Humorous Image. Source: Hillary Rettig
This site analyzes the internet culture WOWaholics, which is an anonymous online support group for people who are addicted to World of Warcraft, commonly known as WoW. It is an online game played on the PC and it is arguably the most popular video game that exists. It was released November 23rd, 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the most subscribed to MMORPG and holds the Guinness World Record for most popular MMORPG. In August of 2012 9.1 million people were subscribed to WoW, but the maximum subscription was 12 million. The game is played through an avatar character where people can learn useful skills and join different guilds and enter into various realms. The average user of WoW is 28 years old and plays approximately 22.7 hours of WoW per week!
An addicted player playing WoW. Source: Popsci
WOWaholics serves as a support group for thousands of people all across the world who are trying to overcome the addiction to WoW. The website resembles Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in that it provides 12 steps to quit WoW and offers additional support resources; but differs because addicts give testimonials over blogs.
Analyzing the WOWaholics culture is important because it forces us as a society to face the addictive nature of videogames. How is it that so many people become dependent on videogames that they exit social reality? Are the ties to technology so strong that living in a virtual world has become the new reality? Understanding how WOWaholics interact can lead to a better comprehension on videogame addiction, changing lifestyles, and the growing impact of technology on society.
On this site I will discuss what makes WOWaholics an internet culture, who WOWaholics are, how WOWaholics interact, the jargon they use the methods I used to conduct my research, and insider insight to the WoW world. Research on WOWaholics has led to interesting findings about video games, the unseen consequences and addiction that can arise through exaggerated use and the underlying similarities between video game addicts.
In order to find information for this website I read through the WOWaholics website and testimonials from addicts or friends and family of addicts who wanted to help. In addition, I watched several short clips on people ending their WoW accounts and read articles about how to quit WoW. I browsed the actual WoW website in order to gain an understanding on the design and feel of the game. I have personally never played WoW, so I do not have firsthand knowledge of the game or addiction to it.
This is a screenshot of the WoW website which was used to gather information on WoW. Source: Jennifer Warren
To deepen the understanding of why WoW is such an addicting game I interviewed a past WoW player, Ben. He is the only person I know of that has played WoW. It makes me skeptical that I have not encountered more WoW players because over 9 million people play which leads me to believe more people in my everyday life must play.