world of warcraft: Addicted

It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!ttomm1946

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!eitremn

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

Im thinking of taking a break soon. If i had an active social life i probably wouldnt have even begun playing. My only 2 RL friends, play wow too, so its not like ive lost any social life in the process. I jump on every invitation to get outta here. I do play way too much, but im glad i have 2 pc's, so i get my school work done during the slow hours.

I play WoW a long time, but i never had this problem...

Sorry...

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!eitremn

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

It's an extremely addictive game. I quit for a month once. But i came back.... In the end ..they all come back..no one escapes blizzard.rik666

dont think everyone comes back...the game aint that addictive for everyone...i myself played the game to lvl 40, and that was enough for me....by lvl 40 i felt i had done what there was to be done in the game

and u ppl that say that the game is to addictive....maybe its not entirely the games fault that u are addicted, maybe it has something to do with ur personality??

[QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!dnuggs40

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing. if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

Thank you! I was just about to bring this up. I have lost a lot of friends and people that I've known to heroine as well as alcohol, and the addiction they bring is far from being purely psychological.

If you'll look at my sig you'll see that yes I play WOW. I play WOW a lot, perhaps too much. Though, my RL circumstances are FAR different from those of most other people, and after getting to level 70 I can safely say that there is nothing fun or entertaining up there at the top. Likewise I found very little fun or entainment in TBC. The real fun is in the ride up to level 60, then the fun fizzles rappidly on the ride from 60-70. I started over with a pally, but that's because I want the "purple judgement set" for the look, and after I hit level 70 again and get it I plan on cashing in on my little nest egg and moving on.

[QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!Nerfing

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing. if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

I have to disagree. Any game is "addicting"! Not only WOW. What's up with those "blame WOW cause it's addicting"? Would you blame Dr. James Naismith coz' basketball is addicting? Would you blame J.K. Rowling coz' many are addicted reading her books? There is no other person to blame if you are addicted to something other than yourself.

[QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!dnuggs40

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

oh for god sakes, that's like saying that it's ok to be addicted to cigarettes (which btw they say is harder to quit then heroin.)  you donno what your talking about.  addiction is addiction man.  different people get addicted to different things.  sure being addicted to WoW isn't really going to kill you, but it does make people lose there social lives, lose there jobs, and eventually lose there physical fitness.  so while WoW may not be short term such as heroin, it definately can harm people in the long run.

[QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!dnuggs40

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

[QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!dnuggs40

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

  Seeing as your most likely not a doctor or psycho therapist let alone well studied in this field that doesn't make your response very reliable, nor did you cite any reliable soures to back up your theory.. Not agreeing or disagreeing but I honestly think it depends on the person.

While I think gaming addiciton is mostly down to the person who is playing, but with parental guidance if the person is under 18 and self control if the person is over 18, I also think that blizzard should be more responsible to some extent as well, even if its just to the extent of inserting take a break messages in the game like Guildwars does.

 After all, the selling of alcohol is partly the responsibilty of shops, and drugs is partly the responsibility of the police / society education.

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!sSubZerOo

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

  Seeing as your most likely not a doctor or psycho therapist let alone well studied in this field that doesn't make your response very reliable, nor did you cite any reliable soures to back up your theory.. Not agreeing or disagreeing but I honestly think it depends on the person.

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!eitremn

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

oh for god sakes, that's like saying that it's ok to be addicted to cigarettes (which btw they say is harder to quit then heroin.)  you donno what your talking about.  addiction is addiction man.  different people get addicted to different things.  sure being addicted to WoW isn't really going to kill you, but it does make people lose there social lives, lose there jobs, and eventually lose there physical fitness.  so while WoW may not be short term such as heroin, it definately can harm people in the long run.

No, addiction is not "addiction". Get a clue...

You people need to learn about real addictions before you go comparing obsessively playing a video game to serious drug addictions.  YOU people have absolutely ZERO idea what you are talking about. 

I agree with the people on this thread who have said "WoW is not a real addiction". It isn't. Crack is a real addiction. If you try to go off it, you will suffer serious withdrawal symptoms, ect. ect.

WoW... Well, you stop playing and thats it. This whole crying because you can't play WoW and such is completely ridiculous. I played WoW. I stopped playing WoW. I don't feel this horrible tie, ect. ect. So, maybe some people take it harder.

This doesn't mean its an addiction though. Lets go back to crack. If you were to get anyone addicted to crack, they will ALL suffer horrible withdrawal symptoms. There is no argument there- crack is a dangerously addictive drug. WoW is not addictive in this manner. Perhaps harder to leave due to people who feel social obligations to the game or soemthing, but it is not addictive. 

I agree with the people on this thread who have said "WoW is not a real addiction". It isn't. Crack is a real addiction. If you try to go off it, you will suffer serious withdrawal symptoms, ect. ect.

WoW... Well, you stop playing and thats it. This whole crying because you can't play WoW and such is completely ridiculous. I played WoW. I stopped playing WoW. I don't feel this horrible tie, ect. ect. So, maybe some people take it harder.

This doesn't mean its an addiction though. Lets go back to crack. If you were to get anyone addicted to crack, they will ALL suffer horrible withdrawal symptoms. There is no argument there- crack is a dangerously addictive drug. WoW is not addictive in this manner. Perhaps harder to leave due to people who feel social obligations to the game or soemthing, but it is not addictive. 

 

Mycros

no that's not the way it works.  not everyone would get addicted to crack because not everyone would use it in the first place.  it's the users choice to get addicted, just like anything else.

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!dnuggs40

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

  Seeing as your most likely not a doctor or psycho therapist let alone well studied in this field that doesn't make your response very reliable, nor did you cite any reliable soures to back up your theory.. Not agreeing or disagreeing but I honestly think it depends on the person.

 I never said I disagreed with you..  I merely stated that its a very debatable argument about how serious gaming addiction is.  There has been much debate in the medical community on if gaming addiction is a serious issue, many well studied doctors and therapists believe so..  Whos to say this person is ripped from this addiction becomes immensly depressed and commits suicide..    That being said I do agree its a chemical, but I disagree its as small as you make it sound when it comes to game addiction.  Hell there have been studies that overeating is addictive to people both chemically and pshcyologically.

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="sSubZerOo"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!sSubZerOo

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

  Seeing as your most likely not a doctor or psycho therapist let alone well studied in this field that doesn't make your response very reliable, nor did you cite any reliable soures to back up your theory.. Not agreeing or disagreeing but I honestly think it depends on the person.

 I never said I disagreed with you..  I merely stated that its a very debatable argument about how serious gaming addiction is.  There has been much debate in the medical community on if gaming addiction is a serious issue, many well studied doctors and therapists believe so..  Whos to say this person is ripped from this addiction becomes immensly depressed and commits suicide..    That being said I do agree its a chemical, but I disagree its as small as you make it sound.

[QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!dnuggs40

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing. if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

I have to agree with that. You have some serious issueds man! Go get some professional help and get yourself to rehab. What's wrong with you? Even comparing a game(WOW) to some illegal stuffs!

Look...there are TONS of things out there that therapist and people claim are addictions, this doesn't mean they actually are. You LITERALLY can type in any word into google and come up with some kind of paper or support site for any "addiction". I did a few off the top off my head, and was surprised to see the results. You can try too ;)

Type these into google (along with any othere idiotic things off the top of your head)

hamburger addiction - lol these are funny

meat addiction

golf addiction - are these people serious?????

sports addiction

internet addiction - c'mon people...

porn addiction - lol

music addiction - another funny one

clothes addiction - lol

spending addiciton - not funny...my wife has one :lol:

The point is there are literally HOUNDREDS of things people and therapists claim are addictions, that doesn't mean they actually are...

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="sSubZerOo"][QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="eitremn"]

[QUOTE="ttomm1946"]It was easy for me to quit WOW but quitting booze and crack was a tad harder!dnuggs40

that has to do with you personally though, and i'm not saying that addiction from drugs and what not doesn't come from the chemicals in them at all, i just think it's more of a mental thing that it is a chemical thing.  if you always smoke crack when you get stressed or smoke a cigarette after dinner then your mind gets in the habbit of this and triggers the need for those things when these events occur.

  Seeing as your most likely not a doctor or psycho therapist let alone well studied in this field that doesn't make your response very reliable, nor did you cite any reliable soures to back up your theory.. Not agreeing or disagreeing but I honestly think it depends on the person.

 I never said I disagreed with you..  I merely stated that its a very debatable argument about how serious gaming addiction is.  There has been much debate in the medical community on if gaming addiction is a serious issue, many well studied doctors and therapists believe so..  Whos to say this person is ripped from this addiction becomes immensly depressed and commits suicide..    That being said I do agree its a chemical, but I disagree its as small as you make it sound.

what you have to take into consideration is the fact that this whole video game addiction thing is still relatively new.  whereas heroin or other such drugs have been around for years and years and there have been extensive studies done on them.  you could say that heroin stops becoming an addiction and becomes a dependancy for whatever person.  when people sit at a computer screen for a day straight so they can get to the next lvl, there is something wrong there.  sometimes people forget to eat because they are so involved in the game.  the definition of addiction is:  the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming

That is the dictionary definition...NOT the medical definition. Here is the actual MEDICAL deffinition...

Addiction: A chronic relapsing condition characterized by compulsive drug-seeking and abuse and by long-lasting chemical changes in the brain. Addiction is the same irrespective of whether the drug is alcohol, amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, or nicotine. Every addictive substance induces pleasant states or relieves distress. Continued use of the addictive substance induces adaptive changes in the brain that lead to tolerance, physical dependence, uncontrollable craving and, all too often, relapse. Dependence is at such a point that stopping is very difficult and causes severe physical and mental reactions from withdrawal. The risk of addiction is in part inherited. Genetic factors, for example, account for about 40% of the risk of alcoholism. The genetic factors predisposing to addiction are not yet fully understood.

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10177

The difference...for me at least...is serverity. Let me give you an example. If I forced someone to play WoW who does not like it for a period of six months, at the end of the 6 months the person will not be addicted. If anything, they will just be pissed at me for forcing them to play the game. Now, if I force someone to take heroine for 6 months, even if the person does not like it's effects, THAT PERSON WILL BE ADDICTED. Not just physically either, but mentally as well. The heroine addiction will actually change the way the brain works, and cause a dependacy, wether the person enjoys it or not. I think alot of weak minded people have tried to blur the lines between obsessions and addictions to somewhat validate their lack of self control.dnuggs40

   Seeing as more and more clinics are opening up to help combat game addiction, I would consider it pretty serious.. And games do not need to addict every one they try, there is more access to them then any amount of drugs a person could get.  That being said I think that is rather dumb that you stereotype game addiction to the weak minded..  Millions suffer depression each day, a video game is one way to take their minds off hand and become addicted.. 

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"]The difference...for me at least...is serverity. Let me give you an example. If I forced someone to play WoW who does not like it for a period of six months, at the end of the 6 months the person will not be addicted. If anything, they will just be pissed at me for forcing them to play the game. Now, if I force someone to take heroine for 6 months, even if the person does not like it's effects, THAT PERSON WILL BE ADDICTED. Not just physically either, but mentally as well. The heroine addiction will actually change the way the brain works, and cause a dependacy, wether the person enjoys it or not. I think alot of weak minded people have tried to blur the lines between obsessions and addictions to somewhat validate their lack of self control.sSubZerOo

   Seeing as more and more clinics are opening up to help combat game addiction, I would consider it pretty serious.. And games do not need to addict every one they try, there is more access to them then any amount of drugs a person could get.  That being said I think that is rather dumb that you stereotype game addiction to the weak minded..  Millions suffer depression each day, a video game is one way to take their minds off hand and become addicted.. 

There is money it and of course clinics open up, this doesn't give it credibility as being as serious as a real addiction. There is clinics for meat-aholics...are we really supposed to take these people seriously too just becuase they have clinics? Of course it is the weak minded, normal strong people don't do that kind of stuff. So if they are not normal and have have strong enough wills to not do those things...what are they? Ya...weak minded like I said.

" And games do not need to addict every one they try"

That means THEY ARE NOT ADDICTING lol. That just goes to prove my point, it's the PERSON, not the game.  If they are depressed or whatever, then anything could be addicting to them, just as long as it fills the void of their miserable existance.  Is Star Trek addicting?  Heck no, but are there thousands upon thousands of people completely obsessed with it?  Yup.

 There is a difference

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"]

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"]The difference...for me at least...is serverity. Let me give you an example. If I forced someone to play WoW who does not like it for a period of six months, at the end of the 6 months the person will not be addicted. If anything, they will just be pissed at me for forcing them to play the game. Now, if I force someone to take heroine for 6 months, even if the person does not like it's effects, THAT PERSON WILL BE ADDICTED. Not just physically either, but mentally as well. The heroine addiction will actually change the way the brain works, and cause a dependacy, wether the person enjoys it or not. I think alot of weak minded people have tried to blur the lines between obsessions and addictions to somewhat validate their lack of self control.dnuggs40

   Seeing as more and more clinics are opening up to help combat game addiction, I would consider it pretty serious.. And games do not need to addict every one they try, there is more access to them then any amount of drugs a person could get.  That being said I think that is rather dumb that you stereotype game addiction to the weak minded..  Millions suffer depression each day, a video game is one way to take their minds off hand and become addicted.. 

There is money it and of course clinics open up, this doesn't give it credibility as being as serious as a real addiction. There is clinics for meat-aholics...are we really supposed to take these people seriously too just becuase they have clinics? Of course it is the weak minded, normal strong people don't do that kind of stuff. So if they are not normal and have have strong enough wills to not do those things...what are they? Ya...weak minded like I said.

" And games do not need to addict every one they try"

That means THEY ARE NOT ADDICTING lol. That just goes to prove my point, it's the PERSON, not the game.  If they are depressed or whatever, then anything could be addicting to them, just as long as it fills the void of their miserable existance.  Is Star Trek addicting?  Heck no, but are there thousands upon thousands of people completely obsessed with it?  Yup.

 There is a difference

so basically your saying that it isn't possible to quit using heroin?  man, when someone uses something to fill a void and repeatedly uses that to fill that void then that's when addiction strikes.  and for you to say that only weak minded people get addicted to things such as video games makes you sound like you think your better and stronger then everyone else that is addicted to playing video games.  like i said before, when someone would rather spend all there time playing a video game as opposed to anything else, then that is addiction.  it may not affect you in the short term like heroin does, or it may not cost you as much money, but it does still affect people.  like i said before, different people get addicted to different things.  i smoked for 10 years and quit, yet i know people that have been smoking for only a few years and can't quit for nothing.

I played it for like a month and had fun with it, then kept the account running after losing interest because I thought I could get back into it.

I tried like 3-5 times to get back into it. No go. Kinda feel like I wasted some money for a couple months.  It's an okay game, but I guess CoH spoiled me because walking in WoW is slow as hell.

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"][QUOTE="sSubZerOo"]

[QUOTE="dnuggs40"]The difference...for me at least...is serverity. Let me give you an example. If I forced someone to play WoW who does not like it for a period of six months, at the end of the 6 months the person will not be addicted. If anything, they will just be pissed at me for forcing them to play the game. Now, if I force someone to take heroine for 6 months, even if the person does not like it's effects, THAT PERSON WILL BE ADDICTED. Not just physically either, but mentally as well. The heroine addiction will actually change the way the brain works, and cause a dependacy, wether the person enjoys it or not. I think alot of weak minded people have tried to blur the lines between obsessions and addictions to somewhat validate their lack of self control.eitremn

   Seeing as more and more clinics are opening up to help combat game addiction, I would consider it pretty serious.. And games do not need to addict every one they try, there is more access to them then any amount of drugs a person could get.  That being said I think that is rather dumb that you stereotype game addiction to the weak minded..  Millions suffer depression each day, a video game is one way to take their minds off hand and become addicted.. 

There is money it and of course clinics open up, this doesn't give it credibility as being as serious as a real addiction. There is clinics for meat-aholics...are we really supposed to take these people seriously too just becuase they have clinics? Of course it is the weak minded, normal strong people don't do that kind of stuff. So if they are not normal and have have strong enough wills to not do those things...what are they? Ya...weak minded like I said.

" And games do not need to addict every one they try"

That means THEY ARE NOT ADDICTING lol. That just goes to prove my point, it's the PERSON, not the game.  If they are depressed or whatever, then anything could be addicting to them, just as long as it fills the void of their miserable existance.  Is Star Trek addicting?  Heck no, but are there thousands upon thousands of people completely obsessed with it?  Yup.

 There is a difference

so basically your saying that it isn't possible to quit using heroin?  man, when someone uses something to fill a void and repeatedly uses that to fill that void then that's when addiction strikes.  and for you to say that only weak minded people get addicted to things such as video games makes you sound like you think your better and stronger then everyone else that is addicted to playing video games.  like i said before, when someone would rather spend all there time playing a video game as opposed to anything else, then that is addiction.  it may not affect you in the short term like heroin does, or it may not cost you as much money, but it does still affect people.  like i said before, different people get addicted to different things.  i smoked for 10 years and quit, yet i know people that have been smoking for only a few years and can't quit for nothing.

All I can say about WoW is that I dont see how people can enjoy it for hours upon end. I used to play Guild wars and after a little while I got tired of that (that was after i got my first lvl 20 char (maxed lvl)). I can in no way seeing lvling a character to 60, much less 70, i just feel like it is a complete waste of time. I can see being addicted to a game such as CSS or BF2 because their is always something different, its not just constant spell, regen, spell, regen, spell, die, you can play on different maps, different mods, different objections, and you dont even have to pay for it.

But i do understand how alot of people are addicted. Many of my CSS clan members are extremely addicted to it and they admit it. They say that its just like nicotine, they are addicted and cant stop playing it.

 In the end Blizzard was just smart. They made a game that can get many people very addicted to it and slowly suck all of their money out of them until it gets to the point where they are jacking off to a picture of a night elf. *Barf*

I agree with SubZero, even though the effects of "Gaming Addiction" as of now aren't as life threatening as such drugs as heroine. It doesn't rule out that there are people "addicted" to gaming, or specifically, WoW. I have never tried heroine, nor do I like it. So I could say people who can't quit heroine are "weak minded". Different people have different personalities, some people actually do get "addicted" to things like WoW that effects their life.-tears-run-red-

this is exactly what i've been trying to say the whole time.  some people are just to stubborn to admit it when they are wrong.

Lets see...nope, no one is addicted to this game.  I think people form an obession, since any "addiction" to this game is mental and not chemical or physical.  That is my interpretation, take it for what you will.

My personal experience is as follows:  been playing the game for almost two years now, and have been having a lot of fun despite not having an end-game character (I know, I am a slow leveler).  Last summer I simply ran out of money and couldnt afford any subscription cards, and I dont like using my credit card online.  So, I stopped playing.  Didnt go through withdrawel or anything like that.  Then I picked it back up after I got a job and my classes were paid for.

I just fail to see how this game is so addicting.  I have a lot of fun with it, but if I play more than 3-4 hours a day I simply get bored or sleepy.  I just dont see how people can play this game for 6+ hours a day through sheer willpower.  Personally I think they have a lack of a constructive and positive influence in their lives, whether its a job, parents, school, girlfriend, or anything like that.

Here you go, I have a great first hand story for you.

My roomate this year started playing freshman year (2 years ago) and it came out about 2 weeks before the end of our semester. He played non stop for basically 2 weeks, didnt go to class once, failed all his classes and got a 1.5 GPA for the year. He was put on achedemic probation. During the summer he leveled a rogue from 0-60 in 2 weeks. Sophmore year (when we became roomates) he joined a BWL (then the highest instance) raiding guild and was on 16 hours a day. He stopped going to class again and started, guess what, failing again. He kept his grades up (if you can call a 2.5 up). During the summer he was on the 8's plan, 8 hours of WoW, 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep. Doesnt leave much social time. This year our internet was screwed up on campus the first semester so he would go home every weekend to play. Then it got better, and now he plays 16 hours a day, doesnt go to class anymore and there is NO WAY he is passing any of them. He has no girlfriends, no social activity, no physical activity (though he is skinny), eats horribly, goes to bed at 5 am and wakes up at 2 pm (after all his classes are done) and just sits and plays WoW all day. He also has no job.

It is sad, pathetic really. I don't know what to do. My girlfriend and I try and get him to do stuff with us (games, movies, basketball, tennis...ANYTHING) but he always is playing. So you want a pathetic addict. THere you go.

Why is this even more pathetic though? Ill tell you why. My school costs 32000 a year to go. His parents are not wealthy at all and he has almost no scholarships. He is all loans and doesnt realize that a guy with a 2.2 GPA and a Business degree will get NO WHERE in life. I feel bad, but I stopped caring a while ago. 

It's an extremely addictive game. I quit for a month once. But i came back.... In the end ..they all come back..no one escapes blizzard.rik666

Here you go, I have a great first hand story for you.

My roomate this year started playing freshman year (2 years ago) and it came out about 2 weeks before the end of our semester. He played non stop for basically 2 weeks, didnt go to class once, failed all his classes and got a 1.5 GPA for the year. He was put on achedemic probation. During the summer he leveled a rogue from 0-60 in 2 weeks. Sophmore year (when we became roomates) he joined a BWL (then the highest instance) raiding guild and was on 16 hours a day. He stopped going to class again and started, guess what, failing again. He kept his grades up (if you can call a 2.5 up). During the summer he was on the 8's plan, 8 hours of WoW, 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep. Doesnt leave much social time. This year our internet was screwed up on campus the first semester so he would go home every weekend to play. Then it got better, and now he plays 16 hours a day, doesnt go to class anymore and there is NO WAY he is passing any of them. He has no girlfriends, no social activity, no physical activity (though he is skinny), eats horribly, goes to bed at 5 am and wakes up at 2 pm (after all his classes are done) and just sits and plays WoW all day. He also has no job.

 

It is sad, pathetic really. I don't know what to do. My girlfriend and I try and get him to do stuff with us (games, movies, basketball, tennis...ANYTHING) but he always is playing. So you want a pathetic addict. THere you go.

 

Why is this even more pathetic though? Ill tell you why. My school costs 32000 a year to go. His parents are not wealthy at all and he has almost no scholarships. He is all loans and doesnt realize that a guy with a 2.2 GPA and a Business degree will get NO WHERE in life. I feel bad, but I stopped caring a while ago. 

seabiscuit8686

that is a perfect example of what can happen to a WoW addict.