Ahh, this will get the "gaming is evil" people going, lol. Seriously though, online gaming can become very seriously addictive. As an online gamer myself, I know all too well about it. In old gamer lingo, it's called "twitch" gaming. I was a twitch gamer several years ago but not nearly as bad as some that I have known. My longest gaming stint was about 36 hours, stopping only for a few minutes to grab a bowl of rice krispies, some pepsi or answering the call of nature. I was very good at that particuliar game, but I soon realized that no matter how good I was at it, it just didn't mean anything in "real life". I'm a reformed gaming addict now. I still play online games but only a couple times a week. Depending on the circumstances, it could be for a couple hours during my daughter's nap time or 6 hours if I'm given a break (like getting a babysitter to go out except you don't go out! lol). Sometimes, I don't play for a week to a a few months.

Some that my husband and I have known, however, really had serious backlashes to their lives because of online gaming--divorce, loss of job, failing grades--you name it, it happened. One friend was so addicted to an online mmorpg that my husband had to regularly check on him every week because the man wouldn't feed himself, shower, or even go out to buy himself a pack of cigarettes...and he was a serious smoker. Kind of tells you something about how addicting gaming can be if it can outweigh a chemical addiction.

Gaming should be done responsibly. It shouldn't affect your personal life to extremes. There is infinitely more important things than whether or not you just killed a couple hundred other players in a 30 minute round or whether or not you reached lvl 65 and have the latest and greatest equipment...

Stephanie (whose only game right now is World of Warcraft )





In every man there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that I am his pupil.--Ralph Waldo Emerson