Caught in the web

Joystick in hand, they slay monsters and win wars. In the world outside, friends dwindle and careers stumble. Step into the weird, wired life of the gaming addict

Here is a confession at the very outset: I am a convalescing gaming addict. I8217;ve been on the mend since last week. The conversion from 8220;novice8221; to 8220;addict8221; had taken no time at all. I was working on a story on gaming addiction. The gamers asserted that there would be no better way to understand their plight than to live it. So, armed with a joystick which quickly turned out to be more stick than joy, I took to PS3 PlayStation 3 for the uninitiated with a vengeance. Many hours and two sore thumbs later, I decided I wasn8217;t game for more. I logged out before the addiction could assume unmanageable proportions.

The pleasure of gaming can be described by the song, You are my favourite waste of time. It8217;s a number that Deepank Singh, aka Sniper, loves to croon. A software professional from Pune, 22-year-old Deepank took to gaming in school. He is now hooked to Ragnorak, a MMORPG Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. It enables Deepank to enter the virtual world of knights, wizards, alchemists and monsters. He has taken two years to develop his character, Sniper, who specialises in long-range attacks. In fact, so famous is Sniper now that other gamers have approached Deepank with offers to buy the character. 8220;I have put so much of myself into him that I would never sell him. He is a part of me,8221; he says.

The most addictive part of the game for him is the 8220;guild system8221;. Deepank and his online gamer friends are a part of one guild and it is their job to protect the guild from enemy forces. 8220;It8217;s a lot of teamwork. One could be playing with people sitting in Vancouver and be great friends with them even though you8217;ve never met them.8221; In his college days, there were times when he8217;d play for more than 16 hours a day. Now, with work, he can only squeeze in 2-3 hours for Ragnorak. But on weekends he puts in 6-8 hours religiously. 8220;I8217;m well aware that it kills my social life, yet I can8217;t leave it,8221; he says.

A recent report on gaming shows that telltale signs like people holing up in their room while ignoring family, friends and even food, or neglecting their studies or work have to be classified as a serious addiction. It adds that online gaming becomes even more addictive in multiplayer role-playing games like Ragnorak.

Gaming addicts lose the power of choice. They are driven by an uncontrollable urge to play. They might be aware of the harmful effects of their addiction, but they just can8217;t give up. Says Mumbaikar Piyush Gandhi, 23, 8220;I messed up my final year of engineering because of gaming. My family made me give up and confiscated my computer, but I went to the Internet cafeacute; to play. Once you8217;re into it, drawing a line is very hard.8221;

Piyush is a classic case of what Dr Samir Parikh, psychiatrist, Max Healthcare, calls, 8220;impulse control disorder8221;. Says the doctor, 8220;I have several cases of teenagers and adults who come to me with the problem of gaming addiction.8221;

For Piyush the hook comes from the fact that, 8220;not everyone can be famous in real life, but in the virtual world, you can work on your character and be a hero,8221; he says. This is the biggest draw of multiplayer role-playing games, making one8217;s character more powerful and that8217;s what makes people come back for more. For some, however, gaming isn8217;t necessarily the end of one8217;s social life. Abhinav Punshi, who works for a sports channel, is a self-proclaimed gaming addict. The 25-year-old man8217;s motto seems to be, if you can8217;t beat them, convert them. So, he regularly hosts gaming parties for his friends and even family, where they have all night gaming marathons.

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He is now saving up for a PS3. He says, 8220;It8217;s the best stress-buster and extremely competitive. One can also learn new skills and abilities from it. Like in the strategy games, one learns several things that can be applied in real life as well.8221; He puts in 5-6 hours a day on gaming at home and in office.

8220;I never feel like I8217;ve played enough for one can never tire of it.8221; On Orkut, there are several communities dedicated to gaming junkies. Abhijit Kunder, 28, vice-president of a mobile services company in Mumbai, is an avid gamer. He moderates the Indian Gaming Community on Orkut, with 1,759 members in it. He says gaming has taken off big time in India.

8220;Not just young adults, but also serious professionals and older people are hooked to it. Things have changed completely from the time I started the community two years back.8221; He envisages a time when online gaming will be a spectator sport and gamers will turn into professional 8220;athletes8221;. Meanwhile, he8217;s honing his skills for it.