Growing up, I was not allowed to spend a lot of time gaming as my parents believed it would negatively affect my education. The psychological effects were never a factor.  However, in occasions where I gamed with friends I played Dota 2, League of legends, GTA etc. I found myself to be more aggressive and reckless in these games in comparison to real life situations. I found myself doing the same with GW2. I have never questioned the aggression showcased in these games as it was not a real life situation and as a result have not felt guilty about killing various creatures that were on the opposing side. In GW2, I was placed in situations where various creatures were violent towards me. As a result, I felt the need to kill them to survive and advance in the game.

The big difference between games and real life situations, is the narrative, the creatures involved and the aggression showcased towards the players and enemies. Moreover, as a player in the game I can easily recover from a death or injury. I would not react with the same level of aggression in a real life situation as the consequences of my actions are different. Moreover, the morals instilled in me do not condone aggressive behavior. However, in one instance, after playing GW2 for an extended period, I got very frustrated due to the lack of progress in the game. I did not enjoy the negative energy I was harboring and therefore, felt the need to work out and get rid of the pent-up energy. This was the first time I was mentally and emotionally affected by the game. Therefore, I am concerned about the psychological and emotional consequences of playing violent games for an extended period. Moreover, this experience really emphasized the impact of the normalization of aggressive behavior in video games. Violence in video games suggest that aggressive behavior is an appropriate response to stimuli. For example, a frustrated individual who has been exposed to violent video games may react to negative emotions more aggressively in comparison to individuals who have not. Therefore, it is necessary for individuals to know the difference between appropriate responses to social stimuli in reality and video games.