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.

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.

“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”

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.