Somebody educate me

[Super Buu]

MMOs are about one thing, and it's something that sustains an entire medium - dickwaving. I mean shit, look at Xbox Live; achievement points do absolutely nothing, but there are people will play games they hate if it means getting more of them.

It's like a fraternity, always trying to prove yourself to your guild and one-up the opposing guild. It's an opportunity for players to revel in the jocktastic competitiveness that most nerds would have missed out on. Except in WoW, you don't need skill or talent - you just need to spend more time at the computer than your rivals.

That's where the addiction comes from. 'Respect' in WoW - level, guild rank, gear - basically comes down to how much you play the game. If you don't play it much, you won't have fun, if you play it a lot, it'll be more fun because you're ahead of everyone else.

It's all fun and games until you start feeling that creeping obligation to play more (usually because your guildmates need you to run instances and turn up regularly to raids and shit) and that's when you've got to get the hell out of there.