With Cataclysm on the horizon I've seen one phrase being said time and time again....
 
'I hope this doesn't drag me back into WoW.'
 
I miss the days when WoW was first released - not because of the content, but it felt like a game I could play without all the stigmas attached to it today. It felt like a 'game' - a really fun game. Now, playing it feels akin to being a heroin addict - and at least heroin would be considered 'edgy'.
 
Ah well, everyone will be playing MMO's one day, at least it feels sweet to be part of the birth of a movement!

With Cataclysm on the horizon I've seen one phrase being said time and time again....
 
'I hope this doesn't drag me back into WoW.'
 
I miss the days when WoW was first released - not because of the content, but it felt like a game I could play without all the stigmas attached to it today. It felt like a 'game' - a really fun game. Now, playing it feels akin to being a heroin addict - and at least heroin would be considered 'edgy'.
 
Ah well, everyone will be playing MMO's one day, at least it feels sweet to be part of the birth of a movement!

I started playing a couple months after launch. Raided pretty heavy up to Naxx (back when it was 40 man), BC (killed Illidan, only a couple bosses in Sunwell). After LK came out I lost interest. It was just the same game over and over. New raid comes out, wipe on bosses all night long, goto bed, get up, farm, wipe on bosses. I've quit a few times and come back, but the last I renewed my account, I logged in and was bored after about 10 minutes. That game just can't hold my attention like it used to. Not that I dont think its a great game, I'd say its probably one of the better games I've played, but after like 5 years of the same gameplay, Im just sick of it. The thought of coming back makes me sick, to think off all the time I put into it.

That's a pretty interesting theory. It could be true, but it's more likely that you wouldn't realize that it's addicting, and rather that it's just one of your favorite games. I think one of the thing that keeps me from not ever playing WOW, is that I don't want to risk being addicted. 

You know people get addicted to plenty of games; Fallout 3, Red Dead Redemption, Oblivion, but there's a certain stigma attached to MMO addiction and an even greater stigma attached to World of Warcraft. I don't like to think that people might be dissuaded from playing a game they might have found very enjoyable because of the labels certain members of the gaming community might attach to it.

I stopped playing WoW like three and a half years ago. I don't regret playing, I don't regret quitting, and I am not so compelled to play the game that I would sign up again against my better judgement.

It was great while it lasted though.

I know what you mean. The beauty of WoW's beginning days was the fact that the game was still new to everyone. I remember thinking I was so flippin' cool when MC finally came out and I got my full tier 1 set on my Rogue.
 
For me, the early days of WoW meant more so I didn't mind investing so much time into it. Now it feels like, "Well, another raid is out. Another tier set to farm." ._.

Yes. Just like videogames in general.

I still play because I enjoy it just like all the other games I play.  They call it addictive because there are SO many people that are able to enjoy the game and love to play it. 
 
So Blizzard should have but it in their User Agreement that the first rule of playing WoW.  Is you can't talk about WoW. Then all these people who won't play because they've heard it's addicting, would just play and shut up.

World of Warcraft is not addictive at all.  Weak-minded teens that have no sense of accomplishment in their real lives get a sense of accomplishment in a digital world, so they decide to stay.
 
It is not addictive at all.

fuck wow , i am w8ing diablo 3

Its no more addicting than any other game. People just play it a lot because of how much content it has. 

The gameplay and repetitive content wasn't addicting, having to log on everynight because you wanted to help your guildmates was. As someone who played WoW for 5 years non-stop every day, I got bored of the game within a year. There becomes a point where you learn everything about your class and you just start to see numbers, you know exactly what your spell should heal,  you know exactly what amount of stat is good or bad, you know what loot will drop  and all you see are gameplay elements.
 
But I kept playing because I had fun with my friends and guildies, everynight on ventrillo. I didn't want to missout on a night of chatting on vent while farming for pointless item X that would be useless the next patch. If someone's addicted to WoW it's the social enviroment, not because the game's "fun".
 
Main reason I broke free? because enough others had done the same. Now we're all still waiting for the next MMO where we can reform and probably do the samething.

"   But I kept playing because I had fun with my friends and guildies, everynight on ventrillo. I didn't want to missout on a night of chatting on vent while farming for pointless item X that would be useless the next patch. If someone's addicted to WoW it's the social enviroment, not because the game's "fun". "

I miss the days when WoW was first released - not because of the content, but it felt like a game I could play without all the stigmas attached to it today.

" @el_tajij said:

I miss the days when WoW was first released - not because of the content, but it felt like a game I could play without all the stigmas attached to it today.

Sorry to break this to you but Everquest gave mmo's stigma long before WoW did. Its actually kind of funny I remember before 04 when if anyone was talking about a MMO it was Evercrack now most people don't even remember that game existed "

If you enjoy playing a game the stigma attached to it shouldn't make you like it any less, unless its one of those Japanese rape games

Im currently reinstalling the game, but I dont care about Cataclysm that much. What I care about is the awesome community I got on there.
 
Vent discussions about the existance of ATM is where its at.

*Reads all the comments and figures out that people honestly think its addictive*
 
Its A fucking Video Game YOU DONT GET ADDICTED, Sure if your some weak minded fool with no self-control I am sure you could get caught up in it but that just makes you a weak-minded fool it has nothing to do with the game.

Everquest was Evercrack long before Warcrack was on the scene. 
 
But anyway... I see where the OP is trying to go with the logic, and it's entirely possible that some people think that way... the whole I think I am, therefore I am. 
 
Personally I don't see it that way.  I enjoy MMOs.  Some more than others.  If I enjoyed them enough, I will go back to them over the years, many times.  I never really regret my breaks (other than the cool stuff I may have missed out on that was limited time only).  But I don't think going back to a game I enjoyed means I'm addicted to it.  If that's the case, there are plenty of old non-online games that could be applied to also.

i can never get addicted to wow, i just do a couple of quest  here and there, and maybe a instance then take a break and do something different.

 
vanilla WoW was the worst form of crack ever. 
they took some social responsibility and changed it thankfully.
 
the old PvP being the the worst offender. 
it was a competitive grind.  that meant you had to play longer than the very friends you were playing with as your score was a comparison with everyone else on the server. 
to get to the highest rank of High Warlord meant 8 hours a day of WoW (at least) 7 days a week. 
 
and yes i was sadly a part of that grind back in the day. 
 
people usually quit WoW after getting high warlord, the highest rank, for 2 or 3 months.  
some friends even had health issues over it, since you could not leave the computer, you had to keep playing, making people's diets (not to mention exercise)  horrible.

Sure its addictive, but I could never get into the OMG ITS A DRUG thing.
People also play CoD like its a religion, or Zelda, or Fifa even.
People are silly, their actions are silly, companies merely invest in it and we are silly for going with it.