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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsJace Hall tackles media coverage of WoW addiction
by Michael Sacco 
May 5th 2010 at 7:00PM
Addiction is a tough topic, and WoW is an easy sell as a scapegoat. Like any activity you love, if you feel passionately about it, you should fight for its proper representation. Jace certainly is.
His stance on addiction:
Hall laments that news organizations and personalities seem eager to paint activities they're unfamiliar with or don't understand, like WoW, as unique and dangerous forces in addiction then countless other activities. Among those with addictive personalities or social difficulties, any activity can become addictive, and this particular report, he says, is pure fear-mongering "based ultimately on conjecture.""It is my opinion that human beings are capable of creating destructive relationships and associations with almost anything. Seeking pleasure and avoiding pain is a fundamental trait of the human condition. This trait can occasionally direct people toward the use of escapism. Sometimes this can be a necessary mode of survival and very healthy – other times is can lead to counterproductive personal and social behavior.
What that means is that, YES, someone can get so involved in watching movies, or reading books, or tweaking their myspace page, or surfing, or playing games, or swimming or drinking, or using drugs, or having sex, or ANYTHING THAT THEY FIND USEFUL TO ESCAPE WITH, that they actually begin to ignore other important aspects of their lives and it becomes a real problem."
My personal opinion on these matters is that it's difficult to pin "WoW addiction" on any particular source, and that usually, like Jace says in his article, there are circumstances that extend far outside of the game that can cause these problems.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Welldead May 5th 2010 9:42PM
Wow,this dude stole my senior exit XD I'm doing a paper about when video games go wrong" which infers to how long people play video games and how they feel about it. It is such an impact for me because even thou I'm not 18 yet (16) I can be very addicted. So I show people that addiction is very possible in various ways like sooper said.
ben May 5th 2010 9:42PM
I'd rather my vice be a game than a narcotic. -
Benicus
Anyway, I have depression, WoW makes me feel good.
Kaz May 5th 2010 9:56PM
People that are addicts to MMOs really aren't addicted to the "game" aspect per se. Rather its the sense of power, ability to demonstrate said power, the effect of getting respect for said power, and ability to construct a safe and comforting persona that is the root of the addiction.
People who may be uncomfortable with social situations in real life may be respected guild officers in WoW. People who are stuck in a lowly position in life can easily garner prestige and riches in WoW. If life screws you on the RNG you rarely get a chance to try again, but in WoW you don't have to wait more than a week to try again.
People play WoW hard because the game will directly and immediately reward hard-work.
Kill a Dragon? Take the loot right off his body.
Make an excellent presentation, or write and outstanding report? Maybe someday down the line you'll be acknowledged for the quality job you do. But in the mean time wait a week for your regular pay which will be no different then the guy sitting next to you that comes in late, leaves early, and turns in average work usually done by his overworked intern.
Vankay May 5th 2010 10:04PM
I must confess, I have an extremely addictive personality, the upside is that I have the attention span of a sponge, that kinda supresses any form of adiction that would require my total attention.
Other addictions that surpass wow and are not drugs or snuff films, and can alienate you even more from your peers:
Alcoholism
Vouyerism
Douche-ism
Hipsterism
Shopaholisism
Narcisism
Whoreism
-Jonasism
-Twilightism (AKA the twilight of feminism)
-Justin Beiberism (The last thre basically are destroying the next generation of women, and implanting a unrealistically femenine male object of desire, but no one seems to care, lol!!)
Tabaquism
but anyway, CNN and Fox news are comedy shows by todays standars, like Maury or the Wendy show.
CNN its no much better, apealing to the fear of the Lowest Common Denominator with the plague of the year, instead of actually educating people...sigh. Thats one of the things that truly make me sad.
Meg May 5th 2010 11:49PM
"(The last thre basically are destroying the next generation of women, and implanting a unrealistically femenine male object of desire, but no one seems to care, lol!!)"
Define "feminine" to me in words not influenced by the patriarchy's ideas of what a woman (or man) should be, and try this stupid statement again.
Vankay May 6th 2010 1:54AM
oh shoot, that sounded awful, i wanted to say androgynous, cross-wires sorry.
im not very fond of androgynism
Myrdor May 5th 2010 10:06PM
Always take what you see on the news with a giant handful of salt. Selling advertising requires keeping people glued to the TV, and one of the easiest ways to do that is fearmongering. Once you have seen them twist the truth into something even more ugly than it really is first hand, it is difficult to take anything they say seriously.
Tokkar May 6th 2010 2:40AM
"Selling advertising requires keeping people glued to the TV, and one of the easiest ways to do that is fearmongering."
Oh, you mean like the NYPD shutting down the Triborough (RFK) Bridge tonight because of a "terrorist car-bomb threat" that "smelled heavily of gasoline" which the driver "fled the scene" from less than 1,000 feet from the toll-booths? (By the way...it was a broken-down, flooded U-haul truck that the driver walked away from.)
/facepalm
[2. Trade: [Tokkar]: wtb [Sanity] pst]
RomanVS01 May 5th 2010 10:09PM
The media used anything as a scapegoat for a good story. Paparazzi,Reporter's,all will do anything for a good report/gossip topic and usually end up being total a-holes in the process. And of course,since we're a successful mmo and have many players,bad or good,they pick us and say... WoW ruined my life! WoW ruined my marriage! WoW makes people addicts!!!....Most of the time they know nothing of the game and what make's it likable.
If WoW ruined your life,and millions of other people play it with no bad effects,your an addict,and have no one to blame except yourself,and probably need to cut back,don't blame the game,it's your own damn fault.
If it ruined your marriage, then that means that you're probably an attention whore,and wont let your husband/wife have a few hours of what THEY feel like doing.
If it makes people addicts..then it's their own fault....people want scapegoats to make themselves feel better,thats why we get all of these stories of people who played for too long and got sick or fainted etc. Sometime's its their own fault,sometimes its their PARENTS fault,but either way,you cant,blame,THE GAME!
Ninjasammie May 5th 2010 10:26PM
I don't feel so strongly when classes get Nerfed or things don't go my exact planned way. i like playing this game because it provides a way for me to leave all of my problems behind momentarily, relax, and have a good time with out someone destroying everything.
babs May 5th 2010 10:35PM
What that means is that, YES, someone can get so involved in watching movies, or reading books, or tweaking their myspace page, or surfing, or playing games, or swimming or drinking, or using drugs, or having sex, or ANYTHING THAT THEY FIND USEFUL TO ESCAPE WITH. . ."
Or religion.
Yvl May 6th 2010 1:09AM
The DSM-V, which I know isn't out quite yet.
pdperif May 6th 2010 8:50AM
Because This topic involves TV news, please remember:
February. May. November.
Don't let them fool you!
All are ratings sweeps months in TVland. The stats gathered during those months determine how much money they can charge for commercial time.
If slamming WoW will bring in one more viewer, they'll go for it. Imho what they now call "journalism" is becoming absurd. If they could faux-document one case of toenail clipping causing congestive heart failure--They'd go for that, too.
What used to be the public's Right to Know has morphed into journalists' neurotic Need to Tell--2 very different things.
Me May 6th 2010 8:50AM
although what really makes wow addicting is the people :-p.
Walking away from the game would be easy, walking away from the couple dozen people I've found who I share common interests with in and out of the game - that's hard.
:-p.