This year, I started playing runescape for most of the times I wanted to go get drunk/high. So far, my grades are much better, and I'm an overall happier person. Plus, I just tell people I'm staying away from alcohol to focus on grades, which I am. So yes, it's filling a void quite well. And to correct you on what makes the game and illegal drugs harmful: In a normal person, dopamine is released when you accomplish something. This is what makes you happy. Certain drugs can cause dopamine to be released falsely (mainly opiates), causing you to become happy without actually accomplishing anything. By giving you false accomplishments in Runescape such as leveling up and making money (which, many can argue, are not real), your brain releases little bits of dopamine, thinking you have actually accomplished something. Just like a person becomes addicted to a drug for the added dopamine they get every time they get "high," many of us get addicted to Runescape for the same reasons. Now people correct what I said, because I'm just going off of memory for a psych lecture I barely paid attention to.