Do you think a game can "ruin" lives?

[MasonC2K]

Anything can ruin a life; it depends on the person and how things effect that particular person.

Really? Explain.

The only things that can effectively ruin peoples like that are not their own fault are external events that are outside of their control.

If a tornado rips up your house, it can ruin your life. But it's not your fault.

If you get laid off because your emplorer is no longer making enough money to pay you, it can ruin your life. Not your fault though.

No thing that you, yourself, control, can be blamed for the problems caused by said thing. If you swing a hammer, miss the nail and hit your finger, you have no one to blame but yourself. Same goes for anything else in life that is a result of your own decision making.

Even when it comes to drug abuse, unless someone points a gun to your head and makes you take that first hit or that you were lied to about what you were taking (which is unlikely with the proliferation of information about drug addiction), it's no one's fault but your own.

/side rant
Why teenagers these days ever start smoking now is beyond me. You've got to be dumb as a doorknob to start smoking in the 21st century.
/end side rant

That's all I have to say on it.

[stormwulf133]

Really? Explain.
/side rant
Why teenagers these days ever start smoking now is beyond me. You've got to be dumb as a doorknob to start smoking in the 21st century.
/end side rant

That's all I have to say on it.

I started smoking a pipe as part of a costume (pirate) because I work out at a Ren Faire for extra money for seven weekends out of a year. I found out I actually enjoy smoking a pipe. Do I do it daily? No, do I do it weekly, maybe some weeks, and then not for months. I enjoy smoking it. That is why I started. I am not, however, addicted to it. I could stop completely if I so choose. Do I know the health risks of smoking? Yes. Will I continue to do it? Probably. There are health risks in everything we eat, drink, and in every breath we take. Every person has to choose what risks are acceptable to them. I have friends that wont drink or eat out of styrafoam or aluminum. Some friends that wont eat fast food. Enough of that rant.

Can WoW ruin lives? Yes. An addition to it can. I am not talking about my own personal addiction. I have a WoW tattoo and haven't played in months. I have no problem with that. My ex, however, was always playing WoW and met her new man on WoW. So in essence, had I truly been in love with her, WoW would have ruined my life. Same can be said for anyone who has married an alcoholic. Alcohol can ruin their live. It is not the fault of the game, but the person addicted but its just that, they are addicted. With out the item to be addicted to, then the lives may not have been ruined. Or that person may have found another addiction instead.