The notion that EQ had some kind of grand design to addict their subscribers is ridiculous if you just listen to the aforementioned interviews with the original devs. They're all like: "yeah we had no idea if it was gonna succeed and constantly expected to get the axe, we all just liked d&d and muds". You might be able to make an argument WoW is kinda guilty of actually consciously calculating the addictive nature of their game cause they had the benefit of observing EQ for five years.
It's also ridiculous to even compare it to some kind of legitimate addiction. A healthy relationship with eq or any other fun videogame is completely possible, but nobody has a "healthy relationship" with heroin or crack. Actual gambling is kind of a gray area, but it's definitely pretty close to a drug in terms of potential ruination of one's life.
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