I think it has benefited me way more than it cost me.
I started playing EQ at 11, then moved to DAoC at 12 and WoW at 15. When I played, everyone I played with and was friends with was college age or older so I had to act a lot more mature than I was at the time. I remember being terrified of people finding out how young I was.
The benefits (for me at least) include:
-Typing speed and ability - so glad I learned this at a young age
-Learning how to use computers. Again, so glad I learned how to do this at a young age. My friend and I tried to program a D2 MF bot at 14, it never ended up working but was a great experience.
-Leadership and conflict resolution skills. This might sound funny but for DAoC and WoW I was part of a core group that dominated each server. This meant running raids, running PvP groups, working on strats, sifting through data to min/max etc. As well as dealing with all the bullshit that comes up between people in these enivornments.
-The value of hardwork. IE if you want to be the best, be prepared to dedicate 60+ hours a week. This came in handy during university and work.
I mean, I basically did no school work from the ages of 11 to 17 but school is easy enough for me that all I had to do was show up and I could pass. My hockey performance dropped dramatically, but I would never have made it pro anyway, so no big loss.
Fast forwarded to the last 3 years... I graduate uni in 2012 at 22 with honors near the top of my class, got a job working on the other side of the world (moved from Canada to Australia) and am making almost 6 figures a year. Basically i have the world at my finger tips and play this when i have the time. Life is good.
Oooruk - 51 shaman, blue
Aten - 43 enchanter, red
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