I don't play WoW anymore but when I did it was easy to get invested into the game, however, that did cause me to play for longer than I meant to and lose track of time. These results sound pretty typical of my experience with the game.

Interesting, I will have to read his research and hopefully find some interesting commentary of my own to add.  This is the kind of research I intend to do in graduate school.

Interesting but this is going to be extremely rare, cases such as PC Cafe users who only have $5 on hand for a half hour of gaming seem likely, but not much else.

WoW has some health benefits... WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!?

No.

One of my residents got kicked out of RPI because of World of Warcraft.

I'll agree that maybe it reduces stress, but that factor can't make up for it's side effects.

Seems believable, although WoW is known for destroying the lives and dignity of gamers who decide to dedicate their entire lives towards it.

Anything is good in moderation and too much of a good thing can be bad. This can be said and applied to anything really. The only good thing about this study is that it helps shatter one of the many preconceived notions about MMOs and gaming in general lol.

So basically it's just like anything else.

"Others, however, went too far down the rabbit hole and merely avoided their problems rather than managing emotional stress."

"Others" should read, "The vast majority"

Nice try, drug dealer.

Huzzah!

I had played Final Fantasy XI for over 6 years. I have been on both sides of this coin. I have also played the game with almost all of my real life friends, as well as played alone after they quit. When things got really bad I did use the game as a means of avoiding my problems. At other times it was a welcome break from the stresses of everyday life. The people trying to demonize the games don't have a clue. I don't blame the game for what I did. It was my own fault I couldn't deal with my problems, not the games. If I didn't addicted to the game, It would of been something else. Probably something much worse.

Interesting study. I couldn't pass up reading an article thus named xD

So many nerds just changed their underwear, myself included.

I haven't played WoW in like 4 months (I know I will eventually go back), but I was also one of many that fell on both sides of the coin.  When it comes to WoW, that is just the nature of the beast.

Once you start playing WoW you can never stop. It is ridiculely addictive. It's also mindless fun. I've probablly have spent a days worth of time played just running as a ghost to my corpse. I'm proud to say that I quit and haven't played for over a year. I wouldn't recomend this game to a soul. The worst part is how much they charge. Think of it, you pay $60 for the game + an extra $15 a month. The game's a freakin gold mine. Getting immersed in a game like this can't be good for you. It ruins your social life!

LOL His name is Snodgrass, that's hilarious. :) Nice post.

Wow. That's actually really interesting. I actually have a friend who once told me that "I've known heroine addicts. They somehow led healthy, fulfilled lives. I've also known people who play World of Warcraft. Their wives left them. They were fired from their jobs. Their health suffered from their poor diet. So yes, I'm saying that World of Warcraft is worse for you than heroine." I kind of want to see what he says about this study :D

MMOs are a good attention-grabber and it keeps your stress low and self-esteem high.

Nicely conducted.

Wow, that's some interesting info.