I agree that playing WoW (as a couple or on your own) in itself is not a bad thing, and mainstream reporters do tend to make it seam so, but I also think we (WoWers) can't say that WoW doesn't have negative effects. When it came out, my brother and friends started playing and would often play all weekend / all night every weekend, and eventually they begin to wish they could stop playing. One friend even had someone else change their password, but eventually they would request it and start playing again. At the time, I chose not to play it because I knew the same would happen to me. WoW is extremely addicting by nature, and it takes a well-adjusted person (superhero) with a bit (sickton ^ 10billion) of wisdom to limit how much they play.

A couple months after I got married (8 months ago), my wife and I decided to start playing together since we both enjoy gaming. It has been tons of fun lvling and running instances, participating in the guild, but I still feel like I play too much and that we're quite addicted. In my case, it doesn't really have tangible negative effects because I still go to work and am responsible for the things I need to take care of, and my wife isn't nagging me to stop since she's playing right along with me, but tangible things aside, I often feel like I've wasted an entire evening or weekend playing. WoW doesn't give you any satisfaction. It only leaves you with a desire to play more. Sometimes playing isn't even fun; it's more like a job. You feel strongly compelled to level. That is freaking awesome from a business perspective (I'm sure Blizzard agrees, swimming around in the $150mil they pull every month from subscriptions), but I think overall WoW has a pretty negative effect on people. I think it sucks that they're taking advantage of whatever desire we humans have that makes us crave the next-best piece of gear with an extra effing +23 stamina / +23 intellect / WTF-YOU-ARE-A-FREAKING-DORK. (Seriously dudes, we are total dorks) That said, I just hit level 67 on my main last night!! Only a few more days till 70 :)

Sick, isn't it?

We need to get out and climb mountains and drink beer.

Reply