Here is a confession at the very outset: I am a convalescing gaming addict. I’ve been on the mend since last week. The conversion from “novice” to “addict” had taken no time at all. I was working on a story on gaming addiction. The gamers asserted that there would be no better way to understand their plight than to live it. So, armed with a joystick (which quickly turned out to be more stick than joy), I took to PS3 (PlayStation 3 for the uninitiated) with a vengeance. Many hours and two sore thumbs later, I decided I wasn’t game for more. I logged out before the addiction could assume unmanageable proportions.

The pleasure of gaming can be described by the song, You are my favourite waste of time. It’s a number that Deepank Singh, aka Sniper, loves to croon. A software professional from Pune, 22-year-old Deepank took to gaming in school. He is now hooked to Ragnorak, a MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game). It enables Deepank to enter the virtual world of knights, wizards, alchemists and monsters. He has taken two years to develop his character, Sniper, who specialises in long-range attacks. In fact, so famous is Sniper now that other gamers have approached Deepank with offers to buy the character. “I have put so much of myself into him that I would never sell him. He is a part of me,” he says.

The most addictive part of the game for him is the “guild system”. Deepank and his online gamer friends are a part of one guild and it is their job to protect the guild from enemy forces. “It’s a lot of teamwork. One could be playing with people sitting in Vancouver and be great friends with them even though you’ve never met them.” In his college days, there were times when he’d play for more than 16 hours a day. Now, with work, he can only squeeze in 2-3 hours for Ragnorak. But on weekends he puts in 6-8 hours religiously. “I’m well aware that it kills my social life, yet I can’t leave it,” he says.

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