Dr. Orzack – clinical psychologist and founder/coordinator of Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital in Newton, Massachussets told Twitch Guru that 40% of World of Warcraft players are addicted to the game.
I didn’t need a shrink to find that out … all it took me to leave World of Warcraft after 2 years of gameplay since Closed beta was to get my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro burned to a crisp – with pop noise and smelly stench – after prolonged and abusive gameplay. Mourns the loss of two ATI cards burned in 12 months … welcome back to reality and post-addiction shivering. =/
RW: Then aren’t the issues at home more of a problem than the actual games themselves?
Dr. Orzack: No, I disagree. You can’t say that about Blizzard, which structures the games like World of Warcraft to be addictive. They design these MMORPGs to keep people in the game. I do think the problem is tied in with other things like family issues, but the games themselves are inherently addictive. That’s ultimately the cause of the problem.
