| When you log into to WoW, you log out of reality. it’s the games design. The first day your showered with rewards, you complete many quests and receive many rewards - your body reacts to this as if it is real. For a time, you can complete quests and get rewards every hour. Later it becomes every other hour. Then every 4 hours. Then once a day. Then a couple times a week. You can ignore all irl pains, except if you have to leave your computer. You quickly rush back, go into a trance and forget about your deteriorating life.
At this point, if your life is in a rough spot. You may prefer to play in a world where you can achieve rewards a couple times a week. Maybe you receive very little rewards when you are afk. It may seem all lump and very little rewards. Your life is certainly on a decline if you have made it this far. Your WoW experience is on an incline, if you put time in you get better. A little farther down the road, Your not getting any healthier. Most likely you health has deteriorated/ing. Your financial situation has likely not gotten better. They likely have gotten worse. Your relationships are not as good as they can be. They likely have suffered. Your school work is not as good as it could have been. It may be just barley holding you afloat. Your life has not improved and may have gotten slightly worse or is diving hard. Habit calls you to stay, you have no where important to go to get a reward. Maybe you may be punished by a cruel world. You’ve always sat right here, every night. If you leave the computer you will be bored. You seem to have subconscious impulses stemming from the game when your not playing, addicted to your own adrenaline and euphoria. You look at the monitor, your title, your achievements, your mount. You’ve already chose this game over your life. When your life was better, and when you had less in the game. Now you’re a hotshot, high GS, skilled in PvE or PvP, purple power ranger. Your next achievement is only hours away. When you turn away from the monitor, you look at garbage, your scruffy or zitty face. You’ve gained some pounds. Bills are in the mail and they concern you a little. You sink back into Azeroth, So safe, so cozy. A little farther down the road, The Alarm rings bc RL doesn’t log out. My life was on the verge of bankruptcy. 50, 000 dollars in debt., 400 dollars interest a month, no more credit to borrow from, no money to pay next months rent, not regularly talking to family, 1 year played, 3 years vanished from my memories. Third day of work, night shift, come home exhausted and log onto WoW. I do WSG but don’t have the the mental alertness or care to even cast the right spells - I’m exhausted. I go to my bed and lie down, almost asleep. The phone rings. “The police want to talk to you, can my dad give them the phone number here?” “No”, I reply. About 20 minutes later the phone rings again “it’s the police, talk to them”. I answer the phone - “Your mother was in an accident - If your close to her you might want to visit her at the hospital, we don’t know how long she will be alive.” The last time I talked to my mom was 8 months previous. 2 years since I had a heartfelt/quality conversation. I race half way across the country to her, for a bit longer than a week - I sat by her side and talked to her. She was in a coma. On the eighth day, the doctor tells me that my mom could never expect anything better than being a vegetable. I take her off life support, she chokes to death one hour later. |