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Jeanne Lovelle Sanarez
Sir Christian Bernard Arguelles
Reading and Writing
October 7, 2019
MOBA’s Benefits and Downsides to a student’s Academic Performance
Due to the fast-paced change of technology, the today’s youth are easily exposed to
various types of information, such as the world of online gaming, specifically Multiplayer
Online Battle Arena games. Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) is a genre of strategy
video games that originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy in which each player controls
a single character, often through a third person view, as part of a team competing against
another team of players, usually of equal number. League of Legends (LoL) and Defense of
the Ancients (DOTA) 2 are this genre’s most popular members and can be found in relevant
studies for investigation about the genre (Catallops & Sicilia, 4). Studies show that boys,
whose age ranged from 14-15 years old (believed to be in the 8th grade), tended to have a
likelier chance of being players than girls when it came to games that require three or more
players (Dumrique & Castillo, 1). Due to the fact that the 21st Century youth are the ones who
learn how to live with technology, they have easier access to the internet for things such as
sharing files, communicating, and especially playing online games which eventually, affect
their academic performance logically (Group 5, 2).
Like all things, MOBA has its positive and negative effects on a student. Most people
believe that gaming in general, is discouraged for students as this may negatively affect many
factors of a child’s life. However, many do not know that MOBA games teach their players
essential life-skills that schools do not teach. These games help the player make decisions in
tight situations, especially games that keep the player alert, alive, and strategic (Robinson, 2).
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Robinson also states:
“Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual
attention skills from video games. There have [even been] studies with adults
showing that experience with video games is related to better surgical skills.
Also, a reason given by experts as to why fighter pilots of today are more
skillful is that this generation’s pilots are being weaned on video games (7).”
This statement proves that MOBA games allow a student to enhance his/her skills that
can also be used in the working industry. Due to the numerous reflex-enhancing, strategyfinding, and efficiency-seeking skills that MOBA games hone, students can also incorporate
these skills when they graduate school and go on to work. Games such as SimCity, Age of
Empires, and Railroad Tycoon are strategy games that hone life-skills involved in the
corporate world such as planning, resource management, and logistics (Robinson, 7).
MOBA games are also used for recreational purposes, allowing the students time to
relax from academics in order to gain a better performance. Studies show that happier,
relaxed children tend to have better academic performances than those who stress and have
little tranquility (Nuyens, et al.). A survey gave results that show that MOBA games bring
happiness and fun to a student (Tolentino, 12). This survey showed that the same amount of
people who claimed MOBA games brought them delight was the same number of people who
claimed MOBA games improved their hand-eye coordination, which can indicate that the
student is leaning towards the positive spectrum with regards to academic performance, based
on previously mentioned results above. Statistics show that playing online games is an
essential element of a child’s relaxation time activity (Robinson). Meaning, the amount of
leisure time a child has, and what that child does during that time, is a big factor on a child’s
academic performance.
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Despite its many benefits, we cannot deny the fact that MOBAs have negative effects
more known to the masses than positive. Many studies show that extreme overplaying of
these types of games can take up all a student’s time. MOBAs require much of a player’s
time, leaving school activities and homework unattended (Robinson, 2). Due to the reason
that many online games follow a reward system, which affects players by motivating them to
continue playing by offering rewards based on the amount of time spent playing (Wang &
Sun, 3), a lot of players end up wasting or spending a lot of their time just playing, sitting in
front of their computer screens (Eskasasnanda 2). Plenty of youth tend to dislike the idea of
going to school, thus, many students tend to ignore homework and even cut class to be able to
sit down in front of a computer and play all day. Another study states “[e]xcessive amounts
of time spent on playing online video games can be severely disruptive to school, it also
[a]ffects the overall ‘Academic Performance’ of a student” (Fatima, Ubay, Bohol, 3). This
same study states most online games are associated with gaming addiction (3).
Addiction to MOBA games can also lead to the experience that is similar to a drug
addict, thus hampering a child’s academic capability. When online gaming becomes extreme,
the symptoms one can experience can be comparable to a substance addict (Kuss & Griffiths,
1). Examples of this are salience, mood modification, tolerance, and craving (1). Internet
cafés are influencing young people to a form of addiction which does not directly affect the
body the way drugs do, but corrupts the mind in the same manner (Robinson, 3). Addiction to
online gaming may also bring students to commit criminal activities. Because many among
the youth easily get addicted to online gaming, many of them have resorted to violence and
murder whenever having experienced defeat (Fatima, Ubay, Bohol, 3). “When an addict
cannot play the video game that he/she really likes, because he/she doesn’t have the money to
pay for the internet café, this can push the gamer to commit crime so that he/she can play the
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game” (4). However, it is not very clear yet as to what exactly causes these effects. It may be
the lack of willingness to study in school, mentality issues, or others.
In conclusion, MOBAs have both positive and negative effects when it comes to the
different aspects of a child’s learning capability and therefore, affects the child’s academic
performance as well. A child’s academic performance is affected positively due to the
numerous life skills MOBA teaches that a child does not learn in school. However, the
academic performance is negatively impacted when gaming becomes too extreme and the
child is subjected to gaming addiction. Therefore, it is imperative that we be aware of these
effects and how they will impact the future of our children. We must remember that too much
or too little of anything can be dangerous and must always be balanced for the child’s better
good.
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Works Cited
Cantallops, Marçal Mora, and Miguel Ángel Sicilia. “MOBA Games: A Literature
Review.” Entertainment Computing, vol. 26, May 2018, pp. 128–138.,
doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2018.02.005.
Dumrique, Dennis O., and Jennifer G. Castillo. “Online Gaming: Impact on the Academic
Performance and Social Behavior of the Students in Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Laboratory High School.” International Research Conference on Highes Education, 4 June
2018, doi:10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447.
Eskasasnanda, Dewa Putu. “Causes and Effects of Online Video Game Playing among JuniorSenior High School Students in Malang East Java .” Komunitas: International Journal of
Indonesian Society and Culture, vol. 9, no. 2, Sept. 2017, pp. 191–202.,
doi:10.15294/komunitas.v9i2.9565 .
Fatima, et al. “Academia.edu.” Academia.edu, Clarkkent Magdua,
https://www.academia.edu/15787768/THE_EFFECTS_OF_DOTA_2_TO_STUDENTS_AC
ADEMIC_PERFORMANCE_IN.
Kuss, Daria J., and Mark D. Griffiths. “Online Gaming Addiction in Children and Adolescents:
A Review of Empirical Research.” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 1, no. 1, 2012, pp.
1–20., doi:10..1556/JBA.1.2012.1.1.
Nuyens, Filip, et al. “Impulsivity in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Gamers: Preliminary
Results on Experimental and Self-Report Measures.” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol.
28, 8 Mar. 2016, doi: 10.1556/2006.5.2016.028.
Robinson, Aaron John Coningco. 2016.
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“Academia.edu.” Academia.edu, Hannah Mae Ramos,
https://www.academia.edu/35714527/_The_effects_of_Online_Games_in_the_Academic_Pe
rformance_of_Grade_11_students_in_Green_Fields_Integrated_School_of_Laguna_Group_5
.
Tolentino, Elijah Miguel R.
Wang, Hao, and Chuen-Tsai Sun. “ResearchGate.net.” ResearchGate.net, Chuen-Tsai Sun, May
2012,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268351726_Game_Reward_Systems_Gaming_Exp
eriences_and_Social_Meanings.