by Stacey Allen

Created on: August 28, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

At the end of February 2005, my husband and I decided to "try" the new popular game we had been hearing so much about. World of Warcraft had been getting rave reviews, but it was a massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) - a genre we had always shied away from. We figured we would check it out for a few weeks and move on as we always had before. Back in those days, we would tear through a new first person shooter every other week or so.

Three-and-a-half years later, I stand before you, still addicted. Our consumption of other games has dropped drastically. Since we've been "Warcracked" we've probably only finished 10 or so. We've even tried finding other MMORPGs to hold our attention, we rarely get past three days before we find ourselves longing for Azeroth.

Earlier this year, I wrote an article on my addiction for a gaming magazine. At that time, I tallied up my time spent in game since I first created my first character. More than 4,000 staggering hours, not including the characters I'd since deleted! The time I'd played was the equivalent of 1.5 years (with no weekends or vacation time) of 8-hour work days. Yikes!

That was a reality check! What have I gotten from this time invested? More than 4,000 hours has led to three level 70 characters (I'm up to four now); a passel of alts; backup characters on different servers for when Dalaran is down; a spot in the best guild on the server for a year and a half; and the opportunity for real-life interaction with people I've befriended in game, including drunken buffoonery in Massachusetts and meeting guildies when my husband and I were honeymooning in England.

Time spent in-game has led to epic gear, professions, countless hours spent picking in-game flowers, grinding on mobs for experience and in-game money, frustration, excitement, elation, laughs and stories that are only humorous to the WoW-set.

I do actually get scared when I write that. I've been living partially in a game for the past three-and-a-half years. I've never spent that much time doing anything, let alone playing one game! Even when I'm not in the game, part of me is indeed still there. When my husband and I go out for dinner or a drink, WoW is often a main topic of conversation. Yes, he plays too and has logged more hours than I have.

I can easily argue that since we both play, it is a couples activity. We are playing together, and the "family that plays together, stays together." But, deep down, even I know that we spend too much time

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