Lost in a virtual world

This weekend I spent quite some time with a good friend, who for the first time tried the game World of Warcraft. Although I am absolutely ignorant about computer games I had heard about it and knew it is very popular, but I did not know until this weekend that apparently more than 8 million people all over the world play it and I had no idea what it was all about. Fortunately this very good friend of mine has the patience of an angel and obviously didn’t mind having me hanging over his shoulder asking (stupid) questions (Thank you, if it had been the other way around I would have gone mad and killed “myself”). So now I know a little more, even though I still haven’t played it. What fascinates me is the amount of time you can/have to/will spend on games like this. I just don’t understand the attraction of creating a second character and live a virtual life. This is of course even more the issue in the virtual world of Second Life. I have never seen it but read a long article about it over the weekend and as far as I understood it is not even that much about fantasy anymore, but about creating a parallel world that looks quite the same as the real one. Then I am completely lost! What the hell is the point in living a Second Life parallel to the real one?? Aren’t people busy enough with this the first one that we live here and now?? How can life in front of a computer give you more kicks (if that is what it is all about) than real life?! To me it seems a little like having one of those Tamagotchis, if you still remember them. I just don’t get it!