At a round table discussion at the Game Developers Conference 2007 regarding the legitimacy of gaming addiction as a problem, researcher Neills Clark argued that being addicted/dependent on video games is slightly different from being addicted to other forms of entertainment. 

Games - MMOs to be particular - provide an alternate reality that can truly engulf a player. Moreover, MMOs, unlike other video games, are essentially indefinite.

Next Generation reports that in the same lecture, a Northumbria, UK senior lecturer named Dan Hodgson argued an alternative game design perspective. Just because a game is engulfing, indefinite, and engaging, doesn't mean that one has to play it for really long sessions.

He says that a game can be designed so that it can be played in shorter sessions. A behavioral expert adds the supporting opinion that making shorter quests in MMOs can help curb compulsion.

Moderator Dmitri Williams tried to level things out by asking this analogy in response: what difference would it make exactly if, say, an alcoholic drinks from smaller glasses - but more rounds of drink -  instead of one or two big mugs of beer daily?

The discussion eventually pointed towards the concern of whether or not developers should have some responsibility for the health of it's community. Does it mean that they should make a game less compelling, less involving, and less engaging, just so that a portion of their population doesn't become dependent on it? Should the fun of those who aren't addicted be curbed by those who feel the need to get attached to things?

Ultimately by the end of the discussion more questions and issues were brought up than solutions. At least now though, we know the things that folks have to tackle and work on.

We're all too familiar with opinions on gaming that tend to swing toward the negative side; and although we can't say that those are entirely true, well, they're not entirely false either. However, there are also people who look at the positive side of gaming, that eventually led to research findings which showed that "games can help improve hand-eye coordination, and 'exertainment' can aid overweight individuals in shedding pounds."

Now, another research conducted by Constance Steinkuehler, a professor of education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Dmitri Williams, a professor of speech communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, showed that MMOs can "promote sociability and new worldviews."

People who play MMOs get to meet a lot of people from various cultures, pretty much like how pubs functioned before. "By providing places for social interaction and relationships beyond the workplace and home, MMOs have the capacity to function much like the hangouts of old," said Steinkuehler and Williams.

Moreover, not only do players get to meet various people, they also get to team up with them, thus enhancing cooperation within groups, even if you've just met each other. And I guess that's true. I remember instances when I'd team up with people not necessarily from my guild to do quests and missions. I've never met them in real life, nor have I met them prior to the mission we undertook, but I do remember having lots of fun. We'd kid around and stuff, and still get the mission done which is just awesome.

The duo studied Asheron's Call I and II and Lineage I and II, and showed that MMOs can also expose gamers to ideas, world views and cultures they might not otherwise get a chance to experience. "Spending time in these social games helps people meet others not like them, even if it doesn't always lead to strong friendships. That kind of social horizon-broadening has been sorely lacking in American society for decades," explained Steinkuehler and Williams.

HOWEVER, both researchers admit that games can be unhealthy if done excessively. "It's really a question of what kind of balance the person has in their life," Williams said. "For that reason, online spaces are not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon that can simply be labeled 'good' or 'bad.' "