Content-Type: RST

Let's see if I can get some people off my back and some stress off my chest.

Lately I've been accused by some of my peers here at college of being
"addicted" to `Guild Wars`_. For 
those too lazy to click the link, or don't already know what it is,
`Guild Wars`_ is a `MMORPG`_  (Massively Multiplayer Online
Roleplaying Game). Think `WoW`_ except without the monthly fee and
more emphasis on actual player skill rather than leveling to unlock
more stuff. Also, no hugely time-consuming "raids": the longest
continuous common Guild Wars play would probably be the 3-4 hour long
Underworld "Fun" Clears (corrected to appease complaining UWSCers), 
compared to WoW raids running into over 10 hours (of what I hear). 
Plus, in Guild Wars teamwork is *mandatory* (with NPCs or Human players), 
for better or worse.

.. _`Guild Wars`: http://www.guildwars.com
.. _`MMORPG`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMORPG
.. _`WoW`: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

This isn't a game review, though, but rather just my little spiel on
what being "addicted" to a game means. 

  **addiction** *n.* Being abnormally tolerant to and dependent on
  something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming
  (especially alcohol or narcotic drugs) -- `Princeton WordWeb Online`_

.. _`Princeton WordWeb Online`: http://www.wordwebonline.com/search.pl?w=addiction

.. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/addiction-cat

   But I need those bottles to get my prestige title!

So, to be addicted means that I am "abnormally tolerant to" and
"dependent" on Guild Wars. That is, assuming that Guild Wars is
"psychologically or physically habit-forming". Well, it's a video
game, so physically not so much. Psychologically, sure, we'll go with
that.

Also for reference is the Wikipedia article on `Video Game
Addiction`_. It cites: 

  Some players become more concerned with their
  interactions in the game than in their broader lives. Players may play
  "many" hours per day, gain or lose significant weight due to playing,
  disrupt sleep patterns to play, play at work, avoid phone calls from
  friends and/or lie about play time. Relationships with family and
  friends, and performance at work or school, may suffer.

.. _`Video Game Addiction`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction

Now, let's tackle this beast. I'll just grab the symptoms Wikipedia
provides one by one, for starters. 

Players may...
--------------

1. *play "many" hours per day*: I play 0-3 hours per day of Guild
   Wars.
#. *gain or lose significant weight due to playing*: I've been stuck
   at 126 lbs for a long long time now. I've probably lost some
   weight recently, but that's because I've been sick.
#. *disrupt sleep patterns to play*: If I did, I'd be up during the
   night. Since most people I play with are in the same timezone, I
   don't have company if I play at night, so why would I?
#. *play at [school]*: Yeah, right, because they don't tell us to
   shut our laptops off enough as is. Plus, Wine on Ubuntu
   introduces some very inconvenient lag if I play during class.
#. *avoid phone calls from friends*: Heh. As if friends call
   much. They prefer IMing me or messaging me in Guild Wars.
#. *lie about play time*: Even if I said I didn't lie, if I was
   actually lying I'd say that too, so this is of no argument.
#. *relationships with family and friends [...] may suffer*: Not that
   I'm aware of. Family relationships certainly aren't boosted a lot,
   but Guild Wars is a kind of social tool too, now that I'm far away
   from my old friends.
#. *performance at work or school may suffer*: See above point about
   school. 

.. figure :: http://blog.opensourcenerd.com/upload/interesting-cat

So, now, am I "abnormally tolerant to" Guild Wars? Not sure what that
really means, but probably yes... and to computers in general. I could
*type* my name before I could write it, and I had beaten `Doom II`_
before I entered elementary school. I've been coding since the end of
first grade, and have owned my own PC since around that time too. I
think that if there are such things as eye callouses, I have
them. (Hint: they're called glasses)

.. _`Doom II`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_II

What about "abnormally dependent" on it? Yes, I have chills, dry
heaves, and depression when I don't get my daily dose of gaming.

</sarcasm>

And hey, whoever said nothing productive came out of it? I learned how
to use `Drupal <http://www.drupal.org>`_:
http://lite.opensourcenerd.com. And I've met one of my best friends
through Guild Wars. I think that alone is worth it.

But anyway, up to you guys: do I need to rethink my life, maybe go
into rehab? Should someone stage an intervention? Or, being less
self-centered: are *you* addicted to something?