Excessive and addictive gaming control using counselling agent in online game design

In recent times, online game play has become a food for thought to concerned individuals, researchers and authorities of various countries due to its excessive and addictive usage. Although, various government have taken certain measures such as shutting down internet cafe at certain hours of the day, censoring the most brutal, offensive and aggressive sections of certain games before they are released. Researchers have advised developers on ways of limiting harm on players by suggesting design changes on time limit. Furthermore, researchers have also suggested that online game distributors ought to make available appropriate referral services. The impart of the above are yet to make any remarkable impact on players. In this paper, we have proposed a Counseling Agent model integrating informative and self-appraisal messages in online game design as a control measure. Informative and self-appraisal messaging in games have proven optimistic through making positive impact on player’s thoughts and behavior towards gaming. These messages are expected to remind players about the negative impact of excessive and addictive gaming habits, as well as suggesting possible reductive solutions through message streaming.