I thought I would throw in a few comments. Relavent or not, thats everyones opinion, just thought I would share.
I've heard of a lot of MMORPG stories as I've been an avid MMO player since Asheron's Call came out. For those who never played them, they are VERY ADDICTING. At one point in my life I was actually playing 80 hours a WEEK. Basicly I woke up, took a crap, ate something, played, went to bed.
Now I never went to such extreme as to let my business stumble, or fall too far behind in work, but its not terribly uncommon to hear that happen. My character was very famous on the Asherons' Call - Morningthaw server...named "Darkside Babylon". One day after a lot of shit hit the fan, I finally quit and sold my main account. I actually got $2,000.00 for that account, 5th highest level on a server of more than 3,000. Then later I sold another account for $1,500.00. I actually had 4 accounts at one time with 20 characters on Asheron's Call.
Now, it wasn't about 3 months later when I started playing again, but it was with much more moderation and wisdom. Its very scary, but these virtual games can actually create real life money.
Guess what game I play now? World of Warcraft, on the Hellscream server, named "Division". And yes its a great game, seemingly neverending, and very addictive. So I can relate to Shawn. I know people who get really tied into these games. Some examples:
- One friend spent an entire year playing an MMO virtually nonstop. No job, never left the house, wouldn't eat if he was on a quest seemingly, talked about almost nothing but the game.
- Real life PK. (player killer) Someone playing Lineage (worlds largest MMO, mostly outside of the USA) got killed by another player in the game. So as revenge, that person tracked him down in real life....and shot him dead.
- On a positive note, 2 people I knew from my Asheron's Call days actually met, got married, had a kid, and have been very happy with each other for about 5ish years now. They met playing an MMO and did quests and just chatted.
- One person who was good at "powerleveling" other people started a service and charged by the hour to powerlevel someone (one of the very first to ever do so, he was actually a vassel of mine in the game). The guy made over $36,000.00 over just the summer powerleveling other players.
- Someone completely addicted to Everquest played so much and was into intranced by the game, he actually "forgot" to eat, drink, and sleep. Eventually, his body gave out and he DIED while playing online.
So to see someone who runs a gaming shop "dissappear" for a while doesn't really shock me. I think its that to some people, playing an MMO is like having a whole different life. You can build and become whatever you want. I made a lot of friends playing MMO's, and I know I've gone too far a few times, but it can provide an escape from the daily grind. Just those who find themselves addicted need to step back and find a new project. Hell, I knew I was playing WoW a little too much, so I stoped long enough to learn a little PHP and make a new website (
www.darksidebabylon.com ).
Point is, addicted or not, these games take up a lot of your time. Now to go check how my auctions for some potions I got for sale in WoW are doing.
And don't tell me the crazy amount of $$$ spent isn't worth all that thing.
