Could you be addicted to World of Warcraft?

According to Blizzard Entertainment, the producers of the hit MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game), World of Warcraft currently has 9.3 million subscribers. Estimates in psychological field suggest that anywhere from 10% to as high as 40% of these players could be addicted. This translates to anywhere from 930,000 to 3,720,000 people addicted to WoW.

Could that many gamers really be addicted? Does it warrant a new diagnosis added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)?

According to WoW Detox and the 23,346 posts from those recovering from WoW addiction, World of Warcraft is an extremely addictive and dangerous game. Read the stories of those who have neglected loved ones and lost everything because of their inability to walk away from a simple MMORPG game.

According to Tech News World, in June 2007, at a meeting of the American Medical Society Association, a committee proposed the inclusion of Video Game and Internet Addiction as a formal diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The authors of the report admitted that there was not enough data to support overuse of video games as an addiction, but pointed to similar patterns of behavior that link video use to addictions. Namely, spending inordinate amounts of time on the activity and the resulting social dysfunction or disruption in social interactions could signal addiction. They concluded that 10 to 15 % of video gamers could be suffering from addiction.

Maressa Hecht Orzack, Ph. D., the founder of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and a member of the Harvard School of medicine faculty, revealed in an interview conducted by Rob Wright that as many as 40% of World of Warcraft subscribers may be addicted.

China has reportedly already instituted a required fatigue system, also referred to as an "Anti-online game system", that cuts the benefits gained within the game after three hours of play by slowing down the ability to gain new levels or earn rewards by 50%, and cuts the benefits to 0 after five hours of continuous play.

Video of a World of Warcraft addict

Parents suing Blizzard for World of Warcraft addiction

A thirteen year-old Chinese boy jumped to his death last year from a 24 story building, allegedly after playing too much World of Warcraft. The parents of the boy are now suing game maker Blizzard with the help of lawyer and "internet game addiction researcher." The legal team also plans on filing class action suits against "the whole game industry on behalf of other parents."

How liable should game developers be for the consumers that use their products? Though unfortunate, this case and the passing blame over a tragic situation seems very similar to the age-old violence and video games debate.

Addiction Stories

I find all of this a bit strange. My wife is addicted to WOW. I dont know what to do. she plays with every free moment she has. Ever since BC came out she has been playing nonstop. My problem with it is all the time dedicated to playing. She spends more time with her online friends, which are all guys, than she does with me. I have also found that she has one of her online friends phone number and they are conversing out of the game.

I am at my wits end. I feel i should call this guy and let him know she is married and not on Wow to hook up but i am afraid of what the consequences of doing that will be. I am this close to filing for divorce. And when i do i will send blizzard and dell a thank you for ruining my marriage. without them (blizzard and dell) i think i would still have my wife.

(Quick thin bio: I'm a 30+ married father of 2, I work full-time, my wife is a stay at home mother, both kids are young, not in school yet.)

I finally rid myself of my WoW account. This will be the 3rd, yes 3rd, time I've walked away from the game. The 1st time I deleted the character, but then created a new one a few months later. The 2nd time, I deleted the character and walked away. I came back a 3rd time, and what do you know, but Blizzard can un-delete your character if you ask them. At the time, I was THRILLED of course. I started playing this 3rd time and actually seemed to be keeping it in check, it wasn't becoming a problem.

Slowly my play time ramped up slightly, still it was a problem. Fast forward a few months and I was playing a lot and was already becoming addicted, the last 2 months were downright shameful at how addicted I'd become. While the time playing and neglect of life was a major problem, one of the more interesting aspects was how it affected me when I wasn't playing. My wife could tell, it was all I thought about.

I remember going to meetings at work and just zoning out and thinking about WoW. I'd take the kids to the park and sit on the bench while they played, I'd just sit there thinking about WoW. I must've looked like some drugged out loser, I'm sure I had a 10-mile stare. But let's not forget the time played. While I was leveling from 60-70, I would actually set my alarm to wake me up at 3am so I could get in a few hours before work.

Of course I was exhausted at work, hardly did anything productive, and spent most of my day surfing about WoW. On nights when my wife worked, (she works a part time evening job to help out) it meant maximum WoW time without me feeling like I actually needed to spend time with her (sad on my part, I know.)

I would hurry to get my kids in bed so I could start my WoW session for the night. Of course, I always had WoW running while I was getting them ready for bed, whether it be scanning the auction house, getting that enchant that I just HAD to have, or moving my character to the next fly point so I could hit the ground running once they were down. I started to actually regret weekends that we had social activities planned. I didn't want to give up my Fri/Sat nights, those were my maximum WoW nights. Sure, I'd still play after we got home, but that meant I'd lose out on a few hours.

No matter how you look at that, I was sick and pathetic and hate that I actually behaved in this manner for any stretch of time, and for a game?!

Anyway, to avoid me re-installing and asking Blizzard to un-delete my account, I sold the account. Yes, some may frown and say that I'm actually contributing to the problem with WoW addiction. But, this was the one way that I could be sure that I couldn't get this account back. While I was addicted to the game, I just don't have it in me to level a character from 1-70 all over again, so no chance of me doing that. I'm just thankful that my wife put up with me through it. She couldn't have been more thrilled once I made the decision to end WoW for good. She was sweet, she actually left me a card the other night, thanking me and letting me know she could already see a difference in me, for the better. On nights when she works, I actually spend time with my kids and I'm not in such a rush to get them off to bed so daddy can be glued to the keyboard and try to grind out just a little more rep with. Wish me luck, I'm just glad it's done and I walked away.

How to break a World of Warcraft addiction

Some experts believe World of Warcraft can be "addictive". Here's a way to break your WoW "addiction."

Steps

Admit you have a problem. This may be hard, but accepting that Warcraft has taken over your life is the initial step into overcoming your addiction.
Consider the following: Imagine the day that you first bought the game. If you knew everything you do now, would you still have bought it? Now the follow up question: Imagine yourself in two years, still playing WoW, looking back on today when you are making the decision to quit or keep playing. How do you feel about your decision to continue?
Find out what has caused your addiction. What makes World of Warcraft so appealing to you? Is it the fact that it has different continents that you will never go to? Is it the fighting? Is it your "unique" role as a tank or a mage? Is it the happiness of 'pwning noobs'? Whatever it is, try to minimize this happiness in WoW, and make it a pleasure that you could also get in every day life.
- Take a martial arts class. Many gamers are very interested in the martial arts, but never study it. Take up some sort of martial art that is similar to your character in WoW. For example, if you use a sword in the game, then take up fencing, Kendo, or SCA fighting. Your sword skill goes up much faster in real life.
- Read. Novels have just as much excitement and adventure as WoW, but you can expand other skills -- such as critical thinking and vocabulary -- in addition to those that interactive storytelling and game play will build. Try to equip gear that increases your reading ability (Such as monocles), this will increase your WPS (Words Per Second).
- Play a less time consuming video game with all of the rewarding feelings of WoW.
Burn yourself out by finding the ways to cheat at World of Warcraft. Find a private server to play on, with ultra fast leveling/gold. Cheating through the entire game in an hour will get you burnt out very, very quickly. Some of them give so much xp they level you up 20 levels for discovering the first major city, and mobs start out dropping 30g each.
Make it a joint effort. Believe it or not, many people play World of Warcraft simply because their friends play it, and they find it enjoyable to spend time with them in WoW. If this is the case, then convince your friends to stop playing (with these steps, if needed), or even better, find another game to play. Otherwise, explain to your friends and family what you're doing, and ask them to help you stay on track. When you can't trust yourself to keep away from WoW, you have to trust someone else to stop you.
Set up parental controls for yourself. Make it so your play-time is limited, and use a complicated password that you are sure to quickly forget. Or, ask a friend or family member to set the parental controls with a password you don't know.
Schedule other activities with your free time, so you won't have time to play WoW. One of the most effective way is to get a part time job and book every free time you have to work. Hang out with your friends, play basketball, engage in extra curricular activities at school (such as clubs or sport teams) or volunteer. The important thing is that they keep you outside of your home, away from your computer. You can find that there are many things that are just as exciting as playing WoW. Remember, your "guild" online is no substitute for the company of real friends.
Sell your account. There are many players and lazy people out there, willing to pay for an existing account. This is a great way to stop playing, because then someone else takes your character, and you won't be able to control it any longer. This is a nice way to quit, but not stop addiction.
Sabotage your WoW future. Get on your character, destroy all of your items, and delete your character. Then go on the account management page, remove your credit card info, and change your password to a random string of text. Change all of your personal info, so it is impossible to retrieve your password. If you have your CD key that came with WoW when you purchased it, scratch it out, and throw it away, making it impossible to retrieve your account. If you feel that it is necessary, uninstall the game and snap the CD in half, too. Now, you officially can't play any longer, and if you ever somehow get back on your account, all of your in-game progress is deleted. This is the hardest of the steps to do, but is the most effective.
Beat the game. When all else fails, play until you reach the highest level possible. Many players get to the maximum level (at least until Blizzard releases another add-on pack) then look back and realize with disappointment that they've been following what is known by many gamers as the 'role-playing game grind', or the extremely repetitive and ultimately fruitless efforts of gaining gold, levels, and experience. Because when it's all said and done, a dead man's possessions are not important; it's the memories that count. So go out and make your own, now, in the real world.
Do activities that are productive in the real world but allow you to have the same satisfaction of leveling up like getting fit, learning to cook, succeeding in school courses. Get your artisan cooking level, first aid, and fishing skills up in real life. Maybe you can find something useful to do.

Tips

Addictions to video games trigger brain activity similar to any other addiction. So don't be surprised if breaking the addiction seems difficult at first.
People play games because they seem to find reality is less interesting, in reality, there are many more constructive things to do. Find ways to make reality more interesting, that will help.
Evaluate yourself to see if you are using your "WoW" addiction to escape problems in your life. If you have problems at work, see about improving your education (to get a better job). If you have family problems, see about improving your relationship with them.
You can also find support online. There are support groups on Yahoo and Google Groups, and the WoW forums can sate your desire to see what you're "missing" as you quit.
Track the amount of time that you spend playing WoW. Associate a dollar value with that time, for example: 6 hrs/day * 7 days = 42 hours. 42 * $5.5 = $231.00 per week. You can see that your time IS money, and even working a job for minimum wage is a better use of your time.
Get a stopwatch and measure how much time you spend waiting in the game (for guild members, flight paths, long walks, etc.) and compare it to the overall time played. You may find that close to half, or even a majority of your time is spent doing effectively nothing.
Calculate how much of your time you spend doing nothing each month against your monthly subscription fee, and see how much money you're throwing away.
If you use a router, block the port WoW uses to connect. This disables your connectivity to the WoW servers. You can also block this port with Windows Firewall or other firewall software, such as ZoneAlarm. You can find this port in Blizzard's knowledge base for WoW
Remember that all of your accolades and achievements in WoW are virtual and do little for you in real life. While your virtual life is blossoming, your personal life could be deteriorating. If so, that is reason enough to stop playing.
If you are doing something that could get you banned, or the only solution is to get yourself banned, make sure you have fun doing it. There are many, many ways to be banned; choose a good one.
You have a life, go play some sports hang with friends you will soon find out that sitting on the computer at home is not what you want to do. Have fun with your life. dont waste it

Warnings

Your payments continue even after you smash everything. Don't forget to unsubscribe.
Your account may be banned if you get caught selling it. Which in itself is a solution too!
If you find yourself opening a new account even after following these steps, you should seek professional counseling for your addiction.

Online WoW addiction Resources

World of Warcraft Addiction Stories
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WoW Detox
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