So now we have a message board dedicated to gaming addictions. How many people would say that they have heard about more people who log into message boards and constantly hit refresh in order to see who has responded to their posts? People who stay logged in to multiple boards all day, just to get their message heard. How many people have seen people/know people who have retired from the game they play, but continue to hit the message boards? Anyone notice the irony? The scenery is flatter, the content less engaging, the interactive forum less responsive, but there are more message boards than there are games. And people use them. So, I'll point to the irony of having another area in which people can take out their frustrations of daily life and ask you that if the true purpose is to cut the addiction, why have you created a new one?
It's all the same really... I think EQ's biggest pull is the chatting. At least for me that is, as a former IRC addict(lol) that is why I like it. I think EQ has pull with not only gamers and role playing folks, but also has the ability to "touch" the people that would otherwise be on messageboards/IRC/IM. But the game is just that as well, a game, you can login chat/kill/do tradeskills much more fun than just looking at text. I think(hope) the peeps who spend alot of time on the messageboards are just bored at work trying to kill time and get some human interction. As said in posts earlier this week it is quite ironic to give up one online addiction for another.
mah 2cp anyway
""For many, negative thinking is a habit, which over time, becomes an addiction... A lot of people suffer from this disease because negative thinking is addictive to each of the Big Three -- the mind, the body, and the emotions. If one doesn't get you, the others are waiting in the wings."
--Peter McWilliams