I agree on one point. People who get sucked into video games to the point where they cause themselves physical harm are idiots who will get weeded out of the gene pool.

The rest of the article... Blizzard has made some revolutionary games. The original Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft, all helped to shape 3 entirely different genres of gaming as we know them today. Yes, some people took their involvement with all these games too far, but for one reason. They were great.

Now, I'm not a WoW fan. I've never played it. Personally, paying for a game I own monthly doesn't appeal to me. But the mechanism that is keeping it alive is, well, fun. Obviously people enjoy it. And if games that are enjoyable are ruining the gaming industry, I don't know what you want from this hobby.

My Weekend Bashing: First off learn how to spell lose with one 'o' not two, kthnx. Second, no Blizzard won't drop an expansion pack for Diablo 2 or whatever you were trying to say with "Blizzard will probably launch a Diablo II titles" instead we will see D3 come to the light :D. Lastly, I'd give you props on this bashing, but you failed and strayed onto how it affects people's lives and you acted like you had an agenda to propagandize the company's name. Every game developer have their own mediocre games right? Its not strange that SC is still being played today, it's one of the best RTS out there.

Well, after having played WoW for a little three years; I can undoubtedly agree with you. It left... a spiritual scar that I will most likely carry with me for the rest of my life. I'm fifteen. I did bad in my first trimester of high-school; and the thing is; WoW isn't necessarily the true culprit here, but rather the players. I'm not going to try and claim any form of clairvoyance; or try to superimpose on people's lives; but it can really cause some tragic happenings in one's life. You need to learn how to balance your play time; as simple as that sounds.

Well I cant agree at all really, Cigs n alcohol are more socially acceptable group activities but kill more people.

Blizzard are just a company who listens to what there users want and delivers it. Wow is so popular even today because its not trying to be cutting edge and Visually incredible, it provides a complete experience and it can be as involved as you want it to be.

Anything can be addictive and its always the case that a VERY small minority always take things to excess, but why kurb anybody elses enjoyment because of a couple of loosers that were going to loose their job at some point anyways regardless of weather they play WOW or not ?
Gaming gets blamed for so many things these days and its difficult to remember how the world was before we had Video Games, I'm sure it was a lovely place with no youth crime or any crime at all for that matter, everybody lived in harmony and no one ever got hurt or killed. ( sigh!!!).

Great ! We have another Jack Thompson here.

So like ... what's this got to do with Blizzard or WoW? Everyone falls in this trap and I see you're the newest victim.

Every MMO, no matter how poorly it is designed influences people's lifes and drives some to do rather stupid things. Everyone is jumping in the wagon and blaming WoW for this just because it's the most popular. In reality, all MMOs that are based on the simple level reward mechanism (and they're all are) have this hook on the players.

And about Blizzard ... saying about a game that became an official sport in a country (Starcraft in S Koreea) that it is mediocre is first of all insulting a whole country's intelligence and secondly is just a weak attempt to prove a point, a point I'm sure not even you agree with :P

Diablo2 and Starcraft were(are) good games because they are the kind of games you wont get boored with

Today they announced Diablo3 and Starcraft2 is coming in december so will get over Diablo2 and Stracraft ... :P

I will tell you why WOW is not dead. Take for example my aunt and uncle - both in their fifties. Two lvl 70s each. They play with their daughter and son-in-law who in turn play with their two oldest children. They live on different sides of the states. Add in Ventrillo and Grandma and Grandpa can do more than just say hello to the grandkids, they can walk through Elywnn Forest with them, or take part in holiday events. It would be great if they could fly back and forth once a month, but the 15 dollars for wow is much cheaper than airfair. I myself started playing to have something in common with my brother. I took close to two months off of wow just to prove to myself that I was not playing to much or being controlled by it. I use the parental controls to help regulate my time if I feel like I am spending too much there. As with most things, what you take from it is determined by what you bring to it.

It depends on the person. I play WoW sometimes, yet still maintain a 4.0 gpa average . I t depends on how strong the will of the person is. Since I was raised in another country, my will is strong. Those born in the US are just horrible.

Okay, don't go bashing Starcraft just because WoW destroys people's lives. And by the way, I know people who play WoW casually without letting it take over their lives. But as far as Starcraft goes, it is still played today because there is so much in-depth strategy involved in playing.

i hate this game with a passion!!! its ruining my relationship!!!! i bet almost ever women in America hates this stupid game!!!!!

I totally agree with you, I have been playing WoW since the stress test, which was opened like a month or two before the game was actually released. I was sucked in for many years of my life and after the release of Wrath of the Lich King is when I realized I'm wasting my time. Since I've been playing I went through High School and most of my Freshman year in college. Instead of making relationships or honing on my programming/math skills I sat and got fat. Not saying that everyone does this but its my story. This semester of College I've been getting straight A's compared to last semester of C's during my play time of WoW, and I'm taking 6 more credits this semester with harder classes. WoW just sucks the time and logical thought right out of you. When I was playing I would always deny I had a problem, now that I've broken the addiction I know I had a serious one. This is spot on, but its for all video games that are goal oriented, you would rather meet the goals in the game that will be obsolete within the next two years than meet goals that could have a major impact on your life or society. Get off the game and start inventing the next space craft to fly us to Mars!