CC BY
13Технические науки
UDC004
ADDRESSING GAMING ADDICTION PROBLEM, USING SYSTEM DYNAMICS: CAUSAL-LOOP DIAGRAM
I.Yu. Melnikov1
Abstract
Today, gaming addiction has become a problem. It is not a rarity to see people spending a lot of time playing video games, neglecting their daily life responsibilities. This paper seeks to examine the process of gaming industry, by presenting a causal-loop diagram, using the System Dynamics approach. Based on this diagram, we are able to see how certain parts of the system interact with and can be influenced by other parts of the system. We will present several policy measures and regulations, which can potentially help society, address the looming gaming addiction problem and prevent from becoming even more dangerous.
Keywords: gaming addiction, System Dynamics, factors, connections, risks.
1.Introduction
Today, over a billion people play video games [1], and this has made the gaming industry a multi-billion dollar industry [2]. However, this opportunity allowed gaming industry to create more engaging video games, which encouraged some people to spend more time on playing a video games, is creating huge problems from the social, economic and other points of view. With increasing Internet availability and afforda-bility around the world [3], and faster penetration of inexpensive mobile devices [3], access to the video games is also increasing.
The gaming addiction problem has been analyzed and results have been presented by some researchers. But this problem has received significantly more attention from researchers in several countries such as South Korea and China, where the gaming addiction problem is now being recognized officially as a serious one [4].
It is important to explore the gaming industry further, and describe it in a more formal sense. In order to do that, the System Dynamics approach [5] can be very helpful, in that it enables us to build a system with carefully chosen parameters and analyze the problem from a number of different policy points of view. There are very few, instances of studies that have used this approach [4, 6].
2. Methods
The essence of a system in System Dynamics can be presented by using causal-loop diagram [5]. Loops (relationships) are the main part of causal-loop diagrams, which could be positive (reinforcing), or negative (balancing). Parameters are the elements of the loops.
Figure 1 presents the causal-loop diagram of gaming industry, which has these main loops:
R1 (reinforcing): Internet Users > Hardware Improvements > Hardware Availability > Internet Penetration (quality, cost) > Internet Users
R2 (reinforcing): Gaming Market > Game Developers > Games Developed > Online Game Stores > Gaming Market
R3 (reinforcing): Gaming Market > Quality of Game Services > Time Spent on Gaming > Population of Addicted Gamers > Money Spent on Gaming > Gaming Market
R4 (reinforcing): Total Population of Gamers > Social Exposure to Gaming > Total Population of Gamers
B1 (balancing): Total Population of Gamers > Perceived Risks from Playing Games > Attractiveness of Playing > Total Population of Gamers
1Мельников Игорь Юрьевич - магистрант, Казахстанско-Британский технический университет, Казахстан.
YneHbiH XXI BeKa • 2016 • № 4-1 (17)
B2 (balancing): Total Population of Gamers > Population of Addicted Gamers > Financial and Social Problems of Gaming > Perceived Risks from Playing Games > Attractiveness of Playing > Total Population of Gamers
Fig. 1. Causal-loop diagram of gaming industry
As we can see on Figure 1, R1 loop has effect on number of Internet users.
R2 shows funds of the gaming industry.
R3 shows when gaming market is increasing, therefore quality of game services are increasing, therefore players spent more time on playing games, and this increases the population of addicted players. Some of the players will not be able to control their playing time and will become addicted. For game addicts it usually 30-40 hours a week [7].
R4 shows how social exposure to gaming can increase total number of gamers, because of the peer influence, game advertisements, etc.
B1 presents a balancing (decreasing) loop. Total population of gamers is decreasing, because players or their parents (who then influence players) realize the risks that the gaming could do, for instance loss of productivity at school or at work [8], health problems [8], etc. Perceived risks decrease the attractiveness of playing, therefore total population of gamers decreasing.
B2 shows that population of game addicts is connected to total population of gamers, approximately 5-10% of game players are addicts [9]. If the number of addicts increases, therefore financial and social problems are also increasing, because addicts spent more and more money on playing (Figure 1, "Money Spent on Gaming"). Then perceived risks are also increasing, which decreases attractiveness of playing, and eventually the total population decreasing, which decreasing the number (percentage) of addicts.
Scenarios
Now we have a causal-loop diagram, we can analyze it, and suggest scenarios, that will weaken main loops, which increase population of addicted gamers.
On Figure 2, we introduce these scenarios:
S1: Gaming Market > Country Funds > Treatment Centers for Addicts > Population of Addicted Gamers
S2: Gaming Market > Anti-addiction System > Time Spent on Gaming > Population of Addicted Gamers
Fig. 2. Causal-loop diagram of gaming industry, with scenarios
51 presents a taxation policy, that a government will inforce on gaming industry. It will increase the funds of the country, these funds can be used to build more treatment centers for addicts.
52 scenario (Figure 2), gaming industry will create some kind of system, that will decrease (or even prevent new players of becoming addicted) the number of addicts. For instance, this system could force players to stop playing, if they exceed a daily (weekly) limit, by making a game less attractive to play.
Conclusion
This paper presents the causal-loop diagram, which shows the gaming industry and its internal parameters. These parameters will be used to create Stocks and Flows diagram, to analyze the gaming addiction deeper and make a prediction.
References:
1. Newzoo Top 100 Countries Represent 99.8% of $81.5Bn Global Games Market 2014 [Electronic Source] - URL: https: // newzoo.com/insights/articles/top-100-countries-represent-99-6-81-5bn-global-games-market/
2. Newzoo Top 100 Countries by Game Revenues 2016 [Electronic Source] - URL: https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/top-100-countries-by-game-revenues/
Ученый XXI века • 2016 • № 4-1 (17)
3. Newzoo The 2015 GMGC Global Mobile Games Industry Whitebook is Now Available 2015 [Electronic Source] - URL: https: // newzoo.com/insights/articles/the-2015-gmgc-global-mobile-games-industry-whitebook-is-now-available/
4. Bong-Won Park, Jae-Hyeon Ahn 2008 Imposing Tax and Rebate Policy for Addressing Game Addiction Problem Business School KAIST
5. John Sterman 2000 Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World Irwin McGraw-Hill Boston MA
6. Bong-Won Park Jae-Hyeon Ahn 2010 Policy analysis for online game addiction problems System Dynamics Review 26(2) 117-138
7. Mark N. O. Davies & Mark Griffiths 2006 EverQuest—It's Just a Computer Game Right? An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Online Gaming Addiction Int J Ment Health Addiction 4 205-216
8. Cheng Chen, Louis Leung Are you addicted to Candy Crush Saga? An exploratory study linking psychological factors to mobile social game addiction 2016 Telematics and Informatics
9. Zaheer Hussain, Mark D. Griffiths, Thom Baguley Online gaming addiction: Classification, prediction and associated risk factors 2012 Addiction Research and Theory 20(5) 359-371
© I.Yu. Melnikov, 2016
УДК 004
ВЫЯВЛЕНИЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ ЗАВИСИМОСТИ ОТ ВИДЕО ИГР, ИСПОЛЬЗУЯ SYSTEM DYNAMICS: ДИАГРАММА ПРИЧИННЫХ ЦИКЛОВ
И.Ю. Мельников
Аннотация. Сегодня, зависимость от видео игр стала проблемой. Это уже не редкость видеть людей, которые тратят много времени, играя в видео игры, и тем самым пренебрегают своими повседневными обязанностями. Эта статья рассматривает индустрию видео игр, предлагая рассмотреть диаграмму причинных циклов, используя System Dynamics. Основываясь на этой диаграмме, мы можем видеть, как определённые части системы взаимодействуют между собой. Мы предложим сценарии управления и регулирования, рассмотрим, как они смогут помочь обществу разобраться с проблемой зависимости от видео игр, и сделать так, чтобы эта проблема не стала ещё более опасной для общества.
Ключевые слова: зависимость от видео игр, System Dynamics, факторы, связи,
риски.
© И.Ю. Мельников, 2016
