When I was in my early teen years my parents made a deal; as long as I didn’t neglect school I could do more or less what ever I wanted to and I have even been lucky enough to have them support me with money. I know people with less luck though. A few that got kicked out from school because they were never there and thus failed too many subjects, their monthly allowance was removed, families scattered, relationships broken. Some of them ended up at rehabilitation centers, for gaming addiction.

Ironically enough, these are almost always the things that people hear about when it comes to games. The addiction, the bad sides. If you don’t become more violent then you either grow fat or get other problems with your health. Social habits? Hah! When was the last time you saw daylight?

With good things come bad things, and vise versa.

How many out there are actually thinking about the positive sides that gaming might bring? Daily we’re to cooperate with others and most people have to speak in a language which isn’t their native tongue, not to mention the economical aspects and that people probably have to set up plans in order to be able to do things, such as PvE-raiding. And what I love the most; the social part! Those family friends that I mentioned earlier, they have also asked my parents how much my gaming affects my social life. "Does she act like a normal 19 year old girl? Is she going out and things? Had a boyfriend yet? Friends?”. Now try to imagine their faces when they found out that, hey, that 19 year old girl has traveled more and met more people than they have, not to mention the fact that even though it might not be in real life, I can still say that I have quite a lot of contacts all over the world. The choice between sitting in front of the TV or sitting at the computer playing World of Warcraft suddenly seems extremely easy to me.


When I started playing this game I had one year off of school, and had nothing to do during the days. With the choices between doing nothing and playing Word of Warcraft it didn’t take me long until I was playing more or less 14-16 hours a day. Even if I had the chance to do something I wouldn’t, there were things I just had to do in game! At some points I even forgot to eat. Playing World of Warcraft was great and other things just didn’t seem as appealing as they used to.
Without a doubt, I was addicted. Thankfully school started and I was once again forced to focus on studies, slowly making me stop playing as much as I had before. The urge to play isn’t as bad as it used to be, though I can admit that there are days where I feel like calling in sick to just sit and play.

I still ask myself; How did that ever happen? How could I end up spending so much time on a game? And then it hit me, it is more than just a game.
I can’t think of any other game that isn’t a MMORPG that would ever attract as much attention from my life. Sure, I have spent an awful lot of time on console games such as Final Fantasy and Zelda but it’s not even close to being the same amount of time.


So what is it that keeps me playing? The answer is easy; the community. Even though I don’t want to admit it sometimes, I know for sure that this game would be drop dead boring if it wasn't for all the people out there. Those that make you laugh, those that anger you and some even make you feel embarrassed. And now that I think about it, it’s the same thing in real life.
Things would be incredibly dull if there weren’t other people involved.

MMORPG's are my favorite kind of game, and if the day would come where I would quit World of Warcraft I’m certain that I would pick up a new one, as there is nothing I love more than being to able to do something I enjoy together with other people.
The one thing I’m glad to have as baggage is the fact that I played as much as I used to, it gave me great experiences which I learned a lot from, and today I know that it was never really the game I was addicted to, but the people I played with.