Addictions

Addiction - being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=16x&defl=en&q=define:addiction&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title)

Everyone has an addiction. When we think of addiction we think of things that are bad. Some people are addicted to cigarettes, some to alcohol. Other people are addicted to food. Several others to drugs. These all seem to be bad addictions - but not all are bad.

Myself, I am addicted to the Sims 2. I can however, save game and sign off at any point in time. I am addicted to quilting, it's habit forming - it's crazy fun. I'm addicted to hanging out with my friends, but that depends on my schedule. I'm addicted to blogging, as you can see! :D

However, some addictions start out harmless, and then lead to being harmful before you ever realized they are. Let's say, for example...hm, World of Warcraft, commonly dubbed WoW. Once entering the plains of Azeroth one can find all manners of creatures. Surrounding the three major cities - Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Thunderbluff - are a series of low level quests and monsters that you can complete and kill for gold and new gear. The object of WoW is to level you character from 1 - 80 and have the best gear and DPS (damage per second) as you can making you more valuable in groups and more powerful in player vs. player (pvp) combat.

I have a WoW account, I even have two high lever characters and several in between. I like playing, it's a never ending game - it's 'unbeatable'. My boyfriend and his friends turned me onto it. However, it can become addicted. Last night my boyfriend and I stayed up until 3 am leveling because we were "so close" and I very much am paying the dues of that today when waking up at 3 am and not being able to stop running until at least midnight tonight.

My boyfriend and I enjoy playing, but my hobby and his addiction haven't yet become hurtful, unlike this man and his wife:

Although best-selling online role-playing game World of Warcraft boasts over ten million subscribers, it's also leaving in its wake an increasing list of casualties.

Even though she's never played the game, 28 year-old Jocelyn is one of the fallen. A well-spoken California resident, she divorced her husband of six years after he developed a crippling addiction to the smash online RPG.

"He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he'd play until three a.m. Weekends were worse -- it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night," she told Yahoo! Games in an interview. "It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life."

Jocelyn had been friends with her ex-husband Peter since the age of 13, but it took only nine months for her marriage to collapse.

"I bought the game for him for Christmas 2004, when it first came out. By May we had our first serious discussion about where our marriage was going, and by September I had moved out," she said.

Jocelyn recalled one particular incident that was typical of Peter's habits. "I had set aside 30 minutes for us to watch a television show together, and he couldn't. He was stuck on a raid, and completely failed to understand why I was upset," she said.

Peter's domestic duties also suffered. He stopped paying bills, she says, and refused to do his share of the housework.

Jocelyn doesn't hesitate to cite Warcraft as the main reason for her divorce and remains emotional about its impact on her marriage. "I'm real, and you're giving me up for a fantasy land. You're destroying your life, your six-year marriage, and you're giving it up for something that isn't even real."

Despite their differences, the couple remains friends, and although Peter still plays World of Warcraft, Jocelyn says he made an effort to cut down after their split.

A gamer herself, Jocelyn briefly worked for World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment, although not on the title that proved so damaging to her relationship. "I recognized that this was a game that would never end, and that's why I chose not to play it," she said.

"They build it in such a way that you have to keep putting more and more time into it to maintain your status. I remember thinking when I was married that it was downright exploitative to people who couldn't control themselves in that way. It's set up like a drug."

Asked if she would consider marrying another Warcraft player, Jocelyn laughed. "That's actually one of my primary criteria now -- I don't want to marry someone who is a gamer."

(taken from http://www.gamegrep.com/news/7464-warning_world_of_warcraft_may_cause_divorce/)
___________________________________________________________________

Just remember what starts as a hobby can always lead to addiction.

Hobb with caution!

-Amberly