Cocaine is a hell of a drug. And so is World of Warcraft, at least according to a Swedish youth organization, which has dubbed the diversion "the cocaine of the computer games world."

The report (which the Youth Care Foundation has not yet formally published), wow gold bases its findings on anecdotes from gamers, their parents, and its own observations, not a controlled study that actually compares the effects of playing World of Warcraft vs. the inhalation of powdered cocaine. Nevertheless, the group says that the addictive characteristics of WoW are powerful, with the foundation's Sven Rollenhagen noting, "There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part." He has also added that the game is "the crack cocaine of the computer game world" and "the most dangerous game on the market."

The foundation runs an addiction treatment center that is one of several that in recent years has expanded to include computer gaming.

To be sure, World of Warcraft has been the center of attention of numerous allegations that it can cause psychological or medical harm to players -- up to and including death. wow gold In 2008 a Swedish kid collapsed after playing the game for 20 hours straight. Reports were similarly aghast when one Korean child died while its parents went to a cafe to play the game. And there's plenty more where that came from. For some players, the game certainly does appear so addictive as to require an intervention from someone.

But is it really "as addictive as cocaine?" Well, that's probably just a convenient metaphor... not a literal comparison.