# Is World of Warcraft a drug?



## Aqua Buddha (Apr 21, 2011)

Is anyone here into World of Warcraft?  Many of my friends are, or were previously.  Those who still play tell me that it's an interactive fantasy epic.  Those that quit describe it as a drug which wrecked their lives.  

Which is it?


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## Dr.Dorkness (Apr 21, 2011)

none of the above. Sure the game has an awesome story, when you read it. Playing is just so boring. But hey that is me. the problem with WoW is that it is so popular that it is sickening. the only thing I like About it is the extensive backstory for all races, classes and factions.  

It its fun at times but it is not worth the monthly fee. Most people disagree with me on that, saying that you get so much more fullfilment from WoW than from any other MMO. I think if you need a game to give you fullfilment then Here is a dollar, go buy a Life.

I think it is clear that I am Against WoW.... lol


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## Telcontar (Apr 22, 2011)

It's a game. One with incredibly high production values, lots of humor, and much to see and do, but with a largely static world. 

Those who claim it 'wrecked their lives' should have had a bit of discipline, and have no one to blame but themselves.


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## Kelise (Apr 22, 2011)

Eh, I only played it for about six months. They've crafted it in a way where you basically have to play A LOT in order to get anything done - though they could have changed that, since I played five or so years ago. And by a lot, it was about six hours a day, every day.

You spend most of your time running from point A to point B (until you get a mount, of course). There's a lot to do, but the people in the game are childish and creepy (I had way too many bad experience with very creepy guys) and I agree that it's not worth the monthly fee by far.

So hrm. I played it. ALL of my friends played it. And now I don't think any do, as it's just not really worth it.


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## Ravana (Apr 22, 2011)

Addiction is addiction: the symptoms and manifestations are the same no matter what you're addicted to. Some things (e.g. hard drugs, alcohol) cause additional physical damage, of course, and may impair judgment beyond what the addiction itself causes (ditto)… but as far as obsessive behavior patterns go, it doesn't matter whether it's drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, shopping, sex, gaming online or otherwise, or pretty much anything else. (Hanging about in web forums comes to mind.…  ) All of them can potentially eat your time, money, and social relations. 

I know people who've spent _thousands_ of dollars on a single online game, and know of people who've spent tens of thousands of dollars–and who almost certainly play more than one such game. And those include browser-based, "free" games, where you only have to pay if you want the advantages from the best gear, etc., and the only thing you actually _do_ is click on buttons. I can only imagine what some people are paying to play a 3D-animated, live-action, interactive MMORPG. What I can't imagine is having the money to do that. Of course, those whose lives were "ruined" almost certainly _didn't_ have the money… but spent it anyway.

Running across people who've bought their way to the top of a game always makes me want to refinance the house just so I have a chance to take them out.…


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## Kelise (Apr 22, 2011)

Someone I know sold her WoW account for something like $2,000 and used the money to go see her internet boyfriend in Canada (I think?) who she'd met on WoW.

When she got back after 6 months or a year, or something, she had a look at her WoW account again. The buyer had abandoned it, and hadn't changed the password... so she's still playing.


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## Oof Nian (Apr 23, 2011)

i love warcraft , yeah it's addicted like drug maybe.. i don't know i never  consume drug lol


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## Digital_Fey (Apr 24, 2011)

Never played WoW myself, since I personally dislike the idea of being reliant on any online game for my daily dose of relaxation. It's so easy for these things to suck you in, and before you know it five minutes of procrastination turns into five hours. However, like many things that technology has brought us, it's up to the user to exercise caution and self-restraint. Hell, the internet alone is a black hole filled with temptation and vice...and it's also a bright new world full of opportunity and new insights. It all depends on how you, as a user, interact with something and what role you allow it to take in your life. 



> When she got back after 6 months or a year, or something, she had a look at her WoW account again. The buyer had abandoned it, and hadn't changed the password... so she's still playing.



That story made me chuckle^^


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## Fnord (Apr 24, 2011)

I played on a role-playing server shortly after it was initially released and really enjoyed it for about six months, but then the role-playing group I was a part of got too big and it got really dramatic.  As for the game itself, I had a lot of fun until I got to level 60 (which was the max level at the time) and it started seeming more like a job than anything.  You had to spend so much time trying to plan for raids and then executing them which was absolutely tedious.  So I lost interest and moved on.

I actually preferred Lord of the Rings Online when all was said and done.  I was more into the story, and I thought the game was less "cartoony" than WoW.


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## Sigillimus (Apr 24, 2011)

I've been playing World of Warcraft off-and-on for five years now, ever since the original game was in beta. The game is indeed very entertaining, at least for me, but I am in no way "addicted" to the game. I'm not sure I could understand someone wanting to play the game every hour of every day.

In fact, the experiences I have on the roleplaying realm I play on help me with my fantasy writing, even if it isn't set in the Warcraft universe.



> Someone I know sold her WoW account for something like $2,000...



I actually tried calculating how much money I would make should I attempt to sell my account right now, and it was somewhere around $1,000. I just couldn't believe someone would pay _that much money_ for something as simple as a game account.


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## Amanita (Apr 25, 2011)

Well, I agree with Ravana, once again.  But this is without personal experience because I've never played WoW or any other fantasy game. Somehow, "running around" in a world created by others and paying lot's of money for it has never appealed to me. By the way, do you believe that certain familiarity with fantasy game is necessary when writing fantasy nowadays? The game cliches are completely unknown to me after all


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## Fnord (Apr 25, 2011)

The escapism is fun.  Being in someone else's richly-crafted world is a pretty exciting experience, honestly.  And when playing with others in a role-playing in-character environment really adds a richness to the immersion.  I certainly don't regret paying $15 a month for that kind of experience, especially since I can easily drink that in a couple of drams of scotch at a bar somewhere in one sitting, or you can spend that in one night at the movies.  It suddenly seems like a much cheaper form of entertainment.



Amanita said:


> By the way, do you believe that certain familiarity with fantasy game is necessary when writing fantasy nowadays? The game cliches are completely unknown to me after all


 
I don't think it is, really.  Writing a story for a game seems to be quite a bit different than writing a fantasy novel.  In a game like WoW or LotRO, for example, the story is a background idea that has elements used in-game but is largely static.  Since MMOs have thousands of players per server, the story can't exactly be forwarded by the "characters" within the game itself too terribly much.  Therefore the story is much more part of the environment than right in your face and all the quests within the game are simply short encounters or chains of a bit of a longer story that exists within the game itself.  You wouldn't really want to write a book like that as it would be ridiculously disjointed.  The closest thing you could get to that in literature would be a compilation of short stories, often unrelated, in an anthology that all took place in the same setting.  Robert E. Howard's, _Conan_ stories, for instance.


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## Ravana (Apr 26, 2011)

Amanita said:


> Well, I agree with Ravana, once again. … By the way, do you believe that certain familiarity with fantasy game is necessary when writing fantasy nowadays? The game cliches are completely unknown to me after all


 
Thank you. No, I'd say it isn't all that important: the cliches will have largely been derived from fantasy literature in the first place. You're far less likely to accidentally duplicate something in a game than you are something that appears in a story accepted a month before you submit your own. If anything, you might be doing yourself a favor by not knowing about them, to avoid being influenced by them–for or against. The worst of them (a superabundance of different "races," species of monsters, and magical items comes to mind) are ones you aren't too likely to perpetrate anyway.


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## Nick Jaden Williams (Jun 2, 2011)

I played Warcraft a bit but it turned me off by being tooooo popular and crowded! And then then world/s was/were just too massive. Plus Runescape was free so it got 95 % of my time 

My big brother OBSESSED over Warcraft for years though - and he only did cuz he got banned from Runescape with a level 126 (max at the time) account and didn't wanna start over.


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## Helbrecht (Jun 5, 2011)

Having played _World of Warcraft_ on/off for the past five years, I have to find myself blinking at the "drug" comparisons. It's an okay game in itself, but what kept bringing me back was the lore, the roleplaying and the interesting characters I managed to build with those two things. The people who often seem to be "addicted" tend to have very little patience for any of that. 

I'd say it's less something seriously dangerous like crack cocaine (although these days, crack is probably cheaper) and more like drugs that are nominally "safer" and less addictive, like alcohol and marijuana. By that, I mean that the game can be highly enjoyable when played recreationally and responsibly, but people with murky priorities and/or low impulse control can get sucked into it and let it define them.

Ooh, this drug metaphor is tasty. I might need to stage an intervention on one of my friends soon, steal his credit card and cancel his account.


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## Derin (Jun 15, 2011)

Telcontar said:


> It's a game. One with incredibly high production values, lots of humor, and much to see and do, but with a largely static world.
> 
> Those who claim it 'wrecked their lives' should have had a bit of discipline, and have no one to blame but themselves.



It's not a game, it's a skinner box.

But I've never been an MMO person, unless you count echo bazaar.


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## Leuco (Aug 4, 2011)

The first time I heard of WoW was in China, a long time ago. I was in Beijing for school one summer and one of my classmates was part of some intern program. It turns out the school placed her with some underground internet company that sold black market WoW virtual products like magical swords and armor. I guess she was supposed to cold dial players and try to sell them things that only existed in the WoW. I thought that was crazy. I mean, how could you make money doing that? And more importantly, how do you put that on a resume?
When I came home, I discovered WoW had exploded. My best bud's little brother was on that game nearly 24/7. That was a while ago, and he doesn't play that much anymore. But now he smokes. A lot.

I'm just saying...


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## Kaellpae (Aug 4, 2011)

I used to play it almost 24/7. I got a girlfriend and stopped playing altogether. That was over a year ago, but I still feel the need to log in and play. Then I remember how little fun I had in game, outside of levelling anyway.


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## Motley (Aug 5, 2011)

I've played WOW for about two years, though I took a large break about halfway through that. I enjoy the game and have met some great people on there. $15 a month isn't much for entertainment, quite frankly. It's less than the cost of going out to a movie once with one other person, and I do get more than 2 hours of enjoyment out of WOW.

I play on a role-playing server now, but haven't gotten in with a group or guild yet. I like role-playing; it's like writing and acting rolled into one.

I have met some people on there who seemed to relate to it like an addict relates to drugs, however. I've come across college kids who skipped classes to play it, and adults who called in sick from work so they won't miss a raid or other event.


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## AlissaTheFox (Aug 8, 2011)

World of Warcraft isn't really addicting to me. I played once, and never played again. However, I got addicted to a psp game called Kingdom hearts: birth by sleep


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## Codey Amprim (Aug 20, 2011)

It really is a drug. I have played it for many years, but I have quit and have been sober for about a year or so. It really does consume your life... with raiding... your online buddies... your guild. everything consumes you and pulls you into the game. When I quit during WotLK, I was the #1 Alliance player on my server - no lie. And I quit. Want to know why? Found myself a girlfriend. Got a job. They (my guild leaders/guildmates) began to despise me because of it! I found it better to go out and have REAL adventures and fun instead of rushing home every night at 7 to begin raiding.

I'm not trashing WoW, it's a great game and I've invested a lot of time AND MONEY into it. Go on and try it, but it's either you become a Hardcore WoW player to enjoy everything the game has to offer, or play casually (which is quite frankly impossible) and only be able to experience just a slice of the pie because you're not as good as everyone else. It is a very competitive game.

Just a side, I made a video poking fun of hardcore WoW players - The WoW Savant - YouTube


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## Xanados (Aug 20, 2011)

I've been playing World of Warcraft since I was twelve years old. I'm now eighteen. I have three level 85's and a whole bunch of Alts. I currently play on Slyvanas - EU =]


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## Theankh (Aug 20, 2011)

The most addictive part I found wasn't so much the game and the story as it was the people.

I played for 2-3 years roughly and after I'd been playing for a few days I joined a guild. I worked my way up to second in command, but then the GM just disappeared and rarely logged on. Some of us discussed taking over but he'd always log on briefly to play for a minimal amount of time before we got to the 'doing something about it' stage.

So eventually I decided enough was enough, left and started my own guild on a new character. I didn't try to recruit anyone from my old guild - they didn't even know it was me because I was on an alt. And it rocked! I built that guild up as a casual raiding guild, meaning we mainly played for fun but sometimes aimed to get through bosses, and at one point I had 200+ people beneath me, doing what I said.

That was my addictive area. It turns out that I'm actually rather good at being a GM. Not a raider - despite being the leader, I rarely ever went to raids, I just organised them and watched over them. But I was really good with people, and I could spot a good member over a bad one in no time. When my eventual raid leader first joined, I knew within his first few days that I wanted him to be my second in command, even though I already had a decent team of officers. 

All good things come to an end though. I had two officers who were constantly clashing. Most of the time I could sort them out, but one evening while I was away (a rare an unusual thing - I used to get home at 6 every day and play till midnight) they got into a huge fight, both quit and forced as many people as they could to take sides. It tore the guild up and things were never really the same after that.


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## Theankh (Aug 20, 2011)

Even now, I've not played for about a year and I've uninstalled the game, but part of me still wants very much to play again. I have a deep nostalgia for the halcyon period where my guild were one of the biggest, most popular on our server and people knew my name before I knew them because I was good enough to be famous.

Having that sort of power, even if it's in a game, is addictive. And because I was playing at a point in my life where I had so little control or power over anything else, I was susceptible. I miss it! But I resist playing, even though I have a strong desire to, because I also want to finish my book and I know I'll never do that if I'm focusing on Warcraft.


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## Xanados (Aug 20, 2011)

Theankh said:


> Even now, I've not played for about a year and I've uninstalled the game, but part of me still wants very much to play again. I have a deep nostalgia for the halcyon period where my guild were one of the biggest, most popular on our server and people knew my name before I knew them because I was good enough to be famous.
> 
> Having that sort of power, even if it's in a game, is addictive. And because I was playing at a point in my life where I had so little control or power over anything else, I was susceptible. I miss it! But I resist playing, even though I have a strong desire to, because I also want to finish my book and I know I'll never do that if I'm focusing on Warcraft.


After playing for almost five years I can definitely say that nostalgia is the biggest factor in making me want to play again. I've quit over 25 times. I'm not joking.


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## kennyc (Aug 20, 2011)

Aqua Buddha said:


> Is anyone here into World of Warcraft?  Many of my friends are, or were previously.  Those who still play tell me that it's an interactive fantasy epic.  Those that quit describe it as a drug which wrecked their lives.
> 
> Which is it?



Yeah, apparently it is, like internet forums....


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## Kaellpae (Aug 20, 2011)

@Theankh: The first guild I was in was a levelling guild. The GM and his wife were the 2 in charge. I really enjoyed the guild, as the officers helped everyone when they could. Once I got to a higher level I started taking groups through lower dungeons for quests.

I guess when I took a break a lot of the newer people kept looting the Guild Bank and they closed it to officers only. And then the newer recruits started asking to be run through dungeons and would wait till after the group was a fair way in before they would say they didn't need anything, they just wanted to be ran so they didn't have to do any work to level up.

I guess they disbanded soon after. I believe it was Yojimbo's Chosen on Detheroc. The officers and leadership were good people. Just too many lower levels taking advantage of them.


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## kefkah (Aug 22, 2011)

In my opinion, it isn't a drug. Rather, it is a game designed to have addictive properties to it. Reward based behavioral properties to be sure. I will admit that for those who like the mythos, it can draw you in but not keep you. For those who are goal oriented, you may be fighting a losing battle. The reason we hear more about WoW and its addicting properties rather than its counterparts (save for Everquest) is that it made itself available to mainstream rather than the hard core PC gamers. Back at launch, it used to be playable on many a pc and this combined with its crossover fanbase as well as word of mouth changed the industry as we know it.

The drawback to this is that it drew a lot of people in and many of which not really being hard core gamers soon developed addictions to its "alternate life" offerings as well as it near Pavlovian based mechanics. We now have our first Online Gaming Addiction center in the US primarily because of WoW. This alone is a testament to its addictive powers.


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## Damien (Jan 1, 2012)

I am a huge fan of WoW. 

Story line, graphics, playability , I believe that it is the best in all of these areas. (and I have been a gamer since Atari)

Now, I do not see it as a drug. I can put it down when it is time, I have even stopped playing when I needed the monthly fee money for other things.

On the flip side of that, people with the wrong kind of personality can become addicted to anything, Drugs, food, games many things can give them that high that they need. People with a history of addiction problems should probably think twice before trying this game.


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## Steerpike (Jan 1, 2012)

I've tried to play wow a few times, because friends and/or family were playing it. I don't care much for it. It's not the best MMO around, in my view, and it has become worse over the years as everything is scaled down to the very easiest levels. Vanilla WoW was OK at the time, but it has gone downhill since.


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## Devor (Jan 1, 2012)

Yes, it's a drug, it ruined my life, but it helped me be more creative. . . . or at least to think that I was.  So, there.


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## Philip Overby (Jan 1, 2012)

World of Warcraft, or Everquest before it, CAN be addictive.  But like others have said, you have to play a lot in order to get to that point.  I personally don't want to kill rats for ten hours before I can do anything cool.  And I'm not a very social gamer so I don't get along well with other gamers to be able to organize parties.  I like to just do my own thing, which sort of defeats the purpose of playing an online game.

For me, single-player games can be much more addictive.  Mass Effect 1 and 2 I lost several months to.  Ditto with Dragon Age 1 and 2.  Now Skyrim is consuming my life.  

Good thing my wife is supportive of my addict--uh--hobby.  And I take a walk everyday, so I don't hole myself up in my gamer's cave and turned into a fruit bat.  Yet.


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## Lepton (Jan 2, 2012)

I used to play quite a bit, and I was indeed addicted to it for a long time.  But it seems to have gone downhill, I've broken the addiction and I now can only stand the game for a few minutes at a time. 

I don't believe that it is a drug anymore, but I know that's only because I lost interest in it.  I'm almost positive that there are people out there that play it like it's something that they couldn't live without, but I'm sure those numbers have dropped dramatically.


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## Xanados (Jan 2, 2012)

I played WoW for the years spanning my entire childhood. I began playing when I was 11 or 12 years old. I am now 18. I don't think I had an addicition. I don't play anymore. I just had (and still do have) a strong connection with the game. I will say no more. I could write a book on the subject.


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## Dark Huntress (Feb 8, 2012)

I loved WOW until I realized how much money I was spending on it. Surprising how the addition is broken the moment you look at your bank account.


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## Reaver (Feb 8, 2012)

What's WOW?


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## Phoenix (Feb 8, 2012)

Stands for World of Warcraft. To be quiet honest I played the game for 30 minutes and stopped. I couldn't stand it. Now give me Total War, and I'll be zoned out all day.


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## Codey Amprim (Feb 8, 2012)

An MMO takes time to get used to, and does require some time to understand it. WoW has gone downhill, though - a lot different that it once was.


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## Reaver (Feb 8, 2012)

Wait...so you guys are telling me that there's MMO's out there besides *Dark Age of Camelot*?


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## Codey Amprim (Feb 8, 2012)

LOL like you wouldn't believe. I just got done playing the new Star Wars MMO, I don't have the time for it.


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## Reaver (Feb 8, 2012)

Man, I really need to get out more.  The irony, of course, being so that I can stay in more.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Feb 8, 2012)

Wait, there's MMOs besides Everquest?


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## myrddin173 (Feb 8, 2012)

So I saw this video and instantly thought of this thread.  The funny thing is the girl singing started playing a couple days after they made this...


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## Graham Irwin (Feb 9, 2012)

I've seen too many friends go down on that stuff... I've never tried, and I never will.


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## topazfire (Feb 10, 2012)

I did a research paper on this topic for sociology :S

A lot of the main research is coming out of South Korea where there are well established game addiction rehab facilities. That country is way ahead of the global spectrum. While doing my paper I notice that a couple friends of mine show signs of being addicted to wow. I've never played unless you count running someones body back after they died and button mashing when my husband is in the middle tanking a big battle (hee hee hee...). 

There certainly is a psychological factor, especially among the population that are 'excessive gamers' versus those that are 'casual gamers'. The thing that needs to be discovered is what causes people to change from 'casual' to 'excessive' and how that affects the rest of their social wellbeing 'irl' 

food for thought!


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## Devor (Feb 10, 2012)

topazfire said:


> There certainly is a psychological factor, especially among the population that are 'excessive gamers' versus those that are 'casual gamers'. The thing that needs to be discovered is what causes people to change from 'casual' to 'excessive' and how that affects the rest of their social wellbeing 'irl'



Some of these games are designed to be addictive.  They call it giving the game "replay value."  But "replay value" in other games is usually gained by providing new solutions to the problems or surprise secrets or by making the game fun in general.  But the "replay value" in WoW isn't new or surprising or fun in any way, shape or form.  It's psychological, but they make it that way.


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## Vanya (Feb 26, 2012)

I was definitely addicted to WoW. I'd get up in the morning, play a few minutes or get it ready for when I got home, go to work, come home, make a quick dinner for hubby (bf at the time) and I, and sit down and play till late at night. My husband could never really get into it. He said it was too cartoon-y. Took me realizing it was ruining his and my relationship for me to stop and when we found out we were pregnant I deleted my account that very night. I never regretted that decision.


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## Kreigsbane (Feb 26, 2012)

YES... WOW is a drug i'm still in recovery from it. I literally think about reactivating my account again every single day, i lost 3 friends because i couldn't stop playing it. true story.


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## grumpy (Mar 13, 2012)

I played WoW since Beta (finally stopped playing about a year ago as it just wasn't fun anymore).
Lots of people blame wow for "ruining lives" but tbh, that's utterly inaccurate. If a marriage breaks up because of a game then it has to be said that the marriage wasn't in great shape to begin with, for example (one of the charges levelled at WoW).
I played A LOT. However, I had a small child and I only played once she had gone to bed. It didn't impact on my time with her but it gave me something to do that wasn't watching Eastenders once she had gone to bed.
Some folk do take it massively too far, but WoW is usually filling a gap in their lives, and that's totally ok. I don't see why it's ok to spend every evening socialising with your mates in the pub but it's not ok to spend it socialising in a virtual world.


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## Steerpike (Mar 13, 2012)

There are so many MMOs around that are better. 

I just play them a few hours here and there. WoW seems to have a lot of kids, judging by the way people act and the fact that the people I know who play it range from about 6 to 14. I know there are lot of adults who play as well, but percentage-wise I think there are more kids on WoW than some other MMOs, probably due to its popularity and ease of play.


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## grumpy (Mar 13, 2012)

Vanya said:


> I was definitely addicted to WoW. I'd get up in the morning, play a few minutes or get it ready for when I got home, go to work, come home, make a quick dinner for hubby (bf at the time) and I, and sit down and play till late at night. My husband could never really get into it. He said it was too cartoon-y. Took me realizing it was ruining his and my relationship for me to stop and when we found out we were pregnant I deleted my account that very night. I never regretted that decision.



I think this is absolutely key. Once wow begins to impact on real life then most people I know have indeed quit.


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## gerald.parson (Mar 18, 2012)

I had friends that played it, I never could get into it. I downloaded the trial version ( years ago, 30 days or something like that). I found it too be lame, graphics suck, world doesn't make much sense, everything was just kinda blah. But to each their own.


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## Faolan (Mar 19, 2012)

In my opinion, the World of Warcraft is a great way to escape reality for a short time.  However, some people get so far into it that they truly lose their grip on real life and end up in a very bad way. It's really pitiful.  I had a friend who fell into the WoW trap and became severely depressed when "friends" in his adventure group informed him that it's only a game and that he should lighten up.


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## kadenaz (Apr 1, 2012)

Is it a drug? yes it is. they took starcraft and diablo2 and mixed them up. If you play Skyrim you play for long but at least --you can make it come to an end----


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## Alex Croyle (Apr 19, 2012)

I read a few articles about how people how get addicted to wow are usually very susceptible to gambling addictions, it tickles the same spots as gambling due to its nature of repeatedly performing a task to get the item your seeking. I mean they even call it rolling. So your 20% chance of the item dropping and then 15% chance of being the person who wins the roll gives people that elated feeling they get when they win at slots or what not


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## morfiction (Apr 19, 2012)

WOW is evil. Need proof? They had a new buddy program going on where they will allow a new player one free lvl 80 charcter to be generated... complete with armor & weapons "appropriate" for that level. I cry foul.


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## Vallir (Apr 19, 2012)

It's evil in game form, but I find it strangely interesting looking at all the little tricks Blizzard use to lure people in and keep the sub money flowing.  Also I've been known to 'borrow' fantasy-type names for characters (so, not Ipwnnoobs), base characters on people I meet in-game and run the odd flag in WSG.


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## Steerpike (Apr 19, 2012)

I just don't find it fun to play any more. It's pretty much a faceroll.


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