Addictive? Kill a monster. Grab the treasure. Kill a monster grab the treasure. Kill a monster grab the treasure.

OK, I guess it's addictive if you're the kind of person who like to rock in his chair all day staring at a wall.

The barrier to entry is too high for new players - the good content is in the dungeon raiding, but to get to the level necessary for that you have to spend countless hours grinding as frgough said. Boooring.

I'm more of a solo player, but I still enjoy the game after two years. I get a kick and sense of wonder out of traveling around the virtual world and exploring it. I like helping the low level players also. There are many aspects to the social part of the game, not just raids and pvp.

You don't have to spend countless hours doing anything to enjoy the game. You could actually do quests, which have quite a lot of story to uncover. You could role play your character... you know... pretend you're someone interesting for a change. You could learn several professions, and spend some time buying and selling goods. You could collect pets, mounts, interesting clothing, interesting trinkets.

You could dress completely in blue.

You could search the entire world and read all of the books that you come across.

You could create a unique set of talents for your class and character.

You could cross dress.

You could fight every battle with a fishing pole.

You could just talk to people from around the real world.

The point is, you can really do anything you want in this game. The leveling process is easy and fun. By the time you leave the staring zones, you're level 10 and ready for your first dungeon. Don't like the "grind" of looking for new gear? No problem. Have somebody craft some for you. Get some from a quest. You'll be exchanging it soon enough on your adventures anyway.

Blizzard has a strong track record for involved, well-crafted games. Most of them are quite playable 10 years later, and if a design doesn't work, they scrap it. Nothing is released until it's ready. Blizzard wins awards and keep players loyal for years and years. They are also one of the only companies out there that values the Mac community, and they've been that way for as long as I can remember. Before you bash a game, the people who made it, or the people who play it... please make sure you know... well anything to be quite honest!