Fear and Loathing in Azeroth: Is WoW Stealing Writers from the World?

[n.b. Though many posts on this blog are more serious, this one sets my tongue firmly in my cheek.]

Many writers are born from the depths of obsession, addiction, and neurosis. Think about the man pictured here, Hunter S. Thompson, who Wikipedia describes as 'known for his use of psychedelics, alcohol, firearms, and his iconoclastic contempt for authoritarianism'. [Let me say, before going any further, that I love the way the author of that entry puts it in that order specifically.] Thompson is the very best example of an obsessive author, but there are plenty of others: Hemingway, Beckett, Kesey, and Plath just to name a few.

Some would even go so far to say that obsession and writing go hand in hand. If that is the case, I wish to alert you all to a potential problem:

I speak of course, of the game World of Warcraft. Now I'm sure many of you play this game and know others who do. If you're familiar at all with it, you know it is an all-encompassing uber-obsession capable of turning normal, decent people in hopeless addicts almost overnight. We've all seen it: bloodshot eyes, chip crumbs, can after empty can of red bull.

As a writer, it is time I put my foot down. How dare you, gamers, steal our obsessive thunder? Hopeless addiction, unmatched obsession, and complete clutter has been the purview of writers for thousands of years. Now you come along with your night elves and your lich kings to lure an entire generation away from being shut-in authors to being shut-in gamers.

Enough, I say! Would Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas have been written if Hunter's guild had a raid? Probably not. Would Jack Kerouac have been able to write On the Road on a single roll of teletype if he was trying to get his character to level 80? I'm almost certain he wouldn't have.

It's clear to me what's happening here: the majority of perfectly good obsessive compulsive potential writers are instead turning their attention to WoW. What does this leave us with? A generation of writers made up of people who enjoy social media, who form a community that learns and grows together instead of wallowing in self-destructive behavior like alcoholism and drug use? No one wants that! This game must be stopped.