WoW Addiction. Your thoughs

[Everlast]

World of Warcraft 'more addictive than cocaine'
From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/4863325/World-of-Warcraft-more-addictive-than-cocaine.html

The popular computer game World of Warcraft has been described as "more addictive than cocaine" after it sent a teenager into convulsions after he played non-stop for 24 hours.

The game has been called "the most dangerous game on the market" by addiction therapists, after a 15-year-old Swedish boy collapsed and went into convulsions earlier this month.

His family rushed him into hospital where doctors diagnosed an epileptic-type seizure brought on by sleep deprivation, lack of food, and too long a stretch of concentrated game playing.

Sven Rollenhagen, the author of the report from Sweden's Youth Care Foundation, said: "There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part.

"It is the crack cocaine of the computer gaming world. Some people are literally unable to drag themselves away and will play it till they drop."

The Swedish National Institute of Public Health has backed the report, adding: "Computer game addiction is becoming more widespread in Sweden and across the world.

"There is no known medical diagnosis of conditions brought on by excessive game-playing, but it is clear they have a very powerful addictive hold over many people who use them."

The boy has made a full recovery, but his father has now launched a campaign to warn other parents of the dangers of marathon game sessions.

The game's American makers Blizzard Entertainment have said 11 million people worldwide play World of Warcraft - making the world's most successful so-called "MMORPG", or massively multi-player online role-playing game.

Psychiatrist Dr Richard Graham of London's Tavistock Centre said: "Some of my clients will discuss playing games for 14, 16 hours a day at times, without breaks and without attending to their physical needs.

"For those, the consequences are potentially severe.

"Such prolonged gaming can produce a sort of socially withdrawn figure who may be connecting with people in the game, but is largely dropping out of education and other social opportunities."
------------------------

Well guys what do you think of all this? I think its an issue of people putting their own priorities and limits into place, when playing WoW. But the truth is the game has a gameplay that sucks you into envolving yourself into instances, pvp'ing and stuff.

------------------

Other articles posted by our forum member Randulf:

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/724/724469p1.html
http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/742/742770p1.html

[PariahKing]

This is why I don't play WoW. I have an obsessive personality.

[Psychotron7x2]

I too have avoided this game to save myself from its addictiveness. But really, what can be done about it? Its a video game. Just avoid it, play it in moderation and if you know anyone thats hooked on it try and help them with it.

[SHODANFreeman]

I have quit for months at a time at least 3 times, I come back to check out some new content once in a while, but overall I am just ridiculously bored with the formula.

[BadStrong]

I have a friend who is very addicted to WoW, and consistently tries to suck me into the madness. I always refuse. I really have no reason to play the game, I have plenty of other things to do. I just avoid it.

[Everlast]

I have played the game max 5 to 6 hrs. I can say its pretty addictive. I currently feel the itch to play it cuzz lets face it; "its a dmn good game" but its too addictive and i found myself having difficulty keeping my grades up. I've had my scares and so i had to set my priorities on my studies and literally go to a college to isolate myself to study, because i found it hard to concentrate and resist the urge. It worked good for me, and once i didnt missed playing i let the subscription ran out and cancel it.

Im studying in psychology and have a couple of friends attending early teens that spend 10hrs playing the game despite their dads canceled the subscription, they manage to buy game cards.

[Shen-Zhi]

World of Warcraft 'more addictive than cocaine'

if i HAD to chose, i'll go fot the other one... hehehe. lucky me i don't like mmorpg's.

[smashing]

Anything could be an addiction. Even picking the nose by sticking your right index finger into the left nostril 5 consecutive times at 12.01pm everyday. :D

It's a psychological state. We willingly create a pattern and faithfully follow it in almost anything (we feel like) to know that it is there and to feel the certainty; certainty that we are alive, certainty that we are safe. I mean, just look at those lost souls every Tuesday when the servers are down for maintenance!

Still, I think the comparison of WOW to cocaine is a little bit farfetched. I would compare it to more like a coffee addiction. Most people who play WOW don't get physical ailments. They die a lot in game though.

[ShaggE]

Never understood it, really. I grew tired of it in record time. I have a very addictive personality, but WoW did nothing for me. "Walk for 20 minutes and kill the same creature over and over then walk back to claim a tiny reward"... I just don't get it.

[der_ketzer]

I tried it (Test-account) and got bored after 3 hours of lame "gameplay". Really don't bother with this "game". It's nothing more then a graphically enhanced chat-program with some extra "go to A, kill 600 B and bring me their C-Quests. (maybe B or C are left out of the quest for variety).

[Spadge]

Bought the game in last September after a few of my friends recruited me. So I played a month ot so, but got tired of the whole thing. Kill 30 pigs, get +1 sword, kill 20 goats, get +2 axe... Meh. I see how some people would find that addictive, but for me it was just the same thing over and over again. Getting a better sword, killing a bigger monster, doing 395835495 damage and all that crap doesn't satisfy me in a game. Maybe it's that capitalistic "I want more" idea etched deep in the western youth's minds.

[Toothless Gibbon]

Never really seen the appeal, dont really understand why it fun.

Although I have never tried, seems really dull.

[Megaloman]

Maybe it's that capitalistic "I want more" idea etched deep in the western youth's minds.

Perhaps, coupled with the concept that you can manage a small task within minutes and get rewarded for it. For some people that feeling beats dealing with real life issues.

Peer pressure sometimes plays a roll here, considering that your guild likes you more if you're always active and available.

[tredlow]

I don't play WoW, as I dislike the Tolkien-esque fantasy genre, and I also don't play any MMORPGs, since I hate paying for a game more than once, but I think I understand why it would be addictive. In my opinion, it's because you're playing with other people in the game, and therefore a real community, with something new happening every session.

Another thing is that you have something to show off once you accomplish something, such as gaining a higher level or obtaining a rare item, and become somewhat of a legend in this community, a celebrity.

My opinion on WoW addiction is the same as my opinion on other addictions, which was explained once by a young boy from a certain popular TV show:

You like to drink. So have a drink once in a while. Have two. But if you devote your whole life to completely avoiding something you like, then that thing still controls your life and you've never learned any discipline at all.

All or nothing is easy. But learning to drink a little bit, responsibly, that's discipline. Discipline... comes from within.

(quote edited to be less racist)

[Rawr]

I have quit for months at a time at least 3 times, I come back to check out some new content once in a while, but overall I am just ridiculously bored with the formula.
This. Used to play it about 4nights a week in '05, back when the formula wasn't boring. I think it depends on your personality really though. I have a very short attention span, so the addictiveness didn't hit me as hard as it did with other people and I was able to quit easily; As the formula is very repetitive. However if you're pretty obssessive with games, wanting to complete every achievement, do every quest, get the top rank etc, then it can be rather deadly, as there is just so much to do. The only thing you can do is just try not to let it take over your life I guess.

I don't regret playing WoW though, it made me appreciate real life and good games so much more. Also it's made me immune to other money grabbing mmorpgs, they all have the same formula as WoW, so I'm already bored of it. Win win.

[patters]

That statement is pretty incredible. If you had ever seen someone with a cocaine addiction then you would know the difference between that and an apparent video game addiction, one gives actual symptoms of withdrawal (this being cocaine). You can be a compulsive gamer, but not addicted in the same way as to drugs (see caffeine, coke, alcohol, heroin, as well as many others).

[elaine treepwood]

wow is crap.

[Novotnus]

Once I instaled WoW trial and didn't like it at all. The "plot" is flat, quests are like "Go to (place) and bring \ kill (someone \ something). It's not what I expect from RPG. I don't care if other characters are real people - or even I prefer well-written characters (like ones in Planescape: Torment or KotOR 2) than real people.
[but I don't like many things other people find addictive - almost don't drink and after several marihuana \ hashish \ amfetamine episodes I can say I don't like drugs either - I like my mind clear; only thing I'm addicted to is tobacco).

[Fabula vir]

Eh, I played for about 2 years. Only just ended 26th there.
But no, I never played it for hours on ends. Generally, to the last few months, it was rare that I touched it. But no, I thought it was a good game. But I had too much stuff to do to play it. And I needed money...

[Chris1]

I keep playing WoW on and off for about 6 months at a time.

And by that, I mean I start playing it a little, then get hooked and get madly into it, then suffer a bit of burnout and decide to give it a break for another 6 months.

I think the addiction in WoW is on a different level than a drug like cocaine. With cocaine, the addiction comes from a craving for it.

With WoW, the addiction comes from having to spent hours playing because that's what all of your friends do.
I mean, if someone wants to take cocaine, it's usually a solitary experience. They don't have to complete an application form to join a guild, sign up to a raid slot, and then play for four hours straight with 24 other people.

[natlinxz]

World of Warcraft has too much backstory and not enough gameplay to go with it. Sure, you can shoot magical fireballs at your enemies, but without fun gameplay, It's not worth it.

[SHODANFreeman]

World of Warcraft has too much backstory and not enough gameplay to go with it. Sure, you can shoot magical fireballs at your enemies, but without fun gameplay, It's not worth it.

I think the main problem with it is that regardless of how much backstory it has, they don't present it in a way that makes you want to care about it.

People always say "well you should read the quests" and I respond "how interesting is it to read 'some kobolds stole my boot, please kill 10 of them' 300 times over?"

[The Strong Sad]

I started playing wow at the beginning of the Summer. Ruined the first half of my Summer and blew all my money. I got borring after a while anyway. My opinion is - if you've got time and money go ahead, since it's better than nothing.

[The Strong Sad]

I keep playing WoW on and off for about 6 months at a time.

And by that, I mean I start playing it a little, then get hooked and get madly into it, then suffer a bit of burnout and decide to give it a break for another 6 months.

I think the addiction in WoW is on a different level than a drug like cocaine. With cocaine, the addiction comes from a craving for it.

With WoW, the addiction comes from having to spent hours playing because that's what all of your friends do.
I mean, if someone wants to take cocaine, it's usually a solitary experience. They don't have to complete an application form to join a guild, sign up to a raid slot, and then play for four hours straight with 24 other people.



Uh oh, I just stopped playing (after a few months)... I hope I don't start wanting to play it again... I loved it when I had it, and now that I don't play it anymore I hate it.

[Megaloman]

It's quite funny that this subject is discussed here of all places. I mean, isn't adventure games almost the opposite of WoW and the likes? We value storytelling and clever puzzles over everything else and MMORPGs are (from my understanding) only as good as the social part between you and your guild mates and with gameplay that is closer to sports than actual games. With that said, I don't think we will see many members of this forum singing WoWs praises.

[ShaggE]

^ I wouldn't say that. I mean, gamers are an eclectic bunch. For instance, I *love* point n' clicks (obviously), but I've played and enjoyed a staggering amount of shooters as well. And as we all know, a single adventure game has more plot than fifty shooters.

[Tea]

Played the trial, got bored.

[roberttitus]

I am a HUGE RPG nerd & I think WOW sucks hard... that should say something....


And as we all know, a single adventure game has more plot than fifty shooters.

Apparently you have never played Fallout 3

[SHODANFreeman]

Apparently you have never played Fallout 3

I don't think anyone considers Fallout 3 to be a true shooter.

[ShaggE]

Apparently you have never played Fallout 3

Oh, that action-RPG with shooter-style gameplay (assuming you don't use VATS)? No, I put about 60 hours into it once, but I never really sat down and pushed through it.

[roberttitus]

Oh, that action-RPG with shooter-style gameplay (assuming you don't use VATS)? No, I put about 60 hours into it once, but I never really sat down and pushed through it.

Well maybe you should. Then you could change your comment.

[Ray-The-Sun]

I have an addictive personality (I really am addicted to Pepsi, No joke) and I played WoW. My god, It was more dull than Soul Caliber Legends.

And as we all know, a single adventure game has more plot than fifty shooters.

Go play the Half-Life series. NOW.

[ShaggE]

Well maybe you should. Then you could change your comment.

... Uhh... you did read my comment, right? Where I said I put 60 hours into it?


Go play the Half-Life series. NOW.

Again!? But I already have them memorized... :(

I see this is going to go on all day, and I'm too tired and cranky to deal with it, so allow me to reword my statement. The vast majority of shooters have very weak plots, and couldn't hold a candle to your average adventure game as far as story goes.

Have I covered all of the pedantic bases now?

[meander]

I played a non-WOW MMO for a few months last summer. It was ok... if you had nothing better to do. I liked meeting random people on vent and the like, but the actual game lost its charm rather quickly - too repetitive. And you can't win - that's what annoyed me the most. Instead it was "spend x hours to get x gear so you can proceed to spend x hours to get x gear ad infinitum."

I'd like to think I now understand the attraction of games like that for people who do play all the time, but I actually don't think I do. I know some people that play after or instead of work for 6 hours a day, plus most of the weekend and it kinda makes me feel sorry for them, in that they've obviously got nothing else... and it's a vicious cycle. You play more, so you hang out with real friends less, so you play more... I mean, there's nothing wrong with having a hobby, but there's a few I know that use it more as an emotional crutch, and have virtually no real friends outside of the game, and that makes me sad :(

that said, I don't think you can put most MMO-players into that box... there's also many that play casually that balance real life and a MMO hobby just fine - the weird bit is these people are respected less in the game-world for not being as "hardcore" as the "serious" guilds. That I actually find hilariously funny.

[Rather Dashing]

I honestly don't get the appeal of MMOs. The idea of a multiplayer game that spans that many simultaneous players is intriguing for a variety of reasons. But while the concept itself is good in theory, in practice there are a variety of issues. First of all, the issue of that many players has to be handled through either a subscription or microtransaction system. Both create incentives for the game-maker to create "addictive" gameplay with all of the hooks and issues that this entails.

Then there's the people. The idea of meeting people is a good one, but this requires actual people to be let in. And the reality of the video game and MMO markets is that a lot of idiots get in, or smart people that due to any number of qualities end up poisoning the community.

And of course, the gameplay. It's always really, really bad. A mix between heavy menu-based gameplay that might work for turn-based games, and live gameplay. it's just really bad, and also generally turns out to be...extremely repetitive.

So yeah. I don't get it. At all.

[Randulf]

Jeff Vogel, creator of single-player RPG series Avernum and Geneforge, has written some interesting rants about the holds of WoW on people

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/724/724469p1.html

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/742/742770p1.html

Personally I don't understand the appeal of a game where you're obliged to log in everyday at the same time, so as not to disappoint your loyal guild fellows. It's like getting a part-time job, only one that doesn't pay.

[der_ketzer]

Jeff Vogel, creator of single-player RPG series Avernum and Geneforge, has written some interesting rants about the holds of WoW on people

from one of these articles:
First, people who inhabit online forums are idiotic losers. Oh, my God. Where do they get these people? Are they bred in vats? Is there a giant, invisible conspiracy of married cousins with DSL? What is it about game company online forums that makes people so dumb... that makes it so even the simplest, most obvious comment or complaint is met with arguments and flames?
I kinda feel insulted by this.

[SHODANFreeman]

I kinda feel insulted by this.

I think he's referring more to MMO forums than anything else, and he's pretty much right.

MMOs tend to draw the biggest jerks from all around into one community. You know, the kind of people who take time out of their day to go run around in low level areas killing players who can't defend themselves just because they feel like getting someone angry, or the kind who will stand there and watch something kill you rather than help you, because they want the loot it drops.

Now imagine a gathering of thousands upon thousands of these people on one forum. :eek:

[meander]

MMO forums are sheer comedy gold at times. You have trolls trolling the trolls that troll the trolls... (it makes my head hurt). I think the basic rule is take nothing you read there seriously.

(ie I agree with Jeff Vogel completely :) )

Oh and you have to use "pwn" "carebear" and "epic" in every third sentence, or it will cause a time/space paradox or something :) and when someone makes a point you can't answer the ultimate insult is "who are you again?" - I believe it's MMO speak for "you fight like a cow".

[roberttitus]

... Uhh... you did read my comment, right? Where I said I put 60 hours into it?

You did read MY comment, right? If you did, you would realize that I was countering your sarcasm with my own.

[ShaggE]

You did read MY comment, right? If you did, you would realize that I was countering your sarcasm with my own.

Because even without an obvious cue, sarcasm is always detectable through text (the one medium where inflection is easily seen and heard, of course).

Protip:If you don't add something that yells "sarcasm is being committed here!", then text likely *won't* convey your intention.

But the entire point is moot anyway, since it was quite clear what I meant about plots in shooters.
Congratulations, people! You know of a shooter or facsimile of a shooter that has a plot! Allow me to introduce a concept: "Exception that proves the rule." In other words, games like... say... Half-Life... wouldn't be praised quite as heavily if the genre was teeming with great storylines. It would still be great, but people wouldn't have been rallying about and cheering about a shooter finally having a good plot. But they did. Know why? Because it broke the mold by having a good plot.

[hansschmucker]

Frankly, I don't need a plot in a good shooter, I need atmosphere and good controls. The atmosphere can come from a good plot, but it can equally well come from mindless shooting (Painkiller), stupid comments (Duke) or whatever the designer is thinking of.

But back to WoW. I've tried it a while back when my friends played it, but in my opinion it gets too much of the basic stuff wrong to be considered a good game at all, no matter the genre. The animations looked crappy, the environments boring, the controls were strange and the mix of direct and indirect interaction during battles drove me crazy. The tasks were repetitive and not properly linked. Everything feels reusable and not properly tuned to your character. No atmosphere of any kind.

Heck, I'm having trouble justifying the use of the word "game" to describe it. More like "work". You do something (that I can't imagine anybody enjoying) and get virtual money (or stats or whatever) in return.

[corruptbiggins]

I've currently no interest in WoW and in MMORPGs in general. That could change if the game is based around something I'm very interested in (Star Trek Online for example, and possibly Stargate Worlds).

[Rather Dashing]

(Star Trek Online for example, and possibly Stargate Worlds).
Stargate Worlds is in a bit of a financial pickle, with developers that haven't been paid for months and many more that have outright quit. The developer may lose the rights to the Stargate license altogether, as Lionsgate reserves that right fairly soon.

It's certainly an iffy prospect at best.

[Megaloman]

Stargate Worlds is in a bit of a financial pickle, with developers that haven't been paid for months and many more that have outright quit. The developer may lose the rights to the Stargate license altogether, as Lionsgate reserves that right fairly soon.

It's certainly an iffy prospect at best.

Does that qualify as a pickle? I'd sooner call it a disaster. And it's a shame since the screenshots looked quite nice even though I don't like the Stargate universe through the TV shows.

And, ShaggE, your point is very valid and you've got no reason to defend yourself. To go way back to my last post, I still think that this is a place where people discuss with adventure games in mind, not other genres and that is why I think the discussion is a bit misplaced. It has transformed into a rather fun thread, though...!

[corruptbiggins]

Stargate Worlds is in a bit of a financial pickle, with developers that haven't been paid for months and many more that have outright quit. The developer may lose the rights to the Stargate license altogether, as Lionsgate reserves that right fairly soon.

It's certainly an iffy prospect at best.

I figured something like that had happened as I've not heard much about it for a while, which is why I put possibly before the title. Similar things happened with Stargate Alliance and the first Star Trek MMO project.

[nikasaur]

I think he's referring more to MMO forums than anything else, and he's pretty much right.

MMOs tend to draw the biggest jerks from all around into one community. You know, the kind of people who take time out of their day to go run around in low level areas killing players who can't defend themselves just because they feel like getting someone angry, or the kind who will stand there and watch something kill you rather than help you, because they want the loot it drops.



In any game where you put 2 players into competition with one another, you're bound to get a different temperament out of them, they tend to be more combative.
I don't believe all MMO forums are this way, but I believe the popularity of the game has a lot to say for the people who post. The more people, the more chance of folks who come to start fights.
Some of the most intelligent and funny posts I've seen on a game forum came from the WoW forums. It might be a different balance, but it's also a much larger scale than most forums. You remember Penny Arcade's Internet Theory!

As for addiction, I've played WoW for 6 years and I'm not going into withdrawals for the time I'm away. But this is no time for a soapbox.

[ShaggE]

Beh, I'm cringing at my last few posts in this thread, and I want to apologize. I was being an ass for no reason. I've been in a terrible mood this past week or so, and I, ironically enough, brought it to the very forum that I constantly praise for it's lack of flame wars.

I could have easily just said "Good point, but that's one or two in a sea of thousands", and kept it civilized.

So... yeah. Apologies to roberttitus, Ray, and Bill Pullman.

[roberttitus]

Beh, I'm cringing at my last few posts in this thread, and I want to apologize. I was being an ass for no reason. I've been in a terrible mood this past week or so, and I, ironically enough, brought it to the very forum that I constantly praise for it's lack of flame wars.

I could have easily just said "Good point, but that's one or two in a sea of thousands", and kept it civilized.

So... yeah. Apologies to roberttitus, Ray, and Bill Pullman.

We all have our bad days... Believe me... I know this better than anybody

[Rawr]

Mmo's do have their fair share of idiots, but it's only the same as real life, in countries you get a fair share of idiots too. If you look deeper into the place, then you will find some really amazing people. However I will say, in WoW, from experience I've found the majority of the population playing to be annoying. I won't forget the days of grinding for my PvP gear. Going in solo as a Holy Paladin into battlefields is the most aggrovating thing you can do. Never seen such an unorgansied mess in my life. I mean you do get the occasional people who will listen and speak, allowing you to discuss a strategy to win the match, that however is rare. The Horde always managed to be much more organised though, perhaps I chose the wrong side. >.< That could of just been my realm though, maybe other places were different, who knows.

[SHODANFreeman]

Mmo's do have their fair share of idiots, but it's only the same as real life, in countries you get a fair share of idiots too. If you look deeper into the place, then you will find some really amazing people. However I will say, in WoW, from experience I've found the majority of the population playing to be annoying. I won't forget the days of grinding for my PvP gear. Going in solo as a Holy Paladin into battlefields is the most aggrovating thing you can do. Never seen such an unorgansied mess in my life. I mean you do get the occasional people who will listen and speak, allowing you to discuss a strategy to win the match, that however is rare. The Horde always managed to be much more organised though, perhaps I chose the wrong side. >.< That could of just been my realm though, maybe other places were different, who knows.

Heh, I was horde, and on my realm, we couldn't win any battleground except Alterac Valley. It was pathetic.

[nikasaur]

It depends on the era of players, from my experience, and the game HAS gone through a lot of those. Overpowered AV games! to Cross Server Mayhem! to Server Transfer City! and on and on...
I'd say the ratio of wins on my server is pretty comfortable, but I do miss the days of rolling the Alliance into the ground anywhere we found them. Alliance was busy doing PvE at the time. We mocked them, but a Thunderfury retorted.

[Rawr]

I think that was pretty much what was with my server. The majority of the good Alliance players were raiders. Myself included. Consequently most of the time that we did log on WoW was spent raiding. Leaving the other players, the ones who dont listen, to go PvPing. Consequently on the occasion you don't raid, and you try going PvP, it's full of those players who won't listen, and just run off by themselves.

[SHODANFreeman]

I think that was pretty much what was with my server. The majority of the good Alliance players were raiders. Myself included. Consequently most of the time that we did log on WoW was spent raiding. Leaving the other players, the ones who dont listen, to go PvPing. Consequently on the occasion you don't raid, and you try going PvP, it's full of those players who won't listen, and just run off by themselves.

You mean Rambos?

[Rawr]

You mean Rambos?
Rofl, nice name, yeah/

[Scrawffler]

Never tried WoW myself, but a classmate of mine from uni became addicted to it over the summer break and told us how he was trying to fight it. About two months later he was able to stop playing completely, but I got the impression it was agony for him trying to quit at the time! Guess he did really well to quit completely!

[nikasaur]

You mean Rambos?

This is worth the time to read. If you haven't yet, enjoy.

http://www.wowwiki.com/People_in_the_Battlegrounds


Also, on the PvE aspect:

http://www.wowwiki.com/People_in_your_Raid

[Rawr]

Wow, they have me on PvE. The Easily Distracted Healer. Although, I never caused a wipe because of it.... Probably because when I'm distracted I do still heal. I hate my short attention span. >.>

[SHODANFreeman]

Wow, they have me on PvE. The Easily Distracted Healer. Although, I never caused a wipe because of it.... Probably because when I'm distracted I do still heal. I hate my short attention span. >.>

The one that's closest to me is The Backbone. :)

[Rawr]

;P Used to be the Healing Officer too up untill TBC when I quit for an ecessivly long time.

[Woodsyblue]

I just refuse to play a game where you have to pay monthly in order to keep playing it. When you buy a game you should be able to play it whenever you damn well please without having to put anymore money on the table.

(Apologies for my Gone With the Wind level profanity. Sometimes I just cannot contain the beast within ;))

[SHODANFreeman]

I just refuse to play a game where you have to pay monthly in order to keep playing it. When you buy a game you should be able to play it whenever you damn well please without having to put anymore money on the table.

(Apologies for my Gone With the Wind level profanity. Sometimes I just cannot contain the beast within ;))

That's why I play Champions Online and Lord of the Rings Online, $200 lifetime subscription and I never pay again :D

[Rawr]

Yeah but your still paying $200 which you could spent on literelly atleast 5 games. That doesn't include the retail box which you have to buy either. Boosting the price up to $240 I presume(Not sure how much the retail box is in America).

Hehe. Champons Online seemed alright though. Tried the Beta yesterday. My PC cant play it on full video settings, which sucks. I'm sick of grinding in games though, so I won't be buying the full game of it. No matter what the MMO is, you'll always have grinding.

[SHODANFreeman]

Yeah but your still paying $200 which you could spent on literelly atleast 5 games. That doesn't include the retail box which you have to buy either. Boosting the price up to $240 I presume(Not sure how much the retail box is in America).

Hehe. Champons Online seemed alright though. Tried the Beta yesterday. My PC cant play it on full video settings, which sucks. I'm sick of grinding in games though, so I won't be buying the full game of it. No matter what the MMO is, you'll always have grinding.

I spend more time in an mmo than I would spend on any other 5 games though, so it pays for itself really.

[Rawr]

I suppose. Waste of money for me anymore. Now i've played one to death, they all seem the same endless grind to me. Damn my short attention span.

[SHODANFreeman]

I suppose. Waste of money for me anymore. Now i've played one to death, they all seem the same endless grind to me. Damn my short attention span.

I just like having a game where I can load it up and go do a couple quests now and then, I don't really spend like 60 hours a week on them anymore like I used to.

[Harpalyce]

I'll be honest, I hate these threads because it usually turns into a whole bunch of "herp a derp everyone is addicted to WoW herp derp I hate WoW". Honestly, there are some people who will never take things in moderation. Some of those things have just become more socially acceptable - like television. It's become almost the norm if someone gets pedantic about missing thier favourite TV show, or if they sit down and watch 2-3 hours of television in the evening, but if I treat WoW the same way (and thusly give up TV, spending that $40/month for cable on $15/month for WoW) I'm an addict? Sheesh.

Of course there will always be people who overdo it, but I think people also overlook that what makes WoW (and MMOs in general) addictive and compelling is the social connections that you forge while playing it. It's not just "I have to go kill this monster", it's "I have to go help 9 other of my friends kill this monster, all the while joking with them on ventrilo". The social connections are really why I keep playing the game. Of course, the gameplay's good, too, but even with good single-player games (ex., KOTOR, Fallout 3) I have to have AIM up so I can keep talking to all my friends. My guild leader wrote a letter of recommendation for me for my college applications which, I think, helped me to get where I am; right now my guild's getting together money to send a gift to two of our guildmates who just had their first child. I've met my best friend playing WoW, and my sister's met her future husband by WoW as well (and it's absolutely hilarious to hear them on ventrilo: "Watch out for the dragon, dear!" "Oh of course, darling!").

Are we perhaps an unusual example? Perhaps. But when it gets down to it, what's a guild in any MMO? A group of people, just like a message board or a chatroom is a group of people. It's those connections and friendships that makes MMOs - and, hell, the entire internet - uniquely compelling.

[Crys]

I have a fairly addictive personality, so when I really got into WoW, I spent many hours per day playing. I started very casually, playing on and off for nearly a year and a half, mainly because none of my friends played and it was no fun leveling on my own. Never cleared any end-game content by then; never even got a character to 60 .

Then I met my current boyfriend who also liked MMOs and we started playing together a few months after TBC was released. The experience was completely different and this was the most fun I've ever had in the game. Why? Because we did stupid things just to see if we could and treated it as a game. That was before I got into a guild.

The way I see it, the problem with WoW is this: People take the game TOO seriously. Leveling is great fun when you take it easy. You can explore, try to get into the cities of the opposite faction and live to tell the tale, try all the stupid quests, occasional PvP... the works. And then you get to the level cap. Your choices from there on are two; either keep on doing instances, dailies etc and get bored out of your mind, or enter a guild and try the endgame content.

First time raiding is about a thousand kinds of awesome, but as anyone who was in a 'serious' guild knows, it literally becomes a second job. After I became a class leader the game was no longer fun for me :( I had to be present for nearly all raids, I had to prepare consumables and farm for repair money (for some reason money was always an issue for me in that game >__> ), and on top of that, keep an eye on every other person of my class (not to mention trial players).

Since I had no other friends who played the game, it was impossible (at least on my server) to find a guild of people who took things easy and just wanted to have fun. Don't get me wrong, there were some great people in my guild, but after the level cap it was all about the content and the responsibilities, and I don't know about you guys, but I play games to relax and have fun :S

I finally quit after a year of hardcore playing when I saw what was in store for WotLK. Same crap, different names. No thanks. Just the idea of leveling enchanting again was torture :p It's a shame, too, because I had been waiting for an expansion on the scourge and the undead from the first day I made my undead gal.

For me, the game is only fun when you treat it as a game and most people don't.

[Everlast]

My story goes as this. Been playing WoW alot since the release of TBC, but got tired of P2P, i felt i was wasting my hard earned money and that i would later regret it. (which ended up being true) My grades nearly made me fail in class and i discovered that the hard way College and WoW its a mixture of failure in my life. I also share the same feeling as a guy who posted to articles i believe in page 2 or 3. After spending 3 to 5 hrs or coming from college to play till 12AM and in special ocassions till 1AM, i felt i regretted a day of my life passing by without hanging out with my friends and girlfriends, playing basketball, going to the beach etc. It made me value that social life its more worth than spending your days in front of a screen playing WoW.

Currently i aint playing WoW but i feel the craving to do so, especially since the publicity machinery of Blizzard is so strong that they manage to capture your attention with new in game content and expansions. I think i became addicted to the game somehow and now im feeling the craving feeling. But when i see my reallity check that the small amount money i got its for college book, and to go out with my girlfriend, i feel better to think its not good investment. I will never ever again play for a P2P game.