Wrath of the Lich King, addiction, good stuff, bad stuff, yadda yadda. With Blizzard’s newest time-sucking expansion on gamer PCs all over the globe, it’s only natural that we’re seeing a resurgence in addiction-related stories. (I wonder if EA is behind it… Hmm…)
For this latest one, we head back to the UK. The Sun –- bastion of high-quality journalism and never, ever known for sensationalism -– is running a story this week about three couples impacted by the men’s addiction to computer games. As you can probably guess given this news post, that game is pretty much WoW. (Except one guy is obsessed with CoD4, so good for him!)
It seems over on the other side of the pond, men are choosing WoW over pregnant girlfriends, and far over the complaints of their significant others. Of course, I could go off on a tangent wondering how come they didn’t bother finding couples where the women were addicted to games or couples with a healthy relationship where one partner considered themself a hardcore WoW player, but obviously those don't exist or people would report it.
Sadly, partners choosing WoW over each other is nothing new. Since early 2005, a Yahoo! Group has existed offering support for those who find themselves second to a dancing Night Elf avatar. Named World of Warcraft Widows, the group is nearly 4,000 strong, and one of the larger public groups on Yahoo. (It also has nothing to do with the webcomic Widow's Revenge, in case you were wondering.)
Are you worried that you're becoming a WoW Widow after reading the three Sun stories and watching your boy/girlfriend as their visage is illuminated by the lights of Azeroth as they grind their way to 80 (again)? Read the group description and decide.
"Stop leveling and start living!"
Do you have a loved one that plays World of Warcraft so much that you feel like you are a widow? This group isn't just for wives, but for anyone, husbands, girl or boyfriends, mothers, fathers, sons or daughters, or anyone that has had a relationship affected by this addictive game.
This is a place where you can vent about it. Sometimes it just helps being able to share your frustrations with another person who understands where you are coming from. This is also a place where WoW gamers can feel free to comment on WoW addiction.
As a big gamer, I can vouch that it’s hard to find time to game like I used to now that I’m in a committed long-term relationship. But come on, people! If you want to play games all day and avoid human contact, just stay single. Is it really so hard to put loved ones ahead of virtual grinding? And why is it medical professionals and non-gaming press always act like everyone playing WoW is in danger of becoming dangerously addicted? It's not like a majority of WoW's players are perfectly normal people with healthy social, school, and work lives or anything...
November 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I'm a gaming female with a non-gaming boyfriend! The Sun can write about me and how I think my fiancé may be a gaming-addict facilitator. When I get a new game I'm particularly excited about, I will invariably sit at it for 16 hours straight while my fiancé brings me food and drink and generally tends to my RL needs. I suppose, though, that our arrangement is not problematic for either of us, which seems to be the basic criterion for labeling something an addiction.
Pointless comment had no point!
November 19th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Yeah, I wouldn't say it's a problem if he's okay with it. One of my roommates from my school days ended up breaking up with his girlfriend of six years because she told him she didn't want him to buy Wrath of the Lich King after he had finally gotten over his WoW addiction. He would skip classes, skip work, make up excuses to not go home for things like Christmas so he could cram as much WoW playing as possible in...
Just really, really sad... Really.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
@Trevor Wow (no pun intended) that sounds like a legitimately intense and troubling addiction scenario. That's really too bad.
November 19th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
And now I'm depressed.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Obviously, the clear solution here is to date someone who is addicted to Warcraft as much as you are. Works for me!
November 20th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Im a big big big girl gaming geek (and proud of it tbh)! I play a lot of wow/cs/dota and have time for guys! there's no excuse for tending to the opposing sexes needs when it comes to wow, or any game in fact. You can be a gamer and have a life, there's nothing to be ashamed about having a life when you're a geek! (ahah)
I have to admit most of my boyfriends have been geeks themselves but hey, we lived a healthy life! I'd definitly not let a game get in the way of my health, my studies, my job (even if it is related to gaming), or my intimate time!