I have friends who have played WoW for a solid 4 years and every time they talk about the game I don't hear one positive word about it.  When I suggest they quit they quickly change the subject to something else or tell me there are no other games to play and I rattle off several.  Why is it so difficult for some people to walk away from a game they don't enjoy?  I walked away from WoW and haven't looked back once...

It's called addiction. I suggest they get the patch.

I played WoW for 40 days, got to level 43. And then quit a month ago. Might start back up, probably won't.

The same reason why it's hard to leave your favorite prostitute. 
 
What?
 
Uh...I gotta go...

i didn't even realise i was addicted. 4 years later i'm CLEAN! and playing counter strike source like i should be.

It was really dang fun for me, but it wasn't that hard to quit. I stopped playing before the Burning Crusade and haven't really thought of it much. If I did try to go back, I'd probably hate most of the things they did (even though I stopped before it happened, I was still a bit irritated when they made getting to level 60..or, getting/doing anything, actually, a lot easier).
 
Iunno, probably addiction or something. I suggest electro shock therapy. With a Tesla Coil. Because who wouldn't want to shock the fuck out of something with one of those? Or give them a knife, and set a bear loose in the room. They'll either die, or come out a badass. Or use explosives. Y'know, I'm not even sure what I'm talking about any more, these are just awesome ways to deal with situations. 
 
Remember, if explosives don't fix it, you're not using enough!

Because it's a game that doesn't have an end, a lot of players and good gameplay. There isn't really any other MMO that will compare to WoW.

" Because it's a game that doesn't have an end, a lot of players and good gameplay. There isn't really any other MMO that will compare to WoW. "

" @discost3w said:

" Because it's a game that doesn't have an end, a lot of players and good gameplay. There isn't really any other MMO that will compare to WoW. "

But every time I talk to them they always complain about the players and how bad they are and how bad the gameplay has become.  Could it be that they're too afraid to let go of the character they've made? "

" @discost3w said:

" Because it's a game that doesn't have an end, a lot of players and good gameplay. There isn't really any other MMO that will compare to WoW. "

But every time I talk to them they always complain about the players and how bad they are and how bad the gameplay has become.  Could it be that they're too afraid to let go of the character they've made? "

"People tend to see the older ways the game operated through ross-colored glasses.  It's not subconscious really.  It's just a great game.  That's why they haven't quit.  Unfortuantely, some people become elitist after playing for a while.  It sounds as though this is happening somewhat to your friends. "

Hey also watch a documetary called second skin, it's about mmorpg games like wow and ever quest and how it ruins ppl's lives. You might just find the answers you were looking for. Don't miss out on it, op it might describe your friends better than anyone else can.

I've been clean for a year and a half, but last week I found myself thinking about reactivating.  You gotta work at staying clean, you gotta put the work in.  

Because it's Heath Ledger :P.

" I don't hear one positive word about it."
 
Then they are lying. The reason it's hard to quit is it is addictive, you get attached to your character, and you make a lot of friends.

You know what for me, MMORPG's stood for before I found the woman in my life? The ability to be someone who doesn't have the same worries you do, so you become someone else who's life you have direct influence in. Too often you have no control over life and in MMO's you almost always have direct control and I think that's powerful for a lot of ppl.

I played WoW pretty solidly from launch till about 2008, I took a couple breaks, nothing longer than a month. Then from then on I'd be like 6 months between resubscribing, play for a few months, then leave. A few weeks ago I re-subscribed after leaving it for nearly 9 months, and after the first day I was bored of it. I did raid pretty hard for most of that time. I find it weird that many of the guys I play with also complain about it, yet I know some of them have never once taken a break. I think the only reason why I came back so many times is because the guys I played with were alright guys. If I never played with them, I probably would have quit and never returned back in like 2007.

" The same reason why it's hard to leave your favorite prostitute.   What?  Uh...I gotta go... "

" I played WoW pretty solidly from launch till about 2008, I took a couple breaks, nothing longer than a month. Then from then on I'd be like 6 months between resubscribing, play for a few months, then leave. A few weeks ago I re-subscribed after leaving it for nearly 9 months, and after the first day I was bored of it. I did raid pretty hard for most of that time. I find it weird that many of the guys I play with also complain about it, yet I know some of them have never once taken a break. I think the only reason why I came back so many times is because the guys I played with were alright guys. If I never played with them, I probably would have quit and never returned back in like 2007. "

 If it's so boring, why are you doing it? "

I thinks its because the longer you play it the more invested you become, thus the harder it is to give up the longer youve been playing.
Also it should be said that the game is designed on a subscription model and as such Blizzard try to keep you playing which makes perfect sense.

" @Wipeout: My WoW friend met a girl on WoW and they're happily married now, and I know another guy that met a girl and they're dating :P  Not saying its a regular thing, just think its interesting that I know two people with great relationships that met through WoW. "

I've been playing off and on for five years.    
 
 For me the answer is because there is always something to do.  It's very much like owning a home in that respect.  
 
There's something  I could get in and work towards and it's just really fun.  

" @discost3w said:

" Because it's a game that doesn't have an end, a lot of players and good gameplay. There isn't really any other MMO that will compare to WoW. "

But every time I talk to them they always complain about the players and how bad they are and how bad the gameplay has become.  Could it be that they're too afraid to let go of the character they've made? "

Because it's fun. Maybe they can't wrap their mind around the fact that as a substitute for WoW, they'll be paying $60 a pop for new releases on the Xbox or PS3, and  those games are going to last a fraction of the time they would spend get on $15 a month.

The easyist way to quit for good is to get perma banned a few people i know had to do it that way 
 
1 went into chat talking about NAMBLA Nazi Germany also put in countless tickets to GMs telling them to go fuck themselves, your a pedo, I raped your mum etc untill he got banned
the rest just hacked in the bgs/arena IE grabbing the WSG flag and flying up into the air then going afk etc

It's an addiction. There are many, many addictions.

Because they enjoy it?

totally off topic, I just found out StarCraft 2 will have region locked multiplayer :(

From personal experience (having played with various groups of friends and/or coworkers in several MMOs), it's the social aspect. People will tolerate a bland gaming experience if the social interaction elevates it for them. 
 
Personally, a game is a game to me. Once WoW stopped entertaining me I merely quit and never thought about it. But the mechanics of that genre do tug at a person on fundamental levels, by and large.

My friend was a big WoW player and got sick of having to be home all the time for raids. He told me he would get hate filled emails from people he raided with if he wasn't there. That pretty much killed it for him. So he stopped for a couple of months. Later he started up again with a new character and just played for fun, and told me that it was so much more enjoyable. 
 
But quiting... it's clearly an addiction. How many articles have I read about games playing so long the neglect their children, or themselves to the point of personal damage.

Because some people become too emotionally invested in that kind of games. 
 
- "I'm gonna leave the community but I can't do that. I made so many friends and [insert 'real life' friend's or significant other's name] will probably be sad if I playing with him/her. "
- "My guildmates need me. Every knows I'm the best buffer. Besides, morale is so low lately that If quit the guild will probably disband."
- "Oh my character, you're so pretty on top your brand new Mount and wielding your brand new sword. Finally after 3 years you're everything I hoped you'd be. I love you. At least until the new expansion, which is gonna like totally change the dynamics."  
- "I can't quit [insert mmo name]. I've been playing that for 3 years every Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. It's become part of my life. Besides, what would do on  those days"?

Also, when leaving some people tend to summarize their experience and become very aware of how much they time/money invested. And it's an investment while you're still playing, but it tends to feel like a waste once you quit. You can easily spend 200-300/year on some MMO's.

" WoW sucks! Ha ha, just kidding. I can't say that, I've never played it. I don't really want to either -shrugs-. Out of the many "popular" games out there, that's one I don't really care to play. Plus, don't you have to pay to play? Total crap. Oh, and wow is simply a way of getting away from reality for some I'd say. Like most other games, it's a way to get away from your daily activites that need to be done. Immersion is great, just not when it's taken too far. Second Life is a good example. That's just sad. "

with WoW it's different. the game is still excellent and is moving in a more positive direction, just veteran players find it hard to let old habits die. they still like playing it but just miss the old style that they originally fell in love with

I've never played WoW, but it's understandable that people develop such long lasting addictions to it. It creates this feeling of satisfaction in your brain whenever you level up and you just want to keep doing it, as well as getting more items and finishing all these quests so you can be better than tons of other people at the game. I personally don't see the appeal because no matter how good you are and how many quests you've finished, millions of other people have done the same thing. 
 
But without having actually played the game, I can really only make inferences.

The worst part is how WoW basically turned into a second job for me.  Raid Monday Tuesday Wednesday, level alts,  raid alts to get alts gear,  do bgs/arena for pvp gear, farm gold, farm mats, then they added dailies which basically admitted that the game itself was a second job.  "Pssst hey we understand you hate farming items for gold,  just do these quests over and over for about an hour a day.  It's like working a 9-5 job on wow, but should only take an hour or so at the most!" 
 
I quit one month after WotLK came out, I just got tired of the treadmill.  Now I have so much free time that I almost don't know what to do with it.  

Positive reinforcement schemes, as studied by behaviourist psychologists like Skinner, that motivate people to do repetitive activities that would seem unrewarding otherwise (same with achievements, unlocks etc. etc.). Basically WoW is like being a gerbil with a food button.

From what I gather, WoW is such as lightweight game: it boots-up quickly, you can play it for 5 minutes or 12 hours, there's always something new to do, it costs money (which causes psychological affection), and the more you play it the more you start to affiliate your character with all your hard work. 
 
Don't start, kids.  Abstinence is key.

I wouldn't really call it an addiction for some. For most people I know, they've spent so much time making their character, making friends, etc that if they decide to quit then all their accomplishments are gone. They can't go back just to play around unless they pay up again and some would rather have the security knowing it's their when they want it rather than the disappointment of losing it. If they quit, in a weird way it's like all they did was for nothing.

WoW is only as addictive as you let it be, and the increasingly casual nature of the game makes it less demanding of your time. I started taking a break a while ago when my second main was only two levels from 80, and on my first 80 I left my raid guild when people started giving me shit for not dedicating my life to the game. It's a decent source of entertainment and a good way to waste time, but in the end it's just a single game. The world won't end if you don't get a dozen badges in a day or fall behind on progression a bit. 

You know, I've told my friends to do the same. They did for a while, which made me very happy because that meant we didn't have to talk about WoW 24/7. They started up their accounts last week though which made me and another friend most displeased. To each his own, I guess, but I cannot see why people stick around in that game.

I quit about two years ago.  For me it was a sense of responsibility toward my guild.  I had a strong desire to be desired, useful and praised for being a good player.  I know it's messed up, but being part of a group dynamic that is accomplishing things with visual results is more rewarding than being part of group that is just one cog in a much bigger machine (aka, "work").  That's where WoW is successful.  It shows you where the goodies are and sets up obstacles in your path that are challenging but not impossible if you can just get the right group, have a decent amount of time, and a little luck.  Just one more attempt is often said during a difficult raid or quest.  And, if you fail, you have other options to improve.  So there is always something available to make you just a little bit better.  And, those improvements are visible even if they are small.  The gamer knows that each drop in the bucket will eventually measure up to something worthwhile.  I kept chipping away in hopes of being a good healer that could be counted on by members of my guild and with a reputation on my server among those not in my guild.  And, for a while, I felt I achieved that.  While I was never in the top 10, I had a following and that was a source of pride.  Giving up an illusionary sense of purpose and acceptance is hard for a lot of people.  The realization that it is ultimately meaningless is difficult to accept.  
 
When I did quit it was cold turkey.  I signed off as if it was any other day and never signed on again.  I feel a lot of regret for never explaining or apologizing to my guildmates, but it was better for me to cut all ties and move on.  I'm more experienced with MMOs since those days and have dabbled in other games since WoW, but I've continued to stay away from that one because of all the trappings I know exist within it. Games are supposed to be fun, and not feel like I am clocking in for work when I log on. 

I won't play it because I hear it's addictive as hell.

For me it was friends i made in the game always pulling me back in. I always would try to keep in contact with them and after awhile i would get the guilt trip of "its so boring without you, our tanks suck, get back on with warrior and i fell for it hook line and sinker. I only quit when my friends slowly transferred to other servers or quit themselves and all of a sudden i had no reason to log on.

I lived with some addicted folk and I can say its because of your attraction to your character (and how cool he is, I mean you've shaped him for so long it makes sense that you are attached). 
 
Second reason's friends. WoW is just a real time Facebook where everyone's playing a million-times better version of FarmVille. To be able to share game accomplishments (and to have them shared to you) just draws you in on how great the game is.