World of Warcraft

So now I'd like to talk about one of my latest addictions, World of Warcraft.
All weekend I have done nothing. I have been sitting in front of a computer clicking away at my mouse and tapping away at my keyboard. All I get up for is food or defecation.

I had things to do, but I put them off, now I'm going to have a super busy week. When the weekend comes I'll be tired again, and all I'll want to do is play more WoW. It's only a downward spiral from here.

Analyzing my thoughts and activities within the game I have come up with three main solutions as to why the game is so addictive.

1. I have an alter ego in a fantasy world.
In WoW I can play a character completely different from myself. I can explore a world that is nothing like my own. It is a way for me to blind myself from the real world for... a few minutes... a few hours... a couple days...

2. Gotta build a character.
The character you create in WoW will start out with certain abilities that they specialize in and as you adventure you will increase your skill in those abilities. Your character will become better at casting spells, slicing enemies, or whatever it is they do. As you progress further you will learn new abilities to make things easier, and you'll be able to explore places you previously could not at a lower level. The game is constantly holding a carrot in front of its players, giving them something to play for, something to work towards. When the player achieves one goal, there is another, it never ends.

3. Player to player interaction.
It's an online game. Thousands of people are playing at the same time. You can play with friends too. If you get a friend to play with you, or meet friends in the game it gets even harder to stop.

I have played my share of MMOs and its usually the same thing. At first I play it casually, when I want to get off I do, and I always get chores done before I play...
But after a couple of weeks I find something to work for in the game, something to keep me occupied and then I can't tear myself away from it. I think about the game all the time, even dream about it.

So the key to not getting addicted to a game is, don't care about it. Don't give yourself a goal. Just play to play!