"Dear eqdailygrind,

This is my story:

I am a student attending ... who has always been an industrious and ambitious person. Unfortunately, my boyfriend introduced me to Everquest and I played this with him because we could spend 'quality' time with each other. It was highly addictive, and I found myself skipping class to play and gain that extra level. It occupied all my time, and I couldn't do any chores in the house, all I did was eat and play. Studies were pushed to the night before the exam, and my academics slowed down. I started dropping classes and I was subject for dismissal, which means you can get kicked out of school. My hopes and dreams were smashed. Several times I tried to quit but my boyfriend wouldn't let me. I was angry that he introduced me to MMORPG in the first place, and now he won't even let me quit until we reached the maximum level. But I think deleting the character doesn't work, because the game haunts you. All I could think about was playing. Finally, I came to a point where I thought, is my future really worth gaming all my life? Do I intend to sit in front of the computer all day, at my parent's home, until I'm in my 30s? No. So I told my boyfriend, I will break up with him if he doesn't quit, and we decided to work it out. Now, I have successfully quitted Everquest and my boyfriend plays much rarely. The key is to realize that gaming is AN ADDICTION. You need to sit down and realize it's not YOU who's playing anymore, it's the ADDICTION talking, the ADDICTION playing. I have succeeded, and you can too."