Pick your poison: Porn or World of Warcraft

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And the difference is?: Would you rather spend your life grinding away accumulating funds to pay the bills with your skills ignored, your promotions suborned and talentless people moving up the ladder away from you? All so you can own a house or die young

Or would you rather do the same thing in fantasy worlds where your skill and commitmment will reward you directly?

Instead of reaching for the latest pop psych about addiction, why not consider the nature of reality - or in a human's case, various inputs to the brain. Is it really who has the best toys when they die wins or is it about living your life enjoyably. WoW and similar virtual worlds offer social ties, rewards and motivation - just like the real world, at least for those fortunate enough to have those things in the real world.

Most of WoW's players will never be big in the real world, but they have the opportunity to experience wealth, status and friends in WoW. Why does no-one complain about people addicted to working a dead-end real world job?

If the worry is money, then WoW players will never be millionaires, but the exchange rate is about 15C per gold, so a number of third world participants' wages just went up.

If you want WoW players to leave their chairs then perhaps the issue is about making the real world fairer, more livable and exciting rather than mundane, cruel and depressing for a significant share of humanity. While I don't recommend us all becoming just brains in a box, WoW is a lifesaver for the sick, the emotionally alienated, the lonely, the disabled and the unemployed. It's never going to replace friends you can touch, a family, a partner, children and the other benefits of real life, but it can help those who don't have these things and it allows people to be judged on their skills and character (and yes true character becomes apparent very soon in team games) rather than their appearance, race or religion.

So the next time we get some tabloid story about some addicted teenager wasting away, remember the many people who's lives are brightened by virtual games.; Posted by: TonyMcS Posted on: 10/17/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use