Clinical psychologist Maressa Hecht Orzack, Ph.D., compares MMO addiction to compulsive gambling. While most of you fans would snap "so what?!" to this statement, just take it as a gentle warning from a shrink who hears from 6 to 10 compulsive World of Warcraft gamers daily. According to her, WoW playing has become so serious that gamers ignore real-life duties to work, family and friends so they could play.

One ex-WoW player, Splint, a former co-guild leader, shares, "My friends barely ever saw me. I'd turn down work if it'd run heavily into raid time, and I encouraged my guildmates to do the same." He says that he would often skip meals to avoid inconveniencing his group during their nightly raids.

His tale is not new. There are plenty of stories of WoW players who sacrificed so much of their personal lives. One player turned down a scholarship offer because he was not ready to go to school regularly. One sold his computer to pay the rent but kept playing at a friend's house. Another one was forced into marriage counseling because he played too much.

Dr. Orzack says that when playing MMO such as WoW, "the same reward center in the brain is tapped -- the dopamine system. Gambling has all the components that go with these games." She seriously recommends players concerned about their habits to seek advice from any one of those online communities set up to tackle gaming addictions, or help from their primary care provider.

Splint still keeps up with WoW news and his guild's online forums. His advice is to "stop when you reach the maximum level." This may sound incredulous at first, but maybe he and Dr. Orzack have a point. What do you think?