Some people veg out in front of the TV for several hours every night.
Some people go out for drinks with friends.
Some people go to the symphony or theater.
Some people work with wood, clay, paint, or garden tools.
Some people play video games.

Uh oh, Johnny's addicted to doing fun things with friends!! Someone call in the white coats!!

It's a hobby, just like any other, except this hobby, unlike many others, involves interacting with other people.

You're right. Proud of it, too.

I recntly got caught up in Wow and a "DND-esc" game at school and am even doing a school reseach project on the subject; I think people get addicted to RPG's in general becasue its a means to escape your life for a short while. In these sessions you dont have to worry about rent, homework, family problems, misc. girlfriend issues, etc. I have noticed that people who participate in these games are generally less stressed out than other people.

I hate the assholes who live next door and bitch about how much the lawn service charges to cut their 1/8 acre yard.

5 hours a day is stupid and pointless. Once my guild starts raiding I might start playing 2 hours 2 times a week and I could stay with the curve. The fact of the matter is the curve is what ever you set yourself at. You could play one hour a day once you hit the level cap and get great gear. Yes it would take a long time but if you are having fun while doing it then the fun lasts longer.

The obsessive "I WANT PHAT LEWTS" is on the player them self.

Now your main problem is with our culture which shield us so throughly from what real pain and suffering are that we have no realistic perspective on what life can be. Thats what happens when you have a 1st world country where people are born and raised and never leave. Welcome to the sheltered states of America. Congratulations on never being fluent in a second language, your now living the "new American dream". Feel free to bitch about your simplest problems.

The fact of the matter is though that within someone frame of reference that has been created by a countries culture, people can become so disgusted with their life that they turn to complete escapism to solve it. In a perfect world we could give them a nice dose of perspective and solve that problem. This is not a perfect world. A persons mind does not always make the logical jump from one thing to another.

From Patton's frame of reference, the 2 soldiers he verbally abused and slapped were cowards. In theory those 2 could have been worse than shell shocked, they could have been mangled or killed, their bodies shredded by shrapnel from and artillery air burst.

@Brokenscope

I consider it a major character flaw when people don't appreciate what they have. I've always had to work for what I own, and had to except responsibility for myself actions as far back as I can remember. I don't associate with people who live in a McMansion, bring in 60+K a year, then bitch and moan about it.

"I can't believe my trash pickup day was moved! Now I'll have to wake up before 9 on a Saturday! That's so unfair! I just hate it! I've never been this upset!"

"I know what you mean. My wife had to watch her dad slowly die of cancer two weeks before Christmas last year, and now my son will never know the man he was named after."

The only people that worry are those that have no idea why so many enjoy MMO gaming. MMOs offer a world full of interesting people who come together to share interesting adventures. You can't get this from television, reading, music, or even single-player games. 'Nuff said.

@G-Dog

"You think the people being ethnically cleansed in the Sudan wish they could have food, or a level 70 epic?"

Well, if it's an epic "bag of unlimited food", then I can see them wanting it... ;)

It's true though, it's an addiction to status rather than substance. It's like that sketch on SNL this past weekend, where the woman "one-upper" was acting like she was on crack, she was so addicted to "one-upping" everyone at the party.

I love how WOW fans rationalize their obsession, as if a videogame in some way can actually be an important necessity of life.

After Katrina, you didn't see any roof tops with the words "NEED WARCRAFT" spelled out in garbage and 500 pound shut-ins waving to the news chopper.

You think the people being ethnically cleansed in the Sudan wish they could have food, or a level 70 epic?

@robustyoungsoul:

Well, "10% lower" isn't a lot, but it is possible he was either sloppy or misreported, and actually meant 10 percentage points lower, which is something else entirely. Later in the article, he's quoted as saying that "[doing the research the way they used to] gives an incorrect result - 10% higher than is correct", which is a sloppy way to put it if the "10% lower" interpretation is correct; if a number, A, is 10% lower than another number, B, then B isn't 10% higher than A, but rather 11,1% percent higher.

If, on the other hand, he means "10 percentage points" in both cases, then the numbers add up properly. Of course, either way he's being sloppy, and in any event, saying a figure is 10 percentage points too high is not very informative unless you know what the figure is in the first place - the difference between 12% and 2% is pretty big, unlike the difference between 50% and 40%.

I've already sent an e-mail to Dr.Charlton to indicate the jouranl article he wrote, but I think I know which one he might refer to (I had that article for some time, but I forgot to read it amidst the other articles I need to read)

Charlton, J.P., & Danforth, I.D.W. (2007). Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(3), 1531-1548.

So anyone in college or university can assess the article.

Interesting study, although "10% lower" isn't exactly a ton.

I’m doing research on second life addiciton, it would be a great help if people would take a survey I set up

http://VirtualWorldAddiction.speedsurvey.com

Thanks,