A few days ago I had a chance to get an advance screening of a new film documentary about MMORPG gamers called Second Skin.
When the film started I got a sense that it was going to be more about the business aspect of MMO games, how they’ve effected our lives and how they will change them in the future. However it quickly became a sort of MTV True Life episode where we just follow 3 different group of gamers through their lives.
The film covers a wide area of topics, but mainly concentrates on 3 groups of people. First we are introduced to a couple that met online in Everquest 2, start dating and eventually move in together. Then we have 4 friends that are ultra hardcore MMO gamers and we follow them as some have kids and get married. Then we have Dan, who is a World of Warcraft addict and Liz who is a counselor for gaming addicts.
As a gamer for nearly my whole life, I felt that the film shined a negative light on MMO gamers and gamers in general. It showed all the typical stereotypes that we’re used to seeing in the media. Socially akward people living in dirty cramp apartments, overweight with no regard for their health as long as they can squeeze in a extra 20 mins of gaming a night.
The filmed played out more like an anti-gaming campaign to show the dangers of what could happen if you let your kid play a MMORPG. That’s not what I was hoping to see when I started to watch this film. We constantly hear the negatives of gaming and I was hoping that this would show some positives of gaming and the posibilities of what MMO games could become. Unfortunetly no such luck.
Dan, the WoW addict, was by far the most disturbing person in the film. This is a guy that played 15+ hrs per day, lost his job, apartment, gained 60 lbs and was on the verge of suicide. This is not your typical MMO gamer. Nor are the 4 friends that had a 5 day marathon of WoW when The Burning Crusade expansion was released to see who would be the first to reach level 70. Obviously when making a film like this someone that plays 10 hrs a week and is well balanced does not make for an interesting story, but the film doesn’t even touch this.
Throughout the film we are given little stat breaks about MMO gamers such as “3 out of 4 gamers are in a guild”. The problem is that almost all the stats seem to show MMO gamers in a negative way. There is a 5 min part that shows people with disabilities and how MMO games have changed their life for the better, but it’s very brief and it goes right back into the negative aspect of MMO games.
While I did enjoy the film, I’m afraid that people that don’t play MMO games will get an extremely negative picture of MMO games and gamers. Why not create a positive film about MMO games instead of playing the same broken record over and over again.
You can view the film here. Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
I heard the same thing, about it being very negative and only focusing on some of the extremes, aka the outliers in mmo gaming.
Second Skin is also screening on the Big Screen in Select cities.
Los Angeles August 14th-20th The Downtown Independent
New York August 7th-9th The Tank Theater
Boston August 14th-20th The Somerville Theater
Austin August 16th-17th The Alamo Draft House *(If you fill it up they will extend the run through the week)
I am a former gamer, had to quit because it was effectively taking over my life. While not everyone suffers from a compulsion of this nature related to gaming, I think it would be false to assume I am on “the fringe” or a rarity. I knew too many people just like me.
I found far too many others who spent as much or more time playing than I did, and I knew many, many people who after each expansion played their hearts out in order to max level their character as quickly as possible. I was one of these. I also knew plenty of folks who played *more* than I did, who were in Top 100 guilds.
I think to assume that the type of gamers shown in the film are some sort of rarity is to be a little bit self-deluded. While things changed immensley with the introduction of WotLK and the surge of “casuals” in WoW specifically, if you haven’t noticed people willing to play 6+ hours a night multiple times a week I’m not sure you are looking hard enough.
What I do find completely fascinating as someone who has quit and is pursuing ongoing treatment for what I feel comfortable calling a gaming addiction, is that there quite a few folks in the gaming addiction recovery camp who felt the movie didn’t high light the dangers and addictive nature of MMOs more clearly!
So perhaps, if we have gamers and those in the camp of gaming addiction recovery both feeling the movie didn’t present a fair picture of things–is it possible the movie might actually be balanced?
I actually liked the film myself, although I found myself filled with questions. Perhaps most poignant of all was the commentary by those who were in wheel chairs, about how virtual worlds are a great freedom for them.
As a gaming addict who used to buy gold, I also found myself feeling very sad for the working conditions the gold farmers endure–and wondered if any of the gold farmers ever find themselves “addicted”?
My comments aren’t meant to suggest that everyone who plays an MMO will be addicted. I don’t believe that to be true. But I also know I am not alone. I also don’t believe games are bad or evil, or anything silly like that. I just know that I can’t play without losing control of my life, and I sincerely wish that no one else finds the same to be true about their game play.
Regardless of what dangers any type of game, and MMOs specifically, may bring, it’s up to the human BRAIN (yes, you have one of those), to realize when you’ve had about enough. Specifically, unless you’re a professional gamer who plays whatever game they are sponsored (=paid) to play, it’s up to those neurons of yours to know that while games are fun, they won’t feed you, house you or provide any sort of means of survival. Sure it’s fun to play as much as possible and sure some people have this compulsive need to keep playing ‘until they drop’, but regardless of what these may be advised to do or warned of, it is ultimately up to them to set the limits; the limits between playing a game (as in having fun with it) and being downright obsessed with it, skipping school/work for it and ultimately missing out on life for it.
Now to relate to the ‘movie’: the movie was obviously triggered by news shown on TV or published by the media, as will pretty much every movie related to the matter of gaming. Personally I wouldn’t blame the producer or the media, since it would be truly dull to come up with news about normal people who play for fun and games have very little or no negative impact on their lives. I mean seriously, how many times did you see a ‘happy’ story on the news lately (in general, not to mention about gamers)? How many positive news about gaming? The movie was most likely made on what I’d call poor research limited to certain areas. I guarantee that in certain areas of the world where people become aware of the necessities of life at an earlier age, compulsiveness to gaming is so low, you’d have to dig deep to find someone that just couldn’t stop playing.
Personally I’ve been gaming for well over 10 years now with various ups and downs in terms of daily playtime, having changed games, technologies, game genres and whatnot through the years. Sure at most times I’d rather not ‘waste’ my time working or doing other lucrative things that are ultimately my means of survival in favor of playing some MMO or whatever genre I’m in to at any given time, but that doesn’t mean I’d quit my job, neglect my health too much or quit out on any chance of FUN physical or social activity I may get. Some would argue and say that for certain people this decision may be impossible to take. No. It’s not. Just use your brain. Set some boundaries. Know better.
This movie sucked I wasted 1 1/2 hours on it.