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Role Playing (Games) Entertainment Games

MMOGs in South Korea And The Future For Us? 27

Posted by simoniker from the war-pestilence-famine-fragging dept.
Opusthepenguin writes "There's an interesting article from the AP via Excite about the popularity of massively multiplayer games in Korea. There are 2.2 million people in S. Korea playing MMOGs in a country of 48 million, versus 700,000 in a country of 300 million for the US. Are the social ills discussed in the piece specific to Korea, or is this something other regions of the world should be concerned about as MMOGs grow in popularity?" We also recently ran a story on how far ahead Korea is in terms of broadband infrastructure compared to the US.
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MMOGs in South Korea And The Future For Us? More

MMOGs in South Korea And The Future For Us?

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  • I lost three years of my life to MUDding, and two more to post-addiction depression. MMORPGs seem to be the same thing but far worse. Yes, they will be a HUGE problem, there's nothing special about South Koreans that makes them susceptible (I'm Dutch).

    • Re:Like MUD (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Neck_of_the_Woods ( 305788 ) * on Monday May 12, 2003 @03:41PM (#5938622) Journal

      Well now, I would have to say that this has to do with having an addictive personality.

      I played MUD all though college, but was able to drop it at will. I played 2 years worth of UO, and just upped and stoped playing. As I get older it takes more and more to keep me interested in a game...and that damn wakeboard boat just keeps calling my name......

      I know first hand how much fun they are and if you get in with the right group it can take on a life of it's own. It is all about finding something and being good at it. I have seen people get addicted to almost anything they are good at. Golf, tennis, wakeboard, surfing, computer games, hell even learning. It is all about rewards and these games are built around levels and rewards. The only time that these games ever had a real hold on me was when there was nothing better for me to do. Once there is something you would rather do other than the game it becomes very easy to just drop them.

      That is the key I think. Rewards system, level building, and nothing better to do. Something with that wide a swath of people can do together, do well and have fun. Fun, socialization, and a crack like rewards system. It is the same with anything else. All sports are based on rewards systems, they are just harder in many ways and less rewarding in the now.

      Human nature is to continue doing something that is fun, or stimulating. They are prefecting the art of addiction...is this really bad or just anouther form of entertainment that needs to be taken in moderation?

      Hard call.

      • I concur (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Zeriel ( 670422 )
        Just based on my own experiences, I would have to agree that there's nothing inherently wrong with MMORPGs aside from being yet another thing for addictive personalities to latch on to.

        Case in point--my college roommate and I both played the same MUD for three years. We leveled together, formed clans together, all that stuff. Last year, when I graduated and had money to do other things, I stopped. He, OTOH, can't even seem to hold down a job--his most successful job to date was working nights at the mai
        • I still mud, I might have lost some time at school doing it, but I am still ok with it (I think). For me it's the ability to play AD&D without having to travel.

          The mmog's/mmorpg's seem to be on the rise, and get way more attention the MUDs got when they were at prime (I guess at '92-'94) since they are way more popular. Again, graphics are the key to success (like with the internet).

          Personally I don't see what's with the fuss about these games or games in general. Like a recently slashdot article

      • Re:Like MUD (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Scarblac ( 122480 )

        Well now, I would have to say that this has to do with having an addictive personality.

        Obviously. However, I think there are a lot of people who have that sort of personality, or perhaps a weaker form, who haven't met anything yet that can be a time sink as bad as these games. MUDs weren't exactly mainstream. They also have some features that make them more addictive than other things, and MMORPGs are exactly the same.

        Currently someone may be a TV addict and not have many problems keeping a real life

    • I agree with you, and not the other posters who tout about how they are immune to addictions. I played mud for maybe two years also. It consumed a lot of my time. But when I stopped I had no problems - no addictions seeking me to return. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a problem.

      MMORPG's scare me. I can see very easily how I would get into them as I did with MUD's, and I have other things I want to do - programming, learning languages, spending time with people, kung fu, etc. MMORPG's I think are a d
      • I can't imagine what harm it's done for the SK economy

        As much harm as being done anywhere else with mail and surfing the net(like I am now) and as much as a police officer gambling somewhere on duty. My point being, it won't be any worse then other addictions.
        People will get fired if they play too much, or if they drink alcohol all day on their work. It's a matter of time. However as we grow older, the importance to earn a living becomes stronger in ourselves and will overcome addictions like playing ga
  • I'm all for games when it comes to entertainment and having a good time when there's nothigng else to do, but when the Matrix/MMOGs becomes more important than the people in your real life,(including yourself) it will likely lead to depression and isolation.

  • Cross-Pollination (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Angry Monkey ( 306817 ) on Monday May 12, 2003 @03:55PM (#5938793)
    Kind of interesting in terms of cross-cultural cross-pollination, too. The fantasy world so gripping the Koreans in the article rests upon a fantastic European feudal mythology -- not something more "homegrown."
  • As geeky as it sounds, this touches upon the idea that was featured in a Star Trek (TNG?) episode awhile ago. In it, some guy was addicted to the holo-deck. Being able to be in a fantasy world seemed more appealing to him than being in the real world. Personally, I've always thought they didn't explain well enough how people resisted the holo-deck appeal.

    I think a lot of the attraction of these types of games comes from how close they mimic real life. If you can be a smith and sit in a shop, it's more
    • I think this is a good point. Text based MUDs were one thing, they at least required imagination. Now though we are talking about playing a game in a 3d world, where even the characters are becoming more lifelike every weak. Human interface devices such as VR goggles and gloves for user input are making the digital transformation all the greater.
      • I think this is a good point. Text based MUDs were one thing, they at least required imagination. Now though we are talking about playing a game in a 3d world, where even the characters are becoming more lifelike every weak. Human interface devices such as VR goggles and gloves for user input are making the digital transformation all the greater.

        I think the only difference between the addictiveness of text based MUDs compared to 3d MMORPGs are the scope of who uses it. Back when MUDs were around, you ha
    • It was Lt. Barclay you fewl!
    • That is one of the few episodes I saw.. and I can really relate. It is a pretty big problem although when youre playing you dont realize it. In 14 months I spent 120 days (ex: play for 24 hours over the course of a week and thats one day played) playing 1 character on EverQuest. It was pretty easy to just say Im done and stop but it's still affecting me. Anyone have a link to any good quanatative studies on long-term sleep debt? Im afraid I'm still working mine off.
  • "The gamer is turned into a slave of violence, murder and money,"

    Kinky.

  • There was a story on slashdot here [slashdot.org] about the decay of Saturday morning cartoon viewership. I do not know about the current generation of gamers, but hopefully he next will not be a olave to such things due to this trend. There are so many other things to do with a sunny afternoon. Now, at 1:00 AM, Star Wars Galaxies sounds perfect.
  • ...when people starting dying on the can after marathon gaming sessions. Then we know that the 'social ills' of MMOGS have gone too far in north america.
  • Everything that exists in this world has an addiction potential, and videogames are no different. I think escapism such as the cases mentioned in the article may not indicate a fundamental problem with games themselves, but instead a dissatisfaction with quality of life that is creating the NEED to escape. Regardless of other psychological causes, you will find people that take ANY activity to the extreme; this does not mean that the activity in-and-of-itself is harmful or dangerous. The media, and possibly
  • I've lived in South Korea for more than three years. My wife is a Korean. Let me explain why these MMORPGs are so popular.

    When a kid comes home from school, he doesn't go straight home. He has to go to after school classes. Sometimes, he has some spare time, and he spends these few hours in the game rooms. Today, that means he is spending his time in a "PC Bang" which literally means a "PC Room". A decade ago it was a video game room.

    What are these places? They are a small part in a building with anywhere from 10 to 50 complete PC systems. It costs about a buck an hour, depending on the quality of the system, and the cost of living of the neighborhood, so it is pretty cheap.

    The games that are available are pretty much what's available here, with quite a few home-brew one. Starcraft and Diablo are pretty popular. However, the most popular games are the ones where you interact with other people online. Since these rooms have excellent internet connections, these games run flawlessly, compared to your average AOL user.

    The most popular game for a long time was a Korean-made one that was pretty much like Ultima Online, but far more cheesier. It was something like "Land of the Wind" -- in Korean, "Param ae Nara" -- or something like that.

    Why do these games get so popular? Because the kids have nothing better to do, and they certainly don't want to spend the time doing homework. You got to admit, if you had a couple hours every day you had to kill, and you had limited options and a couple of bucks, you would waste it on something like Everquest or Ultima Online if it were available. That's what I did when I was waiting for a train or an airplane when I was there.
  • I was a rabid MUD/MMORPG player from '92 to '97. I never got so bad as to blow off classes/appointments to play, but damn near every minute I spent at home was spent in front of an online RPG.

    Then I took a look at myself and figured out how much of a loser I was. Toward the end I spent much of my online time pissed off. Games were buggy, the dev team kept changing the rules, griefers were everywhere, everybody was powergaming and not role-playing. I just kept thinking "the next new game won't have these pr
  • These games are popular in Thailand as well, and are blamed for the same kind of problems. Here's a good article on one of the most popular, Ragnarok:

    RAGNAROK: FRIEND OR FOE? [nationmultimedia.com]

    The game is re-invigorating the Net Cafe sector, increasing computer literacy, and scaring adults who are on the other side of the generation gap. Oh, and some irresposible kinds are playing the game instead of concentrating on their studies.

  • So it's not all games now, it's just MMOGs? ok sure... does anybody else feel like it's just some more panic inspiring journalism? here's an example:

    "The Korea Game Promotion and Development Institute said about 10 percent of teenagers who play online games show signs of addiction, including a tendency to shun contact with families and friends, become easily frustrated and, in extreme cases, confuse reality with their gaming experiences."

    Don't 95% of teenagers act this way anyhow? From what I remember,
    • I agree in part. The media always make it seem worse than it really is. Their statistics are usally bogus, or at the very least taken out of context. The problem is not most online gamers, it is the few who can't handle addictive games. As a gernal rule of thumb in psychology: It is not a problem until it adversly effects either you or the people around you. Of course this statement is far too open to interpretation, but you get the idea. Some of the addiction signs are pretty mild. (e.g. staying up late

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