Most people join guilds in order to achieve more within their virtual life. But with that benefit comes a cost: social responsibility. Often, you need to play every day and often it means several hours per day. If you don't play, there are people who will think badly of you. They'll slander you on the forums and blacklist you from future raids. And, anyway, people like to feel included, so aside from the threat of social censure most people enjoy being part of a group.
You get benefits, such as better rewards and faster in-game advancement, but you inevitably have to give back to the community which has helped you. In Everquest via Project1999, "raids," in which groups of players dive into a monster-invested Plane or Cavern for rewards, can take a couple of hours and require quite a bit of organization, and most take place with upward of forty people, and at a prearranged time. OP just seems like he wasn't just enjoying himself: He had promises to keep.
Social obligation itself can't really be a true addiction; it's just guilt. Anyone with a shred of conscience would feel bad leaving a team to fend for themselves if you'd made a promise to them. And it is just that, guilt, which can tie people into a lifetime of gaming. Not just guilt about your community or your guild, but for your character, too.
Easy targets
Hyperactive imaginations aside, there are a number of people with more serious conditions that might look to video games to escape from real problems. People with depression can find a temporary high in these virtual wonderlands.
True to stereotypes, those with social phobias, or just poor social skills in general, are more likely to turn to gaming. Not only do games offer them that elusive social affirmation — NPCs, or non-playable characters, telling you how wonderful you are, how brave and so on — but there is the opportunity with online games to speak with real people, who share your hobby and are likely to be less judgmental than the people they know in real life.
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