Addiction to games

Part of the persuasion in games is getting the player to play them over any other game. So games need to have something about them that keeps you coming back for more. But when does this go from a player wanting to play a game and needing to play it.
Is it even possible for a game to be addictive? And is this a conscious inclusion when developing the game or is it down to the player.

I watched a BBC Panorama documentary which investigated addiction to games, in particular online games. It set out to discover if online games were addictive or whether certain people just have a disposition to become too invested in the game world.

The program interviewed several people who confessed to being "addicted" to games. One game in particular kept coming up, Blizzard's World of Warcraft, which in 2011 had approximately 10.2 million users. http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=647732
WoW is an online game in which players take on roles and play together to complete quests and level up their character. The game is very cleverly designed to make sure that players keep coming back to play and regularly investing time. This is because WoW is subscription based and therefore every month that players return to play the company get more income. There are many factors to the game which help to encourage players to return, the fact that you play cooperatively with other players online, the feeling of improvement and leveling up your character, the rewards that you are given during the game.

During the documentary they interviewed Adrian Hon (Chief director at SixToStart) who said that "I think many people don't necessarily understand how powerful some game mechanics can be", he went on to talk about psychological techniques that were being used when designing games. Such as variable rate of reinforcement. This was discovered when behavioral psychologists tested rats which learnt to feed themselves by pressing a lever. It was shown that when the food came out randomly the rats would just repeatedly press the lever. This has been shown to work in games too, by giving the player a random reward whilst playing, like experience points to level up or items to use in the game, the player gets stuck in a compulsive loop that keeps players wanting to play.

"It's simple but very effective and is thought to explain why some people get addicted to slot machines."

Are age ratings on games enough, should there be warnings about playing the game too much? I know that one online RPG I have played does display a warning before you play the game. Final Fantasy XI online displays a "reminder" every time the player logs in the following message is displayed:


"A Word to Our Players

Exploring Vana'diel is a thrilling experience.
During your time here, you will be able to talk, join,
and adventure with many other individuals in an experience
that is unique to online games.

That being said, we have no desire to see your real life
suffer as a consequence.
Don't forget your family, your friends, your school,
or your work."


I think this is definitely something which should be applied to all online games, similar to the health warnings you get when you start up offline games warning to take regular breaks. But is this enough? Is it simply an action taken by the development company to cover their backs in case people blame them for their games being addictive? Or is it a genuine step in the right direction?