I am confident that many readers (Many bloggers) have succumbed to the siren song of video and computer games. Gaming is entertaining and challenging. It's a great distraction, justifiably better than just watching TV because you're actually doing something that can stimulate your brain. Gaming requires interaction. With online gaming booming, you can even argue (Quite successfully) that gaming is a community activity. Perhaps it is these characteristics that create such fertile soil for gaming addiction.

Imagine someone staring at the same TV show for hours at a time, day after day, for months at a time. No one would question that such behavior was abnormal, unproductive and pointless. Now imagine that person being connected with others just like him who all condoned such behavior, like a bunch of alcoholics all going on a group bender. Online gaming really isn't much different. The hangover is simply losing touch with reality (Life outside of gaming) by spending hours unproductively creating inherently ephemeral things (I'm leveled up to 50, w00t!) that those you care about outside of the game hardly understand or value. Sure it makes you happy - no one will dispute that. But if you spent your life enjoying and mastering this game at the price of creating anything lasting with your flesh-and-blood friends, spouses, and family, would you die satisfied?

I really doubt it.

Found via reddit, a World of Warcraft (WoW) gamer who had spent a year playing for many hours a day (He cites 10 - 12 per day, seven days a week) who tells his story and how he's walked away from his addiction:

60 levels, 30+ epics, a few really good "real life" friends, a seat on the oldest and largest guild on our server's council, 70+ days "/played," and one "real" year later... ...

I just left WoW permanently. I was a leader in one of the largest and most respected guilds in the world, a well-equipped and well-versed mage, and considered myself to have many close friends in my guild. Why did I leave? Simple: Blizzard has created an alternate universe where we don't have to be ourselves when we don't want to be. From my vantage point as a guild decision maker, I've seen it destroy more families and friendships and take a huge toll on individuals than any drug on the market today, and that means a lot coming from an ex-club DJ. ...

Blizzard created a game that you simply can not win. ... the only way to "get better" is to play more and more....

There are three problems that arise from WoW: the time it requires to do anything "important" is astounding, it gives people a false sense of accomplishment, and when you're a leader, and get wrapped up in it, no matter how much you care or want people to care, you're doing the wrong thing. ...

To really be successful, you need to at least invest 12 hours a week, and that is bare minimum. ... that 12 hours would be laughed at. That's the guy who comes unprepared to raid and has to leave half way through because he has work in the morning or is going out or some other thing that shows "lack of commitment". To the extreme there is the guildie who is always on and ready to help. The "good guildie" who plays about 10 hours a day and seven days a week. Yes, that's almost two full-time jobs. ...

The worst though are the people you know have time commitments. People with families and significant others. ... when a father/husband plays a video game all night long, seven days a week, after getting home from work, very involved instances that soak up hours and require concentration, it makes me queasy that I encouraged that. Others include the kids you know aren't doing their homework and confide in you they are failing out of high school or college but don't want to miss their chance at loot, the long-term girl/boyfriend who is skipping out on a date (or their anniversary - I've seen it) to play (and in some cases flirt constantly), the professional taking yet another day off from work to farm mats or grind their reputations up with in-game factions to get "valuable" quest rewards, etc... I'm not one to tell people how to spend their time, but it gets ridiculous when you take a step back. ...

The game also provides people with a false sense of security, accomplishment, and purpose. ...

And people put everything on the line for these accomplishments with which they associate much value. ... The accomplishment and sacrifice itself are meaningless a few days later. ...

Funny side note was the reaction I got from the guild that I spent a year pouring my heart and soul into. I made my post ... I was leaving ... and that it was time for me to move on. Three days later I didn't exist any more.

Some harrowing words from an ex-WoW gamer.

Gaming addiction exists. I've experienced it first hand with both Quake III and Warcraft III, and I still enjoy a game of WCIII from time to time (My wife is righteously intolerant, however, making it much easier to put it down). Like any enjoyable thing (Sports, partying, whatever), the maintenance of control is paramount. To me, that's the takeaway from this - not that you shouldn't game or do fun things, but that you should exert control over your behaviors being mindful of when behaviors can be detrimental to your life.

For gamers out there, I have a few questions for you: what is the goal of your gaming? If it's something more than entertainment, how are you going to realize that goal? Is that accomplishment going to be something you're proud of in ten years? What about all of the other things you're missing out on by gaming that could be more fulfilling? Would you give up your flesh-and-blood friends for online buddies you may or may not ever meet? With gaming, how is it that you win?