Divorce Over PC Games

[THL]

Wedding Woes: The Dark Side of Warcraft

Although best-selling online role-playing game World of Warcraft boasts over ten million subscribers, it's also leaving in its wake an increasing list of casualties.

Even though she's never played the game, 28 year-old Jocelyn is one of the fallen. A well-spoken California resident, she divorced her husband of six years after he developed a crippling addiction to the smash online RPG.

"He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he'd play until three a.m. Weekends were worse -- it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night," she told Yahoo! Games in an interview. "It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life."

Jocelyn had been friends with her ex-husband Peter since the age of 13, but it took only nine months for her marriage to collapse.

"I bought the game for him for Christmas 2004, when it first came out. By May we had our first serious discussion about where our marriage was going, and by September I had moved out," she said.

Jocelyn recalled one particular incident that was typical of Peter's habits. "I had set aside 30 minutes for us to watch a television show together, and he couldn't. He was stuck on a raid, and completely failed to understand why I was upset," she said.

Peter's domestic duties also suffered. He stopped paying bills, she says, and refused to do his share of the housework.

Jocelyn doesn't hesitate to cite Warcraft as the main reason for her divorce and remains emotional about its impact on her marriage. "I'm real, and you're giving me up for a fantasy land. You're destroying your life, your six-year marriage, and you're giving it up for something that isn't even real."

Despite their differences, the couple remains friends, and although Peter still plays World of Warcraft, Jocelyn says he made an effort to cut down after their split.

A gamer herself, Jocelyn briefly worked for World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment, although not on the title that proved so damaging to her relationship. "I recognized that this was a game that would never end, and that's why I chose not to play it," she said.

"They build it in such a way that you have to keep putting more and more time into it to maintain your status. I remember thinking when I was married that it was downright exploitative to people who couldn't control themselves in that way. It's set up like a drug."

Asked if she would consider marrying another Warcraft player, Jocelyn laughed. "That's actually one of my primary criteria now -- I don't want to marry someone who is a gamer."
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My ex husband was a pretty bad gamer...but his addiction was to NCAA Football. When I was in labor with our daughter, we had forgotten something at home and so I sent him home to get it. He came back with the PS2. He actually tried to hook that thing up in the labor and delivery room!! I threatened to smash it to a million pieces if he did not unplug it. He used to take it on vacations with us so he could play it in the hotel rooms. Once, he was sitting in the back seat being very quiet and I was driving and I looked around to see if he had gone to sleep and I saw that he had taken over our daughters 7 inch car DVD player and hooked it up to the playstation. When the PS2 first came out, I was SOO sick that morning and this clown woke me up to go stand out in the cold in front of a store so that he could go stand in front of another store and have a better chance of getting one. He didnt get one that day and was quite upset with me when I laughed about it. I can see how a video game addiction could lead to divorce.

[gunnut]

I know of people who got married through these games. So I guess people getting divorced over these games is to be expected.

[Tronic]

Well, one student who goes to university with me failed first semester because at the start, he used to be playing "World of Warcraft" 24/7 during lectures; and then eventually stopped coming to lectures alltogether; even managed to miss the midterms! This semester, he shows up about once a month and everytime he does, hes still playing that thing on his laptop. So have seen these games, especially this Warcraft one, take over people's lives.

[Knaur Amarsh]

Originally Posted by Tronic

Well, one student who goes to university with me failed first semester because at the start, he used to be playing "World of Warcraft" 24/7 during lectures; and then eventually stopped coming to lectures alltogether; even managed to miss the midterms! This semester, he shows up about once a month and everytime he does, hes still playing that thing on his laptop. So have seen these games, especially this Warcraft one, take over people's lives.

Perhaps his parentz should stop payin' his bloody tuition fee,then he'd be forced to do more productive things