So, it’s been a while since my last post.  I won’t apologize, because I hate it when people do that.

There are several reasons, but the real main reason is that I have been in a World of Warcraft addiction phase.  I’ve played the game pretty steadily for about three years now, and there are times when I can barely tear myself away from it, and then times when it begins to seem like a chore.  Lately, I’ve felt compelled to acquire more gold coins, find better magical armor, and learn to make more powerful elixirs.  if you haven’t been there, it will seem silly.  Frankly, it seems silly to me, too.  And every day I tell myself “tonight after work I will do something more useful, more mature, more — well, not geeky.  But then I get home and think, maybe tonight I’ll find that epic magic wand of healing and be the most powerful night elf priestess in all of Azeroth!  And at the time, it doesn’t sound so ridiculous.

For those of you who are not familiar with video game addiction, it might seem odd.  What, you might wonder, is so compelling about them?  Well, I’ll tell you.

First, video games are designed to give you frequent rewards.  While there are larger goals that may take hours or weeks to achieve, you generally get some sort of reward every 30 to 60 seconds or so.  I’ve noticed that when I’m spending too much time gaming, my attention span gets a lot shorter.  I jokingly (or not) told some of my friends that I would be able to concentrate much better at work if they paid me in, say, five minute increments, instead of twice a month.  (“Oh, you called that unhappy customer?  Good!  Here’s five dollars.  Now, do your monthly budget report, and you’ll get an epic coffee mug!  Loook, it holds 15% more coffee than a regular mug!”)

Secondly, games offer mental stimulation, without risk.  If you don’t succeed, you try again.  Even the less talented will eventually get to the next level.  If you keep trying, you make progress.  If you do well, you have a feeling of accomplishment.  If you do poorly — well, heck it’s just a game.  It’s challenging, but there is nothing at stake.  For many of us, this is the opposite of work, which is monotonous, and failure can mean real disaster.

Television is similar in this respect, and that is probably why it can also be addicting, especially for us naturally sedentary types.  But since i started gaming, I’ve found it much easier to manage and moderate my television viewing.  Also, I’ve gotten old, and watched a LOT of TV, and there isn’t that much anymore that seems to be very different from the thousands of hours of programming I’ve already seen.  Even though many people in an online game are stupid and obnoxious, there is a quality of unpredictability and randomness there which you don’t find on television where even “reality” shows are pretty well planned out and few things are truly unexpected.

Anyway, the addiction phase seems to be passing, or at least moderating a bit, and I was at least able to tear myself away tonight long enough to write about gaming.  So that’s a start.  This weekend I’ll try to write about something else.