My husband - who I love dearly, we are newlyweds after all - thought all "gamers" particularly of the on-line variety get lost in their games - frequently putting game-life before real-life. That they held mostly low-level jobs, had social issues and performed poorly at work because of gaming... the list goes on. He knows better now - he's met my friends - but frequently I hear this sentiment, and for the most part I have not found it to be true.
People do get lost in things - I've known quite a few to get lost in drugs or alcohol when things went poorly in their lives. I've known a few that focused on a game instead. To be honest, I much prefer people chose the later over the first two choices, because sooner or later they will leave the game behind and move forward - alcohol and drugs aren't always easy to just drop and move on. I won't say that there hasn't been times in my life when I logged in rather than go out into the 'real-world' just because I couldn't emotionally handle it. My friends were on-line, I socialized in a way that was safe for me and I felt cared for and loved. That didn't mean I didn't go out of my house or make it to work - it just meant that I hermited a bit by playing my favorite game - WoW.
I'm a social person, and WoW is one of the ways I socialize - just like I do when I go out and about with my friends. Yes, I can get lost in the game for a day - but I can just as easily walk away from it for one without getting the shakes.
I know of a lot of people that play WoW and other games - of many ages, races, income and educational levels - yet still there is a stigma from the stereotype of being labeled a "gamer." I'm still in shock that my husband when we were first dating worried about me when he found out I was a gamer.
Somehow it is ok to play Bejeweled or console games for hours on end in our society and to admit to it - but MMOs not so much. Maybe this will change, 12 million people can't be completely wrong.
I think next week I will write about being a druid - hmmm - or my thoughts on the upcoming Cata release - or who knows. I think I need some lightning up. Life has been too serious lately.
