The Proteus Paradox Read Online Free PDF Page B

appealing these virtual environments can be. The average online gamer spends more than twenty hours a week playing online games. That’s the equivalent of half a workweek spent in a virtual world. In one study, 9 percent of online gamers reported that they averaged forty hours or more each week. And 60 percent of players in that same study had at least on one occasion spent ten hours continuously in an online game. These statistics are also not skewed by the playing patterns of younger players. In two large studies of online gamers, one found no correlation between age and hours played each week; the other found that it was actually older players who spent more time in these virtual worlds. In short, older players in online games—in their thirties or older—do not spend any less time in these games than younger players. Although these statistics often appear alarming to nongamers, it’s important to put them into perspective. According to a Nielsen report in 2012, the average American watches thirty-threehours of television each week. And most of us would probably admit that there was at least one time in our lives where we spent the entire day lounging in front of the TV. 7
    The rise of online games has accentuated the earlier stereotypes of antisocial deviance. After all, online games seem like the perfect escape; reclusive gamers can shut out the real world by logging into a digital fantasy world and cutting off all social connections. Again, studies of online gamers contradict these assumptions. One fourth of online gamers regularly play these games with a romantic partner or spouse; 19 percent of gamers do so with at least one family member (excluding spouses); and 70 percent of gamers do so with a friend they know in the physical world. Tallying across the categories, 80 percent of online gamers are regularly playing with someone they know outside the game. Instead of using virtual worlds to shut out the real world, gamers are using online games to socialize, keep in touch, and hang out with their friends and family. Here’s how two gamers characterize their gaming experience:
    I’ve been getting together in a MMORPG with a very close friend of mine who moved recently. It gives us an opportunity to still “see” each other and be able to do things together, unlike just chatting (either on the phone or online) where we can’t interact on the same level. Being able to “see” one another and then go hunting or hang around town feels much closer to getting together in real life than talking on the phone or e-mailing one another does. [
Realm Online,
male, 23]
    I regularly play online games with my husband. Knowing my husband’s play style and him knowing mine, makes all the difference in our game enjoyment. We know what to expect from each other and rely on those things. Being able to play together keeps our relationship strong and playful, both in game and in real life. We always have something to talk about . . . the day to day RL grind and that ugly monster we had to deal with in game. =D [
A Tale in the Desert,
female, 44]
    It is also worth noting that a family sitting together silently in front of the television is deemed socially acceptable, but if they chat and collaborate in a virtual world, this is stereotyped as being antisocial. 8
    In addition to their time investment, the emotional investment of players is important to consider. In one of the Daedalus Project surveys, 27 percent of online gamers indicated that the most rewarding or satisfying experience they had in the past week occurred in the game world. But there’s a love-hate relationship here. In that same study, 33 percent of online gamers indicated that the most annoying or infuriating experience they had in the past week occurred in the game world. We see another indicator of this emotional investment in the relationships that emerge from these online games. Forty-one percent of online gamers felt