"You should all be thankful your objects of rage arent addicted to heroin, or alcohol, they stay home, usually with you, just not conversing with you rather then go off gallivanting somewhere else."

# Just because your addicted to one thing, doen't mean you'll scamper away to another addiction once you break it.

# Physical pressence and nothing more does not a relationship make.

Yes it is a Social Network, but it shouldn't take presedence over RL relationships.

The feelings of accomplishment are the very reasons it addictive,
Responsibility online in a fleeting moment is a poor substitute for RL.

yes everyone needs to relax but when an activity ANY activity consumes a person to a point where they are neglectful of relationships or respondsibilities then they have problems. That's great that you can find enjoyment in WOW and still manage other aspects of your life but some people can't. I have seen a close friend play all night long sleeping two hours going to work and then playing again. He of course lost many of his friends and stopped going to school. When you let something such as wow consume you it becomes harmful

of course you're going to stick up for wow ...you play it! you're not being objective towards the topic because you're clearly biased.

I don't deny the fact that this is a very unique game with so many facets to it that it is just unbelievable. I know that my husband has made MANY good friends in WoW,and some of those friendships have translated to real-life meetups with people with whom we are currently friends.

Your theory is that we should be 'thankful' that they are at home on the computer. I'd like to suggest that most of us would be pretty happy if they were home and engaging in conversation, playing with our children, doing yardwork....doing something productive in the REAL world and conversing about things that actually matter.

One of my biggest peeves is the WoWtalk permeates our regular conversation. I have forbidden it as a topic of conversation when we are in mixed company with other couples/family that do not play WoW. I think it becomes ridiculous to talk about "how Magg got to 5%" or "this pally bubbled the whole time". Who really cares? It certainly has no relevance in my life. Also, if my husband isn't physically playing the game it still affects our life - he is on the phone talking about it with his best friend, he is on the forums trolling for new strategies or on the guild website reading posts, or on Thottbot. It is a serious compulsion for some people.

If I switched roles with him for a week - he might understand. But I seriously think he would never do it...it would kill him to see me messing up his character.

Long ago, as a joke, I used his password to get into his account on WoW, and I created a new character "WOWBLOWS" and when he got on the computer that evening it freaked him out pretty bad. I think he believed someone had hacked his account and messed up other things. I could, however, change his password completely and take hostage his account -- but I'd never do that. It just seems over-the-top and unnecessary. If I asked him to quit, I know he would.

There are also RW resposibilities-missing out on a romantic dinner with significant other. Missing out on a child's game or recital. Missiing out on drinks or lunch with a friend. Missing out on baby's 1st steps or 1st words. A feeling of accopmlishment when you get new armor or kill a new demon? That is sad, truly sad. The more you accomplish gaming-the less you will accomplish or contribute to in the RW.

I would bet that some of the WOW players drink alcohol or use recreational drugs while they play. How could a human being not feel slighted when WOW is picked over them? I suppose it's not that big of a deal to schedule going into labor around a raid or asking the school to schedule a recital or soccer game to a better date so you can go on a raid.

Being in the same room with someone is not really a relationship. You can get that at a library-everyone in their own little world- but hey you are all together?! How long b4 all your RW friends/family stop calling/comming around. Oh wait-you wouldn't notice. You have your WOW friends/network.

That's funny...us wives, girlfriends...etc. focus on the kids, housework, our jobs and everyday life in this world...not a fantasy world. If he/she is zoned out all of the time then somebody has to run the household here in the real world. That is the problem most of us have. Everything being dumped on us...NOT OUR SELF ESTEEM !!!!!!!! We give all we have to our families, jobs and home and they give all they have to that stupid game. WE should be the ones they talk to...not some person on a headset. I, personally, am starting to feel like a live in nanny and maid. Just a quarter of the attention on me than on that game would be nice. When you have 4 kids, his, mine and ours, and almost the only time you have together is at dinner, that I worked really hard to prepare, they should get off the stupid game and have dinner with their family at the table...and if he does come to the table he scarfs it sown so he doesn't let his team down during a raid...what about his FAMILY!? We are let down every time he is playing...because he is here but not really HERE. When you feel like you can't even talk to them without them getting frustrated...etc...THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THEM...NOT US!!!!

How can someone feel "real accomplishment" from playing a video game!? That's just so sad... you know what would be a real accomplishment? Training for a charity marathon, or volunteering at a local organisation or animal shelter. I'm pretty sure they need your time, money and support more then the creators of WOW. And it'll teach you a lot more about real life then WOW ever could.

Has playing WOW made any one a better person? Or improved their knowledge of the world outside the computer game? Judging by all the people writing on this forum I'd say not.

The key phrase in the original post is "... WoW is just their choice to escape ..."

The poster has entirely missed the point of what we're talking about here. There's something about this game where people are being presented with choices that he may never have been faced with, or really thought much about: 'WoW or Relationship?', 'WoW or kids'? 'Stick with this raid or have a conversation with my wife?', 'WoW or do something meaningful, learn something, do something I can talk to other people about?'

The point is that there is something about this game that causes people to choose WoW over real-life things. The original poster has made such choices, but probably doesn't think they're a big deal. So what if a couple hours among those 50 days /played could have been spent making friends? Learning a language? Learning to play the guitar? Living life?

But those little choices add up. An hour or two here and there become days on end.

OK, you're uber-l33t in WoW. You could have been uber-l33t in life. It was your choice.

you know what Dan... I've played wow.
I had a Lv 35 Belf Hunter on Emerald Dream.
I was in a guild, but I knew when to STOP PLAYING.

I cannot tell you how many times my EX told my children he was "too busy" to play with them/feed them/clean them/shower them/or simply pay attention to them.

TOO BUSY??? For his children. I don't give a rats ass if he's in a 40 man raid, or doing Instances. These are his children that HE WANTED that HE AGREED to care for. My daughter had vomited on herself (she's 18 months and was very, very sick with Gastro) I was upstairs showering our son, also sick with grastro who had just soiled himself in bed and I heard my ex tell our daughter our BABY "Sorry, baby, I'm Busy, go upstairs to mummy."

WTF - she was covered in vomit, highly distressed and he was "too busy" to console her and clean her.

I don't care who you are, what level you are, what uber-l33t guild your in, or what raid you're doing you are NOT EVER TOO BUSY FOR YOUR CHILD.

So bite my ass, WOW is just as addictive, destructive and life ruining as anything else. It takes money away from the family, it takes affection, attention, love and support away from children and wives the world over. And they do not stay at home "usually with us" they are with their guildies on Vent, they have their headsets on shutting the world out. They MIGHT AS WELL be at the pub, or the casino, or the corner picking up smack. They are equally as irresponsible, ineffectual parents as any other addict is.

You know what wow-fathers lose when the show up to their raids??? They lose their wives, and their children.
That's far more important than some purple epic chest piece.

I agree. When I complain about my shitty ass bullshit job where people look down their noses at me, snap their fingers at me and bark orders at me all day, people say "Be thankful you live in the greatest country in the world and have the LUXURY of a job."

Yeah well, now I hear dumb girls complaining that they don't have control over their boyfriends.

Yeah, seriously, be thankful you have the LUXURY of knowing he's not cheating on you.

Bitches.

There's a good point that you raise here. The difference between addiction and passion.

Addiction: Is when one thing becomes so dominant, it is to the detriment of all other things in life.
If gaming has become so big in your life you are no longer a resonsible human being, then you have a problem. This is then just like other drug or similar addicitons.

Passion: When you are passionate about something it fills you with energy, adds to other things in life, and develops you as a person.

Passions are positive and healthy. Addictions are negative and damaging.

Some people can have gaming as a passion, for others it can be like an addiciton. Different people react in different ways.

I do understand! I see chicks on here running there mouth about how there bf or hubby isn't paying the any attention, or is an addic to the game....boo fucking whoo. I am a chick and I love the game, not for the hard work you have to put into it, but for the people and to get away from a hard long stressful day. i even met my bf on wow, and if it wasn't for the game we would of never met. after i got out of high school i lost contact with all of my friends, and b/c of wow i have met some new ones, plus the love of my life. i see it this way, for all of you that just sit here and bitch about your better half not stuck up your ass 24/7, why don't you go out and buy the game and try to see what they see in the game. hell level up to 80 and you two can do dungeons and raids all day long. oh and fyi, if you hate gamers don't get into a relationship with one.

Hey I understand, I play sims and I love that game but I don't make it my real life.
Yes I appreciate that my husband isn't out hanging at strip clubs or doing drugs. But Im a person, Im the person he married not the game.
It's cool if he comes home and plays for maybe 2 hours or so but all night, night after night. You got to put yourself in our shoes,
if you played that game and no one wanted to talk to you or play with you it would kinda suck.
And that's what real life is when you have a husband who would rather play a game of hours on end rather then spend maybe even just and hour talking to his wife.

yes everyone needs free time, but when your spending more time with the game than your wife that is a huge problem and one that leaves wifes feeling sad and alone. I spend everynight by myself and yes even on the weekends, and are husbands are lucky we even stay around

What would happen to your lives then if the game got shut down for a while?

What are you missing out on that a game simply can't offer?

Do you even remember?

oh i completely understand. Trust me...

you defend the game because you are an addict. like, you have to continuously stay in contact with your mates from school probably because you cant make friends in the real world. have you tried doing anything else? This game ruins lives, and relationships.

It is a sickness and anyone who stands up for this game is obviously sick. You need counseling. moderate gameplay is fine but when it takes over your whole life it is sick.

so your boss is a jerk? well instead of coming home and firing at imaginary creatures why not get off your arse and go find a new job! this is what i dont get, excuse after excuse, well i dont play the game at all but i lost my bf to that game. he forgets to eat and sleep now, and i have to remind him to eat and drink so he lives because i swear, if i didnt he would die of dehydration and starvation. he could fail university because he is too busy raiding to study for the real world.

so you kill an imaginary creature before anyone else??? oh really... well congratulations how does that reward you at all may i ask? does the game just magically conjure up a trophy for you to put on your imaginary mantelpiece? does the game solve all your life problems??? no it doesnt. it only makes you run from your problems, it makes addicts.

WoW is the most idiotic and brainless game ever invented, created by money grabbing imbeciles.

to all WoW users... get a lyf n00bs... gawd and dont run from it, deal with it like people had to before computers were even invented. you should be thankful that the world has changed so there is more equal rights, and women arent being torched because people think they are witches... hell if times were still like that then fucking play your arse off. but they arent. and WoW users are scared of reality and need to fucking face it to get over it.

WoW sucks majorly and needs to be burned to the ground.