Why is online game so addictive?

its not.. -_-

Because they were designed like Skinnerboxes.

Because People are weak and easy to manipulate.

You'd be surprized how people are still willing to pour more hours into game long after it stops becoming fun because they've become rather attached to their in game achievements. "That level 80 Mage took hundreds uppon thousands of hours to create, can't just give that up just because grinding isn't fun anymore"

so you dont like online games

It's usually because of the levelling up and unlocking new stuff.

This and playing games is like escaping to a new world where your actions rarely have lasting consequences other than respawning somewhere.

only weak minds get addicted to it

No game is addective.

But some weak minded people can think it is because they are well weak.

Maybe because people can have the chance to be competitive at something and prevail over others without any serious consequences of a failure as they are covered by a veil of anonymity. Their actual social status won't be stained.

I think it's fairly simple, really. First of all, most online games generally offer rewards. Humans love receiving incremental rewards. Whether it's a new character, new gun, new map, etc, online games give people incentives to keep playing, and the motivation to "unlock the next thing" is the main driving force.

However, I think there's another aspect to it, which is that people simply enjoy interacting with other humans, and singleplayer/local games offer very little ability to do that. With online games, you can build friendships and be part of a community, or you can simply go around slaughtering everyone in a PvP game and feel awesome for having just owned a bunch of other people. It's the whole "oohh yeah, I'm cooler than you" philosophy.

So really when it comes down to it, I think it's just the progressive rewards and bragging rights that people enjoy.

I never understand how people can spend several hundred hours on one game's online portion. Granted, I've spent about 200 hours each on a couple of past Cod titles, but I eventually got tired of spending large portions of time on online games. It becomes the same thing over and over. Doing the same thing on the same maps, unlocking crap, leveling up. It just gets dull, even though the leveling up and unlocking aspects drive people to continue playing. But even after reaching max level and unlocking everything, some will continue to sink hours into it. So yes, I think people tend to get attached to online games more so than single player, not that anyone is asking that.

^^

and also there are much better ways to make a game "addictive" new game plus is one of the best ways, i've always said this mode should be manditory! not some bonus feature or whatever, if you beat the game you should get a new game plus mode, no questions asked, and not just "one" playthrough either! as many goes as you want.. also just better game mechanics can make it addictive, people these days act like online multi is the only way to add replay value, that is hilarious! what did they think we did for replay value before it came around? lol

Majority of online gamers are kinda lack in thoughts u know if u ask'em to discuss a game they can say almost nothing ...No offense.

As mentioned above , it's addictive because there are addictive elements there like leveling up n stuff ...

This.

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@SoNin360 Yeah , i've spent like 100hours on BF3 and BFBC2 and i have to say i've got the same thoughts ...

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It's a great experience but u know u should not let it become you're priority resulting in having a big backlog of great games ....

I think it might stem from its proximity to realty whole still giving you a different identity in a different universe. For example, leveling up in MMO games are generally a lot harder than leveling up in single player RPGs, and currency in MMO games often have real life convertibility. All of this basically offers you a second chance at life in a different universe, which is the philosophy that Second Life embraces quite literally. The thought of starting over, born-again, clean-slate, is a very attractive prospect.

I've never played a game on my phone, but my phone does't actually play games. If I get one that does, I'd be likely to download FF4 for it though. (The DS version is on mobile platforms with better graphics, and that game is phenomenal)

The only online game I would say I ever got "addicted" to was the original Gears of War. I never got into multiplayer aside from that, but IDK, there was something about Gears that made it stand out to me. Maybe it's because it felt like it actually took skill to play it, unlike a lot of other multiplayer games, it wasn't a simple pick up and play title like the later installments, you had to learn the maps, what weapons spawned where, watching for covered enemies, and the fact that you wouldn't simply respawn when you died, added a surprising amount of tension to the game.

I think it was also helped by it's release time, Gears came out before Halo 3 and CoD4 brought every whiny 12 year old on the planet onto Xbox LIVE, and there was no party chat, meaning you could actually talk with the people you where playing with, and not only that but have interesting conversations, and make friends with the people you're playing with, instead of having kids swearing at you and talking about how they're going to kill your whole family just because you're better than them, or worse when they sing, oh god the singing.

Online gaming isn't addictive. To say its addictive is to say that every single person that plays an online game will form an addiction. The author of that article and the OP obviously have no idea what the word "addiction" really means though and just using it because it sounds good.

Ive played online games like world of warcraft and everquest for years on end, played battlefield 2 online for a year or so and I was never "addicted" because I could go weeks without it and when I got tired of the game I just quit playing. Only game I play online now is occasionally diablo 3 when I was some fast exp or just grind some loot.

Having an addiction isn't a weakness at all, only a weak minded person would think that.

An addiction is something a person subconsciously latches onto because it fulfills some psychological need buried deep within them and 99% of the time they do not even realize it. Just like most uhhhummm cynical assholes don't even realize they are one......till they are either more mature mentally or they get older and look back to see what a douche they were as a kid.

Do you know or have had a addiction because otherwise i cannot find a single reason for your flawed logic.

Because your post stinks of bias and having a personal connection, and that connection makes you blind to the obvious truth, that its only weak minded individuals who have an addiction. Its like with people and facebook or their smartphone, its a compulsive behaviour that sterns for not being strong willed.

Also your first statement is obvious the same flawed logic.