Letter to Kurt and Olivia Bruner

June 13, 2006

Dear Kurt and Olivia,

Well, I’ve read the first 3 chapters of the book Playstation Nation, and I must say that it is an enjoyable read. I think that you’ve captured the concern of parents that have children gaming on a regularized basis, but you’ve also given both the parents and gamers something to think about with all the professional references and medical studies. This validates your main points and lends a great deal of credibility to your overarching theme. Since I’ve been thinking about beginning something of a book (as soon as Kurt and I can sort of hash that out), I think that the hardest mental obstacle for me will be attempting not to really anger the gaming community, and I think that it’s all how you present the information. You’ve done a fine job of not demonizing gaming or the gamers themselves, but instead used an awareness campaign and personal testimonies to illustrate that a very real threat does exist.

While reading Chapter 2 I found a number of things that I would like to expound upon, because so much of what you said is true and really hit home for me. Who knows, I might even have some insight or add depth to some of what you said. I distinctly remember the portion of this chapter where you mention some warning signals or red flags that could be signs of gaming addiction. Kim McDaniel was cited as saying that two important signs to monitor are withdrawal and isolation. I think that I can speak to this with utmost certainty, because I spent a good deal of time isolating myself so that I could have time for games, and while I’ve never rationalized this as antisocial, I do know that I’ve shut bedroom, fraternity and dorm room doors a number of times so that I could concentrate on my game, not get distracted by friends and subsequently die during a critical battle. I’ve even unplugged the phone on a number of occasions so that I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone or be interrupted by the phone ringing. The worst thing that can happen when you’re playing is to have someone try and talk to you, and then have to purposely tune them out so you can concentrate on your game, and I know that I’ve done this hundreds of times with family and friends. RPG’s just don’t allow for idle chatter and discussion when so much of your attention has to be focused upon that crucial moment of victory or defeat, and anyone who’s spent an hour retracing their steps or fighting that 25-30 minute boss battle over again knows exactly what I mean. If you wanted too see me get frustrated real quick, just come and ask me a question or make a request while I was gaming: not a good idea.

This then ties directly into the point made about withdrawal and turning people down on their invitations to do something. Due to the fact that RPG’s take such a great deal of time (60-100 hours for consoles; 1000 or more hours for MMORPG’s), energy, planning and concentration, telling people that I couldn’t come with them to do something seemed perfectly understandable. Don’t get my wrong; I spent tons of time with friends bar hopping, going to parties, working out at the gym and other things, but my game time had precedence when the system was up and running. While there are some people that basically have no social lives at all, or would take part-time jobs to allow for more gaming time, I still had an active social life and enjoyed my friends, but that also meant that I would end up filling my personal time with gaming. It was of course easier for me to play with friends and game when the people I hung out with loved gaming as well, and I can recall situations where a friend and I would spend an entire weekend both playing games together. For example, my friend Josh and I both started Destiny of an Emperor for NES at the same time. What we did was get together on Friday afternoon at his house, hook up our NES and then both play on different televisions in different parts of the house. Then we would call one another and make suggestions, strategize and provide hints to the other so that we could both keep at about the same point in the game, and this was totally normal for us. Now, sometimes he would be on the PC and me on the NES or SNES, and we could then be in the same room and still talk, but this is something that the both of us enjoyed. However, this sort of interaction didn’t really lend itself to developing our relationship as friends, but did lead to a good deal of virtual character development.

You also mentioned the fact that people can still play a game whether or not they’re physically sitting in front of the monitor or television, and this is quite correct. One of our (Josh and I) favorite pastimes was discussing our games over the phone, after school, at baseball practice, in the car or while doing something else. When you aren’t gaming you are still thinking about it, and that is again verifiable of RPG’s. Josh and I would always plan and strategize our next gaming session, or discuss our leveling plan for a character with one another, because it was a way to validate our line of thought with one another. We were quite analytical, detailed and meticulous with how we allowed our characters to develop in order to maximize their potential within the limited leveling ceilings (most game character levels typically cap at 99), and there were numerous occasions where one or both of us would get 30 hours into a game, find out that we could have done something different and then start over from scratch. The idea that if you are going to do something right, do it the first time was like scripture with gaming, because we didn’t want to play the same game over and over, but move onto the next one. Over time however, I think that I might have surpassed Josh in my dedication and planning phase of gaming, because I started creating spreadsheets for character development plans, making my own maps, printing out numerous strategy guides from the internet, and then spent hours pouring over literally hundreds of pages of information in my off-time to ensure that I was the strongest that I could be by endgame.

Now, the restlessness and irritability were also a component, but that just came with the territory. While planning and strategizing I was always nervous, restless and a little irritable, because I always wanted to go back and put those ideas to work within my game, and when it worked I felt great. When things went awry though, look out, people! I used to get so upset that I would curse, throw my controller (I went through about 4 PS/PS2 controllers after they were subsequently broken from my throwing them against the wall or floor), and then take it out on anyone that bothered me. I would usually find one or both of my parents at the door to my room attempting to assuage my anger by stating that it was just a game. My response was, “You don’t even know what you are talking about, so why would I listen to you? It’s not just a game to me, but I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand!” Of course the worst thing I remember encountering was a parent telling me that I couldn’t play, and that commonly led to open war with them, because I wasn’t ever the type of child to just say, “Okay, mom, I can play later.” Gaming definitely got to a point (quite early, in fact) where I took it very seriously, and I didn’t like anyone interfering with my hobby in any regard. This was also evident most recently with what Julie and I experienced, but that was all detailed in my first month of journalizing, so I need not repeat that here. Our experience together was more like the icing on the cake!

My favorite quote, which basically summarized the gaming experience, was this: “…the easiest way to spike someone’s adrenaline is to make him think that he is going to die.” It just doesn’t get any truer than that! Like I mentioned in the first month’s journal, there are a number of physical symptoms that I would experience while gaming, and I think that the adrenaline does start to pump when you know that you are going to vanquish your foe, or when you realize he/she has the upper-hand on you. A good deal of RPG’s is simply getting to that next boss, and it’s probably my favorite part of RPG’s, because it’s like taking exams in school. All the game bosses along the way are like your mid-terms or quizzes, while the final boss or bosses are your final exam, and let’s face it, fighting a boss is a “zero sum game:” someone wins and someone loses. That fear of virtual defeat is what keeps you sharp, and it’s also a source of some stress and anxiety as well (at least it was for me). No one wants to say that they got annihilated by some boss, and its bragging rights in the community to say that you defeated some extremely hard or nearly impossible creature on the first run. Such heroics are status, a source of pride and makes others want to know, “How did you do it?” This is of course more prevalent within the MMORPG gaming arena, since you can just click on someone and talk with them in instant messages. Anyway, you get the point…

You also mentioned that a continued and increasing interest in gaming is correlated to the technological advancements that we see regularly. Gaming tends to be at the cutting edge of graphics, sound and interactive on-line or console technologies, and that’s because they employ some of the most talented software developers, programmers, concept artists, storyboard developers and designers. For example, Blizzard (the developers of the internationally renowned World of Warcraft universe) asks that their employees have an intimate knowledge and interest in their products, and I would venture to say that a good deal of their staff is quite familiar with WOW. I mean, if I was going to work for a game developer I would more than likely be a diehard fan of their games, which would make me want to give everything at work to create the best possible product. Why? Obviously because I would more than likely be playing it on my off-time!!

As the graphics have continued to improve (I’m focusing upon RPG’s here), so to has the want of more. Games with state-of-the-art graphic do well, because people want to experience those new graphical advancements, especially since some RPG’s aren’t known for having the best graphics. Heck, I loved those games where you had a good number of full motion videos (FMV’s), because it was literally like watching a movie, and I would play hours on end just to reach the next sequence (take the Final Fantasy series for example). The gaming industry is also quite aggressive and inventive in how they market these products as well. While games used to be tailored towards children, now you see more and more grown men and women playing, because the games appeal to a more mature audience. Many RPG’s include sexual references and innuendo, socially relevant topics like free will, environmental issues, biogenetics, and other moral/social/political storylines that allow for a more in-depth and engaging storyline. More and more, gaming has become a subculture appealing to the intellectually-minded and more computer literate individual, and millions of children and adults internationally are quickly joining this movement. Games aren’t just about killing monsters, exploring caverns, battling your way to your nemesis and saving the world anymore, but have become increasingly more complex, diversified, and appeal to a greater base of personalities.

Making a few quick comments in regards to Chapter 3, I would totally agree with you both that the MMORPG’s are the most engaging, and are quickly becoming the future of gaming. WOW currently boasts more than 5 million active gamers worldwide, and this figure will only continue to increase over the next year, especially since the WOW Expansion Pack release is just around the corner. While consoles will of course retain their status, MMORPG’s do have a number of advantages that some consoles don’t offer, which is the ability to play with 100,000 or more other people at the same time, chat with instant messaging, fight epic 10-40 person battles that can last up to an average 40 hour workweek, literally thousands of quests, and years to months worth of exploration (depending upon how much you play). Good MMORPG’s also host numerous websites for game support, hints, guides, and walkthroughs, and provide discussion forums or blogs where players can discuss their virtual lives outside the game.

As the interviewed Pepperdine student (by the way, Julie knows him) exemplifies, you can be very successful, smart, and social while still gaming, and you guys were never saying that one can’t. Without being arrogant or boastful, I think that I would also fit the bill of someone that had a fairly good balance in life while actively gaming, but that’s not the point that you were trying to convey, was it? The purpose of this chapter was to relate that gaming takes a great deal of time that could otherwise be used for personal and professional development, realizing ones potential, building strong social networks and spending time with family. While gaming is slowly becoming a more communal activity, for the most part that social interaction requires one to do so through a virtual interface medium, so the quality and degree of relationships can only go so far.

Well, these are my thoughts on the first few chapters, and hopefully this adds something for you: I know that it did for me. I look forward to reading the rest of your book, and really hope that we can get together with you soon to just have some fun and get to know one another better. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

The Harbinger