I don't know about other MMORPG's, but WoW is certainly very addictive, and I think people could very easily become hooked on it. If you're in a guild that does the end-game 40-man content, you often feel compelled to raid every night, especially if you play an important class such as the main tank (who will have the best gear and so can't be replaced easily) or a healer (of which there always seems a shortage). This can have a massive impact on your social life and your school/work. How do I know this? Because it happened to me .

I was normally very sociable and an active sportsman (I play waterpolo for 2 clubs) but I increasingly found I skipped training or told my friends I had other things to do and stayed in to play WoW. I would also miss lectures during the day because I wanted to play, causing my grades to slip. This went on for about 9 months before I realised I had a fairly serious problem, and I would describe myself as addicted to the game. It took 3 more months before I finally cancelled my subscription and quit the game completely.

I've been "clean" since 1st May, and I've now got a job and am enjoying my waterpolo again (was top scorer for my uni team this year, with most of my goals coming since I quit WoW ). There have been drawbacks however. I still yearn to reactivate my account and play again, but I know its just a slippery slope so I have resisted so far. I don't really find any other games as good anymore and have basically lost my appetite to play any other computer games. I suppose these can only be described as withdrawal symptoms so I hope they will pass over time.

I don't really know why I've just said all this, I've never talked to anyone else about it (its amazing how your behaviour changes in internet chat rooms, but that a topic for another time), but it'll probably do me some good to have gotten it off my chest.

Anyway, back on topic, I think this centre is a good idea as I do believe people can become addicted to games in the same way as alcoholism or drug addiction, and although I never got to that stage, its nice to know there are people around that would actually help you should it ever happen, instead of just laughing in your face about it.