Do you have friends who stay at home and play online games rather than come out for a game of bowling? Does your room mate not mind missing his office meeting but can never skip his team meet for his favourite online game? Or do you know someone who spends all his/her time online but never reads the news? Well, whether the game is Call of Duty, Clash of Clans or Netbet Online Casino, the truth is each game is extremely engaging and unless you play these games for yourself you will never know what your friend is going through. So, let us look into why these games are so addictive.
The primary reasons why people like to play online games are because they are designed with a very good built in reward system. If you have played a game recently, have you noticed how quickly you reach Levels 2, 3 and 4 of the game? Also, with each Level you reach, you get a bunch of gifts from the game, which not only adds to your happiness quotient but also eggs you on to get to the next level. So, when you start playing a new game, the game designers not only ensure that you progress swiftly but also shower you with extra gifts (sometimes even special in-game currency of coins, gems etc) to keep you involved and motivated. Later, even as the going gets slow, you are keen to continue playing because you know that the moment you clear the Level, you will get a bounty of gifts, game cash etc.
The in-game currency we just spoke about is one way you can progress in the game and also earn respect among your peers. Usually, this currency can be earned by dedicating more play time to the game or completing special missions that others might not undertake. Either ways, your accomplishments help increase the esteem of your character in the game, something that we yearn for even in our real lives. Online gaming is a quicker way of earning peer respect so people don’t really mind taking this way out.
A recent trend of online gaming which is really popular is MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). This kind of game play might appear painfully slow but ends up achieving two main goals for the game designers. One being that in the spare time, gamers often tends to chit chat with their team mates, which increases social interaction within your alliances, keeping you hooked to the community. With players staying in different time zones, attacks can happen any moment and therefore, players need to keep coming back to the game every now and then to ensure that all is well with their villages or territories. Both these scenarios, promote addiction to the game, where the gamer for one reason or another, wants to log in to the game time and again.
Another important reason for popularity of online games is that they are never ending. Unlike Contra or Mario Bros that had limited levels, modern online games have no ends. Instead game developers keep adding new levels or expansion packs that never really bring the game to an end. So, you sign up, there is never really a point where you quit. Similarly, even for casino games, there is no end point and the player can continue playing and earning rewards from time to time.
Another reason for online games being popular is the ‘freemium model’ that their distributors have adopted. Under this model, games are free to download and play whereas upgrades are paid. Since the online gamer does not spend to try out the game, there are many who sign up and continue playing till an upgrade is really needed.
