How To Help a Friend With an MMO Addiction?

sammydee writes "I have a friend who is addicted to an MMO (Pirates of the Burning Sea). On a typical day, he will wake up around 9am, browse the forums for a bit, then go online and stay online all day, playing until about 3am the following morning, taking only toilet breaks and stopping to eat ready-meals. While the rest of the house works hard revising for exams, this friend will be playing his MMO instead. Now, I am pretty confident that this comprises an unhealthy addiction; unfortunately, I have no idea what to do about it. Any attempt to physically prevent him from playing the game would most likely result in an outburst of anger and possibly physical violence. Attempts at telling him he has a problem have been met with derision and angry retorts. Slashdotters, what would you do to help out a friend in this situation? Perhaps you are a reformed addict yourself — if so, how did you break out of the habit? Or maybe I should just leave well enough alone and allow him to continue? Any thoughts are gratefully received."

Comments

It's Called S.E.X

[alain94040]

Get him a girlfriend.

That's pretty much the only solution.

Save a geek: help me develop the Geek Saver, the iPhone app that makes dating for geeks a breeze!

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[sreid]

Unless this was posted by the girlfriend

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Anonymous Coward]

Girlfriend?!? Get him a hooker instead!

A hooker will see the money and perform. A girlfriend will want to evaluate his character, tell her friends, make him want to go out on dates and shit like that... and if all is good, will "perform".

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[GF678]

Absolutely agree with this - sex is the remedy. Make the point that the guy isn't getting any and you are (hopefully), and it'll probably hurt enough to get him to start thinking about what he's missing out on by spending all his time playing Pirates.

Sex is an integral part of almost all humans, and we need it. Use this to your advantage.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Shakrai]

Unless this was posted by the girlfriend

Or his "girlfriend" is someone he met on the MMO. Do the keys on his keyboard stick?

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[iamhassi]

"Unless this was posted by the girlfriend"

Answer's still the same: get him a girlfriend (a different one, obviously).

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Bigjeff5]

Damn... the potentional for real life social interaction with ladies was all it took for me. Were my standards too low? You mean I could have gotten sex out of it? Damn...

Seriously though, you need to start going out, and often, to meet up with ladies in order to fix this. Since he won't be going with you, you don't have to be successful at all at meeting up with the ladies, just make sure he knows your intended goal every time you go out, be sure to have adventures, and be sure to talk about them non-stop around him.

At first, you should neglect to invite him, but be sure to have exchanges like "Should we invite Jim?" "Nah, he'll just say no and stay home to play his stupid game" within earshot of him. Then a few weeks later, actually ask him to go with you. By then he will probably have gotten jealous, and just might say yes. If so, and you can actually get him to have real-life physical relations with a lady - and I'm talking waaaay less than sex here - he'll probably lose interest in the game. Real life will be more exciting. ;)

On another note, is POTBC any good? I haven't played a steady MMO since I quit SW Galaxies, but I always wanted to play that one...

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Joebert]

We tried this once.
The hooker took one look at us, laughed, and walked out the door with our money.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Lord Juan]

Unless this was posted by the girlfriend

~ Double check the address bar ~

I really don't think so.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[DoofusOfDeath]

Sex is an integral part of almost all humans, and we need it. Use this to your advantage.

If my male housemate ever try this, all they'd accomplish is me backed into a corner, one hand on an my revolver, half looking at them and half looking at my computer screen.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Ethanol-fueled]

In that case we shouldn't worry, he'll kick his addiction once he discovers that his "girlfriend", the Undead Warlock named Zombiewitch, is really a 42 year-old balding fat guy from Cleveland.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Shakrai]

The hooker took one look at us, laughed, and walked out the door with our money.

You gave her the money before the services were rendered? Amateur.....

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[DriedClexler]

And women will be receptive to a random MMO junkie because _______?

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Rip Dick]

A girlfriend will want to evaluate his character, tell her friends, make him want to go out on dates and shit like that... and if all is good, will "perform".

You're doing it wrong.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[jhfry]

Thats what did it for me. 80+ hrs per week on EQ, while in the USAF...

Since getting clean, I can't get into any games anymore... I'd imagine it's like getting clean from crack, nothing will ever be good enough to replace it. You try to give it a chance but you can't really commit enough to get really into it.

My wife bought me Fallout 3 for Christmas and I haven't even taken the cellophane off yet... though I fully expect to love the game like I loved the other two, I know how it will play out. I will not see my family for a weekend, go back to work on Monday and never play it again because I realize that it's just a game and can't commit to it.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Xtravar]

This is a house mate. I'm assuming they had a reason for rooming together in the first place. Oh that's right, it's called friendship. And if your friend is addicted to something, then the friendship dissolves.

Losing a friend to game is no different than losing a friend to any other addiction. If they're gone, they're gone until they return to their senses.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[cyn1c77]

And women will be receptive to a random MMO junkie because _______?

Because they are good at performing repetitive motions with their fingers AND they can endure doing the same boring tasks week after week: "Tell me how your day was, honey?"

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[mysidia]

Sounds like a way to get your ass kicked and to permanently lose a "friend", or worse. The effect that has may not be what you intended, and could easily be worse than the "addiction" you thought existed.

A friend is not a person who has a right to destroy your stuff, just because they feel you're doing something with the stuff that they would consider unhealthy or unnatural.

Anyone who would contemplate such treachery is not a friend.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[jelizondo]

And not only from games. A friend of mine, a successful accountant almost died some months ago from a clot, formed in her legs from sitting too may hours.

What ever else you are doing, get up and walk some every hour or so

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[bitt3n]

In that case we shouldn't worry, he'll kick his addiction once he discovers that his "girlfriend", the Undead Warlock named Zombiewitch, is really a 42 year-old balding fat guy from Cleveland.

that's 41, and it's a gland problem. jerk

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[centuren]

I think people should mind their own bloody business personally. It's not like he's poisoning his body with drugs or alcohol or hurting other people with his "addiction".

How to help a friend? Leave them the hell alone to live their life how they want and stop being so bloody pretentious in thinking this person needs to be "saved".

I'm pretty much on board with this perspective. At some point he's an adult and takes responsibilities for his own actions. He might look back years later and lament the lost time (and quite possibly a delayed education), but that will have been his choice. The potential to be doing other things doesn't mean that he'd be happier not doing what he is now.

If he was spending all his time shut away in his room reading books, this wouldn't be post-worthy, it'd just be someone with a reclusive personality. If he was out getting smashed at parties and getting laid all the time, it wouldn't be post-worthy either. Still, it's just as easy to look back with regret on a year of partying as it is a year of playing an MMO.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Infamous Tim]

I have to respectfully disagree here. When you make a lifestyle out of anything, when that thing is suddenly gone you notice it. All the time. ALL THE TIME. It might not be a physical addition like nicotine, alcohol, or hard drugs, but it is still an addiction.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[StrongAxe]

Except that MMO is not an 'addiction' . . . it is a 'habit.' His friend will go through no withdrawal if his account expired tomorrow.

I see that you've obviously never been really into a game...

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[wisty]

Poker machines and MMO are very similar. The both have similar audio visual stimulus, the same payoff / reward systems. They are both engineered to be addictive. Psychologists will be divided over whether that counts as an addiction, but it's certainly a problem.

There are lots of resources for gambling, see The Gambling Addiction Patient Workbook By Robert R. Perkinson, or the Gambling Anonymous website. Or just google it.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[adolf]

"Unless this was posted by the girlfriend"

Answer's still the same: get him a girlfriend (another one, obviously).

(There. Fixed that for you.)

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[jmpeax]

It's only an addiction when it hurts the people around you.

You obviously don't know much about addiction.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[hairyfeet]

As someone who has lived a good chunk of his life on the "wrong" side of the tracks, allow me to give him some advice given to me long ago by a wise ex junkie- You can't make ANYONE stop being a junkie. They have to want to stop being a junkie themselves. You just try to be their friend if you can, and if you can't you simply walk away. It sucks, but so does life a lot of times. I have known guys that have spent 5 years in prison and gone straight from their release to their dealer. If he doesn't WANT to quit all you are gonna do is piss him off and drive him away.

But trying to make someone quit something because YOU think it is bad for them will simply never work. They have to decide that THEY think it is bad for them. And their are those that can become just as big a junkie to an MMO than to crank. A buddy of mine told me a few years back his sister was having to divorce her husband because he was addicted to Warcrack. He would come straight home from work to the game, and had even gotten bad enough that he wouldn't even drive anymore because when they would go anywhere he would play Warcrack from the passenger seat on the $4K laptop and cellular card he bought just so he could Warcrack wherever he was. Even though this guy had a nice wife with 2 kids by her when she finally got fed up and say "Warcrack or me" he chose Warcrack.

So there is really nothing you can do, he has to decide he has a problem. Until and unless that day occurs all you are going to do is drive him away. Because if you give him the choice of your friendship or the game, you are gonna lose. And if you try to interfere with his gaming that is what will ultimately happen.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[TheWanderingHermit]

Maybe it was posted by his boyfriend.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[gaelfx]

Damn! You just reminded me of two things i can put on my resume.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Randle_Revar]

Make the point that the guy isn't getting any and you are (hopefully), and it'll probably hurt enough to get him to start thinking about what he's missing out on by spending all his time playing Pirates.

I can only speak for myself, but being harassed about how I am "not getting any" and everybody else is has never bothered me much at all. Certainly not enough for me to do something about it. And I am not even addicted to an MMO (you could maybe argue for a general internet addiction by stretching the definition a lot).

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[TellarHK]

The problem with gambling vs. MMO's is that the comparison fails to cover the companionship issue that group play brings in. You could almost compare MMO addiction to a battered spouse, in some of the emotional aspects.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[pcolaman]

As someone else who had a former MMO addiction (SW Galaxies, FFXI, WoW, to name a few), I concur. I had my parents, friends, etc, all telling me I had to unplug, but I would get angry when they told me I played too much. It took me gaining 40 lbs. sitting on my ass playing games that made me wake up and realize what I was doing to myself. Well, that, and nearly losing my job to a fucking game. That was a big wake up call too.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[Vintermann]

Meh, I'll just have to waste the mod points I've used in this discussion, to clear up this misunderstanding.

Addiction and withdrawal symptoms are quite independent.

Even for drugs, s.c. physical addiction isn't very serious in itself. People get physically addicted to morphine in hospitals all the time, but they will accept the withdrawal pains, and will be no more likely to become morphine addicts than other people (there are studies on this, which is why morphine-based painkillers are still used.)

Some of the nastiest street drugs have very little actual physical addictiveness.

It's psychological addiction that matters, for drugs as for anything else. Addicted people like doing what they do. And it's not based on a single chemical in the brain, as some people assume, because although both WoW and doing drugs may increase your dopamine levels, you can't just easily switch from one addiction to another.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[ta bu shi da yu]

It's amazing what people with rate as +1 informative these days.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[bemymonkey]

Uh, actually... *raises hand*.

I've become somewhat addicted to my newsreader (not to mention Slashdot comments), and it's really been cutting into my studies.

Seriously, my girlfriend kicks me out of bed when she leaves in the morning, then I get a cup of coffee and start reading. Some time or other I'll pack up my netbook and go to a lecture... bam, laptop's on the desk, newsreader open. So I leave the laptop at home, oh, wait, Google Reader works on my smartphone - crap.

I know I could get much more productive stuff done (or at least some reading related to my chosen field of studies) during this time, but I just can't stop. I've become an information junky (and not the good kind - the crappy kind, like what kind of new geek toys there are, and the crap that's here on Slashdot)... This sort of behaviour goes on until about 1 or 2 in the morning. Drives my girlfriend crazy, too.

I dunno, is it an addiction? Or just the same thing as reading the newspaper every day, just a bit more excessive?

I really gotta get off here. It's 9:24AM on a Saturday, the sun's shining outside, and I'm laying in bed writing up a post to complete strangers who don't care about what I have to say anyway. That's it, time for some fresh air... *opens window and goes back to reading*.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[hairyfeet]

I was not trying to condemn the game, I was simply trying to point out that for him it really WAS Warcrack. If someone has an addictive personality then they can and often do become addicted to things which wouldn't be harmful to someone else.

I knew a guy who would blow through cash for pot like hardcore junkies blow through coke money. He would fire up before he even drew a single breath upon waking up and would keep going all through the day until he went to bed. To myself and most folks firing up the occasional joint is not going to be dangerous to anything but the cookie supply, but to him he just couldn't function without it. He was one of the few junkies whom I felt really sorry for because it was completely not his fault. Most go in knowing that a drug is potentially harmful and make a choice that they want the high more than the risk, but his mom was getting him high at 8 years old. Being high was pretty much the only way he had to cope with anything, as he never got a chance to grow up.

But if you are a player of Warcraft and took offense, that was never my intention. While I don't care for MMOs (prefer single player shooters and RPGs myself) I'm sure it is a nice game with plenty of nice folks playing it. And I wasn't meaning to imply that I "blame" Warcraft anymore than I would "blame" pot or booze for someone having a problem with them. I personally think all drugs, as well as gambling and prostitution should be legalized and taxed, with the money going to rehabs and counseling for those that want to quit. But for the person that the article was discussing the pirates MMO is just as addictive as any drug. Just as for my friend's ex brother in law Warcraft really was Warcrack.

And I stand by what I wrote and the words of the wise ex junkie I knew: You can NOT force someone not to be a junkie. Not by laws, not by nanny government, not by shunning or ridicule. Only THEY can choose not to be a junkie. And one man's recreation is another man's addiction. doesn't mean we should look down on the drug or activity. Hell I knew a guy that ended up in the hospital after nearly killing himself with his addiction to bodybuilding. Are we gonna ban gyms so guys like him can't hurt themselves? No of course not. All we can do is let them know that we are there to help them if they decide they need help and try not to be enablers. The rest is up to them.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[boaworm]

Except that MMO is not an 'addiction' . . . it is a 'habit.' His friend will go through no withdrawal if his account expired tomorrow.

I see that you've obviously never been really into a game...

You have never been addicted to a MMO I hear.

I remember a few times when my internet connection went down, I got really frustrated I couldn't keep grinding instances, gold or consumables (WoW). I just desperately needed to get back online, and as soon as the connection was back up, it was like a blessing.

For me, I essentially got bored of the game, and when I realised I was spending all this time playing a game that I didn't even enjoy, I quit. I probably couldn't have quit unless I got bored of it, since I would have romantisised about the gaming while doing other things, wanting to go back to playing WoW.

It can be just as much of an addiction as many other things.

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[bjourne]

terrible isn't it?

Re:It's Called S.E.X

[ta bu shi da yu]

It appears I've split opinion. One moderator thinks that I'm quite informative, the other thinks that I'm a troll. I suspect that the latter also thinks that the grandparent post was insightful, which I think says quite a bit more about the moderator than myself.

Appeal to His Original Priorities

[eldavojohn]

Slashdotters, what would you do to help out a friend in this situation?

I used to live in a bad part of the Franklin neighborhood in Minneapolis. As I pulled up next to my house, two squad cars were parked in a V in my front lawn with their cherries on. I had just worked until 2am at a parking garage on the U of MN campus. There was an adolescent in front of my house being stared down by a policeman. As I walked up the cop was staring him down and holding a bag of weed saying very loudly and very forcefully, "... yeah? And what skills you got? What has this shit been doing for you? How long have you been using? What are you going to do when you're a grown up providing for yourself?"

While that's a lot more melodramatic than you need to be, you can put your friend in the same situation.

A man's got priorities. Your friend's sound screwed up ... but maybe they aren't. I know how someone would approach me about this, they wouldn't try to stop me. Instead, they--being my friends--would appeal to things they know that matter to me. I'll try to list them in order that I think you can evoke a reaction from your friend:

• Religion
• Family
• Role Models
• Career
• School
• Ego
• Love

I've seen people give up several of these for an MMORPG (Star Wars Galaxies ruined lives). You need to sit down and talk to him and try to realign his priorities. You have to know him and know where he's going to bring that logic. If things don't matter to him anymore there's not a lot you can do once you've made all those appeals (and you may know more).

Slashdotters, what would you do to help out a friend in this situation? Perhaps you are a reformed addict yourself -- if so, how did you break out of the habit?

If I was spending too much time in a game it would take very little to cause me to get up and walk away: "Since you started playing that game, how much closer are you to being the person you want to be when you die?" Don't think that would work on your friend--especially if he has low self esteem.

Most importantly if you convince him to stop, you need to be there for him to fill up that part of his life or to help see the value in realigning his goals.

Last thing is that if he isn't screwing up or endangering any of these things, you're going to have a hell of a hard time convincing him out of the game ... although I cannot fathom how that would be.

Re:Appeal to His Original Priorities

[Anonymous Coward]

I disagree; it's a serious addiction and you can't just talk him out of it. I fell into a similar trap last Spring; after years of video game addiction I threw away a semester of tuition by playing games 12 hours a day (nighttime), sleeping 12 hours (daytime), and eating a few times a week when I woke up early enough for dinner. I grew seriously disturbed and my depression swallowed me up.. it literally culminated in a suicide attempt that left me with a broken neck.

I still play video games, but no TF2 or Insurgency, the games I burned my nights on. They're fun games but they just suck you dry.. whenever I try to play them that familiar thrill of a big exciting moment (lots in TF2) makes me sick remembering how hollow it leaves you.

It's really like a drug addiction.. not physically obviously but the game is so fun and the rewards so immediate and thrilling compared to a crap life.. I think anyone who's come off an all-day frag session really knows what I mean. It was great and fun and you had some epic moments, but you take away absolutely nothing from it. "Well, that was a waste of my weekend." Your weekend just vanishes into completely forgettable minutiae and come Monday you feel like you just left work for the weekend.

Video game control legislation like China's is obviously absurd, but everyone knows someone whose life has been ruined by WoW.. it's shocking how many people get trapped in self destructive patterns by the rush of victory and pride of being superior (level, armor, whatever). It should at least come with a warning label or something.. whatever.

Posted AC for obvious reasons

Re:Appeal to His Original Priorities

[Bigjeff5]

I think you missed the point dude, and are WAY to focused on religion-bashing.

The point was to appeal to what this guy thinks is important.

For a very large segment of the population, Religion is very important. The choice at #1 isn't too far fetched.

However, I don't think he was making a prioritized list, I think he was just listing the most emotion inducing - and therefore most likely to be effective - appeals the guy could probably make to his friend. Religion would definitely be near the top of that list.

It's not like he was telling the guy exactly what to say, good god man, don't be so sensitive!

Re:Appeal to His Original Priorities

[eldavojohn]

Ugh, how could you list Religion as #1? That addiction has destroyed the lives of uncountably many more people than MMORPGs.

Yeah? You know a lot of people that wake up at 9am and get on the religion forums and then pray until 3am? Oh, you don't? Well, maybe you should pay attention to your own meager statistics. I'm an atheist. But I'm not stupid.

And if you disagree? Well, it just shows people have different ideas of what to dedicate their lives to, so who are you to tell them otherwise?

I'm confused, are you telling the person who asked the question that he shouldn't try to convince his friend to stop playing or does your logic only apply when it's your ideas that are being questioned?

Re:Appeal to His Original Priorities

[Obyron]

Most of the drug addicts I've met seem happy, as long as they have drugs.

Re:Appeal to His Original Priorities

[MaskedSlacker]

I'm an atheist. But I'm not stupid.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Grief

[Boronx]

Get some buddies, make some accounts, grief him until he quits.

Re:Grief

[ergo98]

Sure, but then they'll be hooked on griefing people. Really it is more addictive than the games themselves.

Though why does this story smell like an ad? The single link is to some weirdo largely unknown game, under the context that it's so good that someone is hooked and needs to be broken free. My Spammy-Senses are tingling.

Delete

[EdIII]

Hack his account and delete it. Keep doing it. He will figure it out eventually, just don't get caught.

When all of his "work" is destroyed, it will make it hard for him to want to continue slaving away. Keep doing it.

If he is not deterred by that at all, well then I suggest seeking professional help and at least getting an intervention started with the rest of his friends.

Re:Delete

[Goldberg's Pants]

So you're advocating hacking his account. Classy. Where do you people get off? Christ, given some of the people I've known in MMO's when I used to play, if you were found hacking their account, you would be dead. Seriously, I know several people who if you did that to you would lose it and kill you where you stand.

Nobody has any right to hack into someone elses accounts and delete it. Honestly, advocating that is sickening.

Regardless of the fact it's only a game, imagine how YOU'D feel if some asshole deleted the product of a year or two of your hobby. Like say you're into Warhammer and I come along set fire to your models "for your own good".

God you people are sick.

You can;t save someone from their self.

[Anonymous Coward]

I learned that with my regular old drug junkie friends.

You don't do anything.

[geekboy642]

He's addicted to being a pirate. He's too far gone to be saved...all you can do is sandbag around his computer. But when the replica cannon arrives via UPS, I suggest you leave.

firewall, fdisk, or just wait it out...

[jkinney3]

Sounds like this is taking place in a college setting. Don't worry about it. Darwin will always win. Your MMO addict will be getting a permanent chance to play all day forever back in Mom's basement after he flunks out. It's not your problem and don't try to make it be otherwise.

Re:firewall, fdisk, or just wait it out...

[dr_dank]

Sounds like this is taking place in a college setting. Don't worry about it. Darwin will always win. Your MMO addict will be getting a permanent chance to play all day forever back in Mom's basement after he flunks out. It's not your problem and don't try to make it be otherwise.

Spot on. College is the sandbox where you can be a fuckup like this and not have it haunt you for life. There will always be a percentage of kids at university that will do things like this once they're out of Mom and Dad's house.

That said, if this kid really does have a compulsion or other deep-seated issue thats driving him to play like this, I really don't think that any amount of reasoning will sway him.

Re:firewall, fdisk, or just wait it out...

[foeclan]

Oddly, kinda worked the opposite for me. I spent all my time on MUSHes when I was in college, was academically dismissed, then turned the programming and computer skills I'd taught myself while MUSHing into a career. Not that I'd expect that to work for modern MMOs, since you don't program anything in them really unless you're into modding. I did eventually go back and finish my biology degree, however, and being kicked out was definitely the reality check I needed on getting my priorities straight (though it took a while to figure that out).

Re:firewall, fdisk, or just wait it out...

[Bigjeff5]

Perhaps, for some strange reason, the guy actually cares about his friend and wants some help saving his friend from that life?

You know, like a friend?

Honestly, if that's how much you care about your friends, you can't have many. Or at least not many good ones, at any rate.

You call that an addiction?

[dmomo]

Toilet Breaks? Tell him he's doing it wrong.

The dude doesn't even have a pod.

Re:Don't bother

[zxjio]

You don't understand addiction if you think it something to be fought with logical persuasion. And you are probably normal in saying to ditch him, but really, I'm disgusted by how callous people are today. Friendships and relationships involve a little inconvenience, not just saying, 'well, I told him it's a bad idea, fuck him!'

Seek professional help

[kestrelokes]

I had a friend in college who was addicted to an MMO - not quite at the hours you describe, but not far off. Every semester when finals came around, we tried to tear him away from his computer and help him study, but he never listened. When convincing/arguing/pleading failed (and eventually, it always failed), we would hide or break his game CDs, but he would buy, pirate, borrow, or otherwise find a new copy. He failed out of school.

Seek professional help. Talk to the counselors at your school.

Sit him down, and talk.

[QJimbo]

My suggestion would be, in one of the breif moments when he's off the game, get him to just come and talk to you, heck maybe even get some of your other friends to join, and keep him occupied in a social discussion for an hour or two to at least break the cycle once in a while. If that doesn't have a lasting effect, just talk to him by himself and say you're concerned about his wellbeing, ask him if he wants to spend all his life eating ready meals and sitting in front of a computer like a zombie.

Usually any addiction is a sign of something missing from the persons life, if you can find out what that is, maybe you can help him get over the cause rather than the effect.

Too little, too late.

[Bieeanda]

If you and the rest of your buddies are working at reviewing for finals, your addicted friend has already fucked the dog academically. Chances are, that's why he's playing the game for eighteen hours a day: it's a classic avoidance mechanism. He responds with hostility because he considers the game to be his only outlet for frustration and his only source of accomplishment. His guild, assuming he has one, is probably the only social interaction he engages in as well.

Your friend needs help. Professional help. Your school probably has a psychological counseling office, but that's the sort of thing that he needs to seek himself. Confronting him, wrecking his account, getting him banned, or anything else is not going to help you or him at this point.

I say this because I've been that person. Same academic issues, same fixation on a game for social reinforcement (a MUX, in my case), and I'd wager that he's feeling just as depressed and afraid as I did when I was in that situation.

If you want to help him, get in touch with his family. Get in touch with his professors and the dean of his faculty. If he's religious, get in touch with his pastor. Chances are, none of them have any idea what's really going on. It's really easy to just grunt and shrug when someone asks how classes are going. They may have suspicions, but between their desire to treat him as an adult, and the shame and frustration he's feeling at being unable to cope, he doesn't feel like he can ask for help, and they don't feel like they can successfully confront him.

That is retarded

[Sycraft-fu]

For one, all the MMO companies I've ever encountered have plenty of records of what has happened with an account. That was if something goes wrong, they can restore it. If it gets hacked, they'll just roll it back to where it was before then. So the company will fix the problem and he'll just get to keep going. Now if you keep doing it, you WILL get caught. That's how criminals, and make no mistake that's what you'd be, get caught: They keep doing it. Each time there's more chance you slip up, each time there's more patterns to look for.

In this case you'd get found out fairly quickly because those involved would realize the only way someone could keep getting his password is to have physical access to his computer.

So this is an excellent way to not fix the problem, and to land your ass in jail. Hacking can be a very serious offense if they want it to be.

Re:Still not a problem.

[CAIMLAS]

Unless this guy has a personal bankroll that he's using to fund his lethargy, his parents are likely paying for the lifestyle he's leading (in part or whole). Angry parents can do quite a bit to motivate a person. Maybe it's time someone called his parents.

router.

[zippthorne]

Hopefully you've got a router. Using the built-in firewall, block the ports that the game requires. on and off for five minutes at a time. So he has to keep logging in and never makes any progress (well, even less than normal...), but doesn't realize you're fiddling with it.

If you can't place a linux box as router without being suspicious, you might be able set up a cron job on cheapo laptop you connect to automatically keep changing the commodity router's settings.

advice from the agony ent: don't be hasty

[epine]

It's not a problem until he flunks out of school, gets booted from the house for not paying rent, ...

My god, you'd fit well into the medical establishment. Studying to become a doctor?

Q: My friend survives on a diet of poutine and coke. A: It's not a problem until his heart palpitates.

I guess nothing is a problem in life until the condition is so severe that the poor sop is ready to cut a large cheque (supposing any funds remain) for quadruple bypass surgery performed by someone who didn't flunk out of school.

Great advice from the perspective of the doctor's retirement fund, not such good advice from the perspective of the future patient.

The underlying anger thing suggests this person is not ready to confront his inner conflict in the context of the larger world. Probably the best move is to distance yourself from the impending conflagration.

If you set yourself up to become the lightening rod for your friend's anger, and you have the patience of a saint, your friend might recover, but your friendship won't. One way or another, your friend will ultimately classify you in the "before" or "after" category.

You do have an opportunity to provide your friend with a small glimpse of leadership and self determination by taking responsibility for your own emotional content.

"I don't like hanging around with you when you play games 15 hours a day. It worries and irritates me to think about where your life might end up if you continue to behave this way. We need to think about different living arrangements. I hope we'll continue to be friends. I'll be very upset if we end up falling out over this. One of us needs to start looking for a new place to live. How are we going to sort this out?"

I've been reading a lot of economic theory lately. Apparently, according to economists, humans are rational agents in almost every respect.

This via Colby Cosh, my favourite lucid and agreeable wingnut.
http://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/2009/04/berl-redux.html

Who's to tell me that my utility function is wrong?

Unfortunately, there is a lot of truth to this. Where he means to put the emphasis on "wrong", I would put the emphasis on "who", as it concerns your friend. If you solve for x and x = yourself, I'd harbour some grave doubts about *your* utility function after you showed the common sense to look before leaping.

Hey, I'm on the wagon...

[micromuncher]

I started playing everquest in 2001. At first I refused to play, but friends pretty much bought the game and installed it on my PC. I refused to play because I figured I'd get addicted... and sure enough... 7 years later... I went cold turkey. There are a few things that I realized about my own addiction that helped me break it.

First, MMOs are Skinner boxes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning_chamber They let the player feel like they're accomplishing something. This is a huge motivator when in your real life, the rewards are missing from any effort. For me, I had just got divorced and had a company I help start shoot down the toilet. Suffices to say, I was at a motivational low.

So, to figure out the trap (Skinner box), you need to figure out how to get the rewards in real life that are missing. A psychologist might suggest sitting with your friend and actually setting achievable, short term, real world goals. Even if it is as simple as going for a 30 minute walk. Then emphasize the "Hey, I did something today." You might even want to try something that gives other rewards, like adrenaline, through running, or some sport.

Next, there was the social aspect. People in MMOs believe the social context missing from their lives is real - that you actually have friends in the game. This is pretty far from the truth. Sure, I got to know a few people well in my EQ experience, but not one of them has participated in a relationship outside the game. So, some brutal realities there...

Anyway, I've been EQ free over six months. I refuse to play another MMO, ever. When you look at the total time played, and you see that you've been online 300+ days... ask the question, if you had a year of time back, what would you do with it? Sit in front of a computer screen like a zombie? Or actually try accomplish something. People often say they don't have time for stuff. Pretty sobering to look at some metrics. And real addicts underestimate how much time they play.

Your friend has to want help

[microbox]

Persistence. Intervene adn then do not stop.

This is /terrible/ advise: dangerous, unethical, and inconsistent with human nature.

There is lots of research on addictions, and there's lots of ways to approach treatment, but *nothing* works unless your friend asks for help. That has to be the first step. It's nothing personal, just something to do with the way the brain processes information about the self. Any action you take will elicit defence mechanisms if it is based on downward social comparison.

My advise is to go talk to a clinical psychologist about your friends case. They may be able to suggest appropriate reading materials, or communication strategies.

I am dedicated to helping people and understanding the human mind - it's a passion for me, and why I returned to school after working for years as a programmer. In my experience, the only way to truly help someone is to get to know them better, without any sense of agenda.

IRL

[noz]

I have this friend IRL right and he's so attached his education that his not living life. He sacrifices any bit of fun for it. He gets up around 9am, calls his mum in Denver, and then hits the books until about 3am only leaving his desk to put a piece of cheese on some bread and maybe take a shit. His desk is totally littered with empty energy drink bottles and sometimes he pisses in an empty instead of getting up to go to the bathroom. Once he accidentally drank a recycled one and just vomited in another.

There's this pirate game right, it's awesome! Swashbuckling and harrr! Open seas! Booty! Awesomez!!! and I've tried to bring it up with him every now and again but my suggestions are always met with derision and anger. "You're sleeping your future away with that crap!" he'll yell. He can't see that he's missing out on all this fun with his addiction to success.

I've tried using wake-on-LAN and changing his home page but it just won't work. What can I do to help him?

Get his attention somehow, and keep doing it.

[Anonymous Coward]

My wife would tell you that it took many interventions over a long period of time to finally get me to see the light about my gaming addiction. I had it mildly compared to what I've been reading. While it ultimately had to be my decision, I never would have made it without her intervening and showing me how my addiction affected her and our relationship in general. Crying helped a lot, but that might be awkward in your case...

Some of the advice about leaving him alone because he's an adult is ridiculous. If you care it's worth intervening (obviously you do considering your post), and he'll thank you for it eventually even though he might hate you for it short term. But even if you lose his friendship, it would be worth it in the long run if he breaks his addiction. He's throwing away his life.

I would try to convince him to take a vacation for a while...2 weeks maybe. Hopefully it will end up feeling like a vacation to him. If you can spare the time, keep him busy and social and possibly make it impossible to log on (go out of town with him). You'll probably need to pull him away many times before he sees the light. I would also put some material on addictive behavior in front of him. Being compared to a gambling addict or a drug addict helped open my eyes too.

I don't recommend doing anything sneaky like others have recommended (like cutting out his internet access). That's just going to put barriers up and he'll close you off.

The tried and true method of fighting addiction...

[Xaer0cool]

Just as heroin was developed to get soldiers off morphine, you need to get your friend on something stronger than pirates. The only thing stronger than pirates? Ninjas.

Re:Don't bother

[db32]

I am sorry for you. I really am. This kind of callous and shallow behavior shown by so many people saying "fuck him" "not your problem" and so on is EXACTLY why our society is so totally fucked right now. People have problems, serious ones. In fact, most people have serious problems at some point or another, the fact that everyone around them is so shallow and callous that they abandon them in their time of need is what makes our entire society fall the fuck apart.

Will you ever need people that are that dedicated to your well being in your life? Maybe not, if you don't you are pretty lucky. However, just knowing that you have people standing next to you that WILL march into hell to save you is invaluable. I have been that person before, and the one I tried to help hated me for it...for a while. However, now I have someone that I *KNOW* will always be there if I need them, and who has no problem calling me out on the carpet if I start going down a bad path. The pinnacle of arrogance is not so much believing that you can never make a mistake in your own life or go down those roads, but that you will know when you are doing it. Sometimes it takes someone close to you to give you that swift kick in the jimmy to let you know you are doing something stupid.

Additionally, I think being one of your "friends" would be depressing. Knowing that if my life goes foul for some reason and I start making bad choices, that I will be abandoned rather than helped. That kind of thing is typically what feeds directly into suicidal thoughts during the aftermath of some kind of traumatic event. Maybe this guy isn't just making stupid choices and addicted to a game. Maybe he just lost a family member, maybe he found out someone close to him has cancer, etc, etc, etc, and he is looking for an escape. The people that will make an impact in his life are the ones that will press the issue and help him. The reality is, half the time, you don't have to march into hell, you just have to let them know that you are ready to do that.

Your definition of friend seems to be pretty watered down. I call those people acquaintances, not friends. Friends are the people that WILL go to hell and back for you, and that you will go to hell and back for.

Actually, sex won't help (True, unfunny story)

[kklein]

You're joking, but I'm serious: This probably won't work.

I was in exactly the same position as the poster when I was in college (EverQuest). My best friend from the time I was 5 just disappeared. He stopped going to classes, he stopped sleeping normal times (at least this guy seems to have a schedule--my friend was on a totally strange cycle that seemed to rotate). He only ate leftovers or other stuff that he could bring up to his room. Until this time, he and I always used to trade off cooking dinner and actually sit down for dinner each night. He was, in a very real sense, like a brother. Closer than my actual brother, really. I considered his parents basically another set in addition to my own, and the families were very close.

Anyway, I'll never forget the morning that his girlfriend--another old friend of mine--showed up at our place one morning to try to drag him out. He wouldn't even come to his door. She just kept pleading at the door, becoming more frantic. They'd been together for years. Finally she said, "So, you want me to leave?" "Yes." "If I leave, I'm never coming back, is that okay with you?" "...Yes."

She was devastated. I spend the rest of the day taking care of her. She left that evening after I made her dinner, and I think that's the last time I ever saw her.

My friend just continued this "life" style, even as I called his parents and asked for their help. They couldn't get him to quit. He flunked out of his classes, and his parents stopped giving him money for rent and food (he had been paying his share all this time, which was nice--I'd leave a note for what he owed and there'd be a check there in the morning). Finally I had to evict him (my parents owned the place and we rented from them). It was heartbreaking; he wasn't showering and I had to air that room out for a week. He was pale and emaciated. Just totally a different person (he was a long-distance runner, always in way better shape than me--we were on the cross-country team in high school together--fun times).

He moved into his parents basement, and they tried to kick him out a few times, but basically their conscience wouldn't let them. This went on for at least another year at their place. I got updates on his "condition" through my dad, who had lunch with his dad (and some of the other guys from around town) every Friday.

Then one day, he comes upstairs and says to his dad "I canceled my account. I'm going for a run."

Now he's addicted to long-distance running, and is finally finishing his degree. There was a period for a few years before he started school again where he worked at a shoe store part time (I'm pretty sure he ran out of his large savings--"frugal" has never been the word for his level of financial conservativeness--by paying all those months of EQ bills). Despite these positive steps, though, our friendship is completely broken. I've tried to hang out with him a few times since that time, but he's just different. I don't know him. He's gone.

So what I'm saying is this: I don't think there's anything the poster can do. This addiction won't kill the guy, though, so that's good, but I think that what stops him will probably be running out of money or something along those lines. He's not going to get better, I don't think. He's just one of those people who gets addicted to things. Probably some form of OCD or something. Just give up and focus on your own studies. He's gone.

Re:Actually, sex won't help (True, unfunny story)

[SatanicPuppy]

Meh.

Addiction is addiction, whether to drugs, women, or games.

The only thing you really need to know, is that there is almost nothing you can do if it's someone else. They have to come to a place within themselves where they don't want to be like that anymore. Once they're there, they can quit. If they never get there, they will never be able to quit. Ever.

Just be honest. Tell them you think they're fucking up their life. Don't be afraid to tell them exactly how disgusting you think they are. It may sink in. It may not. Even if it doesn't, at least you'll be able to face yourself afterward.

Re:Actually, sex won't help (True, unfunny story)

[kklein]

Surely with hindsight you can think of something?

Actually, yes I can.

If I could do it all again, I would have listened to him when he said he didn't want to start playing because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop, instead of pressuring him to pick it up so we could play together. =(

Re:Actually, sex won't help (True, unfunny story)

[ahabswhale]

Having dealt with addiction in myself (twice) and once in a good friend, I can tell you in no uncertain terms that there's absolutely nothing you can do (not legally anyway). The person has to hit bottom. "Bottom" means different things to different people so some have to pretty much ruin their lives before they straighten up but in the end, the person who is addicted has to want to fix it before you can do anything. Addiction is a like a short circuit or malfunction in the brain, rationality has nothing to do with it and you cannot rationalize with an addicted person who has not realized they have a problem, nor can you make them see the problem. One day, the light bulb will come on but until then, you're screwed. The only thing you can do is not help them feed their addiction in any way (like giving them money). The faster they hit bottom, the better.

Re:Actually, sex won't help (True, unfunny story)

[aleatory_story]

I was addicted to EverQuest throughout all of high school. I pretty much missed that _entire_ time of social development. I wanted to avoid it, and EQ made it easy. EQ was the kind of game where you could sit there and do your homework while your group was meditating. I still kept my attendance up and had good grades. I just avoided social interaction.

I had parents and friends tell me that it was a bad idea, but I just turned on my defense mechanisms. It was Them Versus Me. By taking that approach, they became the bad guys. They became someone who doesn't understand because they didn't understand.

The only person who *might* be able to get through to your friend in a direct way is former MMO addict. But of course, as it's been reiterated on here plenty of times, the only one who can truly get through is the addict himself.

In my situation, it was a mixture of things that got me over my addiction. Firstly, the game started to get old. I tried other games like Asheron's Call, Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, SWG, etc. These continued my addiction for a while longer. But eventually you find the same things in every game and they just keep getting more boring.

Secondly, I started to really re-evaluate myself and what I was doing with my life. I knew I was a social misfit and that had to be fixed. When I started college, I quit my games and started on a clean slate. I developed for a while and it was going great. I was making some real progress. I even got a girlfriend that my friends gawked at.

Then EverQuest 2 came out. Yeah. I went back. It was a relapse, you could say. I went back to my habits of nothing but gaming. I still kept up with my school work but I avoided my girlfriend. Eventually, she gave me the ultimatum of her or the game. I tried to convince her that it was only temporary and that I'd be over it soon, but she wouldn't listen to that. So, I chose the game. I told myself 'I don't want a girlfriend who would give me an ultimatum like that. I want someone more patient.' In retrospect, I know it sounds pretty stupid. This is just how I reassured myself as I continued to play EQ2. It's just how the defense mechanisms work.

I regretted that decision for a long while, though. Eventually, as I expected, I got bored of EQ2. And WoW. And all the other games that were popular around 2004. Eventually *none* of them sparked my interest. I graduated from college and started a job. By that time, I was totally done with MMOs and I haven't looked back.

So, to sum up: it sometimes unfortunately takes big life transitions like going from college to a career to really wake someone up. Right now, in their life, they are at a point where they are content. They enjoy their games. You cannot argue this with them because it will only make it worse. You can only try to be subtle about it. Try to make them jealous. Bring over hot girls that they can't have. Go on trips with your buddies and come back and tell him how awesome it was. He won't be receptive at first--not at all. He will have some clever retort. But you will have planted the seed of corruption. Eventually, when he's tossing and turning trying to sleep, these things will eat at him.... not that I speak from experience in this department =x

Eventually, he'll get over it. Fortunately, MMO addictions are a lot easier to recover from than drug addictions. They can ruin lives just as well, but fortunately once you get a taste of some good fun in real life, you quickly forget why the hell you were playing those games in the first place.

Re:Still not a problem.

[Lemmy Caution]

I think as sad as the game addiction is, the attitude of many to simply give up on him and let him fail at life is at least as sad. Friends and family are supposed to care; the profound alienation some geeks have from the rest of humanity except at the most distant and constrained levels is really tragic.

My suggestion to the OP: fortunately, game addiction isn't like other addictions, and it often doesn't take the same bottoming-out to get things under control. Most game addicts (I don't want to mince words: on the short to medium term, it is practically indistinguishable from addiction - pedantry about it is unhelpful) seem to stop playing addictively when they start building social skills and active lives, which of course creates a positive feedback loop. My suggestion: get him out of the house. Vacations, nights-out, activities. Work with him in getting a busy activity calendar. This seems to be effective in getting people to stop obsessive playing, because it scratches the "itch" of sociality that MMOs always promise to scratch but never quite satisfies.

Girlfriend is not enough!

[StCredZero]

I have a girlfriend, and no, it's not enough to get you out of an MMO addiction. It can be added incentive. Usually, you have to wait until it starts hurting their job and their wallet. If that doesn't do it, good luck!

Re:Girlfriend is not enough!

[drinkypoo]

If your girlfriend can't compete with a MMO, she's not trying. Whether she should be trying to make it work is another subject and varies based on situation. Usually, though, the MMORPG is a symptom, not the disease itself.

Re:Girlfriend is not enough!

[Socguy]

If your girlfriend can't compete with a MMO, she's not trying. Whether she should be trying to make it work is another subject and varies based on situation. Usually, though, the MMORPG is a symptom, not the disease itself.

The Girlfriend doesn't compete WITH the MMO, the Girlfriend joins and tags along IN the MMO. Once inside the game, she will alienate him from his merry band of adventurers by complaining that he doesn't spend enough alone time with her in the game. Eventually he will throw himself into his schoolwork just to get away from her for a few hours.

Re:Girlfriend is not enough!

[fractoid]

Girlfriend definitely cuts down the play time but you can still play when she's not around (or when she's asleep, if you live together). The only thing that can really help you quit, though, is getting bored with the game. I've been playing WoW since three months after release, and in that time I've:

• Spent two months playing obsessively, 18 hours a day
• Gone cold turkey and went travelling, not played the game for 6 months
• Played fairly obsessively again for a couple of months while looking for work
• Virtually stopped playing when I met my wife
• Got slowly back into the game

I only play maybe 10-20 hours a week now, mostly on the weekends. It's still fun, so I still play, but it's slowly getting boring, so I don't know if I'll last to the next expansion.

When it comes down to it, the only people I know who've quit ANY addiction are the ones who want to quit.

Re:Still not a problem.

[DoninIN]

This whole "addicts need to hit rock bottom" thing is a meaningless trope spouted by a bunch of 12 step folks who are pitching a faith, not science based approach to dealing with a particular addiction. Then taking this faith based approach to a particular addiction, and extrapolating it to other addictive behaviors.... So while it's not an entirely worthless hypothesis, it's far too vague to really be a useful statement. Certainly it shouldn't be trotted out over and over as a "FACT" It's got damn little to do with science and it's a pretty difficult to define or test thing anyway. Also since at least a good portion of the people we're talking about here have much more of a mental illness problem, and are in fact depressed or developing some kind of OCD, and are not "alcoholic" or game-oholic or whatever, they don't need to hit "rock bottom" and one shouldn't expect them to follow this religous 12 step regimen to get better. Depressives don't need to hit "rock bottom" they need help, "bottom" probably means a succesful suicide attempt in that context. It's way off topic but I don't doub that AA does help folks and that it may be a useful vehicle for people who turn to it and follow it's 12 step program. That's not the same thing as pointing out that it's not at all a scientific approach, a peer reviewed treatment plan etc. Just 'cause they say some things does not make those things so.

Breaking the Cycle

[AtomicSnarl]

He's playing the game because it gives him something he can't find or get enough of in Real Life. Behind the keyboard he can be daring, bold, brave, clever, and receive a regular helping of the success, joy, and adulation that come with those things. There are puzzles to solve, people to help (damsels in distress?), buds to hang with, and he can get it all, now.

How can Real Life compete with that? What are those things that make life worth living if the computer is more validating than your regular existence? That's the problem. Real Life becomes a maintenance issue serving to allow time with The Game. Now you are dependent on the game -- You're avoiding the Real Life stuff, The Game has become your buffer, your filter, your shield -- You are addicted. You don't merely need it, you require it. The Game is How you Live.

What now? The Game is dominant, but it's skills don't translate much to Real Life. Trying to deal with Real Life is an embarrassment. It doesn't work the way The Game does -- no reset, second chances, saves, spells -- you can't get and keep the upper hand. The physics don't match, the interactions aren't predictable, and you can't hide behind the keyboard. People see you, not your avatar. How can you live up to that? Why don't they understand? In The Game, they do...

See "Social Phobia" to appreciate how grasping at the one good (they think) thing in one's life can screw up the rest of it.

works every time

[Tablizer]

Simple, get him addicted to slashdot instead

My solutions was to cheat

[AsmordeanX]

I played WoW a lot. To the point of being unhealthy a few times. How did I get away from it? I cheated.

MMOs are hard to cheat at but a friend an I found a world emulator that was about 95% accurate. We spent the next week going everywhere, doing everything, getting everything. We made custom weapons/armour that made us walking gods. We set Illidan in a duel with Ragnaros. We swapped models so that we looked like Magmadar or C'Thun.

After a while we got bored and tried the normal game. It sucked. We couldn't one-shot things. Gold took hours/days to accumulate. Everything just seemed so tedious.

I went for three months without playing. I picked up WotLK and played for a week and got bored. I uninstalled it and haven't thought about it since.

Re:Religious Wars

[pcolaman]

Actually most "religious" wars are just conflicts over resources or land, and religion is used as an excuse.

To quote the Joker...

[petrus4]

"It's simple."

Find out what he's doing in the game, that he thinks he can't do offline, and then find a way to let him do whatever it is offline, in a way that won't interfere with his exams.

I got addicted to World of Warcraft for a while because playing a Survival Hunter allowed me to vicariously deal with my sense of inadequacy over the fact that I am unavoidably a civilian. (I've since also come to realise that having said sense of inadequacy was really dumb to begin with, but it was a childhood thing)

I was able to play a leadership role in a number of battlegrounds and instances though, and have some really positive experiences while doing so, (I was also GM of a levelling guild for a bit, which was good) which allowed me to process that neurosis, and also take from it a few elements which to some extent may have improved my personality as well.

That, however, is primarily what people get from MMORPGs, and it's the main reason why they play them. Most people are fairly disempowered and helpless offline. They might have two or three jobs, (that they usually hate) a wife and the proverbial 2.4 kids, station wagon, and labrador dog, and said existence can feel like a jail sentence, especially if you have to work long hours. They're also doing said jobs, most of the time, purely to keep their head above water. There's no creativity there, no enjoyment, and no recognition from the boss. They're not allowed to feel special, to feel like they're somebody important, or to really feel fulfilled.

But in Azeroth, (or Norrath, or $WORLD) it's different.

Offline, I'm an autistic, overweight, single, balding, largely socially isolated UNIX Beard with shortsightedness, a single kidney, and a leg length difference of three inches. I've had a single girlfriend, three years ago, which ended badly due to a combination of her and my baggage, and my father being a narcissistic, amoral, interfering $%^& as well. I largely haven't come across a single woman since who hasn't made fun of me when she's found out I'm interested in her, and whenever I've tried to interact socially with anyone else as well, or develop independence, I've usually gone fairly close to being killed as a result.

I couldn't participate in grading matches in terms of martial arts as a teenager due to said single kidney, and when someone tried to teach me one on one, because of the leg length difference I nearly dislocated my knee the first time I tried to do a kick.

In WoW, none of that matters. I have a far more attractive body, which is athletic and functions with perfect agility. I can travel anywhere I want, within a fairly large environment. Most of all, I can actually do the things that Army recruitment ads talk about, in terms of being part of a group, and eventually developing sufficient knowledge of the game to successfully and positively lead said group. I'm playing a class (the Hunter) which I love and find fulfilling, and I'm also meeting my social interaction and group belonging needs in terms of the instances and battlegrounds I do as well.

Let me ask you; out of those two scenarios, which do you think you're going to want to spend more of your time in?

The answer to that question, is also likely very similar to the reason why the guy in your example is addicted to the game that he is, as well. For some of us, real life isn't exactly a barrel of laughs.

Re:Still not a problem.

[Vintermann]

Amen. It's especially important to see that people don't get addicted in a vacuum. The are reasons people prefer games or drugs over life - it may be something temporary, like a depression, or it might go deeper.

There's a theory of a thing called "self-handicapping". People would sometimes rather fail with something to blame, than take the risk of failing without something to blame. Unlike "rock bottom", this is possible to define and test: If you give someone an impossible task, they're more likely to accept a drink halfway through than people who get an easier one.

I think this explains a lot of drug abuse and other addictions. If you smoke pot and party like crazy in college, you have an excuse for poor grades - maybe it won't work as an excuse for a potential employer, but it'll work for yourself, and that's what matters. If you're afraid of becoming a complete loser, it may be appealing to do something that will MAKE you a complete loser - because then you'd have something to point to.

LSD therapy

[pbaer]

This will be controversial but hear me through. Assuming he doesn't have any medical conditions that make it dangerous for him to take LSD, get him some. The basic idea behind this is the psychedilic helps him hit rock bottom, so he wants to change his life. It worked pretty well for treating alcoholism before LSD was banned.

Handbook for the Therapeutic Use of LSD-25