Possible Causes

A psychology-based theory is behaviorally based. MMORPGs generally reward players in both fixed and random manners. The benefit to completing assigned tasks is accompanied by elements of chance, where the player may or may not receive a reward of some nature. Often, a player may spend hours of play time repeating one basic behavior repeatedly, in order for the game to reward their actions with a particular prize, item, or other occurrences. This behavior is generally called "farming" by members of the gaming community, and is considered to be normal behavior by most within the gaming community, although acceptance of the length of time spent farming and the frequency of farming sessions can vary.

Because "farmers" will often have to repeat a behavior hundreds or thousands of times, the length of time spent playing the computer game can be extensive. The eventual acquisition of the sought-after accomplishment may cause reinforcement of the general behavior of "farming". This theory coincides with the sunk cost fallacy to a high degree. The threat of not accomplishing the goal, combined with the feeling of accomplishment when meeting such a goal may drive game players to exhibit symptoms of addictive behavior.