Originally posted by: Stewy
One of my friends graduated from High School, and a year or two ago started playing WOW. Ever since he started playing the game, he's started having a very wierd sleep schedule (goes to bed around 4am, gets up at around 2 or 3.) He's tried to go to community college a few terms, but always ends up just dropping out after a few weeks. He works around 2-4 hours a day, a few days a week.
Don't assume that's the game. When I got into college, my sleep schedule was 4-6am until whenever I woke up in the afternoon, and I was known to sleep through 6pm classes. I do better work at night and would start working on my term papers and thesis around 1am and work until I passed out. Just how I function best.
My group of friends have repeatedly tried to convince him to stop spending 8+ hours a day on WOW, and do something productive, but after a few years of nagging, we are all starting to give up. His older brother is around 24 and still lives at home, without a job, and also plays WOW all the time.
8+ a day is excessive, but on an odd weekend day spending a long stretch on the game isn't the end of the world anymore than you spending the day watching NFL games might be.
Living at home and playing WoW all the time, again, is a problem.
Keep in mind though, it's a hobby. Much like you might spend countless hours poring over baseball cards, tinkering with your car, writing software, watching every Red Sox game obsessively, etc. It's a hobby, and if you approach your friend talking about it as though it's a "waste of time", he's not going to be very receptive.
And bash the game all you want. I've made several friends through the game, some of which I hang out with quite often outside of the game. One of them landed me a tour through the West Wing of the White House two weekends ago.
I don't get how a game could be so addictive.
Honestly, because it's more than a game. I don't really even log in to play just to play anymore. I log in to see who's online, who's on the voice server, and to chat it up with them. Playing just keeps me busy while we socialize. Hell, last night I was working on some things for work, and logged onto the voice server to chat with my WoW buddies while I worked.
The game itself can be addictive, but in my experience playing (and leading a guild of 150+ for over a year now), it's the people that keep you coming back. When you're cut off from the game, you feel cut off from friends you've made. In our guild's case, we take the relationships to another level and frequently meet up outside of the game (Vegas trip planned next year!), but for some being in-game is their only connection to people they've spent countless hours playing with.