Part of the attraction to WoW is the addictive cycle of pretty much every RPG ever made: Kill enemies so you can get items for your character and level him up, then go to a different area with more powerful enemies and repeat. The goal (become powerful) is rewarding, and the means to achieve that goal (killing enemies) is fun. Some of the best items can take months to get, and it's a big sense of accomplishment when you finally get to put it on after so much effort.
Then there's the social side of the game. Some areas you can't handle on your own, so you have to join with other people to take down the tougher enemies, and that's usually a lot of fun. You meet some cool people along the way, and you end up chatting and grouping with them regularly. You can join a "guild" where members help each other out and can become good friends.
Die-hards like I was will join a "raiding guild," who'se main focus is to gather into groups of up to 40 people, called raids, and take down the game's toughest enemies. All for the best loot in the game, and of course bragging rights. :2razz:
Besides those general things, some people might have other specific things they get out of the game. Maybe they're just a number at their real job, but in WoW they're an officer or raid leader in the guild, and therefore somebody important. Some people's primary goal is to make as much gold as they can in the auction house, buying low and selling high. Or maybe they just like to order around hot demon chicks and listen to them slap their own asses.
I stopped playing because they only way I could improve my character was to raid, and the raids made it feel more like a job than a game. Plus the cartoony graphics got old after a while. I prefer Vanguard now.
I would like to add that in raiding, when the group kills the boss, there's a moment before the raid leader walks up to loot the corps...anticipation of what the loot will be...it is EXACTLY like gabling.
I know there have been studies where MIRs were taken of gamblers. I would very much like to see MRIs taken while people play an RPG. To me, looting a boss feels exactly like gambling. The only reason I proffer raiding to gambling is because the feeling is stronger with raiding. My brain produces more dopamine when I play WoW then when I visit a casino, and so I play WoW more.
I picked up enchanting to I could disenchant items I couldn't use. In this way, every drop, even from mobs, gives a lil dopamine.
Also, when I was into Magic: The Gathering, the number 1 thing I enjoyed most about the game occurred when I wasn't even playing it.
I would buy a box of booster packs, go to a local hang out with a good friend who split the cost of the box with me. We would get a couple drinks and take our sweet time opening each booster pack.
Opening those packs felt exactly the same as pulling the lever at the casino, scratching the lotto ticket, and looting the boss.
When I was a kid the best part of Christmas was the early morning before and just beginning to open presents. Once all the presents were open, it felt the same as when all the booster packs were open or the boss was looted and we were headed back to Shatterath: all the stuff was just....stuff...and the holiday was over.
Every time I come to DebatePolitics I go right to my Subscribed Threads page. Every thread that has a new post is as an unopened booster pack or a boss that needs to be looted. I get the biggest kick out of reading a new response, a lesser kick out of responding, and the debate itself really has little value.
For someone to tell me I need to get outside and go do something doesn't mean anything to me unless whatever I'm going to go do is going to replace the needs the RPG is fulfilling.
I've been into RPGs since I was introduced to Robotech in middle school. Speaking for myself only here, they have always given me a sense of control and escape from the stresses of life.
What you said about being a number at a job resonates with me because in RL I'm a drone at a dead end job. In WoW, however, I'm an officer in a fairly large and active guild. That officer ship comes with responsibilities ranging from organizing raids and resolving conflicts among players to using my advanced access to the guild vault appropriately when people request items or when the vault needs to be straightened up.
And yes, I do get a little kick when early in the morning the other officers aren’t on, someone asks if anyone can invite a friend into the guild or give them an item from the vault and I’m the only one on with the privs to fulfill the request.
I imagine that after graduation I will play WoW less as my career become more rewording.