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Do MMOs make you stupid?

We all know that MMOs can be addictive but does playign an MMO actually dull the brain? I followed a link from Tipa's end of year review to a post in her West Karana blog that I missed while I was away during the summer. The post is a personal reflection on various topics following Tipa's tragic loss of her father (many condolences Tipa) but one phrase caught my attention:
MMOs (I have said this) make me stupid. They also take valuable time.
Is this true? Is WOW the soma of our time? Are our middle aged brains being numbed into insensiblilty with a diet of mindless clicking through virtual fantasies?

I have no doubt that my own brain is not as sharp as it was when I was 20. Surely this is a natural part of life. I like to think that this is more than made up for by experience (real world kind) that I have accumulated since then so that on the whole I perform more effectively. I would not be happy to think that I am accelerating the decline into senility by playing games.

In fact I know of one case of a lady we know who has started playing games in an effort to re-awaken her brain - she invested in a Nintendo DS and Brain Training for that very purpose.
Anybody got any thoughts on this?

Comments

Anonymous said…
The more time spent each day being "entertained" -- whether by TV, MMOs, or just in general being a passive consumer of someone else's creativity -- makes you less able to do so for yourself.

It's also time taken right away from your life. Sliced right out.

Where a game can bring people together, can spark that human spirit, can make people want to DO SOMETHING, then it's a success. A game that rewards mindlessness can only produce mindlessness.

My niece has Brain Age. Everyone starts out at around 60 years old and ends at around 28 -- even my nine year old niece.
Anonymous said…
I spend much more time writing about games etc than I do playing them...I have had that pointed out to me on a number of occasions & to some degree I think it is true.

Comparing my brain now to the one I had when I was 20...there's no contest. It works better now than it did then...at 20 I was chasing women & drinking while seeing a huge amount of music gigs & festivals.

I'd rather game than watch TV but which is more 'mindless'?
mbp said…
Don't worry Tipa I am not about to invest in Brain Training myself - The last thing I need is for a computer to tell me I am stupid!

DM - you inspire me with your assertion that your brain works better now than when you were twenty. Perhaps I am being too complacent about this middle age thing.
Anonymous said…
I'm not like most people, mbp so take heart!

I was lazy with my brain in my 20's but I'm trying to make up for it now...
Corvus said…
Well first of all if all you do in an mmorpg is mindless clicking there are two options. Perhaps that mmo isnt challenging you or you are not smart enough to do something more than being a mindless clicker.

The issue with mmorpgs today is that the developers want to force the stupid people ammong the smart people. Lets take WoW for example. In early days stiupid people were left to progress slowly and usually gave up around lvl 20 If they dint they leveled for 2 years and just ran around, ding quests very slowly using one atack because why would they experiment if they can just kill mobs one by one and eventually get there.

Meanwhice the clever people were max level in two months on average, went into harder content, defeated all the difficult challenges and were standing around orgrimmar in their epic armor, feeling happy about heir achievement.

The problem is that isnt as player retentive a situation where smoothbrains leave at lvl 20 or level forever and the clever buds reach end game and stop engaging with the product cause they have everything already done.

So the developers started to shorten leveling so the shortbrains can "get there" before their short attention spans end. This also pissed off the clever players because their achievement of leveling to the end was compromised with all those low standards being introduced. Suddenly having a high level no longer meant you are likely a good player. This meant morons started to be introduced with the clever population. Smart players dont like stupid players for weighing them down and stupid players dont like smart players for raising the expectations. The groups became mixed, People became more and more dissatisfied with all the dipshits and "elitists" they saw and you got a game where everyone hates everyone now but hey... atleast player retention rose for the stupid group cause they get carried and see shit they couldnt see before but on youtube...

And thats important for devs more than people being happy, because humans consits in heavy majority of stupid people and only a few smart ones. Its also easier to cut out content from the game and sell it at a premium to a moron, a clever guy would complain they are being swindled... a moron thinks hes better than others because he can buy the thing those pesky elitists complain about which makes him delude himself its about them being poor and him being rich... not him being loose with his money and them being reasonably upset with anticonsumer practices...

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