The important thing here is that she's right, some people are addicted. I think I might have been one of them, I spent my entire summer and a good portion of september playing this game. In the summer mostly, I got up around 10:30 in the morning and played straight through until like 2 or 3 in the morning with my guild on Eitrigg. I did this every day all week, only breaking for bathroom, food, or to go to work. I don't think I saw any of my school friends once over the whole summer except for my friend, David, whom I played CS and WoW with at his house.
Once school started I would get home, mostly ignore my homework until 8 by playing Wow, then half-ass it while playing a bit. I didn't finish a lot of it. Later in the night I'd pretend to go to bed to sate my parent's concern, then sneak back down here to raid until maybe 1 am with my guild, then go to bed after setting up a glide to fish all night.
I don't quite remember what happened to make me quit playing, something in me just changed. One day, I just decided that it wasn't as fun and stopped playing as much, doing other stuff around the house. Eventually, I reached the point where it was days at a time between when I felt like playing. Finally, the time on my account expired, I said my good-bye's and thank-you's to friends and did not renew. I didn't personally see this episode of Tyra , but it sounds like she tried to trivialize the whole thing. From what I told you before I spent a lot of time online with my guild, and there were people I considered my friends, even if I hadn't ever physically met them. We talked, we had fun playing together, that's enough for me.

After I quit, I picked up the pace a bit in my school work and started talking to my friends and doing more things with them. I met my ex and current girlfriend, have been having an amazing life and haven't looked back until recently. I also recently decided to accept faith back in to my life.
My previously mentioned friend David seems to be near what I was, he only ever calls or talks to me on MSN about playing WoW, and he was telling me a bit about the X-Pac and the new honor system and I had a hankering to play again. I'm glad I didn't buy the x-pac and a game card, I played a bit on his account as a newbie BE and Draenei, and as a 60 levelling and screwing around and its still very nearly the same game I no longer wished to play. Raiding felt like a job, I had to show up at a certain time at a certain place to get paid (in a sense), and if I stopped showing up or called in sick too much I would lose my "job" and have no "phat lewtz" etc etc. Other stuff that made me not want to play any more too. Anyways, I just thought you guys might like to hear my story or whatever even if I tend to ramble when I talk like this.

...

Meh.

Yeah, you overdid it and it burned you out. It sounds like you had a problem at some point for sure. The good news is a game cannot be physically addictive and so you will eventually tire of it after playing as often and at the rate and pace you mentioned. With physical drugs, no matter how much you know they are bad for you, your body and mind still insist upon them. Like cigarettes for example. They don't really care if you are "bored" with them. You can look at the state your skin and lungs are in and ignore it as you light up another smoke.

I have played alot of WoW but honestly, my eyes would be popping out my head if I played for eight or nine hours straight. I usually play for 1-2 hour periods and then get up and take a break. Sometimes I will return but usually I will go do something else. I don't have to force myself to do this though, I actually want to walk around, go outside, do something other than stare at the screen. All things in moderation, as it's very easy to overindulge in anything you like.

You can't be addicted to a game in particular, but you can be addicted to gaming in general. Just like some people are addicted to adrenaline.

Seven years ago I could spend hours concentrating and working. Not I can't stay concentrated for more than five minutes, I need constant stimulation. Most of the time I don't even finish games because the rush of pleasure you get out of the newness effect has wore off and it's just not entertaining enough anymore.

Not true. Perhaps true for some people, but I don't agree with your blanket declaration.

Drug addicts don't get addicted to say tylenol, they get addicted to heroin or crack. The CONTENT of the substance/thing addicted to is important. The ingredients that make up WoW all help to make it more addictive than say, Snood for example.

Not true. Perhaps true for some people, but I don't agree with your blanket declaration.

Drug addicts don't get addicted to say tylenol, they get addicted to heroin or crack. The CONTENT of the substance/thing addicted to is important. The ingredients that make up WoW all help to make it more addictive than say, Snood for example. </font>[/QUOTE]One day a game company made a game that was so good, so much of what everyone wanted to play, so much of what we'd been asking for, that it was decided they were evil for doing so.

It boggles the mind.

Level 70 and got my Karazhan key, btw.

Gratz TL [img]smile.gif[/img]

I sold my gear and stopped playing again. Hardly got out of the first area of TBC when it felt like *such* a chore. As if I had to level to have fun, so it's gone for good.

...and this time I mean it [img]tongue.gif[/img] Account cancelled, the lot.

Not true. Perhaps true for some people, but I don't agree with your blanket declaration.

Drug addicts don't get addicted to say tylenol, they get addicted to heroin or crack. The CONTENT of the substance/thing addicted to is important. The ingredients that make up WoW all help to make it more addictive than say, Snood for example. </font>[/QUOTE]One day a game company made a game that was so good, so much of what everyone wanted to play, so much of what we'd been asking for, that it was decided they were evil for doing so.

It boggles the mind.

Level 70 and got my Karazhan key, btw. </font>[/QUOTE]Grats!

And please explain what game you are referring to.

Also... level 16 BE paladin [img]tongue.gif[/img] BE Pallies seem to be a lot cooler/fun than my human pally was, weird huh? My only complaint is the elves are... frail. They got no meat on their little bones!

Grats TL,

I'm myself is a level 70. Currently trying to get exalted with Aldor and Honor Hold. It's a long long grinding work.

"Too much of a good thing" is not a new concept.
Coca leaves have been used naturally in Bolivia etc for generations. Certainly not evil.
But cocaine destroys lives.

Anyway, I'm a Wow addict and I don't believe blizzard are evil. My own inability to construct boundaries in my life and delay gratification is the real issue. If anything, I'm glad playing Wow has brought this element of my personality to the fore, so that I can work on constructing boundaries throughout my life in general, and thus fix deeper seated problems in my life.

Gratz!!!