Most online multiplayer games are additive by nature.  The fact that WoW is so popular and allows so many different people to play at once makes it that much more addicting.  Due to World of Warcraft being essentially endless and the fact that it is constantly being altered also leads to a high a potential for addiction. “Players become so mesmerized with the game that they just keep going, and can spend an entire day inside its world”(Mackay).  The ability to stop and resume the game whenever for as long as you want makes this game incredibly appealing.  Based on a study performed by Grusser et al., computer game addiction is incredibly addictive.  In this study, 7069 gamers were asked to answer two questioners online in order to investigate the addictive potential of gaming.  This study discovered the 11.9% of participants were highly addictive as well as others who had minor addictions.   Wood and Griffths presented a similar study that examined 40 undergraduates while playing video games. They found that those who wanted to continue playing when forced to stop showed extreme mood disturbance, relating to addictive behavior.

Work Cited

Grusser, S.M, R. Thalemann, and M.D. Griffths. "Excessive Computer Game playing: Evidence for addiction and aggression?" 2 Nov. 2007. Business Source Complete. Penrose Library, Denver. 25 Mar. 2009

Mackay, Mark. "How Addictive Is World Of Warcraft." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. 5 Mar. 2006. 25 Mar. 2009 <http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-4-2006-90332.asp>.

Wood, Richard T. A., and Mark D. Griffiths. "Time Loss Whilst Playing Video Games: Is there a Relationship to Addictive Behaviors?." International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 5.2 (April 2007): 141(9). Academic OneFile. Gale. University of Denver. 25 Mar. 2009 <http://0-find.galegroup.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/itx/start.do?prodId=AONE>.