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Comment by jiggunjer | Hacker News Reader

I'm pretty confident gaming addiction is a thing, but not sure how strong (in terms of studies/evidence) the correlation is with these dark patterns. My hypothesis is that certain personality types are just more susceptible to gaming addiction, regardless of patterns.

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The first time I read "99 francs", I remember arriving on the double page that was nothing but a list of tag lines from tv ads. No context. No brands. Just 2 full pages of things that I've heard in between shows.

I could hear the jingle in my head. I knew each of the names of the brand after reading the tag lines.

For every. Single. One. Of. Them.

I always though I was not susceptible to this. Ads are only influencing others, but not me.

But no.

There are ways for people to burn themself through the screen into your brain. And video games mechanics is no exception.

How many of those brands have you purchased?

I'd say 5% more than once a year.

But my point is that there are ways to stick in people's mind through screens. You can't make 100% of the targets make 100% of the moves you want. But a few % here and there add up.

I’ve always wondered if I have a “gaming addiction”

I play league of legends at least 4 hours per day, sometimes 20+ hours. I am obsessed with learning all the intricacies and improving in the ELO-based ranking system.

I still maintain a full time job as an SWE, a romantic relationship, and personal hygiene/diet. Admittedly LoL comes first before work for me, and can cause tension in my relationship at times.

I know many men that have a very similar relationship with golf, but are they golf addicts?

You have a "gaming addiction" as much as some people have a "network television" addiction. Some people just like to experience a medium for several hours a day. Playing four hours of LoL is just as meaningless as watching four hours of TV. One is more stigmatized than the other (I'll give you a hint, the one where ads can be delivered on a regular schedule is the more acceptable one). And I'm willing to bet that if there's something you need to do that night, you could sacrifice one or two days to get things done and not feel any ill effects (and if I may rib on it a bit, probably feel much better having stepped away from LoL).

This. Being an addict to "x" often depends on what relationship the average citizen is expected to have with "x". In a deeply religious society, reading and analyzing religious texts for hours every day may be seen as an average activity, while in a non religious society you may be seen as a lunatic. In most if not all societies, people are expected to work full time, but workaholism treatment centers are not particularly popular.

> Playing four hours of LoL is just as meaningless as watching four hours of TV. One is more stigmatized than the other (I'll give you a hint, the one where ads can be delivered on a regular schedule is the more acceptable one).

Watching four hours of TV a day is stigmatized pretty heavily.

The addiction definition requires negative effect on you or closed ones. And inability to stop even when you rationally think you should stop. So, depending on how much tension and what kind of tension, it can be qualified as addiction or not.

> I know many men that have a very similar relationship with golf, but are they golf addicts?

Very time consuming hobbies do have higher rates of divorced participants. Regardless of whether they are popular enough for people to know about hobby related issues or not.

Divorced persons may have more time by themselves so maybe they also engage in more time consuming hobbys.

Yes, the relationship goes both ways. Divorced people have more time and are more likely to join. People are more likely to divorce if they have such hobbies too - the implications for partner are very very real.

I don't think very many men play golf at least 4 hours every day. That's a full round of 18, every single day? And some days 5 full rounds?

The exception would maybe be if they're working from the course (closing deals/making calls/etc.), but that's pretty different from your situation.

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