At least the kid in the picture has a friend. Kids with friends will do other things every now and then. Kids with lots of friends have no option but do other things.
If you want to succeed in these MMORPG games you have two options:
1) Play it more than you do anything else. Dedicate your life to it.
2) Buy your way up.
If you can pay 50$-150$ to get your character to the top level, buy all the good stuff and buy the game's currency itself, why bother wasting hours and hours of your life at it when wasting hours and hours of your life to get money will not only get you all those things without the hassle and leave all the other hours free to actually enjoy the stuff but also buy you a better PC, better food, perhaps a swimming pool and even a house of your own?
This is basically what "Second Life" is all about isn't it? You need cash to do or get anything and you may even earn some cash, real or virtual, in the "game".
Imagine that: guy earns money in Second Life to buy his way up in WoW.
