine them creating another with relative ease. The key thing to do with account sharing and extra accounts is to be involved, understand the gamer’s needs, and make consensual decisions. Not always possible, but do it wherever you can. Hopefully you’re trying to help someone, not just control them.

-A friend’s house/internet café/ultra-secret laptop/etc. Don’t be too quick to simply cut your gamer off from time at the helm. If somebody is actually chemically addicted (which happens far more rarely than popular media generally suggests), then they may just find another computer that’s available for play.

But what about addiction?

Well, behavioral addiction/dependency could possibly develop in games. The problem with creating highly complex government regulation, beside loopholes, is that we don’t understand exactly how this dependency works in games. If you’re not familiar with the “addiction” prevention legislation that China has practiced in the past, check out the following, from Wikipedia’s article on game controversy, “Through new laws the Chinese government has said it plans to restrict gamers to three hours of consecutive play, using a “fatigue technique” in games. Children and teenagers are strongly encouraged to play online games only 3 hours per day through this method. After 3 hours their character abilities will be limited. Gamers who spend more than five hours will have the abilities of their in-game character severely limited. Players will be forced to take a five-hour break before they can return to a game with the character back to full capacity. In some cases further playing is locked down through their IP identification number or account with the online game vendor. The operators face little choice as they need government approval to offer online gaming.”

Oh noes! Hardcore gamors not allowed! Click for a larger picture.

The first, and IMHO most major problem with this is that it ruins gaming for healthy gamers. After a busy week I’ll often set aside a Saturday to play at my own leisure. The second major problem, beyond loopholes and on a purely psychological level, is that we really don’t know how effective this method will be at stopping a negative game dependency. There are a number of ways that this method could cause an addictive pattern to worsen, for instance by presenting added negative stimuli or by causing gamers to seek loopholes.

Regulation isn’t always the right way to go. Then again, it’s just one tool of many. If you’re a parent, then it’s should be at or near the top of your list of tricks. Young children rarely have enough self-awareness to monitor their own play. If you’re a spouse or friend of a gamer - or even a gamer yourself - then consider that these controls aren’t just for little kids. If you’re serious about getting play onto a dead-set schedule, then these controls should be fun to play with.

I said it once already, but it bears saying again: The key is to be involved, understand the gamer’s needs, and make consensual decisions. Work to help someone, not to control them.

Neils Clark :: Jan.11.2007 :: Game Addiction ::

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