Online gamers adapt to curfew

VietNamNet Bridge – Gamers are using creative measures to dodge an online games curfew such as switching to offline games or playing in secret behind closed doors.

Young gamers play online computer games. Online games are growing in popularity in urban areas. Online game addicts have found ways to get around a new curfew. (Photo: VNS)

The curfew, set by the Ministry of Information and Communications, has been in effect since the beginning of last month. It requires online game shops and host computers to close between 11pm and 6am the next morning.

In fact, internet shops do close and turn their lights off during the curfew, but behind closed doors, many young players are still immersed in a world of virtual fighting, according to a report in the local Tien Phong Daily.

Guards are employed to stand watch in front of these shops. Their job is to alert shop owners and players at the first sight of law enforcement officials.

Internet shops also maintain their clandestine activities by keeping noise to a minimum at night.

These methods are used by internet shops in the capital and HCM City to facilitate their night time operations.

Even when internet service providers suspend online game servers during the night, players can still satisfy their craving for gaming by turning to widely available offline games like Call of Duty, Black Ops, Red Alert, Commandos, Left 4 Dead and Warcraft.

Most of the games are violent.

"There are always alternatives," wrote many online game addicts on an online forum when the curfew was announced.

"We usually sign in using proxy servers based in Japan," said Le Anh Minh, a player in Ha Noi who is a big fan of the Korea-made Alliance of Valliant Arms. "Thousands of Vietnamese players are attracted to these games."

"I like to play freely until I’m tired or fed up without worrying about a time limit," he added, noting that foreign-based games are always more interesting because they are not censored.

The curfew was issued following complaints about the negative effects online games were having on youth, including addiction and rising school violence.

According to a recent survey of female students at Tran Phu Secondary School in District 10 and Nguyen Huu Huan Secondary School in Thu Duc District conducted by Van Hien University, up to 25 per cent of them played violent games in their leisure time and more than 50 per cent were indifferent about violence among school girls.

The Ministry of Education and Training asked its provincial departments as well as universities and colleges across the country distribute a pre-designed survey on the effects of online games on pupils and students from now until next Wednesday.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News