Many people wonder if it is possible to draw a parallel between gambling and video games, and also say that they can be equated to each other according to the principle of conducting. The answer to this question, as well as information about the distinctive features of these areas is given below.
Gambling Can Cause Addiction
This disappointing diagnosis is practically given by doctors to people who have an overt addiction within gambling-type games and cannot stop in time, leading their morale and financial situation to unfortunate consequences.
As stated by Psychology Today, many users attribute a similar type of addiction to video games and also claim that there is absolutely no difference between these categories of games. But this is not entirely true, and equating these games to each other is not very appropriate, as they are different.
For example, there is a GamStop self-exclusion scheme in Great Britain, but often people without addiction voluntarily self-exclude from gambling in a burst of emotion. That’s why so many casinos not on GamStop listed here – https://casino-wise.com/casinos-not-on-gamstop/ and other non GamStop portals like NonGamStopWager.com.
Distinguishing Features
Gambling games and video games are not similar to each other, they cannot be placed in the same row, and there are several reasons for this. The most important of these are described below.
- The difference in the probability of winning
In gambling, it is possible for winners to come out of games that are not too long in time. If you have to play for a long time, then numerous defeats are guaranteed. And this is due to pure luck. Due to the nature of the casino, defeat is often all that awaits players in the long run if they are unable to stop in time after the first three consecutive losses.
In video games, there is a different principle: victory or defeat does not depend on how long it will take to play, and is determined not by random probability, but by the player’s skill, the strategy he has chosen. If they were thoughtful enough, then the player has every chance of winning at any stage of the game.
- The randomness of the reward
Gambling addiction is largely due to the randomness of the reward. Since any gambling is 80% dependent on the pure luck of a person, he is often haunted by thoughts like: if I try again, I’ll be lucky! But with each new time, it is not possible to win, but the person continues, since this is a psychological aspect, which causes addiction in the future. In addition, with each new time a person is ready to bet the last money, if only he has a new attempt to play.
There is no such thing in video games. Any game of this type takes place according to a certain scenario and rules. Players receive rewards for performing certain actions. If they were completed successfully, and all the required conditions are met, then the player receives a reward. If not, then the player does not receive anything, but can fully fulfill the provided conditions or find a new task to complete in order to receive a reward.
That is, an important difference between gambling and video games is that gambling is pure luck. While video games require ingenuity from a person, developing a strategy and other personal characteristics, thanks to which one can come to victory. Luck takes almost the last place here. Any player can win by completely dispensing with luck and relying solely on their own intellectual abilities and resulting from this decision.
- Lack of real money
Another important difference: there is no real money earning in video games, people play them out of interest and for the sake of pleasure. Gambling games, which represent a harmless emulator of a real casino and do not imply a real money win, are rarely of interest to users. And real casinos are only built on the fact that the user wins or loses his money.
These are some of the key differences between gambling and video games. According to these differences, it is completely incorrect to equate them with each other. Gambling is based on pure luck, while video games depend on the personal characteristics of the players. Success or failure in video games directly depends on how persistent the players were, what moves they thought, and so on. Therefore, it would be much more appropriate to say that video games are similar to chess provided on the Internet, since video games have much more in common with them than gambling games.
Why Video Games Are Better
According to psychologist Peter Gray, author of the original article, “It’s hard to imagine that a person with even a smidge of intelligence would waste time gambling unless something irrational was leading them.”
“Gambling is inherently very monotonous and stupid. They do not require any skills or intellectual activity from the player. You simply repeat the same actions over and over again, pushing the same button over and over again, or pulling the lever. Occasionally you win something, but mostly you lose, ”writes Gray. No, no doubt, I admit the existence of very rich people who do not know what to do with their money, and therefore squander it for gambling. In this case, gambling is just a way to have a good time.
But when a person plays for weeks on end, then we are talking about an obvious pathology. Thus, the psychologist concludes, it is reasonable to postulate that gamblers are driven by irrational motives, therefore, in this case, the term “dependent” is appropriate.
However, in the case of video games, chess and other games in which victory depends on skill, this term is completely inappropriate. To win such games, you need to:
- constantly improve your existing skills
- gain new knowledge
- learn from your own mistakes.
Therefore, here we are not talking about “addiction”, but about the banal enjoyment of the gameplay and persistent attempts to become better.
“And if you think video games don’t use intelligence, take a look at WoWwiki, the online encyclopedia of World of Warcraft. This is the second largest knowledge base in the English segment of the Internet! The first is only Wikipedia itself, ”adds Gray.
