Before everyone goes "duh", all I want to do is relate what happened to two of my friends. The first was less serious, he just played way too much and lost out on social interaction, lost some friends in the process. Got out of playing it when he realised it got really bad. He seems pretty well-adjusted now. The second one was more extreme. According to his own account, he ran whenever he could on the way home. Office to train station, and after the train ride, ran home from the train station so he could get more playing time. Sleep was given just enough time to recuperate, and he neglected his fiancee. He didn't tell me what triggered him to stop, but when he did, he not only gave up his character, he also deleted from his IM contact lists all those people whom he played WoW with, completely cutting himself off from the community. I've ever come into contact with recuperating heroin drug addicts, and the one thing that always gets recalcitrants back into it is contact with those who still take it. Couldn't help but notice that his recovery method resembled that of a heroin addict. I've never played WoW myself, but it'll be interesting if anyone here has heard of similar addictions and could relate them.