‘I play WoW for hours, but am not addicted’
p2pnet news view P2P | Games:- Has computer gaming addiction reached “pandemic” proportions as Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation (Stiftelsen Ungdomsvård) claims?
If it that’s the case, World of Warcraft is the, “cocaine of the computer games world”, it says.
The Local, which broke the story, also has the foundation’s Sven Rollenhagen saying he’s, “working to create a Centre of Computer Game Addiction, an international network of professionals and organizations devoted to bringing attention to what he believes is a major public health issue”.
So how much of the shock-horror news can be attributed to his desire to promote his new centre, and how much of it is down to a genuine gaming addiction problem, with WoW as the current focal point?
Says Jaybarti in a Reader’s Write »»»
I am a player and a gamer (have been all my life), I think that this is more about the rise of geek gaming culture then any set addiction. How about that for a scant $15 a month (the cost of going out to a movie) you get more then 2 hours of maybe entertainment.
People who have problems, sometimes have addictions, that doesn’t mean that everyone who plays WoW has an addiction to it. It is a game and a huge social phenomenon thus attracts a larger then average audience, and while some might be addicted to it, I would imagine that the majority are not.
“These are smart guys, highly intelligent, capable of being anything — doctors, engineers, whatever. But they find themselves tempted by computer games and end up just wasting time in front of a screen,” — as opposed to what, all that time we used to spend in front of the TV or the Radio. People will always seek out forms of entertainment, I know I like to be entertained.
That article smells like fear mongering to me, but then again I obviously cannot see past my own addiction. 
Says Yellowbeard »»»
Only the one who tasted life knows what he looses. I was addicted too and am addicted in certain ways right now. Problem is, that we have to change the outside world to truly live the lives we wanna live. But hell yeah, I wont watch my life go down the road away from me, lets catch up and stand up for ourselves!
Comments Manimac »»»
That article smells like fear mongering to me…
Well my future son in law…lets see…he goes to work…(after waking up with plenty of time to play wow)
Comes home from work…..right to the pc and wow…..don’t matter if my daughter wants to do anything or not…!
He tells me…man I wanna see this and that movie…so I get them…. Wanna know how many he has watched out of about 50 movies….maybe 2!
And thats just my future son in law….
Everyone else I know that plays it…same thing…they don’t know when to stop and smell real life.
Have I ever played it…no….don’t intend to…
Am I a gamer…not really …every now and then I like to play house of the dead.
Been about 6 months since I have launched it.
Do I watch a lot of TV…yep..but then I am disabled and sit at home most of the time…but….on good days…stay in and watch. nope outside…living !
Son in law is young and healthy….at least for now…lets see how he is in about 5 years sitting at the wow game all day and half the night…disabled or not…I am almost in better shape than he is now.
Is it addicting…to quite a few..yes…to all no….!
Eric figures »»»
It’s ridiculous, what people will say about the behavior of others to try to change them.
I play WoW for hours a day, but am not addicted.
I am simply having fun.
No need to put a spin on this.
If anyone tries to take my fun away, they had better replace it with something MORE FUN!
In response to Eric, An Arse says it’s a ”puritan world”. You are to »»»
… work, and not enjoy things that are fun. You are a slave and nothing but a slave!
Although, I don’t play WoW. What annoys me is that the older generation which would spend as much time watching TV a week as the younger generation would spend playing video games, but the older generation claims they are not addicted to the TV, and claims that youth are addicted to video games.
People for some sad pathetic reason feel a need to force others to be like them.
But what’s all this about WoW? – wonders Tom Koltai.
“Sorry guys,” he says, “have to disagree. 150,000 players globaly (weekly) versus 30,000,000 for just one Facebook game?” going on »»»
I think it’s someone at WoW trying to get their numbers up by saying – omg, we are addictive……
Farmville has over 15 million daily users and over 32 million monthly players.
Of course, non adventure/realm type gamers seem to have a short finite lifespan – about 5 months maximum.
Now you (don’t 
) know.
“pandemic” proportions – WoW, the ‘cocaine of computer games’, September 16, 2009
The Local – Gaming addiction poses ‘pandemic’ threat: expert, September 16, 2009
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September 17th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
MMORPG games such as WOW are exciting, time consuming entertainment which are as addictive as any other game, chatroom, love-affair, television show, or fast food. It is possible to over-indulge in any of these things, and with the combination of different elements (chat, game, relationships, imaginary action) it can be a very appealing place to spend time. Spending too much of your free time at the expense of your family and real life relationships is probably a bad idea, but that applies to any activity. Overindulgence is so typical in this age that it could apply to anything: drugs, alcohol, sex, p2p sharing, Google, Facebook, junk food, caffeine, sugar… the list goes on.
I have heard stories of gamers dropping completely out of society (work, school, marriage, friendship) as they spend all their waking hours playing games, be it WOW, Halo, or even Animal Crossing: City Folk. Like most stories of addiction, the blame cannot be laid on the subject of the addiction, but on the addicted person. Addiction is a choice. It is a very difficult choice, because psychologically, and physically, there are withdrawl symptoms, but our willpower or lack thereof is what make the addiction surmountable. We choose to end addiction, or eventually, the addiction will end us.
September 17th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
ive played it once and i wont go back. i know my limitations as i have an addictive personality.
i watched my friend lose his job then lose his apartment because he couldnt pull himself away. my other friend is completely obsessed with facebook and just sits there in front of his computer all day waiting for messages or playing mafia wars. both are cool guys wasting their life away with these ‘’social” phenomenons.
September 17th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I think the whole thing was nothing more than a puff piece.I’m 51 years old I don’t play WoW but I do enjoy Second Life as does my girlfriend and we have made a lot of good friends in Second Life and I might add that there is a lot of the older generation in there. It’s my hobby I don’t hunt,fish or play golf I’m not into stick and ball sports hell I rarely watch TV. I work hard every day and if I want to come home and play a computer game it is nobody’s biz. As one of the post above states:
“What annoys me is that the older generation which would spend as much time watching TV a week as the younger generation would spend playing video games, but the older generation claims they are not addicted to the TV, and claims that youth are addicted to video games.”
man I agree with that 100%. As a friend of mine sez “TV is the plug-in Drug”
September 18th, 2009 at 1:53 am
I play and I love it. Do I overdo it? Sometimes yes. But then again I could do something anti-social like watch TV and talk to no one.
Atleast while I’m on WoW I communicate with people. Who do you talk to while watching TV? That’s rigth, it’s a one way media. No interaction.
You don’t form teams or plan how to take out some monster.
My mother used to say I should get out more and meet people. That would work if I wasn’t so damn shy around other people.
“You won’t meet new people in front of your computer screen” Well guess what mom, WRONG! I do meet and instantly have a good time and
all becuase I’m doing something I enjoy with them from the get-go. I don’t have to sit around with strangers AND figure out how to entertain them.
People need more perspective. But they also need to get out more. I do take breaks from the game.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:06 am
I don’t play WoW or other online games, mainly because I’m too cheap to pay for a monthly subscription. I play mainly single-player games. When I get engrossed in a good one, I can play for literally hours at a time. However when I finish it, I usually don’t play another for a while.
September 18th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
I’m 39 years old and unlike most folks, I’m still friends with a number of people whom I went to elementary school with. The reason I enjoy playing WoW is because my friends are all scattered across Canada. WoW provides a meeting place for us that goes beyond mere text chat or VoIP and allows us to keep in regular contact. All my buddies have successful jobs which means we can only really get together in person once a year, but not always. During these occasions we usually go camping or canoeing in the back country of western Canada.
I do not think anyone can form a 100% valid opinion without having experienced for themselves the things they profess knowledge about. I actually do understand both drug addiction and video games. Trust me when I say video games are extremely easy to quit no matter how much time you spend playing them. While a person, particularly an anti-social one, may spend a lot of time playing a game such as World of Warcraft, I would hardly call it an addiction which is way too strong of a word for it. Drugs are still the real enemy and direction should not be misdirected away from that fact.
There have been times when a break from the game may be needed and it has never been an issue for any of us as far as I’m aware. Personally I’m looking forward to the new Star Wars MMORPG and have high hopes it will be a success. The point I want to make clear is that WoW won’t last forever. Just look at Everquest, another game I used to play ages ago which had the nickname “evercrack”. If it was the title itself that was addicting, then no new MMO would ever find success. Yet WoW did exactly that by replacing EQ as the most played game online.
It is like Aza’s Ghost said about overindulgence, which is what I think is all we are really seeing here. Someday WoW will be a memory as it is the idea behind it that counted most, that being socialization and friendship. These are good ideals to strive for and far better than any of the alternatives. Idle hands truly are the devils playground. Socialization is the same idea that is behind Facebook and makes it work as well as it does too and all MMO’s do is take that socialization a step farther by putting a fun spin on it. Really, the only people who need help are probably the ones who identify much too closely with their fantasy character and start thinking of virtual in-game items as having any real substance or import.
Other than that, I think the whole idea behind the original puff piece is fear mongering. ‘If you can’t find anything good to report, make something up that will scare people!’ seems to be the modus operandi of todays news outlets and the reason blogs such as p2pnet are so important in todays world. They tend to filter out the infotainment junk and bring us what really matters, important news that actually affects us in some way. I tip my hat to you Jon.