I consider this as anything immersing. Drugs also have added physiological dependence, but it doesn't mean that games aren't addictive just has drugs have psychological dependence.

Solutions:
But I think that a game which could assure players that it will have less such secundary effects would win some customers. A MMORPG which upgrades your player based on how wise your moves generally are instead of "who did the most" for example. Or a turn-based strategy game with a "end the game in 30 minutes" timer or whattever.

MOO3 had a timer included in one of the patches. Civ4 will let the possibility to play shorter games. Society wont simply be "more time = more development". Etc.

Since this has been a dead summer in terms of really good gaming for me. I've spent my time split between playing a majhong game, Rome Tw, and as many online downloadable games I can get my hands on

WoW involved too much camping and reliability on getting in a GOOD group for me. This missions in it sucked hardcore....

Collection missions where you had to collect large amount of drops in player-infested areas....
Boss-kill missions where you had to fight through hoards of elite mobs that will spawn on top of you as soon as you get to the boss....
Fetch missions......

That is what all the game involved for me. Sure I knew PVP would be fun but I couldn't get pact the EQ aspects of the game. I wish SWG wasn't ruined in its combat patch otherwise i would still be playing that trash game. IMO ALL MMORPGS suck, however I have to play at least one. So far not one that i've tried has been good...

Right now i'm thinking of playing EVE Online but I heard that its more of the same as welll.

"MOO3 had a timer"

The timer in MOO3 was the only useful point in the game, lol.

I played WoW. I stopped playing 2 weeks before my first paid month ran out.

But I also played a heckuva lot while I was playing.

Is that addiction?

IMO ALL MMORPGS suck, however I have to play at least one. So far not one that i've tried has been good...

Why do you hve to play at least one? If you don't like the genre don't play it.

/shrug

the purpose of games is to entertain and to consume your spare time. of course if a game is really great it is very easy to forget about the real world. its a question of discipline. ppl have to realize that escaping the real world and beeing part of a fantasy world is nice and relaxing, however sooner or later real life will come knock at your door and you will have to deal with your problems and responsibilities... so better log out earlier and get some work done. afterall the gaming experience is much better if you dont know you actually have this and that to do and shouldnt play really.

I played Jumpgate, EVE, Shattered Galaxy, beta tested alot of stuff (Lineage2, EQ2...) and am playing Dark Age of Camelot since 2001. I had a short DAoC break while I was playing WoW. went to level 60 realized the pvp,pvp-reward and battleground system sucked and beside that there is only EQ-ing through 20-40 ppl instanced dungeons for item-farming left so I canceled and went back to DAoC which still has the best PvP on the market.

the key to non-addicted playing of MMOGs is to realized that if you play 24/7 you may achieve something in the game fast, but afterall you can achieve the very same over a longer period while not playing so much per day. if you rushed to the maximum level, grinded and farmed for the best possible equipment, did everything possible, what will be left to do for you? nothing, unless an expansion comes along. therewhile you probably lost your job, your friends, your wife etc.

so MMOGs arent a problem if you just take your time. whatever you could achieve today in the game can always be achieved later so instead going out with friends may be a better activity for this evening.
power gaming takes away alot of fun too. ^^

Well...U know what? Since Starcraft I have never ever played any Blzzard product!
Why? Because of Warcraft III...I dont know what the People found in that thing!
I was sooooo bored from the beginning of the game that I have only played it the first four or five missions.
Yes the Vids are great and the grapics were fine, but thats not all...I need suspense, I need the "je ne sais quois!"(what the French use to say)...and thats whats missing in the Blizzard games the last time! Its allways the same....even in WOW..click on your chracter/Units...click on the map to move...click, click, click to battle enemy....click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click,click, click, till he is beaten! BOOOOOOORING!! I just dont understand, whats so special about it! gimme a game like rise of nations, tomb raider or galciv for example and I am in my own universe (at least till my baby is awake or my fiance wants me to clean the dishes! )
I hope i didnt upset anyone here, but this is my opinion! Blizzard lost me as a fan loooong ago! I know that no ones cares about it, but thats life!
See YA!!

A MMORPG which upgrades your player based on how wise your moves generally are instead of "who did the most"

You mean like Ultima Online was before they turned it into another crappy game that's all about killing lot of monsters.... UO was the wild WILD West of online gaming. If you were a newbie your heart just pounded as you stepped out of protection of the guards. Not that the guardzone was safe either. There were pleanty of dangers for an uneducated poor newbie. Such as poisoned food left lying around. Or the unsuspecting (Trapped)crates which blew you up when you dared to peek inside. All those hazards were brought to you courtesy of your griefing fellow players. Who took satisfaction in robbing the weak and unwise adventurers of their valuables and their life.

When I started playing that game I was killed constantly, up to 10 tiems a day, usually by other players. Thous sometimes my own ignorance caused my demise. I wont even mention the deaths I suffered at the hands of the monsters Who woudl suspect a spider would poison me? I dont even know how I made it through the initial months. Thou I did wise up. Spending my first weeks dividing time between mining (I didnt plan on being a miner, I just herd a rumor it made you stronger), dying to weak monsters like skeletons, and ofcourse walkign around the world as a ghost, I quickly absorbed my surroundings. Within 6 months I was the one doing some of the kicking. By years end. I did most of it. Eventually pretty much all of it. Sadly by that time the game has changed so much. Fighting whole guilds by myself or with a partner, I started to wonder how long before it would be unplayable? Every patch seemed like a step closer to infinity. With each patch they robbed the advantage the wise player had over the dumb player who just plays too much or a horde of clueless newbies. Eventually I just threw in the towel, it jsut wasnt worth it.

Sorry for the endless ramblings, but I couldnt stop writing UO was the best turned worst game I have ever played! All the friends I made while playing I keep in contact with (Well those that are around the net anyway). Many of them were from other countries. We sometiems run into eachother in strange other games, have a few laughs and see which oen fo us quits the current game first (None of em messure up in the end).

People. I am 15 and I was once a gaming addict, just a few months ago. I would play games for over 16 hours a day someday... Staying up until 9am, or more. I wasn't addicted to WoW but I was to Counter-Strike: Source. I just couldn't stop playing, it was consuming my whole life. So believe me, no matter what you think, it's better in "RL" [Real Life].

And I used to think that it was important how good I was. But newsflash - NOBODY CARES.

I now KNOW that there's always something better to do than play video games, and I fucking HATE WoW because it has just taken one of my favourite friends away

SO FUCKING LISTEN. THERE IS WAY BETTER THINGS. DO NOT LET IT CONSUME YOUR LIFE.