I watched a great video about a pesonal experience of game addiction over on WoW Insider the other night.

I thought the video was very well done, but afterwards I kept thinking about it.   I’m not an achiever in the way that this guy was, but I still feel the compulsion to log in.   There have been times when, I will admit, I’ve played World of Warcraft when I should have been doing other things (such as housework.  Mainly housework).    I wouldn’t turn down real life engagements just for game commitments the way Sevrin did, but …. I’ve been tempted.   In other words, World of Warcraft hasn’t ruined my life, but I can see how I could have let it.   Maybe I’ve been protected by being older and wiser.  Or have I?  Every so often, I read a story about a mother who is a gaming addict to the extent that she neglects her children (not that a father would be seen as neglecting their children in quite the same way, maybe).   And of course, there’s the wonderful Clara from “The Guild” (the one I always feel I have to choose when the question “Which character out of The Guild is most like you?” comes up).  Mums are not immune.

In fact, mums might be even more vulnerable in some ways.  Part of the reason I got into gaming in the first place was because there wasn’t much opportunity for anything “in real life” with a small child in the house.  Once he was asleep, I was on my own.  One of the fun things about MMOs in particular was having a bit of social contact during the evenings, at a time when I was unable to leave the house.   That combination of being alone and confined to the house could be dangerous in terms of gaming addiction.  It’s not possible to just leave the house and do something else.

But regardless of circumstances, I suppose that Sevrin felt drawn into the game world in the same way that we all are.   I last posted about my urge to “collect” approval and light side points in SW:TOR, so can understand his desire to collect pets and mounts.  I can understand that he felt as if he was “famous” in the game and had a status that he didn’t have outside of it, even though I don’t think I feel the need for in-game fame myself.  I can particularly understand the longing to log in and escape to a different world.   It’s so easy to do, and such a pleasant break from the grind.

Sevrin has since been interviewed and explained more about how his “addiction” came about.  It has been interesting reading for me, as a parent of a son who is planning working towards a particularly demanding career (something which would be incompatible with gaming addiction).   My son is a very casual gamer, but recently we’ve been playing together a lot, and I should really consider whether I am encouraging him to immerse himself too much in that tempting world.