World Health Organization’s recent action recognizing “gaming disorder” as a mental condition in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) had sparked much public attention. This addition of a new medical term that recognizes excessive and addictive gaming as a mental issue had lead to the discourse of questioning whether there is enough research evidence to link gaming addiction to the traditional notion of mental disorder (Rogers, 2018).

From my perspective of playing Guild War 2 over the past four months, I can definitely see the logic of why playing MMORPG like GW2 could be addictive. Even though I had never considered myself a gamer, GW 2 had been an eye-opening experience. I see the potential of how I could, too, become addictive to it. For instance, when I first played the game, I was extremely confused about why people liked it. However, that was because I was unfamiliar with how the game works, and the only thing that I could be doing was random world questing. Yet, once I hit level 10 and realized that I could enter a new gaming realm, allowing me to unlock different episodes of Personal Stories, I became a lot more interested. I think the backstory given by the NPCs had a great contribution to my growing enthusiasm toward the game. Once I was more engaged with the storyline, I feel more attached and acquainted with the game world.

The desire of unlocking more stories and to gain more power also played a huge part that drives for an emerging sensation towards the game. As mentioned before, as I was new to the game, there was a countless time where I was completed defeated in the game. This feeling of constantly being conquered by a fabricated but malicious opponent that was merely made by thousands of pixels really had an effect on my oblivion ego, ironically. Thus, I do recognize how the taste of humiliation and failure are used as an engine to trigger a sense of ambition and initiation for the players, making them feel like they need to level up and unlock more power – all for the effort to finally take the win at the end of the game.

The phrase “you are defeated” works great to compel me to continue playing the game – just to taste the victory.

Reflecting back on the journey of how I, too, could become addictive to a game world where I had never stepped foot before was interesting. Yet, I do think that there is a huge difference between being “obsessed” and getting “illogically addictive.” In my case, even though I did become obsessed with the game, I was able to stay rational about this growing interest. I could still remind myself that indulging in such virtual reality for too long could never be a good thing. There are simply other facets of life that I need to take care of, such as school, family duties, and my overall well-being. Sanity allows me to keep things balanced. For an individual to become relentlessly addictive and reliant about something, not just referring to gaming alone, but to other substances as well, could be damaging. It should be seen as a form of dysfunctional mental state and require intervention – for that it signals a mode of self-destruction as other important aspects of life are being neglected.

Thus, even though controversy were fostered regarding whether gaming addiction can be perceived as a formal form of “mental disorder,” I think that discourses like this are extremely valuable. It opens up a new space for us to understand the psychodynamics of addiction better. The debate, in itself, is kind of liberating. Video gaming had a long history of being stigmatized, for that it is commonly associated with the notion of counterproductive, incompetent and alienated. This stigmatization had put people who are addictive to gaming to a strained position, as they were simply being labeled as unproductive and antisocial “loser,” excluding them from being seen as someone who is psychologically disrupted and need assistance. The label is toxic as it prevents intervention. If we could understand the mechanism of how they became addictive to video gaming, just as how we strive to help those who are addicted to alcohol and substances, perhaps we can open a space to allow people to be more sensitive to this mental condition, and ideally, guiding for more clinical practices to help those in need.

Work Cited:
Rogers, C. (2018). WHO Calls ‘Gaming Disorder’ Mental Health Condition. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20180620/who-recognizes-gaming-disorder-as-a-condition

The extent to which video game violence incites psychological aggression continues to be an ongoing dispute. From my own experience with Guild War, the game doesn’t have much influence on me psychologically because I haven’t been a gamer for a long time. GW2 mainly serves the purpose of a case study for me; thus, even though I consistently play the game every once a week throughout the past few months, the period of time that I am engaged with the game remained short-termed. Since I am well-aware the reason why I am playing the game, it is easy for me to see my in-game experience and my actual lived reality as two separate worlds.

There are a number of things that I would never have engaged in real life that I had in GW2, mostly refers to all violent practices. The GW2 functions with a very simple ideology – that is for the magical wonderland to restore its peace, all the antagonistic monstrous beasts have to be destroyed. All quests reproduce the same storyline, agitating players’ natural instincts to destroy them because these animalistic characters are labeled as evil and threatening. The act of constantly killing and destroying living things is something that I would never engage in. In situations where I feel threatened, I would only feel the urge to protect myself from danger. In no circumstances, I will ever feel capable of eliminating the threat through violence.

When studying aggression and violent acts, I believe it’s hard to ignore the power dynamic that is embedded in them. The only reason GW2 gamers feel equipped to kill the animalistic being is that there is often a back story ( often delivered by the NPCs) to justify our actions. Not only we were given weapons and power to kill the beasts, the backstories of why we destroy them also empower us. The more quests we complete, the more a sense of control and prestige is amplified.

In reality, the feeling of entitlement and assurance is being stripped away. In a dangerous environment, no one can have the same level of assertion and aggression unless one feels superior over the other. Perhaps, this is always the case for me in reality. As an Asian female, I often feel inferior as an individual. As an Asian, my voice is often unheard; as a female, I am constantly being reminded that in the face of sexual assaults and rape, I will always be vulnerable due to my physical weaknesses. These limitations not only put me in a subordinating position, but they also make all adverse encounters more destined. Because I am powerless, I can be destroyed. Just like the animalistic beasts in the GW2 – they were powerless as an antagonistic presence in the storyline, so they are destined to be destroyed. The battle had been won before it’s ever fought.

As a result, I don’t think simply questioning whether video game violence has a role in psychological aggression is sufficient enough. Rather, it is also important to question what kinds of aggression pervades our lives and why we let them. Why some people are entitled to be more aggressive over the others, whereas we put others in a subordinating place. Why certain ideologies promote us to be angry towards certain discourses, whereas we remain ignorant and distant over other subjects.

Lastly, I believe that I have the ability to separate my in-game and out-of-game experience because I take on a critical lens whenever I play the game. Perhaps, this is one of the most important conducts when examining popular culture. To always question why certain ideologies are constantly being reproduced and upheld; to stay critical towards all structural inequalities that we tend to perpetuate in daily lives. Just as Prof Rosi Braidotti had said at the end of her keynote lecture, “ we need affirmative ethical political perspectives and not taking a flight into a new corporate humanities; we are in this together and we need to be recomposed humbly, soberly, in a united manner, united by the shared hope that the practice that we engage in – whatever it may be, need to be postulated collectively as a stepped into direction of posing new ways of being human……what an amazing time to be alive, but there is work to be done. Let’s not be triumphalist; let’s be sober together, to be worthy of the complexity of today.”

Reference:
Centre for the Humanities Utrecht University. (2015, November 20). Retrieved March 23, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1953&v=3S3CulNbQ1M

“One of the crucial insights from the research is that toxic behaviour doesn’t necessarily come from terrible people; it comes from regular people having a bad day,” said Justin Reich, research scientist from Harvard’s Berkman Center. “That means that our strategies to address toxic behaviour online can’t be targeted just at hardened trolls; they need to account for our collective human tendency to allow the worst of ourselves to emerge under the anonymity of the Internet.”

Just as Reich stated,  toxic behaviour isn’t merely in the confinement of specific individuals but is accounted to the collective human tendency (Parkin, 2015). It is no surprise that most gamers had encountered toxic interactions online when playing MMORPGs games, whether that is harassment, abusive language, or any form of cyberbullying; in which such negative occurrences are only amplified in the face of anonymity.

As no gamers had to disclose their true identity prior to entering the game field, there is the incentive to abuse the feature of anonymity. However, for me, my experience with Guild War 2 is different.

Other than Guild War 2, I had no prior experience in any other MMORPG games before. As a result, I often feel my online presence in GW2 as incompetent and inferior. In times like this, I will have to rely on external resources, such as Youtube gaming tutorials, Reddit platforms, and GW websites and wiki pages to help me gain a deeper insight on how I can navigate the game better. What astonished me is that I feel more of a community and a positive reciprocal relationship through these out-of-game platforms than the actual game field itself.

For instance, under the comment section of each Youtube gaming tutorial videos, there were numerous comments thanking the content creators for their clear explanation and guidance. There is also a discussion group on Reddit, specifically dedicated for Guild War players to engage with one another. These participants recognized themselves as a community and are encouraged to share their gaming experiences and insights online. To me, this is fascinating as it opens up space for beginners to have a voice within this cyber community that in most cases, is overwhelming. It serves as an invitation for beginners to participate better, either through posing questions or asking for gaming advice. A positive reciprocal relationship is formed when the experienced gamers use their knowledge and time to respond to these threads, helping the players to better adapt to the game world that is otherwise unfamiliar to them.

On the other hand, within the actual game field, I often feel excluded. The tense and fast-paced atmosphere portrayed in the game does not provide a suitable moment or space for me to engage in a deeper level conversation with other players. Most of the time I was either busy with completing quests or overwhelmed with the given tasks in order to level up. The chat box mostly serves the purpose for short and quick phrases to signal other players to perform a certain action. In one of the instances, I was able to complete a group quest without any interactions with other players in the same quests. As we were all given instructions and guided by the NPCs, we were able to complete the group quest without instructing one another. At the end of the group quest, each player simply departs and takes on other missions. This is when I realized that the community of Guild War merely exist outside of the game. Within the game field, most players play in solitude. As the players don’t have to enclose their identities before taking on group quests, the game created this cyberspace for players to remain anonymous and in solitude. It allows the players to enjoy the game in their own preferred pace.

As a result, I would never consider the use of these external resources as cheating. In fact, I think they exist for the purpose of fostering a greater community for players to interact with one another. Cheating would refer to the act of taking advantage in an unfair way. Yet, as individuals enter the game world with a different purpose and perception, they should have the liberty to decide how they want to navigate around the game, whether that is through connecting with other players through these external discussion platforms, or through in-game designed chat boxes.

This is not to say that toxic behaviours should be tolerated. Though players should enjoy their cyber presence with as much autonomy, external measures should be set in place to eliminate toxic interactions. Reporting negative comments could be one way to punish toxic behaviours. On a slightly more optimistic note, if we could be more active on creating a positive and welcoming cyberspace, just as how GW2’s online discussion platforms have portrayed, we can progressively discourage negative behaviours online. Creating a safe cyberspace that welcomes reciprocal behaviours would mean giving little attention to abusive languages and negative comments. Just as how a collective human tendency fosters online disorder, we could also use the power of collectivity to discipline one another. Perhaps, for those who abuse anonymity to cause online turmoils, mostly indulge themselves in such toxic practices because they are having a “bad day,” hoping to seek for attention. Yet, where is the fun in that if we could simply give them no attention in the first place?

References:

Simon Parkin, “A Video-Game Algorithm to Solve Online Abuse”, MIT Technology Review, September 14, 2015.

After completing a few quests, it’s evident that Guild War 2, like most modern popular literature, follows the classic storyline of a hero’s adventurous journey. The embodiment of this storyline adheres to a universal pattern. The monomyth usually starts with a turmoil within a utopian world, inciting the protagonist to exert all forces to fight against the emerging conflicts, and upon victory, the protagonist transforms into a brave and heroic character.

For instance, once the players enter the game, they were often informed by the NPCs that the beautiful homeland is being destroyed by monstrous beings, such as the Termite Larvae invading the farmer’s village. To restore peace and justice for the villagers, players ought to dismantle these evil creatures.

By following this classic heroic plot, Guild War successfully draws players into this preconditioned narration. A sense of fulfillment developed as the players spontaneously placed themselves into this fearless heroic character. Guided by the NPCs, one quest after another, a thrilling experience flourished as there is the perception that the more “bad guys” players destroy, the more they are contributing to a more liberated digital community.

However, if the players would give a more comprehensive thought into the storyline, they would begin to realize that the entire heroic tale is built on the nature of narcissism. The plot of heroism naturally triggers players’ desire to be seen and recognized. For example, when I first played the game, I find the storyline intriguing. When I was rewarded with prizes and tokens after completing a quest, I felt a sense of urgency to complete another one so I can level up. Yet, the more I play, the more I realize that there is a difference between addition and engagement. In my case, I am simply addicted because the game gives me a sense of agency and empowerment when I destroy the vicious villains. Yet, ironically, my developed sense of agency from the game was only in relation to the opposing force of an adversary. Without the opposing forces, my heroic presence in the game became mediocre and meaningless.

Though Guild War’s storyline is alluring at first glance, it provides little depth when the historical context and the detailed traits of different characters of the game are provided with limited information. There was never an explanation from the NPCs why specific invaders ought to be destroyed, players simply enact because they were told to. Thus, as players continue to engage in quests, the plot became fragmented and frivolous when no justification is provided for the enactment of such violence.

In essence, the classic heroic tale is useful to draw players’ attention into the initial gameplay. However, to continue to engage with the players into the magical world, I would suggest Guild War to be more invested into the development of different aspects of the characters – to create more backstories and historical context for the NPCs or the wonderland itself. If we could have a deeper look into different characters’ motives and emotions, the better we can enact our roles within the gameplay. Hopefully, we will not simply be fighting for villains because we all want to feel like the “hero,” but that a true sense of agency is developed as we continue to engage with the game itself. 

“Like traditional landscapes, video game landscapes incorporate the moral ideologies of their producers and therefore limit or direct the kinds of lessons about the real world that players might learn. Video game landscapes may therefore reinforce the dominant ideologies that govern the production of real world landscapes as much as they challenge them”

As I entered the game for the first time, I was greeted by a mysterious character called Caithe. Through a series of conversation with Caithe (Figure 1), Caithe had emphasized that my spirit is strong and to never underestimate myself. Followed by this pep talk, I was then released to the actual game field called the Caledon Forest.

The Caledon Forest is as magical as it sounds. The entire landscape is nature-filled, with bright earthly colours and magical creatures. I was encouraged to explore the different sceneries of the game field. However, not long after I get to enjoy myself in this magical world, I was soon informed that the village is being invaded by the “termite larvae”. In effort for the peaceful inhabitant to live in the utopian world, I have to kill the termites and protect the inhabitants from these evil creatures.

Once the quest started, the entire colour scheme changed. The background music also shifted into a darker tone, signifying that a catastrophic force is emerging. The landscape became gloomy and dark (Figure 2). The surroundings were filled with the invaders. The shifts provide a sense of urgency and destruction. In fact, it effectively calls for action, informing the players that fighting against the evil creatures is deemed necessary to help the Forest and its inhabitants to regain peace.

It wasn’t hard to target these creatures because they were labelled with a red tagline of “termite.” In comparison, other avatars and characters were labelled with a green tagline of their names. These colour codes made it easier to make a distinction between who the protagonists and antagonists are.

Upon completing the task as instructed, it became evident that the pleasures players gain from the game stem from the tension of the good and the bad. The game polarized the two ends. Just as the pep talk was given by Caithe, we were informed that we have the spirit and strength as the protagonists of the game, in which the good force made us invincible and indestructible. We were given power because we have to fight against the evil deeds such as the termites.

However, as Logan suggested that “ video game landscapes may, therefore, reinforce the dominant ideologies that govern the production of real-world landscapes as much as they challenge them,” Guild War 2 as well as the production of these dominant ideologies. The ideologies of “destroying the evil” were also predetermined upon entering the game. We were taught who the invaders are. With no prior knowledge of the species historical background, we were seduced by the idea that the antagonists are destined to be destroyed. As players, we became invested in this storyline – that to protect our loved ones ( such as to restore the utopian Caledon Forest), we, as the protagonists, have to gain more power to fight back the odds that are against us. However, the idea that we can take control of our surrounding is illusional. Just as the dominant ideologies reinforced by the contemporary real world, the idea of who should be granted with social acceptance and who should be alienated are often governed by those who have power. They continue to reproduce the ideologies of social status and hierarchy because such social structures act in their best interests.

References: 

Michael W Longan. “Playing with landscape: social process and spatial form in video games” Aether Vol. 2 (2008)

“Video games have increasingly being deliberated as a propaganda tool to influence people with regards to some targeted matters. Design of game’s character plays an important role for such objectives”.

Creating my own avatar within the Guild War 2 world had been a thrilling experience, mostly because I had the freedom to construct something from scratch, ranging from race, body and facial features to my external outfit. Throughout the process, I knew that I wanted to create something that can best represent myself, that way I can feel a sense of connection with the character I created throughout the game. 

Not only I wanted my avatar to be a representation of my own self in the game, I also wanted it to be something that is magical and imaginary. Thus, when choosing the race of the avatar, I was certain that I wanted to be a Sylvari instead of Human. Sylvari was described to be a “noble being” with the characteristics to be adventurous, curious, eager, and chivalrous, which were qualities that I tend to lack in real life but wishes to have. Similarly, I was excited to choose my profession as a “Necromancer” that “summons the dead” as this allows my avatar to deviate away from being realistic and common. The idea that I can become something so special and charming was intriguing.

Hence, I was disappointed when the selection of gender was limited to only male and female, in which the subsequent body features were consistent with the gender-binary traits as well. The body and facial features of a male avatar are marked with traits that are more masculine and had an emphasis on physical strength and power. On the other hand, female avatars were bounded with feminine characteristics, such as slim body features and dressing in skirts and tights. These predetermined assumptions and settings pulled the players from creating something special and magical back to something that is in coherence with the gender norms the real world perpetuates.

The more I get to customize my own avatar, the more I discovered that my avatar isn’t just a representation of myself. As I found out that a lot of the qualities my avatar has is something that I lack in real life, I became aware that I am actively creating something that I desire to be.

This linked back to the study “ Playing With Ourselves: Multiplicity and Identity in Online Gaming.” Jennifer Jenson, Nicholas Taylor, Suzanne de Castell and Narry Dilouya had emphasized that most avatars player created are the creation of their own’ “idealized version of the self” (p. 863).

My avatar too was beyond the representation of me, but a reflecting image of who I desired to be. For instance, many of the qualities that my avatar has a heavy emphasis on being noble, curious, adventurous, and acting with wisdom. The idea that I could be someone that is beyond my human self is intriguing, and it makes me feel empowered as I am creating something that is beyond myself in real life.

To conclude, Loman’s quote his work “Avatar warrior: A Kansei analysis”  holds through because gaming makes our desired qualities more appealing. Through the creation of the avatar, we were given the chance to overcome the shortcomings we have in real life and allows ourselves to move closer to all the idealized traits that we desire. Ironically, in reality, these underlying desired traits are often the ideologies we continue to perpetuate and reproduced today.

Reference: 

Jenson, Jennifer, Nicholas Taylor, Suzanne de Castell & Barry Dilouya (2015) Playing With Our Selves, Feminist Media Studies, 15:5, 860-879.

M. Lokman, A. M. Mustafa, M. F. Mohd Fathir and A. R. Abd Rahman, “Avatar warrior: A Kansei analysis,” 2014 3rd International Conference on User Science and Engineering (i-USEr), Shah Alam, 2014, pp. 24-29.