[IRL] In Real Life - A Personal Story About World of Warcraft Addiction

that was really deep.....

I usually hate people that get addicted to video games, I really believe it's something you can control, all you really have to do is stop and think for a few minutes, not only with Warcraft but with any other MMO. This is coming from someone that's been playing Warcraft for about 2 years and a half now, I enjoy it, it's fun, but its just like any other game to me. There's a point where I just want to do something else and/or play something else. All on my spare time of course.

I recall a story from an Everquest player not unlike this, just glad i never got THAT addicted to any MMO

Things such as this are why I don't go for MMO's. This was a well put together mini-documentary and one that was deeply personal. I appreciate the guts it might have taken for this guy to make this.

This is pretty cool. I was into WoW for a few months before the Burning Crusade came out. I quickly realized that I wasn't enjoying it near as much as my other friends, but hey, that's just the way it is.

This is slowly becoming me. I'm on the computer every day for 10 hours at a time. I'm either watching something on netflix/youtube or I'm playing WoW...

That was really touching!

Usually if you're going to get lost in something it is better to do something like say write a book or work on a program (if you can code). With mmos you can't take that hard work outside of the game (unless you live in South Korea, then you could become a video game jock like the Starcraft players.)

*sniff* *sniff*... that was beautiful. There needs to be more stories like this.

I use to have a good friend, but he started WoW just like that guy. Now, we're not good budds anymore.

Diablo 3 is coming out soon. Will we have another game like WoW?

While I don't agree with the term "Video Game Addiction" per say. I do feel it is the best way to describe the situation. Video Games can be addicting in the sense they can give people a sense of accomplishment they couldn't achieve in the real world for some reason or another, basically these people become addicted to escapism.

I can say that much because I used to find myself constantly shutting myself off from the world by playing video games when I was presented with a hard decision, eventually I overcame most of those tendencies but that was largely because I came to a crossroad in my life which lead to me moving out of my home state.

I also think the videos from Extra Credit guys which can be found on the Penny Arcade site are pretty good watches for anybody who have the time.
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/game-addiction-pt.1
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/game-addiction-pt.2

Ohh trust me video game addiction does exist. I know because i was soo hooked on a MMO and also a FPS game in the past. The thing that gets you is when you join a clan or a guild. I was a regular on a FPS server and i decided to join thier clan, it felt great to be apart of a community on the forums as well as rise in the ranks and get even more responsiblities. Soon i was given admin powers on the server and it was fun to know that my cousin got into it and joined the rival clan, so it was really hard to get away. I soon found MMOs and I would just jump from one to another til i settled on one. Join a clan, do raids, pvp, etc. Thank god my old ass pc died on me back then, the break i had from the pc helped alot.

My natural hatred of most online social interactions has prevented this illness for me, but I've seen first hand how MMO addicts ruin their lives and its very sad.

I won't lie, I've had this sort of situation on WarCraft 3. That game was just so cool, I spent the vast majority of my homeschooling life playing the game. That's like four years of waking up, playing WarCraft 3, doing a bit of online schoolwork and then going back to bed to repeat the process. It's really unhealthy the way I did it, but fuck if it wasn't fun.

To say this dude was addicted he must of been doing something right to get into uni in the first place. I have never played warcraft but can you not just pick up and play this game whenever. Does it force you to play it non stop? Because couldnt this guy still play it in his free time? Why quit completely?

This gave me a feel bro...

you know some psychologists say that video game addiction is as addictive as an illicit drug addiction such as meth or heroin. i believe every addiction feels different for each person and whether you feel an addiction as strongly as that of methamphetamine is your own opinion, not somebody else's...