Upon comparing MMORPG addiction to other addictions such as alcoholism and cigarette smoking, some similarities have been found. One “public response to MMORPG excess has been the formation of various online support groups” (Watson) which is similar to the beginning reform for alcoholism in the late 1950’s with the establishment of Al-Anon programs. These programs were developed when society decided that alcoholism was a large enough problem to establish group-based support. This comparison could be interpreted to show a similar pattern beginning between the well-known addiction of alcoholism and the non-established addiction to MMORPGs.
There has also been shown to be a relationship between rising violence rates and using MMORPGs to escape reality. “Some critics (including some self-proclaimed MMORPG addicts) argue that MMORPGs have the potential to, and in fact have caused people to forget their real-world problems and responsibilities” (Watson) beyond what any normal hobby could do. This highly debated MMORPG addiction can go as far as people getting so into their game they are constantly escaping from the real world. This constant “life-ditching” could eventually cause the player to take that virtual world, with all its love-hate relationships, and merge it with real life. A good example of merging in-game life with a player’s real life is what happened in South Korea.
Five rough-looking men stepped out of a black sedan and burst into the Seoul PC café where Paek Jung Yul hangs out with Strong People Blood Pledge, his clan of online gamers. "Is the wizard here?" demanded one of the toughs, asking for the player who killed his character in an online game called Lineage. The "wizard" was there, alright, and he was feeling bold. He boasted that he had offed the gang man’s virtual character just for the fun of it. Bad idea. The roughnecks dragged the 21-year-old into the urinal and pummeled him until he was covered with real-world bruises. (Levander).
The police in South Korea have even classified the people who commit these real life beatings and killings that are taking place as “off-line PK” or off-line player-killers. The logic behind the rise in this type of violence is that "in the real world, in Korea, you have to repress your drives and hidden desires. In the game they come out” (Levander). So the blame here seems to be placed on society’s limitations upon people’s inner desires.
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