SHENANDOAH, Pa.–I cannot help but laugh after reading the article about EverQuest “widows” (Life in Cyberspace by Joe Salkowski, Feb. 5 Business.Technology). You’ve obviously been duped by women scorned by something else entirely unrelated to EverQuest. I know this because my husband plays the game as well.
There are holes in the stories from these women, such as Manda Erickson’s claim of not being able to return to work because she doesn’t trust her significant other to stay off the game long enough to care for their daughter. If she isn’t working, and her husband spends 20 hours a day online (implying he doesn’t work either) how do they pay for their EverQuest subscription, let alone an ISP?
As for Dee, the woman who claims to cry herself to sleep at night because of her boyfriend’s addiction to the role-playing game, my guess is that relationship has serious problems that don’t stem from EQ. These women should be satisfied that their significant others aren’t sitting in smoke-filled bars all night, trying to pick up other women.
— Rachael Pleva-Sanko
FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
PORT ORCHARD, Wash.–With the media being constantly accused of presenting unbalanced news, it amazes me that you would print such a story as “EverQuest Creates a Trail of Cyberwidows.”
You cite four examples, when the game’s subscriber base is closer to 300,000 people; hardly a scientific sample. You don’t talk about all the couples who both play the game within reason and are very happy with their relationship. Or the families who have kids in college and playing in game is one of several ways to stay close. There are even extended families who play together on EverQuest, even though they are geographically distant from each other.
The majority of players in EverQuest are so-called “casual gamers,” who play at most a few hours in the evening of most weekdays, with more hours played on the weekend. Compare that with the average hours of television watched, then tell me which is better for you: a game that requires social interaction and strategizing to be successful, or television, which is non-interactive and rarely requires thought.
— Carl D. Willis-Ford
DON’T BLAME THE GAME
BROCKPORT, N.Y.–I’ve been playing EverQuest now for two years, and my girlfriend and I have a happy, healthy relationship. We did have some difficulty at times when I played a little too much, and I even quit once for her. When she realized that I was happy playing, and she was being a bit selfish, she let me play again.
Regardless of the medium, if you have a selfish idiot they will act in a manner described in your article. Those cyberwidows need to get their husbands into a support group for addiction.
You failed to mention the possibilities of therapy and support for people with online addiction. This shows that you were only going for the sensationalism of online addiction in your article.
Try an article about an engineer who has received two promotions during his EQ time, and regularly goes into EQ for long hours. You probably wouldn’t since it’s not as sensational a story line.
— Jim Crocker
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Joe Salkowski points EverQuest widows looking for support to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EverQuest-Widows.
