Why World of Warcraft is the Most Addictive Videogame

Smoking a plain piece of paper is not the same as smoking a cigarette.
Smoking a cigarette is not the same as smoking Marijuana.
Smoking Marijuana is not the same as smoking crack.

The same can be said for video games.

When it comes to addictive videogames there is only one high score. The massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) is far and away the most addictive type of videogame on the planet. MMORPG's are social games. These games can be played with thousands of other players online at the same time. This adds a huge social component to gaming. The social component alone often gives the teen gamer the desire to play this type of game.

World of Warcraft (WOW) is the biggest, best, and most popular of this MMORPG type of game. Launched in 2004, this game now has upwards of 1 million subscribers. These are people willing to pay a monthly fee to play the game. This amounts to $1 billion in annual sales for one video game. But, what makes this game so appealing. More importantly, what makes this game the most addictive game at the moment?

Here are the top 9 reasons why MMOPG's, and more specifically WOW, are so addictive:

1) Teens Don't Want to Throw Away Date Money - To play an MMORPG like World of Warcraft you must pay the monthly fee of $14.99. Though $15 a month may not seem like much to Mom and Dad, this is still a pretty big deal to most teens. This price of admission often has the effect of a teen feeling like they need to play, or they will be wasting money they could have been spending on dates or things that would attract dates.

2) Teens Want to Make the Varsity Team - So, the teen won't be able to take on the Warren High Dolphins this year because he didn't make the JV swim team. No problem, now they can join the cool tough online WOW team and be able to defeat armies of thousands of evil minions. Not only will they be helping out the team and be one of the guys, they will now be saving the known world. This is the type of promise that WOW players receive when joining the game. It's hard to quit a game where you feel respected and needed.

3) Teens Want to Become the Varsity Team Captain - The more you play WOW and other MMORPG's the higher you rank in the game. Similar to the military, you gain more and more respect from the other players with the more rank you have. So there is a lot of motivation to never stop playing the game in order to gain a higher ranking.

4) Teens Want to Meet the Prettiest Cheerleader and Have Her Adore Them - Let's be honest, there are not nearly as many females playing videogames. However, in WOW and most other MMORPG's there are plenty of people playing as women characters. There might even be a handful of teenage girls playing and looking for guys. To a socially awkward teenage male mind this means, "I have a chance at finding a girlfriend that I don't really have in the real world." In addition, the women characters on the MMORPG's are not Blue Slug Jabba the Hutt looking women. These are unnaturally "perfect" bodied super-babes. Imagine the effects of this centerfold female body image on a teenage boy's mind. When the teen finally does get a serious girlfriend the nagging thought in the back of his mind might be, "Well she looks ok, but my last girlfriend was a sword-wielding, troll-killing, bikini babe."

5) Teens Want to Be More Powerful Than the Biggest Bully In Their School - Imagine that not only will your teen be a powerful guy amongst a few friends, they can become the most powerful guy in a whole universe. Not only that, but people will be able to know that just by looking at you. Your rank is plainly evident. Also you get to become a virtual bully. You see when you have a higher rank in WOW, you are more powerful than the new guys just starting to play. You can bully him to no end. So, any pent up frustrations about being beat up in school can freely be reenacted with the victim now under your control during the game.

6) Teens Want to Be All Wise and All Knowing- Most people like to be in the know, to have a little insider information. This is infinitely possible in the MMORPG's world. The more the gamer plays the game, the more hidden content they discover. They end up with very valuable items and information. Soon, other players begin coming to the all-wise and all-knowing gamer.

7) Having the Ultimate No-Parent Party - The kids can run wild. Want to slaughter everyone on your own team? No problem. Want to do vulgar things to a female player? No problem. There is no major supervision other than people won't hang out with you or let you join up with their gang. Sometimes, this is enough to keep things a bit on the tame side. But even being tame is still more fun when Mom and Dad don't know you are.

8) Teens Want to Try Out New Looks - The current thinking about why teens wear the silly things they wear is that they are trying to find their identity in life. This is true for teens that are daring enough to try and parents patience enough to let this happen. However, teens are usually not free to try their wildest dreams out. In WOW they can get a Mohawk, green teeth, and a black bloodied tattoo that covers their whole body. You get to create your own character and then see how others react to him or her.

9) Teens Want Never-Ending High - WOW and most MMORPG's are designed to never end. There is no one plot line that some all knowing creator has contrived. This makes kids never have an in game conclusion that would cause the child to stop playing as they generally would with other standard games. The story line is what the players make it. And, in a teenager's mind, this means "the universe revolves around me." This is truly a teenager's perfect heaven; the perfect high.

Aaron Shaw started as an adoptions counselor for the Department of Children and Families in Tampa, Florida. While working as an adoptions counselor, he completed his Master's degree in Mental Health and Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Florida. After completing his M.A., he and his family I moved to Utah where I worked for 3 years as a therapist with teens. Also during this time he completed the coursework for his Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy from Brigham Young University.