The last four months have taken me on a journey that I didn’t really expect to embark on. Back in the Middle East, the place I call home, video games are getting increasingly popular amongst teenagers and people in their twenties – both men and women. Last summer, I started playing League of Legends and FIFA with my friends when I’d go over to their houses. We’d all bring out our laptops and start playing while in the same room. Interestingly, I found that those experiences did not really bring out much aggression in me and I did everything as I would have in real life. That got me to thinking, was that because I was surrounded by the people I was playing with, in real life?
Fast forward to the second semester: I enrolled in Gender, Race Sexuality and Justice 307. I was expecting to be analyzing news articles and looking at gender roles in popular culture, such as movies and social media. When we were told that we would actually be analyzing a video game instead, I was quite surprised. I decided to stick with the class though and learn more; I’ve never been asked to analyze a video game in this context, or rather, any context really. I was very enthusiastic.
Over the last four months, I learned the process in which game violence impacts psychological aggression levels in players first hand. What was interesting about that is that I learned this process while being aware that this occurs through previous psychological studies conducted that I’ve studied in a class taken during the first semester. This raises the question, is it a placebo effect?
Aside from aggression, I also learned that online gaming is very different than offline gaming. Back home, I played more games on the X-box and Playstation 3 than I did on the computer. I’m used to playing alone virtually without running into other characters that are controlled by other players. That was a new concept to grasp. I have to say though, I really do enjoy online gaming more than I enjoy offline gaming. It brings the games to life and it creates elements of competition and motivation in players.
An event that I found thought-provoking was the World Health Organization’s decision to declare gaming disorder to its International Classification of Diseases. Video games are designed partially to creative addictive responses. The more addictive the video game is, the more successful and popular it becomes. This adds monetary benefits for companies. While it is true that video games may be addictive, I also feel that other addictions are not depicted with negative denotations in the same way. An example of this would be food addiction, which may impact an individual’s physical and emotional health, does not carry negative connotations in the same way. I find that very interesting. Personally, I believe that too much of anything is not healthy, however, I think that this should be applied to other addictions of the same scope as well.
Ultimately, my gaming experience with Guild Wars 2 has shaped me into becoming a great deal more attentive, aware and considerate of my actions – both in the games and in real life. It also encouraged me to try new things and leave my comfort zone; I was not really big on gaming previously, but I’m happy that I experienced Guild Wars 2. It also allowed me to broaden my horizons by allowing me to learn through a new literary lens: archetypal criticism. Guild Wars 2 reflects archetypes that are known within society, but also gives them more life by demonstrating that they are not one-dimensional. There is so much more to a person than meets the eye and than their ‘archetype’. That’s my favorite lesson that I walked away with from this experience.
-B