On his blog Soul Kerfuffle, Dave Yeager invited a friend to submit an article about why he quit the popular (and apparently very addictive game) World of Warcraft. Here are a couple of excerpts:
The worst though are the people you know have time commitments. People with families and significant others. I am not one to judge a person’s situation, but when a father/husband plays a video game all night long, seven days a week, after getting home from work, very involved instances that soak up hours and require concentration, it makes me queasy that I encouraged that. Others include the kids you know aren’t doing their homework and confide in you they are failing out of high school or college but don’t want to miss their chance at loot, the long-term girl/boyfriend who is skipping out on a date (or their anniversary – I’ve seen it) to play (and in some cases flirt constantly), the professional taking yet another day off from work to farm mats or grind their reputations up with in-game factions to get “valuable” quest rewards, etc… I’m not one to tell people how to spend their time, but it gets ridiculous when you take a step back.
…
…it hit me like a ton of bricks after I had changed so much and lost enough of myself that the most wonderful girl I ever met broke up with me.
I remember clearly after fumbling around life for a few weeks that I dragged myself into the bathroom to get ready for work. I was tired because I was up until close to 2 AM raiding. Every week I read though email or I would run into one of my “real” friends and I’d hear “Andy, what’s up, I haven’t seen you in a while.” I looked in the mirror and in a cinemaesque turn of events and a biblical moment of clarity, told myself “I haven’t seen me in a while either.”
I think it’s time to trot out the old The Dangers of World of Warcraft Comic (a remix of an old comic book warning of the dangers of alcoholism) again. Click the comic below to see it at full size and higher image quality.
Click the comic to see it at full size and higher image quality.
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Joey did you see the recent "Make Love Not Warcraft" episode of South Park? Half the episode is in-game shots from WoW with the boys playing their characters. Awesome, and it totally agrees with this guy's view.
I don't know how this differs from any other hobby people can over-indulge in, like golf, sports fandom, or the like. It just carries a slightly bigger stigma than forcing your wife to be a football widow.
You get addicted to anything, it is going to screw with your priorities and decisionmaking. Enjoying things in moderation and not getting reeled in to the point where it's negatively affecting your finances and social life is a pretty good idea no matter what the leisure activity is.
I'll admit to being a WoWer from time to time. But I guess I just don't have the addictive personality (odd, seeing as how I spend so much time reading blogs) required to get sucked into that world for 50 hours a week.
The funny thing about it is that if you are "addicted" to World of Warcraft you are considered some type of social outcast, but if you are someone who say was a workaholic it is almost considered a badge of honor.
"The funny thing about it is that if you are “addicted” to World of Warcraft you are considered some type of social outcast, but if you are someone who say was a workaholic it is almost considered a badge of honor."
Right, but you actually get paid to work. Most people don't pay their bills by gaming.
WoW addiction is like coffee... You have just a bit in the morning and a bit in the afternoon to amuse you... then next thing you know you can't sleep and are wide awake in a 25-man raid in SSC for 5 hours straight.
I feel terrible for people that get addicted to silly things such as a game. I play world of warcraft... Hate to say it but I do ;[
However I don't have an addictive personality, I go weeks without playing, never been in a 25-man raid, never drank so much coffee to where I couldn't sleep... ect.
It's odd to talk, no, even mention that I play this stupid game... I'm a 17yr old girl who started playing because my dad was washing dishes and asked my to "watch" his lvl 15 rogue to make sure he wouldn't get attacked...
XD
So! That's how I started... Idiotic to the 10th degree.
This comic is hilarious, never seen it until a second ago ;]
And I 'lol' at not seeing yourself for a while... Can't relate to it, but I can see your point on WoW addiction... Not something to be proud of.
My so called 'addiction' goes about as far as me having a 70hunter.
Eh, not happy nor sad of this statement...
I could use a little more life.
My two coppers ~ nJoy
Find me on MS: myspace.com/itaste_ofblood
Hilarious and exaggerated. People sometimes are unable to define reality from not, that's what you call addiction. You can't just blame it to games, there are several media that can be addictive, there's TV, music and real drugs (which the society hasn't eliminated successfully). Sad thing the game is played the other way around. It was supposed to entertain you during your free time but it turned out it's becoming a problem for some. Keep enjoying the game, but live a real life ^^
And living the life of a workaholic is fine just because you make money, Anon? That's hypocrisy. You're defending an addiction just the same. WoW isn't the problem here anyway. It's the person. The person lacks self-control. Blaming it on WoW is just showing how irresponsible this world has become. Take some responsibility people!! Quit finding someone or some thing to blame for all your problems. Again WoW isn't the problem. The person is the problem. Don't blame the game for the issues of the person. That's called weakness.