I started leading relatively large guilds and alliances (1000-6000 people) in a few MMOs at age 15. The experience and wisdom I gained from those experiences helped me greatly in my adult life. The games I played were very cutthroat and modeled off real-world politics, diplomacy, espionage, and warfare (the games in question were inspired by EVE and UO; I've also played those two, but not with leadership positions).
I'm now 22 and I frequently see parallels in my working life. I can think of many times I've leveraged some of my past experiences to help make decisions, especially when it comes to big-picture strategic problems.
Yes, it is easy to become extremely addicted to these kinds of games and it's tempting to sacrifice aspects of your personal or working life, but they can also offer a ton of fun and a ton of great learning opportunities. People just need to practice impulse control, and they need to set boundaries ("I won't login until I finish my homework for tomorrow", etc.).
I think MMOs like EVE should receive more study and writing in the scientific community, because it's a perfect example of a microcosm of some of the more "base" nature of human psychology and behavior.
I started leading relatively large guilds and alliances (1000-6000 people) in a few MMOs at age 15. The experience and wisdom I gained from those experiences helped me greatly in my adult life. The games I played were very cutthroat and modeled off real-world politics, diplomacy, espionage, and warfare (the games in question were inspired by EVE and UO; I've also played those two, but not with leadership positions).
I'm now 22 and I frequently see parallels in my working life. I can think of many times I've leveraged some of my past experiences to help make decisions, especially when it comes to big-picture strategic problems.
Yes, it is easy to become extremely addicted to these kinds of games and it's tempting to sacrifice aspects of your personal or working life, but they can also offer a ton of fun and a ton of great learning opportunities. People just need to practice impulse control, and they need to set boundaries ("I won't login until I finish my homework for tomorrow", etc.).
I think MMOs like EVE should receive more study and writing in the scientific community, because it's a perfect example of a microcosm of some of the more "base" nature of human psychology and behavior.