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“Probably should stop soon, it’s getting late.”
You exclaim only to realise that it’s no longer late, it’s already morning and you’ve spent the whole night playing...
Ever got a little bit too much into a game? Or better question would be, were you ever worried about it? If so, then let's see if we can identify reasons behind the compelling nature of RPGs.
It’s not an outright bad thing to be REALLY into an RPG. Honestly!
We’re all free to do whatever floats our boat so long as we don’t harm anyone else with it. But there comes a point where the fun and otherwise beneficial parts of enjoying RPGs or TTRPGs becomes… warped. Causing harm to you and even the people who care for you.
To reiterate again, it’s not about spending a lot of time on gaming that is the problem here. Especially if you were into RPGs for a very long time. It’s when that time spent on playing sacrifices everything else.
Being passionate about something is not the same as being unable to stop yourself from doing something due to the crippling dependance on it.
It’s quite similar to substance abuse but without the physical aspect.
When stopping is no longer a conscious decision, you become obsessed. At this point you should seek help from others.
Going on a binge gaming session once in a while or for a lengthy period of time doesn’t mean obsession. It’s when you make decisions that cut out everything else out of your life other than your RPG sessions.
Denial and anger that stems from considering it being “too much” is also part of it.
Since dealing with the issue would cause you to reduce the time you’re spending on it and psychologically you’re already dependent on the constant access to playing RPGs.
The moment you become infuriated at the idea that you may have to do other things than just play games, you should consider why it makes you angry.
There’s a reason why addictions exist in our world today, they are mostly man-made.
Video games are created for our entertainment, sure, but sometimes they can just hit that perfect spot for certain types of people.
While (hopefully) not intended, this does benefit the developers since it brings them money and allows them to produce more games.
Which unfortunately means that some developers lean a bit more into the psychological side of human obsessive nature though…
Level up, achievement unlocked, gained X amount of gold/crystals/coins etc. There are mechanics and their implementation that exist to get us hyped up and hooked.
The sense of progression towards a well defined goal. The rewards for performing gameplay tasks and general feeling of accomplishment for succeeding.
These can quite easily replace the real life equivalents and create a constant need for the “feel good” chemicals that we receive from playing RPGs.
It’s easy to find solace in the immersive worlds, larger than life characters and their struggles that RPGs can offer you. Especially when you can affect their virtual lives through your own actions.
Even further if the character you create is “you”, a blank state within the world which you then insert yourself into. After all, the character and all the choices is what you would do if you were part of this world.
This level of immersion is particularly evident in player versus environment (PVE) gameplay, where players can explore and conquer challenges at their own pace, further enhancing the escapism RPGs provide.
So why shouldn’t you pour everything you’ve got into making sure your character succeeds inside the game?! Especially if real life isn’t going where you were hoping it would…
MMORPGs give a chance to build very healthy and positive relationships with players around the world. So long as there’s a healthy disconnect between ourselves and our player avatar.
Role-playing as your character can be real fun and potentially improve overall social and improv skills.
But “becoming” your character at the cost of your own real life leads to a much darker and a lot less pleasant part of RPG obsession.
As with everything, there are degrees of how committed a person can be with their obsession.
From simply interacting less with their peers and occasionally slacking on their duties to only leaving a room to go to the toilet or to eat something. The impact of the latter can lead to a slow self-destructive spiral that can leave the person all on their own.
Skipping a meal is something everyone does on an occasion. But for someone who becomes obsessed with something, it’s usually a lot more extreme.
Basic hygiene, buying food and preparing regular meals or exercise, all of these things are sacrificed for the sake of playing any kind of RPG, whether it is WRPG or JRPG. And the longer this state lasts, the harder it is to return to normality. Or rather it becomes the new normality…
While we can survive without building long term social relationships, we tend to feel lonely and anxious without any human interaction within our lives.
If someone outright isolates themselves to not “waste” their time on building or maintaining their relationships or replace them completely with virtual relationships, they tend to push themselves further into their obsession.
This causes them to isolate themselves further, meaning there’s not going to be anyone to help them recover.
Studying and work can take a large chunk of your time and usually suffers greatly once you either slack at work or skip classes, which can be a reason for work termination or failing school.
This can affect your future in a very negative manner. Both financially and emotionally. Which may be really hard to undo once it reaches this level.
As with every problem in life, first comes accepting that the problem does exist and that it needs to be dealt with. No amount of support from others will help if it’s being actively rejected.
Change starts within but it doesn’t mean that it cannot be motivated from an outside source by either a friend or a family member.
If the problem is losing yourself in the RPGs, it’s important to set some limits on both the time spent playing them and the frequency.
Going cold turkey is often too extreme and doesn’t actually address the problem. Since if someone had enough willpower to completely cut themselves off of their obsession, they wouldn’t get obsessed with it in the first place.
Probably the most important part of the whole process.
Having another person participate in their daily lives is an important part of getting out of the self destructive cycle.
Depending on how far someone has gone, it may be necessary to have someone available on a constant basis, like playing different games together or simply hanging out.
Once the support network is established, it may be a good idea to slowly steer away from the RPGs.
Not completely since it’s more likely to cause more harm than good. But gradual reduction of time spent on RPGs and introduction of alternatives should be a great start. So long as there is an actual plan and support in place.
Maybe add some RTS games in there?
RPGs can positively affect your brain by letting you enjoy living a heroic life filled with challenges to overcome. It’s important to enjoy them in moderation though, like everything else.
Games that offer constant rewards for playing them with little effort, especially the ones that are online with other players to compare to. Social acknowledgement and praise can be quite enticing to some players.
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