Sitting still as a stone, calm and collected, in a completely dark room, your eyes focus on the one source of light, a radiating computer monitor. Gracefully your fingers dance across the keyboard – becoming an extension of yourself, as your mind unites with the images that float before you. As it goes on the characteristics between your mentality and the game begin to blur together. As it goes on, inner and outer world seem the same. As it goes on, time itself melts away whilst you grind for that last level. Before you know it, the real world starts calling back to you. A glance over to your clock tells you you’ve been playing for far longer than should have, and now you’ve gotten yourself in trouble… again.

An average Gamer (videogame enthusiast) will spend upwards of four hours playing games a day. Some spend far more than that any given waking moment. Could it be games are causing people to lose touch with time or even reality? Can gaming become a fatal addiction?

For a few years, Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) have jumped by leaps and bounds in popularity. The games are genius in their simple premise: for a monthly fee, build your own character and join this world created for you to do whatever you wish in it. Fight powerful monsters, gain wealth, meet literally thousands of people, or simply explore the vast computer generated reality. It seems like fun to get yourself lost in its immersion.

On March 16, 1999 one of the biggest of these games was released to the public: EverQuest. Like its name suggests, it is a fantasy based MMORPG that really doesn’t end. As your character gains in levels from fighting monsters or completing quests, he gains more advanced skills and a higher prestige for bragging rights. Virtual wealth is acquired for better armors and weapons and even food/drink which was essential to go on living.

EverQuest itself boasts that it has more than 430,000 subscribers worldwide. Quite an impressive number, and that’s not even considering other MMOs like Dark Ages of Camelot, Lineage, City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, and a new comer Guild Wars.

Aryianna – Her EverQuest screen name- was spending upwards of 60 hours a week on the game and getting only four hours of sleep a night. She was struggling to focus at work as her thoughts always turned toward the game. Even her marriage seemed to suffer with the lack of attention to real world events. Aryianna wasn’t even aware of her problem until she realized she had fallen in love with a player she had never met in person.

“The feelings were not mutual, and I was very hurt,” Aryianna said. “I did not want to get attached, but one day I woke up and realized I was attached. And I said to myself that something wasn’t right.”

Looking back, she now understands that she was getting something out of this game that was lacking from her marriage, new and exciting romance. Her character “dated” a powerful warlord who would spend his hard earned gold on presents for her. Aryianna said it felt good to command his attention and fight by his side.

“He was the guy who attacked the monster, and when he got hurt, I was his healer. It was kind of romantic – I was his personal nurse healing him,” said Aryianna, who is now divorced. “It was sort of like watching this Hollywood movie, except that the heroine was me. That romantic environment was exactly what I was missing in my marriage. I was getting my fantasies fulfilled there.”

Some players and former players of these games have charged that they can indeed become addictive. They can even fill emotional needs with these games, often finding themselves surrounded by other players just like them. Extensive chat features allow a gamer to experience social aspects missing from real world activities. Furthermore, the collaborative/competitive aspect of working with or fighting against other players can make it difficult to find the power to quit.

People find themselves instantly connected with other players because they will have at least one thing (the game) in common. Friendships can quickly flourish in these settings and some people have claimed that their online friends became more important and closer to Gamers than their real friends.

Some have suggested warnings be put on game boxes, informing people that the game is so expansive that you can lose yourself in it. Scott McDaniel vice president of marketing for EverQuest says that it is up to the individual to make the choice. “I guess our standpoint is the same as all kinds of products-you have to be responsible in using it. You don’t see disclaimers when you get in a car saying ‘Don’t run over people.’ Players have to exhibit their own good sense”

Aryianna feels the same. She doesn’t blame the company that made EverQuest for her addiction. She knew it was up to her to stop compulsive playing. Now she helps others with their addictions.

“It’s got to be up to the individual,” she said, “because you can’t control the substances.”