Reno, Nevada authorities are maintaining that a young couple, Michael and Iana Shaw, neglected their children while playing the online Dungeons and Dragaons MMORPG.  The couple's two children, 11 and 22 months, were reportedly near starvation when rescued by social workers who spirited them away to foster homes where they are apparently doing well.  While the AP and other newspaper stories correctly reported that the couple was apparently obsessed with the online version of D&D, reports indicate that at least one of the cable news channels used file footage of people playing the D&D RPG, conflating traditional style adventure gaming with the more addictive online MMORPGs.  Though any hobby or avocation can rise to the level of an obsession, it appears that the addictive powers of a MMORPG are of a different order of magnitude -- something that was evident in the early days of online gaming when EverQuest, which debuted in 1999, quickly earned the title 'EverCrack' for its addictive attraction to some players.

The Reno child neglect case comes just a month after the American Medical Association decided that further study was needed before approving a proposal that would have made 'video game addiction' a mental disorder.  Michael Shaw, 25 and his 23-year-old wife are certainly examples of how obsessions with online gaming can affect people's lives.  After receiving a $50,000 inheritance Shaw apparently quit his job and invested in computer equipment and a large plasma TV that he used as a monitor for his Internet gaming.