Warcraft, digital dungeon of obsession?
September 15th, 2009 | 
Author: I ran into this article about Warcraft in the LA Times “World of Warcraft, a magical place to play — or a digital dungeon of obsession?” Its about a guy who plays WoW who is going through a divorce, and how he plays warcraft to try to get through this difficult time in his life. The article actually doesn’t attack Warcraft out right (except with its title), its pretty neutral and straight with its facts. But with a title like that you wonder if they had a negative slant in mind. Interesting what other think about us WoW players.
What I thought was interesting was the letters to the editor about the article.
Are you kidding me? Your front page should be screaming about the addictive perils of massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft, not celebrating a confab of generation OCD.
In reading the article about a recently divorced man finding solace in his virtual friendship circle, I immediately wondered if hours a day of WoW contributed to the former Mrs. Dread Pirate hitting the road.
These games are insidious and are creating vast pockets of humanity that would rather pretend at life than cope. Twenty, 30, or more hours a week? What a terrifying waste of real Earth time.
James Boysen
Manhattan Beach
Don’t you love that line “insidious and are creating vast pockets of humanity that would rather pretend at life than cope”. Wow, I guess we aren’t coping with real life. Do you think that maybe we just enjoy the game while you sit on your @ss watching TV? uh? Also “what a terrifying waste of real Earth time”. I’d like to see what the h3ll this guy does that is so horrible productive.
Your article gave me a different perspective on the social role the game can play for some gamers.
I come from the mental health field, and the perspective of some colleagues is that many of the gamers are experiencing what will soon be known as computer addiction disorder. Due to the strongly addictive nature of the game and often severe consequences that result from playing (high debt, missed days from work, poor personal hygiene), it’s actually a huge concern.
However, I think you’re pointing out that not all players will suffer negative consequences, which is an important perspective to share.
Melody Jazeb
Encino
Yes, not everybody suffers from some huge addiction that ruins their life, the majority of us are normal people, pretty boring at times. Many of us have jobs or we go to school and we just do this for fun, its a hobby of ours.
It’s incredibly rare to see a factual representation of the player population instead of the ever-increasing number of articles focusing on addictive and negative behaviors associated with the game.
Those who would refute the social aspects of WoW obviously are not among the millions of game players.
Steven Dowling Jr.
Long Beach
Yeah, all of us are anti-social, all 11 million of us. I like this last letter. Anyway, I saw that, thought I’d add my 2 cents and share it with you.
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As someone who actually has had an addiction I have to say that WoW or video games in general aren’t even close. And the articles that say otherwise are hilarious and at the same time infuriating.
I’ve played WoW for a long time. With and without a job. While managing a social life and maintaining my social skills. I’ve been away from WoW for months at a time without issue. I personally don’t understand how people lose their homes and jobs over WoW, but I guess it happens. I don’t think that’s a problem with WoW but with the person(s) involved not having their priorities in order.
I’ve never scheduled my real life obligations around WoW, and I don’t plan on ever doing so. I do spend a great deal of my free time playing WoW though, and I’m happy when I get to play WoW. Some articles have said that this could be a sign of addiction, but really who doesn’t spend a lot of their free time on their hobbies whatever they are, and who isn’t happy when they are able to? O.o
Though if you listen to people like James Boysen, spending large amounts of your money on things that aren’t healthy for you while hanging out after work with co-workers is much better than playing a video game.
@Naissa I do admit, the fact that I’ve been writing this blog means I’m a little obsessed. Of course, a blog is no means for labeling someone as addicted or a fruit case. You’ll find blogs on any topic under the sun. But I try really hard to make sure that real life obligations come first and WoW comes second. If a family event happens to fall on a raid night, then I don’t raid. If my kids are sick then I don’t generally play. I try to play only when my kids are asleep, usually. Sometimes they get on my lap and want me to jump on a horse. But, again, I make sure that its not interfering with RL, and I check with my wife to make sure I’m doing a good job at that. But I do waste a decent amount of time twittering, blogging, or reading about warcraft. However, I’m pretty sure that the internet in general has brought down productivity in the work place throughout the world, so I hardly think WoW is to be blamed for that.
I think everybody ought to just go roll a toon and see just how much fun the game is instead of whining about how awful it is.
For me, WoW is very similar to a beer-league softball team or a bowling league. Yes, we’re not putting forth physical effort, but we’re having fun doing something competitive and making friends in the process. What’s the problem?
As far as those of us who blog about WoW go, what about those who blog about pro sports? They spend their time watching games, doing analysis, and writing their thoughts…all for free. Explain to me how that’s any different than blogging about WoW.
At least you have to think and interact with people while playing WoW instead of mindlessly staring at a TV.