journal of digital research & publishing - The Sydney eScholarship ...

1 P M J O U R N A L O F D I G I T A L R ESEARCH & P UBLISHING
embody the interests of some groups in society.”(Graeme Kirkpatrick, p2). In the case of
Happy Farm, the interest of the users was expressed. The whole society found that so many
people were interested in farm life. So after the emergence and popularity of the online
game Happy Farm, real versions of Happy Farm have emerged in some cities of China.
In these real farms, people can grow real vegetables and raise real animals. These farms
were getting gradually popularity among people. With little rent, people can rent a small
piece of land from the owner. Then they can grow everything they want. In the process of
plowing and weeding, they exercised their physic body, interacted with their children and
got close to the nature. When harvest, they can get fresh and green fruits and vegetables.
With so many advantages, real Happy Farm has become a brand new life style and was
becoming more and more popular among urbanite. The virtual world built in Happy Farm
was gradually being moved to the real world.
2. Psychological effect put by technology can affect people’s behavior
From its birthday, computer games have always been connected with several kinds
of psychological effects, not only negative but also positive (Joost Raessens & Jeffrey
Goldstein, 2004).
Major psychological effects caused by Happy Farm lied in its two most controversial
side effects: the problem of addiction and bad example setting. The former one was very
common among online games. Happy Farm was of no exception. After the emergence
and popularity of the game, it was quite often to see following reports on newspaper and
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quit her job in order to steal others’ vegetables on time and so on. “Evidence for addiction or
dependency stems from an indication that playing computer or video games eats into time
spent with other activities to an extreme degrees” (Joost Raessens & Jeffrey Goldstein,
p146). A lot of people waste their time on playing online games. Students were addicted to
it forgetting study; white collars were trapped in it leading to giving up job. Some behaviors
of these players were very ridiculous for us to accept. But they did really exist. Computer
games became the most important thing in their life which lead to a disorder of formal
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The other bad impact of this game was that it set a bad example in affecting people’s
conduct. One of the most important aspects in this game was to steal vegetables of others.
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