When I first started this degree, I was all “yay games, games are fun”, and would still indulge games in hours of play, forgetting work entirely. In the second year, after making and theorising and reading on games construction for so long, they’ve devolved into nothing but sets of rules, clear parameters and little simplistic, goading rewards. I just can’t play games for any length of time because they no longer draw me in, because some in particular just look like nothing but pointless and bizarre rules and rewards slapped into a graphical engine.

WoW, in this case, is the perfect example of a Skinner Box, only with humans. The ‘game’ in my eyes has been stripped of any kind of play, and is just a series of keypresses for instantaneous reward. It’s more addictive than drugs because you are always improving, and always being rewarded for a menial non-task. It exploits the desire to achieve and do things, while giving nothing in return but a little graphic. It also fails to challenge you, and you’re constantly doing things you can already do, with greater reward each time.

And the sad thing is, this is all I see when I play just about any game, particularly on my own. And I sit, and I play, and I pull triggers and push buttons and all the while, I know I could be doing so many better things, so many more enjoyable things, and so many more actually tangibly rewarding things with my life. I see rules, rewards, and every time I get a little pat on the head, I flinch.

Because at the end of it, I don’t want to be an animal in a cage who gets fish bits and a ruffle for slapping a few buttons, a fact I’m aware of each time I play games, WoW in particular. No risks, all rewards.

And that’s why I can barely play games, and have no ability to get addicted any longer.