This morning I watched the documentary “Second Skin,” an intimate look at three sets of online gamers whose lives have been transformed by virtual worlds. The games in question are MMORPGs, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games; or MMO for short.

MMORPG is not the only new term I learned, there is also: WoW (World of Warcraft), EQ2 (Everquest 2), IRL (in real life), WoWhead (someone who is very into World of Warcraft), goldfarmers (business in China consisting of players for the sole purpose of collecting things to sell to other players) and WoWwidow (lady who loses her man in the game).

Having never been interested in video games, this movie left me a bit floored. I thought I was ready: I ​​heard about these players online, I saw Penny get addicted to “The Big Bang Theory”, I read articles in magazines. I was definitely not prepared for how voracious people are with these online games. A new game went on sale and made $96 million in one night. That same year, the highest single-day movie gross was $60 million.

When they say they play for sixteen hours straight, they’re not kidding. Not only do they play for sixteen hours straight, but they don’t take any breaks at all. There are few bathroom breaks (bottles are used), no sleep breaks, no drink breaks (Andy grabs a cooler and ice), and any meal breaks need to be quick and manual. A couple of the players profiled gained over fifty pounds while playing these games.

Even with this obsessive behavior all around, the documentary was fair and represented multiple points of view. They didn’t bury these compulsive gamblers as long as they could. In fact, they even showed how online gaming opened up a new world for a boy with severe cerebral palsy.

Despite the impartial treatment, I felt almost nauseous as I watched. It was painful to see what this addiction was doing to these players and their families. Even the positive moments, showing people moving forward in their real lives, were depressing and pathetic. It was neither believable nor realistic that any of them could actually break free from the game.

Bottom line: This movie is a must-watch for anyone about to start one of these online journeys. If he still wants to play, hit him over the head with a shovel until he changes his mind. No judge or jury would ever convict!