World of Warcraft: The 'crack cocaine' of gaming
We all have addictions, small or large. They toy with us. They ruffle our hair, whisper in our ear, slip their hands down our shirts, and tickle us just the way we like it.
Among gamers, a key addiction, according to Sweden's Youth Care Foundation, is playing World of Warcraft.
"There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part," the foundation's Sven Rollenhagen told the Metro newspaper.
Could that be because World of Warcraft may enjoy the majority of the market that some might describe as "People All Over The World Playing This Thing Without Washing, Eating, Cleaning Their Teeth, Or Attending To Their Underarms"?
However, just in case the message hadn't quite sunk in, Mr. Rollenhagen declared, "It is the crack cocaine of the computer game world." This was shortly after suggesting that WoW is "the most dangerous game on the market."
I am sure that the foundation, whose Web site carries a curious Pac-Man image and the phrase "Game Over-Stockholm," does valuable work. But given that Mr. Rollenhagen's organization works with all kinds of addictions, which is the most serious?
The foundation says that in 2007, it received 2,000 calls to its addiction helpline, 170 of which concerned computer games. Presumably, all 170 calls involved World of Warcraft. Would it be fair to ask how many of the 2,000 involved crack?
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
Maybe they should add a disclaimer 'play responsibly.'
I know several guys who didn't make it through college because of this game and one almost lost his marriage.
Aside from putting a limit on the amount of time that a given game or games can be played during any day/week, I wonder if there really is much that can be done.
I do not understand how people can call this game an addiction. Yes, it has synthesized the perfect ratio of work to reward, and is quite entertaining. But after everything is said and done, its what makes people choose a static character over their own.
It's not how can we get these people to stop playing, but the question as is with hard-core narcotics; why do they begin to value a virtual world over their own? Or even going a bit deeper, games are a hobby, same thing can be said about anything else. What, you've never heard of a guy lying to his wife or boss that he is sick, and instead going to play golf? Calling in sick and just staying at home and watching TV?
These are people's choices. They are very aware of the fact that they can hurt them in the long run.
And while they're at work with me, they talk and talk about strategies they're devising to pass the next phase of their warcraft journey. They get so excited planning it...they act like little kids getting new toys.
So this news about it being an addiction is not surprising at ALL.
None the less, that's one damn addictive game! It even had me hooked for about 6 months... fortunately, I have a life.
I enjoy WoW. It's become the number one way I keep in touch with my friends. It's a cooperative challenge. I love it.
But, to get back on topic, it's not the sort of behavior you can easily regulate. If you're going to start dictating other people's computer time, there's a long list of items that should go on the list ABOVE that. For example, mandated exercise time, sugar restriction (do you know diabetes alone costs taxpayers every year?!?!), TV restrictions, etc., etc.
Personally, I think we're treating the symptom and not the cause. We've created an environment where no one takes responsibility for their own actions. It can't be "our" fault... it must be WoW's fault! If we encouraged people to take responsibility we'd fix a lot of problems...
I've wasted enough of my 'break' commenting on this outrageous finding...I'm gonna head over to my level 77 gnome mage's realm and burn off some steam.
:)
DDTG/IndioITMan
I do read books, and I'm following several series including... House of Night series by P.C. and Kristin Cast... Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, and a few others. When I am not working on a new release, I tend to delve into some of the more classic horror stuff.
Oh... and we don't have any Wizards in our world (of warcraft).
I have to agree with what was posted above. Everything in moderation. People's lack of self control had better not affect the things that I use responsibly. We live in a sad society where these lazy and greedy idiots find it more profitable to place blame on anyone but themselves for the problems they cause themselves.
I say UNFORTUNATELY because your life is preventing you from enjoying the splendor of WOW.
No seriously i have never played but i would if i had the time.
i dream of a time when tech is so advanced so i can have solar pannels so i don't have to pay for electricity, car that runs on it so... and food should be cheaper cuz transporting it should be cheaper... heat could run on electric...
just have to work for house/pc/wow subsription
there would be little other reason to work just play WOW all day.!.!.!.!
That's right those damn TAXES
I have played it for years, as well as Everquest (Ever-crack, Never-rest, etc). I started because money was tight, and this game was cheaper for unwinding than going out or to the bar. What started out at 15 bucks a month turned into making the most of my membership fee. Eventually it started to eat away at the time I would normally take for studying, going to the gym, enhancing myself in positive ways.
This games are the same - the quests take up time, hell, the game is designed to MAKE you *JUST SIT*, for hours, while an item that you need for some quest "pops" up that you have been looking for.
There are guilds, and groups of people, claiming to be 'serious players/raiders'....and what I have discovered is 99% of them really don't have a job or a life to speak of. Seriously. Most are the kind of people that have too much time on there hands and do not have to worry about rent/room/board - lackluster students/military (no offense to the military, but I did that for 6 years, and its easy to get in a rut of job/home/go-no-where when the military feeds/houses you)/adults living at home with parents or on general assistance of some type.
If you don't have a reason to drive yourself, to realize your time is valuable, i
I have played it for years, as well as Everquest (Ever-crack, Never-rest, etc). I started because money was tight, and this game was cheaper for unwinding than going out or to the bar. What started out at 15 bucks a month turned into making the most of my membership fee. Eventually it started to eat away at the time I would normally take for studying, going to the gym, enhancing myself in positive ways.
This games are the same - the quests take up time, hell, the game is designed to MAKE you *JUST SIT*, for hours, while an item that you need for some quest "pops" up that you have been looking for.
There are guilds, and groups of people, claiming to be 'serious players/raiders'....and what I have discovered is 99% of them really don't have a job or a life to speak of. Seriously. Most are the kind of people that have too much time on there hands and do not have to worry about rent/room/board - lackluster students/military (no offense to the military, but I did that for 6 years, and its easy to get in a rut of job/home/go-no-where when the military feeds/houses you)/adults living at home with parents or on general assistance of some type.
If you don't have a reason to drive yourself, to realize your time is valuable, its easy to lose yourself in a game like this.
I find it very currious why no one un the U.S. has tried to hold them accountable. I have seen it wreck lives, marriages, school careers and fueled neglect for children. Just like so many other substance abuse problems.......
Blizzard has reported 10.5 million users, all paying a minimum of $10 per month, plus revanue from games sales. Even if that number is off by %20, that's still over a billion a year. Blizzard hasn't suffered in this economy, it has flourushed, preying on people with too much time or knocked back by loss of work. They arent' ignorant to the problem either. They can't be. The oportunity to mine data about that many users is golden. They know that more than a few people have a problem and have done nothing about it. Not even a help line....thanx Bliz!
FFXI does have a very clear disclaimer on their game, reminding us "Don't forget your family, your friends, your school, or your work." You have to click "Ok" to this each time you log in. They've also put in place very aggressive policies regarding account usage and ownership. They have made it very clear in recent years that they OWN your character and gear, and that you simply pay the fee to have access to it, and they can deny any part of it at any time. SE can be a high maintenance *****, but we wine her, dine her, and lavish her with gifts to get what we really want - playtime.
House, better jobs, and 2 kids later we're still playing and don't plan to stop, but make every effort to keep it in moderation. Luckily, our linkshell (guild) is also made up of the same group of people that have played since high school and college 5 years ago. They, too, are getting married (yes, sometimes to each other), having kids, and having lives. So we now structure game events around real life instead of the other way around. I don't know if this is quite possible in WoW, as I hear more activities are instanced and soloable, so you'd be more personally accountable for what you did and when. But I can't speak on that. I just know that MMO addiction is something that does need to be kept in check.
While the rest of the sheep are crooning for socialism. A surprisingly similar discussion.
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