Hacker News Reader

Comment by rcurry | Hacker News Reader

I worked for a very successful “dot com” back in the day. EverQuest was like the crack pipe for the tech crowd, people actually got divorced over addictions to it.

View on HN

My (girlfriend at the time, later wife) gave me a "it's me or WoW" ultimatum at the peak of my raiding obsession. I picked her. We had moved across the country for grad school and had no friends and I was using the game as a crutch rather than like, actually meeting people. I joined a softball team with some people from her program and made a bunch of lifelong friends.

More power to everyone who can play MMO's in a way that doesn't resemble a crippling drug addiction. I've learned that I cannot, lol. And my point isn't to disparage gaming friendships or relationships, it just was not ultimately for me.

A coworker years ago told me she was a WoW Widow.

I knew a WoW widow in college. Her boyfriend got completely hooked on the game, even to the point that he didn't want to have sex with her any more! She desperately tried to get his attention back but couldn't do it, and ultimately broke up with him. She was (understandably) very bitter about the game after that and wouldn't remotely consider dating someone else who played.

Thankfully as far as I'm aware the dude eventually got control of himself again and is living a pleasant family life these days. But the addiction is real for some people.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com