Addictions come in various different forms. Some are addicted to alcohol, drugs, even shopping. Addictions tend to take over your life, rule how you dedicate your spare times. Sometimes even your time at work. Addiction affects not only your life but also your relationships with friends, family and spouses. Some people are able to overcome their addictions, some people still struggle. My addiction was to video games. Not just any video games, but online multiplayer role playing games. Games like World of Warcraft, Everquest and Vanguard.
It all started when I was about 15 or 16 when my brother introduced me to Everquest. I enjoyed playing with other people and creating friendships with the people that I would play with. Since I was in high school still all I did was homework and my spare time I spent playing Everquest, whenever my brother wasn’t playing of course. After a while our mom decided not to continue to pay for it because we spent too much time playing and not enough time as a family. I ended up playing free games online like Conquer and other general games on Yahoo games. I just seen video games as a good way to pass the time and escape to a different reality instead of the one where I was made fun of a lot.
When college hit I needed something to keep my attention off the stress of finals and 20 page papers, along with the thought that my boyfriend at the time was cheating. I began playing Conquer online more because it was free and I had many friends, some I spoke to outside of the game. It wasn’t until I started to play World of Warcraft every day and wouldn’t stop playing it to spend time with my family. I had friends in the game, I was a guild leader, and I even had a “husband” in the game. I was 27 years old and all I did was played World of Warcraft. I didn’t even play to do raids and things like most people. I would sit in one city and play hide and seek or have parties with my friends. It became more of a social thing for me rather than playing a game.
I rarely came out of my room; the game was more of my life than working and spending time with my family. After college I didn’t do much of anything. I didn’t go out like most girls my age to meet guys or have fun. I was content at staying in my bedroom, never to leave. I lived the life almost close to that of a hermit. I loved being a guild leader and having people admire me and know who I was. It was a rush being one of the healers in the game that people wanted on their team. I wanted to belong somewhere and it seemed the only place I belonged was in the game. I didn’t date anyone or spend any time with my friends. I slowly lost all my friendships except for one or two (aside from those I had online). My parents were getting frustrated with me in that I was not spending time with the family. I kept to myself and did not socialize with anyone outside to the gaming world.
One of the downfalls to multiplayer online role playing games is that people love to hack into other people’s accounts. One day I tried to log in and I couldn’t my password was changed. Then a friend of mine who also played the game asked why I was in the game when I was supposed to be working. I knew someone stole my character and was either playing her as myself or sold it to someone else. I tried to get my account back but since the email was changed, I couldn’t get it back. I had even lost the account code therefore I could not verify that the account was legitimately mine. If I wanted to continue playing I would have had to buy everything all over again and level my character back up all over again. So in a roundabout way, I ended up quitting the game.
I was distraught over losing my character. It felt as if I had lost a part of myself. It was then that I realized that I was not just playing the game to talk to my friends. I was playing the game all day every day because I was addicted to it. I wasn’t just a gamer girl as I thought I was; I was a game addict. I began to look at having my account hacked and stolen as a blessing. I still talked those friends that I made in the game and I got to save some money in the process. At first I tried to play trial versions of the game and then I would hit the end of the trial and have to quit playing. I tried other games, free games but nothing gave me that same rush as World of Warcraft.
Not being able to play the game helped me overcome the addiction. It helped me not rush home to play the game, but forced me to go out with my friends. What else did I have to do? I had to make new friends and enjoy life outside of the realm. I began to make friends and do things that 27 year olds should do like go to clubs and meet new people. I still play video games, but I play them in moderation not all day, every day. Having someone selfishly steal my account helped me regain my life. I still have the urge to get back into the world of WoW, but I put that urge into something else I enjoy doing like reading, going for a walk with my boyfriend. I enjoy my life more so now that I am not addicted to some game. It is so much nicer in the real world than it is in a video game.
