Bob the Great wrote:
I am. I really am. That's the first step, right? It's odd being the person addicted to something; usually you just hear about it. But I am, true and real. Why? Because compared to reality, the other world provided by World of Warcraft (hereinafter refered to as 'WoW') rocks socks.

Would you prefer 'r0xx0r my b0xx0rz'?

Any-hoo, I am trying to wean myself off of this game but I'm finding it hard. I often wonder, actually, if anyone else has these problems or if I'm just a unique little snowfake (shut up).

Ok, you can talk now.

For those of you that do not play WoW then turn your heads for the next paragraph or else you will be assulted by foreign abbreviations.

I run MC at 8 sever time on a PST server. I live in FL. Jesus. This messes things up a bit for me. So I'm tired on weekends, at least I manage to stay off during the week. I used to run BWL and Naxx but then I left that guild. In any case, I'm a Druid on Shadowsong. NE and level 60. Full PvP blue set in addition to full t1 and random BWL epix and one(1) piece of t2.

Ok, you can look now.

Well, this is my first blog. Just see'n what's up around here.

Moo.

You are definitly not alone. I purchased WoW the day it came out (Nov. 23 2004) and played almost non-stop until September of 2006. The thousands of hours I spent in the world of Azeroth will get me no where in the real world, and this was the true motivation for me to quit. I hope that you too can find out for yourself that life can be much more exciting outside of the virtual world.

Just to add, if you plan on quitting, don't do it gradually. Go cold turkey and stick it out. Once you spend a few weeks away from it, you'll realize how much time you actually wasted (yes I know it's hard to imagine that there can be something more fun than grinding for consumables for the next raid, to get more gear, so you can get consumables faster, and so on.)

Bob the Great wrote:
I often wonder, actually, if anyone else has these problems or if I'm just a unique little snowfake (shut up).

I've lost friends to these video games. They are like crack. I guess ask yourself if you want to look back at 2007 in a decade and ask yourself if the important memories are going to be things that occured in-game...

Bob the Great wrote:

I am. I really am. That's the first step, right? It's odd being the person addicted to something; usually you just hear about it. But I am, true and real. Why? Because compared to reality, the other world provided by World of Warcraft (hereinafter refered to as 'WoW') rocks socks.

Would you prefer 'r0xx0r my b0xx0rz'?

Any-hoo, I am trying to wean myself off of this game but I'm finding it hard. I often wonder, actually, if anyone else has these problems or if I'm just a unique little snowfake (shut up).

You are not alone. :) Though sometimes I find it helpful to classify "good" addictions and "bad" addictions. If you're having fun with the game and it's not interfering with the rest of your life, then that's a "good" addiction, like if you really enjoyed playing golf, or sailing. If, however, the WoW habit is interfering with normal activities and relationships, then that can be a problem. For example, if it's causing problems in relationships with friends and family, or causing your school grades to drop or work performance to suffer, then that's straying into the "bad" addiction side of things.

How long have you been playing? I generally find that these games will hold someone's attention for from 6 months to about 2 years, occasionally longer (there are some people who have been customers of my own games for over 15 years). Eventually what will probably happen is that you will find yourself getting unhappy/bored with the game, and then playing more and more trying to make it "fun" again, but with steadily decreasing returns. At that point you will probably either (1) Quit in a very high-profile way; (2) Find something else to play, especially if your friends have moved on to another game and you follow them; (3) Find something in RL that's more intriguing (like a significant other, or school/job).

In short, when I'm addicted to a game, I find it unhelpful to simply try to "quit," since that leaves a vacuum in my life which keeps pulling me back to the original addiction. Better is to try and find something *else* to fill the void (such as another game, be it online or console).

Meanwhile, if you're *enjoying* your time on WoW, by all means, keep playing! If it's not interfering with the rest of your life, there's no reason to feel guilty about playing.

Elonka :)

Elonka wrote:
In short, when I'm addicted to a game, I find it unhelpful to simply try to "quit," since that leaves a vacuum in my life which keeps pulling me back to the original addiction. Better is to try and find something *else* to fill the void (such as another game, be it online or console).

Thank god Elonka's gaming despair cycle ends with cracking cryptography.

Acidus wrote:

Elonka wrote:
In short, when I'm addicted to a game, I find it unhelpful to simply try to "quit," since that leaves a vacuum in my life which keeps pulling me back to the original addiction. Better is to try and find something *else* to fill the void (such as another game, be it online or console).

Thank god Elonka's gaming despair cycle ends with cracking cryptography.

Heh, you figured out my secret weapon! ;)