Have I totally lost it? Am I playing too much?

[genocyde]

So I started some RAF teams cause well.... why not. I hit 70 on my priest, pally, hunter, mage, druid sometime last week. Then I realized I was addicted and rolled mage x4, boomkin (amazing AOE group really) and I hit 67 last night just under 3 days played. My problem is I hit 67 in around 4 days real life time.

Now it's not quite as bad as it seems. I had the days off work, my girlfriend was out of town with our car, I had NOTHING else to do and I'm an insomniac on top of it (still haven't decided if i play wow because i'm an insomniac or the other way around :rolleyes: ). Still I did log between 16-18 hours a day of wow and about 6 hours of sleep for those 4 days. I was only stopping for bathroom, food and phone calls. I went back to work this morning with no ill effects of too much wow but a disturbing thing happened last night.

I logged off to go to dinner with some friends and as I was driving I had to pass a car. Well, I checked my side mirror to see that I was past him and then I checked my rearview mirror to see if my clones were clear!! Boy did I feel at that point like I played too much WoW. I'm going to hit 70 on this group tonight or tomorrow than take off wow until Wrath release date.

I was just curious if anyone else has gotten to this point before. Is this too much that its unhealthy even considering it was only a 4 day run that i can promise won't happen again any time soon?

[Powerwar]

Once talking with a friend of mine I asked him how old was his son. he replied "He is level 5" :)

[Svpernova09]

So I started some RAF teams cause well.... why not. I hit 70 on my priest, pally, hunter, mage, druid sometime last week. Then I realized I was addicted and rolled mage x4, boomkin (amazing AOE group really) and I hit 67 last night just under 3 days played. My problem is I hit 67 in around 4 days real life time.

Now it's not quite as bad as it seems. I had the days off work, my girlfriend was out of town with our car, I had NOTHING else to do and I'm an insomniac on top of it (still haven't decided if i play wow because i'm an insomniac or the other way around :rolleyes: ). Still I did log between 16-18 hours a day of wow and about 6 hours of sleep for those 4 days. I was only stopping for bathroom, food and phone calls. I went back to work this morning with no ill effects of too much wow but a disturbing thing happened last night.

I logged off to go to dinner with some friends and as I was driving I had to pass a car. Well, I checked my side mirror to see that I was past him and then I checked my rearview mirror to see if my clones were clear!! Boy did I feel at that point like I played too much WoW. I'm going to hit 70 on this group tonight or tomorrow than take off wow until Wrath release date.

I was just curious if anyone else has gotten to this point before. Is this too much that its unhealthy even considering it was only a 4 day run that i can promise won't happen again any time soon?You went outside, to meet other people. All hope is not yet lost :_D

[heffner]

Just wait until the nightmares come.......

I have read a couple threads on this board talking about this phenomenon. I think it's probably not such a good idea to play for 16 hours straight, but we all have done it at one time or another. Regardless, I doubt very much you could keep that pace up without going insane or getting completely bored.

On a side note, I still don't know how so many of you guys level up so quickly. I am over 3 days played and only L56 on my second group with RAF. Do you do instances or something??

Cheers and say hi to your clones, lol.

[Dominian]

Just wait until the nightmares come.......

I have read a couple threads on this board talking about this phenomenon. I think it's probably not such a good idea to play for 16 hours straight, but we all have done it at one time or another. Regardless, I doubt very much you could keep that pace up without going insane or getting completely bored.

On a side note, I still don't know how so many of you guys level up so quickly. I am over 3 days played and only L56 on my second group with RAF. Do you do instances or something??

Cheers and say hi to your clones, lol.

I have leveled a Warlock,rogue,paladin,warrior and druid on the horde side before i started boxing (and a 70 alliance mage)

I simply know were all quests are and when to do them. If you follow questhelper around like a slave things will take alot of time because it doesnt include follow ups! And i didnt do a singel instance on either my shamans or warlocks!

The only faster way would be to follow a guide but i cba since i could have done it under 2 days easy.

[TheBigBB]

So I started some RAF teams cause well.... why not.I know that a lot of people around here start teams on a whim like this, but I always wonder if this is sometimes addict behavior. Just make sure you're not playing just for the sake of playing, and that you're staying goal-oriented with clear boundaries. It's okay to save it for tomorrow, or to let your RAF period expire without using it. Only do what you need to do to reach your goals. If you don't have any clear direction or goals with your teams, you might drive yourself nuts with the possibilities without ever accomplishing anything.

[heffner]

Sorry to derail the thread.... I am actually following Jame's guide and taking the non-collection quests as well as using Questhelper. I must spend 2 days played just running around :P

[Sam DeathWalker]

I was at a mall walking by shoe store window. Im thinking oh ya I need some shoes so I walk in and start thinking umm what kind of shoes?

So Im thinking for a bit and Im like oh ya for my Bard lol ....


Once I was driving in the car and looking out the window at some trees and I'm thinking "Wow nice resolution, must be ray-traced"


I always have "split" dreams where I am like 6 people or something, its very common for me.

[Nachtkinder]

Back in the day when I used to play SWG 10+ hours a day (ah, highschool...those were the days:P) I said my house was worth about 400,000 credits (currency in SWG) and kept on talking without noticing :D.

[Feider]

I feel your pain. I was playing Monopoly with my girlfriend and her son. After I paid him some rent I told him that he owed me 2 gold ...

A 7 year-old then told me I was addicted.

[Rin]

*Raises Hoof*, I'm not addicted.

Err...

[algol]

I think it's probably not such a good idea to play for 16 hours straight, but we all have done it at one time or another.Do 18-hour AVs count? No, right?

[genocyde]

So I started some RAF teams cause well.... why not.I know that a lot of people around here start teams on a whim like this, but I always wonder if this is sometimes addict behavior. Just make sure you're not playing just for the sake of playing, and that you're staying goal-oriented with clear boundaries. It's okay to save it for tomorrow, or to let your RAF period expire without using it. Only do what you need to do to reach your goals. If you don't have any clear direction or goals with your teams, you might drive yourself nuts with the possibilities without ever accomplishing anything.



Actually, I had a very situational reasoning for grinding this hard. End of fiscal year I can only roll over 3 weeks vacation and I worked it out to get to take my extra while I didn't have a car to get to work for a few days. That and these RAF accounts brought me up to a 5-box for the first time ever. I wanted a PvE and a PvP team and I wanted them done before WotLK release. Did not see a 4 day real life 1-70 coming though.

On a side note I work on computers and I can safely say I have minor eye strain after this ordeal and its giving me a headache right now ;(

[TheBigBB]

Actually, I had a very situational reasoning for grinding this hard. End of fiscal year I can only roll over 3 weeks vacation and I worked it out to get to take my extra while I didn't have a car to get to work for a few days. That and these RAF accounts brought me up to a 5-box for the first time ever. I wanted a PvE and a PvP team and I wanted them done before WotLK release. Did not see a 4 day real life 1-70 coming though.

On a side note I work on computers and I can safely say I have minor eye strain after this ordeal and its giving me a headache right now ;(Oh, ok. Well if you had a reason other than "why not", then disregard what I said. But if you find yourself playing just because you think you should with no real goals, then take a step back.

[puppychow]

I have the exact opposite problem - I've got a prot pally + 4 shaman team that have been 70 for almost 2 months now, and a mix team at 60 (hunter/rogue/druid/druid). I have played a total of maybe 5 hours on the 2nd team in the past 30 days, and at least 3 hours was macro setup. I tried yesterday to login and level them up to at least 61 and burn some rest XP, but after 40 minutes in hellfire doing the same ol quests I almost fell asleep!! Parked them at the inn and logged out and watched TV instead.

Dunno why, I just cannot get into leveling at all while I have a team of 70s - I find myself wanting to go run a heroic, or solo one of the shammies in one of the tons of 25 man raid pugs ongoing, etc. Collecting boar asses for some idiot goblin in the middle of nowhere isn't that interesting anymore :(

[Ualaa]

I work seasonally. Basically no wow at all, for 4.5 months of the year.

The remaining 7.5 months... I'll sometimes get a part-time job here or there, but usually don't bother for long stretches.
Pretty much do absolutely nothing (work related) for 6-8 weeks prior to my seasonal work and the same after it.
So that's maybe 4 months where...

Once a week go and do some kind of sports thing with friends..
Go for coffee with friends twice a week..
Pay bills get groceries etc..

And of course, get up... play wow.. eat.. play wow.. eat.. play wow.. go to bed.
I've had days where I get up and wow for 14-15 hours and sleep.
And then repeat the same for say 4 days in a row.
And do this for 6 or 7 weeks in a row.

In EQ on my main, my /played time was over 3 years. That for a game which was 7 years old at the time I quit.

How much time you play is relative to how much free time you have.
And also to the hobbies you find enjoyable.

If you want to spent 100 hours a week (including weekends) that's up to you.
If 10 hours is enough time, that's fine too.

[merujo]

playing 18 hours straight. i think everyone here has done something similar once.
theres no need to try and justify why, or tell hows ur life going. im pretty sure u have stability, otherwise u wouldnt even have those wow accounts and machines to run them.

u know u shouldnt play that long, but it happened. ^^

[elo]

I haven't run my 5 box setup since May but I remember the dreams and quirky thoughts throughout the day. I'll be there again soon, probably about 2 weeks after Wrath hits (given how the patch went I really don't expect the game to be playable for at least a week after launch, likely 2).

The worst was always trying to wake up 5 people at once in the morning...

[Siaea]

I had the oddest dream awhile back. I was a warlock. Nobody believed me when I told them, but I knew I was a warlock. However, whenever I needed to cast a spell, nothing would work. I knew I was a warlock, but I didn't actually have spells. I couldn't find a demon either. So basically my whole dream I was just running around town trying to cast spells and convince people I was a warlock. It was, indeed, a very odd dream.

Since I started multiboxing, I catch myself always hitting 6 when I change what I'm doing on my computer (/follow on WoW).

[Tamu]

WoW is not an addicition. It is a way of life.

[Spatulor]

The worst was always trying to wake up 5 people at once in the morning...Yeah. I occasionally roll out of bed in the morning, and I'll grab 5 pairs of socks, or I'll be looking for a couple more matching shirts, because I want my clones all to be identical.....The wierd dreams don't help much either :p

[pengwynman]

and then I checked my rearview mirror to see if my clones were clear!!
Do you have a rear view mirror for WoW??!?!1? i want! (thought about it for a sec... all you would need to do is set up one of your clones with a 'set camera' macro while you're running around.... hmm.....)

[Catamer]

I took the day off to vote, did that already only to find out that Bliz chose today to have an extended down time....
/cast [target=blizzard] f-bomb

[algol]

I took the day off to vote, did that already only to find out that Bliz chose today to have an extended down time....
/cast [target=blizzard] f-bombThere's an expansion next week. Doesn't that make it clear that 3.0.3 would be today?

[heyaz]

If I box right before bed, when I wake up in the middle of gthe night for a drink, I always think I'll just get water for my main (me) and forget about the rest... thenin the morning, I' feel like I need to wake up 5 separate times.

Or if I go drive right after playing wow, I notice myself trying to pull up the world map by pressing M to see where I am.l

[heyaz]

I don't really see a huge problem with putting in 12-18 hour days in WoW if it's time off and you have nothing to do. My roommates will literally watch TV from the moment they wake up until night, and that's somehow more socially acceptable than playing a game for that long. I've always enjoyed the marathon runs when I have the time.. long grinding days, tv marathons, etc. As long as it doesn't interfere with your life or work, it's not much different than people who just relax and watch sports on tv all weekend.

[valkry]

If I box right before bed, when I wake up in the middle of gthe night for a drink, I always think I'll just get water for my main (me) and forget about the rest... thenin the morning, I' feel like I need to wake up 5 separate times.

Or if I go drive right after playing wow, I notice myself trying to pull up the world map by pressing M to see where I am.l
I'm totally the same. When I wake up, I'm usually pretty out of it for the first 2 minutes and sometimes I just think, "man, I really cbf waking up my 3 alts today." Or I think about how people will react to see me followed by 3 clones of me or where my clones will fit at work lol.

[Redbeard]

I don't really see a huge problem with putting in 12-18 hour days in WoW if it's time off and you have nothing to do. My roommates will literally watch TV from the moment they wake up until night, and that's somehow more socially acceptable than playing a game for that long. I've always enjoyed the marathon runs when I have the time.. long grinding days, tv marathons, etc. As long as it doesn't interfere with your life or work, it's not much different than people who just relax and watch sports on tv all weekend.Ludicrous. Sports are for normal people. Only freaks play games all day.



Lol just kidding. I dont have the luxury of gaming like that anymore but if i was single I probably would lol.

[jurence]

Just started a team on saturday. Over four days, with school, homework, papers, etc; 1-53(now) 4x plus the fact i couldnt play ALL day today because servers were down
Heh not too bad

[falcao]

lol i play only two acc at same time, i didn´t get other´s acc, need new computer´s first.

But last night, i play all night, i just log off to get a shower and go to work ( woot but i do that once per month)

and about nightmare´s i got one like the other guy just told, but i was a shaman, and i was out of mana all time =/

[Agim]

When I was leveling my lock to 70 at BC launch, I was really playing too much that time. The evidence was clear when my girlfriend was about to wake me up on the morning, we had planned to go somewhere that day. However, It was two hours after I went to bed and the answer from the half-sleep was "I'm not going, I don't have that quest"... :thumbdown:

Soon after that I took a break from the game for many weeks.

[Farleito]

I think you are in the same boat as about 10 million other people...which means, by all social standards, you're normal.

Here's a few drawbacks of playing for more than 8-10 hours straight...

1) Staring at a computer screen tricks your brain to release melatonin since all of that light is interpreted as day light. This will screw up your Circadian rhythm. Not a good thing if you have a job/girlfriend/family. This is why it can be 3am and you have troubles falling asleep after playing WoW all day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm

2) If you're stressed while you play, or get nervous (PvPing, Boss fights, etc...) your body release adrenoline to "get away quickly". You'll feel this when your hands shake a little bit after a good PvP match. Since you're not physically doing anything, this adrenoline turns to fat... which is not good.

3) Social implications... lose friends/significant others/job performce goes to crap.


...If you're okay with all of these... then you have not lost anything and you are not playing too much.

Remember this... it's not the drugs that ruin people....it's the addiction.

[elo]

When I was leveling my lock to 70 at BC launch, I was really playing too much that time. The evidence was clear when my girlfriend was about to wake me up on the morning, we had planned to go somewhere that day. However, It was two hours after I went to bed and the answer from the half-sleep was "I'm not going, I don't have that quest"... :thumbdown:

Soon after that I took a break from the game for many weeks.Wow she must've really torn you up to put you in the hospital for weeks :)

Not particularly MB related but anyone feel an uncontrollable urge to sit down on the ground when you have a drink IRL?

[Simulacra]

I had a dream Thursday morning, in full plate swinging the mighty suneater I was tanking something - not sure what - I was in the hall inside undercity, strange - I think I need a break.....no way :)

[valkry]

If you are posting in a forum, you are not playing wow enough!

[Farleito]

Raise your hand if...

your eyes are bloodshot from staring at the computer screen all weekend. It's almost scary.

[Deadly1]

I dont know if anyone else ever has this problem, but I am grouped up with 4 other multiboxers, and we sit in vent and chat all the time. Part of my job is answering questions, and i use the CTRL button for Push to Talk.. I have caught myself pushing the CTRL button when speaking to someone in front of me.... 8|