the problem with your analogy is that you're inferring that WoW is somehow magically different than any other videogame or hobby.
I'm not saying that at all, so don't put words in my mouth. Yes, this came up for discussion
because of WoW, but I was very deliberately making a general point.
I do take some umbrage with WoW in particular, because as I mentioned previously one of the biggest differences between WoW and some other hobbies, is that it does in fact
literally fit a textbook guide for promoting addictive behaviour.
However, in fairness to WoW, it is hardly unique in this regard. I would think that most of us realize that addictive hobbies and pastimes with a social component have been around for a very,
very long time. WoW is just the latest iteration, and one that happens to affect the nerd community at a higher proportion.
Is it fair to get angry at these hobbies or games? No. However, we are all human and it is very natural to get angry at such things in spite of good sense. That's where all those ineffectual drug laws come from, really. The anger and frustration of watching people throw their lives away on ANYTHING, be a game, or whatever-have-you, is maddening. It's also something no one has really found a way to deal with very well so far. At least, not on a level above that of the individual.
Hell, even the designers of WoW don't want addicts. They're in a very difficult position: on one hand, they must create an engaging experience so as to draw people in and and keep them paying subscription fees, but on the other hand, addicts are quite detrimental to a company's bottom line, causing bad publicity and costing a disproportionate amount of support costs. So is it fair to blame the designers or Blizzard the company? Tempting, but no, it isn't.
Finally, (full disclosure), I will allow that on a
purely personal level, I dislike things that smack of creating a
literal fantasy world to live in and that WoW gets lumped into this. Yes WoW and other MMOs are an incredibly PRIMITIVE form of 'pure' fantasy world. Again, can I blame people for wanting this? No. Those game designers are doing what they're supposed to be doing. And if individuals do wind up losing themselves to addiction, well, there are far worse fates for people than to become a respected leader or elder pillar of an ephemeral sub-sub-community.
I recognise that this last dislike is only my own personal opinion, nothing more, nothing less. But that's what this thread is soliciting, now isn't it?
The part I find most hilarious about the addiction analogies is that the game naturally devolves into a process that involves you logging on 2 hours a night three nights a week and never playing the game otherwise until you run out of things to do and inevitably cancel your account. If anything, in the world of online gaming, I'd call WoW the anti-addictive game - unlike, say, Team Fortress or DotA or Starcraft, you eventually run out of shit to do and progress to be made, and due to the imposed restriction of content based on large group dynamics and social structuring your play is naturally modulated based on the availability and schedules of your online friends. If people do log on outside of their standard raid times, it's much more likely that they're logging on simply to socialize - and not to play the game itself. In that regard, World of Warcraft shifts from being an online game to being a graphically represented chatroom or message board. You know, kind of like what we're using right now. Now, are we going to have a conversation about how internet friends aren't real friends? Because I would love to be a part of that conversation.
People who hate MMOs just come off to me as militant vegans. You don't jive with something other people do, so rather than just accept that you're two different people who like two different things, you have to make it your job to debase us for the things we happen to enjoy. Be it a steak or an online game; either way, it's irrational and self righteous.
I would suggest that the opposite here is that case. I am trying to explain where some of this anger about WoW comes from. The only self-righteous militancy I've seen is in your defense.
EDIT: Apologies Frocto, one of my
my addictions is reply to posts where people accuse me of saying something completely different than I did.
Everybody's dumb in their own
very special way.