Be careful of universal statements. There are absolutely going to be times when WoW--or some other activity--is going to win out over a relationship. This is because *not all relationships are healthy ones,* and *not every person is your perfect match*. It's *okay* for partners to have separate activities and interests; you're not required to spend every waking moment with someone else. And sometimes, you're engaged enough in a hobby that you might want to ensure that you find a partner who shares it.

Always choosing some other activity over spending time together with your partner? That's a problem. But if a partner is objecting to a particular activity, when it only takes up a reasonable amount of time, just because they don't enjoy it, then the problem may be the partner.

For this couple, assuming the WoW fan can keep to a reasonable play schedule, it could be what Dan Savage refers to as a "price of admission" issue. The price of admission to the relationship for the girlfriend is that the boyfriend is going to be playing WoW for X hours every week; and the price of admission for the boyfriend is that he can't be on all night, every night. There has to be a happy, reasonable medium between "WoW 40 hours a week" and "no WoW ever."