i would say these are the most insidious because the network effects add an additional layer of exit costs, and they take up the most cumulative time while they are less 'generative' compared to sports/travel with friends

Dude, 11-year-olds are not going to “travel with their friends”. Especially not on a school night. As for sports, most of them do sports at school. In the afternoon, not the evening.

we're talking past each other, i think, my mistake i am talking about 18-30 'gaming groups' like your average WoW guild

WoW is a fringe case, but even there vast majority of the players are casual. 87% of Gen Z play and most definitely they're not all gaming addicts. It's far less dangerous than Boomer's addiction to TV.