Player vs. Player

 

Hi! My name is Love Bergström and I’m a 20-year-old guy who works as mentor and adviser with Game Over-Stockholm. As mentor I help kids who suffer from computer game addiction open their minds, change their diet and lead more active lives. I’ve been playing computer games since I was 9 years old. One of the first games I played was Warcraft 2. I enjoy playing and can play for hours just to reach that next level or feast my eyes on the graphics. But I always make sure there is plenty of room for other things in my life. I have finished high school, I work and work out, I have a girlfriend and I read books and paint in my spare time. And I can prepare a good meal while playing without feeling I lost valuable raiding or MF time. I don’t eat fast food.

 

These are the games I’ve been playing during my 11-year gamer career, a career that will probably last as long as I live.

 

Warcraft 2

Fallout 1 and 2 

Baldurs Gate 1 and 2

Icewinddale 1 and 2

Planescape: Torment

Diablo 1 and 2

Age of Empires 2

Warcraft 3, The Frozen Throne, Dota

Neverwinter Nights

World of Warcraft

Neverwinter Nights 2

Fallout 3

 

As you might notice, I prefer role-playing and strategic games, but all gamers are different. I use computer games as a way to relax, not as a way to challenge myself.

 

Gamers in the Red Zone often don’t take time to make their social and professional life work. They ignore friends, lack social skills, lead inactive lives and rarely prepare three meals a day. They have no time for hobbies. Reading a book or a newspaper or taking a walk is seen as a waste of time. They stop taking pleasure in life and retreat to the closed world where only games and gamers exist. Work or school interferes with playing and having a relationship seems pointless. There are also gamers who use computer games as a way to escape from the problems of everyday life.

There are gamers who use computer games as a hobby, but when the effects of playing are mostly negative it should seen as an addiction.