A little history: I played Everquest when I was in high-school, and I fully fell prey to the addictive rush of improving my characters, and ended up more or less sealing myself in my room for 2 years and doing nothing but going to school, coming home, and playing Evercrack until it was time for bed. Rinse and repeat. On weekends and holidays I would just play all day. Maybe doing a small amount of homework in between, but I was king of doing the bare-minimum (even before I started playing EQ I was like this with my schoolwork).
Eventually by my junior year of high school I decided I had to get a social life and not be a total shut-in so I cancelled my account, deleted the game, and swore off MMORPGs forever. When WoW came around it looked interesting, but I didn’t want to hear about it.
I managed to stick to that and stay away from WoW for a good 3 years or so after its release, but one bored day I finally caved in and bought it. And became addicted as I was with EQ. Now I was working instead of going to school but it was the same pattern: come home from work, play all night, go to bed, repeat.
Just a few months ago did I finally cancel my WoW account, mainly since I had achieved everything I wanted to (Gladiator title from the arena, something I thought I’d never accomplish) and was a little bored with the game. Also I recognized its effects on my overall life and was ready to break away from it.
But of course now that WotLK is out I am sorely tempted to re-activate. My mom even pre-ordered the game for me for my birthday, which made me cringe a little since I probably wouldn’t have bought it for myself. But it’s supposed to arrive by… tomorrow. And I will have to make this fated decision.
I want to believe I can keep my play in moderation and lead a balanced life, but knowing myself, and knowing how much I get into this game, I have major concerns. On the other hand if I don’t re-activate I’d be depriving myself of something I thoroughly enjoy doing, which is definitely an addiction - but probably a far less harmful one overall than some other addictions I could think of.
I am genuinely torn here as to what would be best for me in the long run - I see lots of potential benefits and negatives either way.
EDIT: I just returned to the SDMB from a hiatus and I forgot about the new forum - The Game Room. If a mod could please move this there I’d appreciate it.