tapping out

[wolpak]

Haven't been here for long or even that rxperienced of a wow player, but I find myself too obsessed with not just one player, but my entire team. Cutting out some sleep and trying to find whatever time I can to play is not healthy for me. Not sure how some of you guys do it. I want to, but I don't see any positive end to this other than just eating way too much of my life away.

[Khatovar]

I'm probably the last person to offer a sane point of view on it since I probably spend more time online than most people, but it's a matter of not tying yourself to the game you're playing. MMOs allow us to set out goals for our toons that we can meet and it's easy to get caught up in the feeling that those goals are our own goals, especially if our real life goals are harder to achieve or our real life is harder to control.

Personally, I actually found it easier to disassociate myself from games with multiboxing. When I played single box, it was easy to get caught up in doing too much for too long, because I always found something else to do. Busy work. With multiboxing, my goals began to change and I didn't feel tied to my "main" anymore, and neither did others. It went from "Ardath" in a sense of me as a conglomeration of healers to "Kate"... a person who plays a game.

Step back and hit up some of your real life goals. Your toons won't care that you're not there, and maybe you'll come back to a point where the game is just fun again and not all-encompassing.

[Clone]

Id have to agree with Khatovar on that, but I can see how it could also lead a person to become 5 times more addicted. I used to raid hardcore 6 nights a week pre wotlk with 1 toon. I lost my job, my girlfriend and completely screwed up a lot of things by playing wow 15-20 hours a day. Once I managed to get out of that though and started multiboxing, Ive maybe played 10 hours a week and some months I havent even logged in once. My life is back on track and wow is just something I play when I get a spare couple of hours.

In your situation though I think the best thing you can do is take a break away from the game. Probably delete wow from your system entirely as the thought of installing wow from fresh certainly would put me off playing. Try to focus on school or work or whatever you 'should' be doing :)

[Multibocks]

Clone's story makes me go 8|

I pushed the envelope in playtime, but I always stopped short of actually causing real life hardship.

[Owltoid]

I quit for a couple of months and just recently reactivated my two lowbie accounts (still have two Owls that need to get to 80). Just take a break for a month or two (it's actually easier than it sounds... once you're away for a week you don't miss it) and then come back later when you've distanced yourself.

[Taliesin]

I took a break from WoW for about 1.5 years, once everyone started hitting the level of doing 40-man MC raids and such. The time investments were getting to be too much (6-7 hours in an afternoon?!), and found myself staying up later and later every night. Once it started impacting work (due to getting up later or being sleepy all day), I quit cold turkey.

I'm back, but the whole experience gave me a whole new outlook on the game. I'm not reluctant to just step away for a while now if necessary. Boxing gives me a little of that latitude to play birefly and walk away. No commitments to others to have to be around. I'm getting a bit more into the raiding again, but I'm trying to keep it pretty light. Just a 10-man Naxx a week (5-6 hours total), on top of a nightly heroic or two.

If the game is impacting the rest of your life, just walk away from the game for about a month. Just set some priorities.

[Ferrea]

My ex-wife will tell you WOW was the reason our relationship failed, Ill tell you she was the reason I played wow so much, my girlfriend say's its never been a problem.

I've been through the hard core raiding scene, even so far as declining a new job due to its schedule interfering with raiding. What I've learned is if Im in a real guild (not my personal alt guild) and I am raiding, WoW becomes a burden. Suddenly you have obligations to real (wow) people and you have a schedule to maintain or there will be real (wow) consequences.

I can barley lead a real life let alone that and a wow life. Multiboxing has taken me out of guilds ans WoTLK has allowed me to pug anything I want (ever). Now that being hardcore only means world first and not necessarily exclusive content, I can happily play with my girl is at work, out with her friends, or sleeping (when Im on midnight shift with a night off).

I choose life > wow and havn't logged in for over a week, but Ill still play.

[Talamarr]

My ex-wife will tell you WOW was the reason our relationship failed, Ill tell you she was the reason I played wow so much, my girlfriend say's its never been a problem.

Those exact words could (and probably have) come right out of my mouth. Scary. Actually, replace WoW with EQ as it's been awhile.

It's funny how people say multi-boxers have no life. I'm a multi-boxer because I DO have a life. A life that I missed out on spending way too much time playing a game. While people are still LFG, I'm halfway done with an instance. When single boxers are trying to replace a PuG member or wipping for the 100th time on their guilds 48th Naxx run for a small chance on 1 piece of loot, my guys are geared up, logged out in the city and I'm playing outside with my kids.

[Gomotron]

I have friends playing WoW solo that hate PUG's and so now that they are level 80, they have a hard time advancing. I take them through Heroics for gearing up when I can, but I am online different times than they are and so I can't always help out.

Meanwhile, I am still working on Heroics and gearing up and having a blast. When I get my current group geared out, I'll level my other group and then hit 10 mans.

Personally, though, if a game gets tiring, I suggest putting it down for a bit, like others have suggested. If you find yourself not really missing it, cancel your accounts and move on. That's what happened to me and EQ.

[moji]

Wow is a time killer, not gonna lie. It can suck you in so far that you forget what's important. Sometimes I'm feeling that way - I mean, when I'm not playing, I'm on this forum, Tankspot or the Wow forums, or something else just researching how to play better. I've often said I'd be a lot better off if I focused all this energy on my career, but that's no fun, even though my career - tattoo artist - freakin rocks. Everyone has an alternate life, be it sports fanatic, TV watcher, sitting at the bar, or what have you. We all know people who basically live to sit at home and smoke pot all day - and they do - so I'm of the opinion a WoW obsession isn't such a bad thing. If you're squeezing playtime in past your bedtime, or when your friends invite you out, or when you're significant other wants some "playtime" of her own, then you need to re-evaluate things a bit.

It also changes people's opinion of you. My coworkers and family are convinced that WoW is all I do, which isn't true. I paint and draw as much as I play. I go running. I cook every now and then, but seriously, what do you expect out of a bachelor? GF's happy, food in my belly, roof over my head, It's go time.

[Khatovar]

I've been through the hard core raiding scene, even so far as declining a new job due to its schedule interfering with raiding. What I've learned is if Im in a real guild (not my personal alt guild) and I am raiding, WoW becomes a burden. Suddenly you have obligations to real (wow) people and you have a schedule to maintain or there will be real (wow) consequences.


Exactly. When I was raiding the first time around, it was doing the old school stuff. 5 days a week or so, every freekin' night, "Ardath" had to be there to heal. It went so far that when raid sign-up sheets went up, someone else would put my name in there the second it was posted. It never occured to people that I was a real person with a real life who might not want to be there. I was The Healer...who's gonna raid without The Healer? And I felt guilty saying no because everyone else needed me...or at least they needed "The Healer". I fell into an in-game caregiver role that stuck for ages, into other games and even after I came back to WoW. It became as much a part of how I gamed as anything else.

Multiboxing allowed me to move into a more dominate and independant role, forcing me into taking care of my own stuff instead of looking for stuff to take care of for other people. When I didn't feel like doing something, I could always say "Meh, I'll do it later," instead of feeling obligated to the point of telling myself "Uuughhhh!!! Let's get this over with before someone else needs something and I can get back to the crap I need to do!!!"

With a good chunk of that doormat personality being my own doing, it was often a matter of doing things to "help the guild as a whole". My husband and I "needing" to be overgeared, going out of my way to level tradeskills and farm mats for those extra little bumps up in gearing other people. As I progressed in multiboxing, it became more about only worrying about myself and him. It was a lot less time and effort and a lot more productive guild-wise for me to work on our 10 toons than it was to work on 5-7 individual people.

I still spend just as much time online, logged into a game, but it's not all OCD "need to do this, then I can go do this and then I can work on getting that done...." I get up and do housework, I read wikis, I try to talk myself into working out { :P }, I cook, I talk to my husband while he's at work, I e-mail my family. Gaming to me now is a lot more like soap operas and talk shows to a daytime house wife {3rd shift ftw}. I'm logged in, only half paying attention while I'm doing other stuff.

[Gadzooks]

Great responses here. I'm the same as the rest of you, I find it far more fun now, that I don't have guild/raid responsibilities and drama, and I play a lot less - I also used to spend far too much time logged in to just chat with guildies - nothing wrong with that, but I prefer real live interaction.

But lets be blunt: if you can't control a hobby to the point it effects your life in negative ways, you have a much bigger issue than WoW, and it could be anything that could lead to issues - drugs, women, gambling, wow, whatever.

It's a hobby. That means it is ALWAYS optional. I started MBing so I don't need a guild, raids, or pugs, and I don't care about the end-game rat race.

But - it can be replaced at any time. It fits my life right now. That may change in the future. Who knows? But it's MY decision, and I am in control. If I don't play, I don't get those nagging feelings I used to, wondering how much gold/honor I was losing by not logging in, which led to the decision to break away from that mentality.

[wolpak]

Well, been 5 days, and I already feel liberated. The problem with Wow is that when you aren't playing, you are thinking about playing and making time to play and changing your life so you can play. I don't see how this is avoidable for anyone. It's a shame, because there is a reason why it is so addictive...it is fun. I guess I can't really justify the time put in without any tangible benefits. I mean, what are you really working towards? Eventually you will move on and the only thing you have is the fleeting thought of the "fun" you had. Wow isn't really a game, it's more of a lifestyle.

[Otlecs]

you are thinking about playing and making time to play and changing your life so you can play. I don't see how this is avoidable for anyone
That's really not true for most people.

The only thought I give to WoW when I'm not playing it is that I read these forums (and my guild forums) and maybe email myself a URL when I see something here that I might want to look into more closely from home.

What you're talking about here is a clinical addiction, and I think you recognise that. It's good that you've stopped playing, and I really wouldn't start again if I were you.

FWIW, I see WoW completely differently to the way you do. For me, playing WoW is all about remove-the-brain, totally mindless entertainment.

It's just above watching the television in terms of importance in my life, and frequently falls below that if there's something particularly good on :)

There is nothing tangible to work towards, nor does there have to be so long as you have a healthy view of WoW as just a fun way to spend a few hours at a time when you have nothing better to do.