Is World of Warcraft a drug?

[Codey Amprim]

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

 

[Xanados]

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 =]

 

[Theankh]

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.

 

[Theankh]

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.

 

[Xanados]

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.

 

[kennyc]

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....

 

[Kaellpae]

@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.

 

[kefkah]

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.

 

[Damien]

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.

 

[Steerpike]

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.

 

[Devor]

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.

 

[Philip Overby]

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.

 

[Lepton]

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.

 

[Xanados]

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.

 

[Dark Huntress]

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.

 

[Reaver]

What's WOW?

 

[Phoenix]

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.

 

[Codey Amprim]

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.

 

[Reaver]

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

 

[Codey Amprim]

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