Games of Social Control. A Sociological Study of 'Addiction' to Massively Multi-Player Online Role-Playing Games

This research report presents a research project on games and social control. Deviating from psychological studies on alleged ‘addiction’ to MMORPGs, often concluding that low self-esteem and weak social relations explain compulsive playing, this project theorizes that game-related social networks and the social pressure these exert over individual players, accounts for much of the neglect of (non-gaming) friends, family, school and work.status: publishe