Liu Qi is an online game addict. Focusing his eyes on the shifting images on the screen, his hands adroitly tapped on the keyboard to control the warrior and his weapons, his body twitching to release excess energy.

Liu is a gifted university student majoring in Russian. But he is also devoted to online games and a "Legend of Mir" devotee.

The "Legend of Mir" is a massive online multiplayer role-playing game based on an Oriental-style world. When Liu stumbled across this game with its dungeons and cities he was immediately hooked.

There are over 10 popular online games like "Mir", most of which involve role-play fighting.

Pretty soon, the time Liu used to spend on the Russian literary masterpiece, "War and Peace" was spent tapping out game commands on the keyboard. He plays together with thousands of players online in the challenging virtual world of "Mir", which allows him to access numerous levels as he becomes stronger, exploring dangerous dungeons and fantastic cities and creating powerful "Guilds".

"My longest record online for 'Mir' is over 30 hours at the weekend," said Liu. "I slept only a few hours in front of the screen and ordered a meal box for nourishment."

He is not alone. Liu is only one of hundreds of thousands of 'Mir' devotees. According to the People's Daily, national figures show the total number of Internet users reaching 79.5 million by the end of last year, a number that is continuing to rise rapidly. There are over 40 million online addicts in China, among whom young people under 25 make up over 80 per cent.

Fictitious life

"It is hard to judge whether online games are good or bad. It all depends on how people control the time they stay online and the content of the games," said Gu Donghui, an expert on youth development and education study at Fudan University.

As the pressure generated by both study and the wider society increase, with the communication gap widening between generations, young people need a means to express themselves and release tension.

"The advent of the Internet, online games and the unreal world they create met this need," Gu said. "What is more, it allows people to experience good feelings such as the happiness of success and the feeling of glory which are hard to achieve in real life."

"As large-scale organized activities decline in schools and universities, communication problems become more prevalent among young people. They can turn to online games for help, making friends or doing business online," Gu added.

Online games create an unreal world but represents real life circumstances. Players travel to different places and encounter different people. They unite together and use team work as they fight against monsters or enemies. They bargain in shops or clinics to get arms, medicine and food with the money or artifacts they earn or win as gifts of victory.

Xu Yuping, a psychologist at the North China Electricity University, reckoned online games could play a passive role in intelligence development and improve co-ordination between the hands and brains of young players.

"I improved in my studies after I started to play online games," said Chen Jie, a senior student at Luxun High School. English seemed very strange in his first year at high school. Later he became addicted to the online game, "OFU". But he had to consult the dictionary for the English words he didn't know when he read the instructions and commands guides in the game. After one year's study, he had not only became a good player but also a good English student, increasing his motivation for learning the language.

"The Internet is an outlet for leaning, creativity and self-expression," said Xu.

Unhealthy development

But when real life melds with cyberlife, it can trigger a lot of problems, according to Du Yasong, a psychologist at the Shanghai Mental Health Centre.

The centre receives many patients suffering from the new disease of "Internet Addiction Disorder", resulting from addiction to online games or surfing on the Internet.

It is a medical term to describe such symptoms as becoming more irritable and antisocial, losing control at the computer and covering up or being dishonest about online activities, Du explained.

The patients lose the desire to solve their problems in the real world, staying online for ever longer periods of time. They suffer from feelings of restlessness and irritability when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use.

Disrupted sleep patterns and lifestyles also can cause excessive fatigue, weaken the immune system and impair normal function at school or at work.

"What's more, with the rising psychological reliance on the Internet, people tend to take less responsibility for their real lives," Du said. "They appear indifferent to real life and become nervous and aggressive when meeting with problems."

"This can lead to people becoming involved in abnormal activities to solve problems, perhaps even committing crimes," Du added.

Such addicts often lied to their parents and friends to conceal the extent of their involvement with the Internet. They return repeatedly to their online games, despite excessive fees used to buy points or to be changed into arms or higher grades.

"The idea of committing crimes often occurs to the young addicts when they have no income but have to cover the expenses of Internet cafes and gaming costs," said Zhou Xiaoping, the procurator for juvenile delinquency of the Hong Kong Procuratorate.

Cases involving online game addicts accounted for 26 per cent of all juvenile cases in 2003, and the number is increasing sharply, according to Zhou.

The violence, fighting and murder prominent in online game plots may have a negative impact on young people, tempting to transfer such approaches into their real lives.

Yang Xiong, an expert on youth development at the Shanghai Academy, worried more about the negative influences by the excessive voilent online games.

Yang said: "The young addicts' abilities for judgement and self-control are weak, but they have enhanced abilities for learning and imitation. The excessive violence and sexual content in online games will do harm to their development, causing social problems, even crimes. It must be brought under laws."

"But there is still no law concerning online games," said Yi Yong, director of the Shanghai Electronic Business Association, although he noted that some relevant legislation was expected this year.

(Shanghai Star  May 31, 2004)