DOTA: AMUSEMENT OR ADDICTION?

Defense Of The Ancients or more commonly known as DOTA is a map of the game Warcraft III: Frozen Throne. It has gained international fame among young people. But is it more than just a map? Is it more than just a game for weekends? Or is it something more?

Ah, Dota. What a soothing sound to my young ears. Whenever I hear this word, the first thing that comes to my mind is to kill more and more heroes as many times as I can and not to get killed in the process.

As I realized what I was thinking, I immediately realized that my attention was focused on killing and defending, which is not the real me. I stopped to think for a moment. If I was entranced in the killing part of the game, how much more the other youth around the world! The game may be fun, but it may also have effects on our attitude and the way we handle with our problems

In the Philippines, I usually go out with my friends to the Internet cafe, and I notice that almost every computer user was playing the same game, Dota. Here’s one effect that comes along: Addiction.

Addiction is described in the Wikipedia as an obsession, compulsion, or excessive physical dependence or psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction, video game addiction, crime, alcoholism, compulsive overeating, problem gambling, computer addiction, pornography addiction, etc. I guess we can add another example of addiction: DOTA Addiction

I go around and think, “Nah. Dota won’t have any effects on my attitude or the attitude of any person, it’s just a game, isn’t it?” I was corrected by my own words, as all around me, I saw EVERYONE who was playing Dota was screaming and insulting and blaming others for not assisting them kill the hero and blah, blah, blah, blah. Again, I realized that there’s more to Dota than just a fun, thrilling game. And I have seen through my own eyes, how this game has brought change to the youth today. And I certainly won’t want to see myself shouting like a monkey without a cause inside the Internet cafe.

Now, I’m not saying that this game should be banned from our computers. All I’m saying is that we should try to moderate and control our time in playing because who knows if one day in the future you will also be acting the same way as the “DOTA Addicts” or the “Screamers” do.