How, have WoW effected my life, hmm.
The game is addictive, and have ruined a lot of people's lifes (although I think they had no life before WoW anyway

) IF your a cassual gamer it aint that bad, you can play when you want, as long as you want...BUT as soon as you get involved with guilds and the social aspect of the game it can become a bit demanding, you have to arange your life around your playtime so that you can attend organised events with your e-friends. But guess all of the above is true in any online game, and not just relavent to WoW.
You make new friends, you commit yourself eventualy, raiding and instancing requires planning and you need to regard 10-40 other people that will wait on you...
But even playing for over 2 years, I still managed to pass my Phd in Germany with the highest possible marks, met my Girlfriend, played cricket for Germany, etc etc

So you can have a real life uneffected by wow...