This way I went on about 15 months, as full time programme(I am still btw).

What caused me to end was that I finally started to do endgame. I found it dull, time consuming and realized I really didn’t enjoy game. I also was able to get real holiday for a long time, which effectively made my daily activities diffrent.
It made me to ponder my life style. Also I was very tired to be tired all a time at work, which pissed me off. I put my wow addiction to bad self discpline, having too much time in my hands and fact that its easier to access Wow than many other hobbies(and I dont have lot of hobbies). And a need to escape real life.

But I also have friend thats close to my age(over 30), has not much of work experience has played wow since the game out. He never goes to work, just takes his social security check to pay rent and wow, and playes wow all a time. Where I am, lot of young people who have problem getting a job or going to school, do Wow. I’d say Blizzard isn’t to be blame to my problems or other people, but playing Wow doesnt help but helps people escape the problems they have.

The game is made in simple reward/effort system which rewards for activities. Because its monthly fee game, its made way that people have to play certain minium time to get at maxium level and achieve all things there is. And that time is calculated in months. The catch is that while you can’t make less the time you need to play to get things you need, you can always add the time you spend in a day to get them. That creates the cycle of addiction as players always calculate it that way and when they are in that logic, they always spend more time to play to get faster forwards. That means longer hours and soon your whole world is wow. And while you are running like mad forward, minutes becomes hours, hours days, and days weeks and weeks months. That way it becomes way of like, replacing everything else.

At some point lot players just get tired on Wow. They dont want to do the long hours, sometimes endless grinding in pvp or raids. But for some people it may become the social network they work best and know best. I just got bored and my life stabilized. My hard work also ment I wanted to do something else. I grew up. But then again, I was in full time job, that forced to think my priorities. Not everyone has that, or something as important to reconsider priorities.

Wow is a problem to some people, and people shouldn’t pretend it isn’t. Responsbility is inviduals, but Wow can be part of the problem.

I started playing WoW just over 4 years ago I took two toons to 60 and raided from MC to Naxx (those in the know will understand this put me to about the top 5% of players for game progression). During this time I completed my first year of university, and received my first overseas scholarship. After I returned to Aust I played WOW for another 6 months before my second overseas scholarship. I quit WoW now (first quit) and was offline for about 3months. Then I bought a computer and got back into it. It was great, all the friends I had back in Aust were right there (I play with many RL mates). So I played until I came back to Aust a year later.

I continued to play for most of my university time. The expansion came out and I joined a BC raiding guild. Once again, my dedication and ability (is it bragging to say this? with the time spent one would hope to be damn good) took me to the top tier of progression (from Karazhan to Sunwell). I graduated from university with good marks and got myself a full time job managing one of the bigger bars of my hometown (not as great as it sounds, but looks nice on the resume).

Wrath of the Lich King came out next and I Powered my way to the max level and got right back into raiding, clearing everything the game had to offer within the first few weeks. Then disaster struck… my flatmate (and the Main Tank) had his computer die on him and was unable to afford to replace it. He stopped due to that. I quit by association.

I left the game for a good 6 months (second quit)

Then I returned for 1 month… raced back to the top of progression…. and quit again (third quit)

I got another job working full time overseas, and I took that. Im now living overseas and I started playing WoW again two weeks ago. In that time I returned to just about the edge of progression (ToC10/25 done, but no hardmodes for those in the know).

During my WoW time I have worked, travelled overseas, graduated and studied two languages… My combined /played (total time in game) is over 365 days.

Scary considering I’ve played for 4 years.

Its an addiction…. but is it interfering with my life?

It wasn’t until I found http://www.wowdetox.com that I actually started getting some hope!

I am getting ready to quit for good, and I owe it to this site. It might help someone else too.

Good luck!

So when WoW came into my life, it was like the perfect marriage of all I had ever wanted from a game: Ultimate customization, sprawling territories, excitement, lore, great graphics compared to prior games, freedom, and what seemed to be an innumerable amount of quests. I was overwhelmed and frightened. I wanted to be 60 (at that point) and do hard game content. Unfortunately, Burning Crusade came out, so I had a ways to go.

I leveled fast, though, brought my Warlock to 70 and was in the preeminent guild on my small, growing server. It was at that point where LIFE v. LEVEL CAP progress began its toll. Before that, its all on your own time. You can dungeon with whoever you want, whenever you want. You can level alts. You can farm gold or reroll factions at a whim. But once you get your first taste of WoW level-cap gaming, you’re addicted.

At level cap, you spend countless hours farming for the smallest upgrade, grinding faction reputation for gear necessary to nuke the upcoming encounters, grinding gold for mounts, grinding honor to be powerful in PVP, etc. When you’re raiding, especially new content patches, the thirst to raid that to an extreme and obscene amount is very strong. Even now Patch 3.1 just came out (many years later), and people have just discarded their raid schedules and are nuking 10 and 25 man content nearly everyday. That leads me to my stance on the “WoW Addiction.”

It isn’t about peoples’ lives; playing WoW casually is very possible while you level, but the story basically ends abruptly at level cap for that the latest content because you can’t really get more time/value from it. For instance, while leveling, there’s plenty of quests, mounts, gear, and dungeons to do. The world seems huge and sprawling, almost overwhelming. You are also walking or running around alot, not on flying mounts.

At 80, there’s very few things to do. The only thing making back-content viable has been achievements, which just keep you in-game more than ever, especially the World Events one, which is time-based and really only possible during each event of the year. If you miss it, you have to wait a WHOLE year to finish it properly. So at 80, you’re doing faction dailies (grinding), pvp (grinding), raids (grinding), and doing heroics until you are bored or have all the Heroic achievements done. Most guilds do 25 man raids about 2-3 days a week, and the off days its almost an unspoken truth that you do 10 man raids, since they are minor upgrades worthwhile in 25 man raids. Get gear off the hard modes or Yogg-Saron and you will have an upgrade from 25 man naxx, just obtained from a 10 man Ulduar raid.

Raiding isn’t something you do for just an hour either. Rare is it that good players who can raid and have their toons pimped out would just “settle” for 1 hour of raiding/week or would have the ability to clear 10 or 25 man content so casually. So the better players with toons properly geared for raiding inevitably flow toward playing ALOT…16-24 hours a week, easily.

My in-game guildmates range from guys who are out of work, kids who rush home to play after school until bed, and people who play from work. Not one of them has a successful relationship or can speak of successful REAL LIFE accomplishments. Many are great people, which is sad they waste this talent on a game, rather than LIFE, where you do benefit from such things and so do others. I really do love feeling like I play through a story and being able to affect that story, but when you UNPLUG your comp after a long night of raiding or grinding something out, when the lights are off, the 3-4 hours you spent there did nothing for YOUR REAL life, so Lord help you if you socialize at all, because you won’t have much to say or contribute. Things you can do with WoW and Raid Time:

- Read.
- Work.
- Enjoy the outdoors.
- Visit friends or family.
- Improve your career prospects.
- Do Laundry.
- Workout.
- Play a sport.
- Play an instrument.
- Travel.

Finally, I had a friend who traveled the world and played WOW. When I met him he was playing from New Zealand. Later on, he returned to Brazil. From Brazil, he went to Europe where he has been for about 3 months. Originally he played WOW hardcore, on almost everyday since he worked from home and would save a bunch of $ to travel to that location then just enjoy it. But later on, he stopped logging on so we kept in touch through GMAIL. Oddly enough, while I had WOW, he had traveled to many new countries and had met many new people. He now knows 4 languages and is working on his degrees.

We are capable of so much. Just think of where your life will be in 1 year, 2 years, or 4 years when WOW is gone and what you could have done with that WOW time? I think people are so average or down about their lives that they can’t see how great they can make their life, so they figure “WOW is better than TV and most people have dumb hobbies, WOW is a hobby for me,” so they just brush off this addiction. However, there’s no hobby on the planet that consumes that much time. Moreover, you can start and stop your hobbies as you want. WoW players rarely go AFK long enough to focus on other people. Most WOW people can’t socialize outside of WOW very well, since they aren’t in touch with the world.

It was during a time when I was too young to go out and party, but once I turned 16 I suddently had a lot of stuff to do, started to work at a supermarket, made a lot of new friends etc.

You just have to find something to break the habbit, seriously, WoW can be played in moderation, it really can be, I’m playing about 3-4 hours a day depending on my daily schedule.
Still having good gear through raiding/instances, I don’t bother doing PvP since it’s just pure nonsense and it’s too addictive, so I just stay away from it like it’s some deadly poison :]

Some suggestions to people that find themselves being a bit too “addicted” to WoW:

+ Are you in a guild that forces you to raid or PvP on specific times? LEAVE and find a ‘fun guild’, they might not be competitive, but the mood is a lot less tense and you don’t have the urge to log on every day just because some fat kid or 40 year old no-lifer tells you to.
+ Stay away from PvP, seriously, I know how addictive it is that’s why I stay away from it.
+ Achievements are worthless IRL, you can’t go look for a job saying you have done all the WoTLK end-game on heroic..
+ Are you filling up lone or depressing feelings with WoW? Find the cause of the feelings and work on them, talk to family, friends, parents, w/e as long as you get it of your chest. (Talking to your guild buddy’s on Ventrilo or Teamspeak ain’t going to cut it ..)
+ Calculate the ammount of money you’re wasting on WoW. (Half of your playing time is based on walking anyway, so cut the total of your /played times through half and then calculate the amount of money wasted on doing .. NOTHING.
+ Set clear goals in life, getting X level in Y /playd time isn’t a goal.
+ Call up some friends, and go to the pub, get wasted, have a good time.

Isn’t that hard now is it?
I admit that sometimes I’d rather WoW then studying or doing homework or w/e, but life isn’t about WoW, you have to set proper goals because remember .. in 20 years WoW will be long gone and you’ll hate yourself for wasting so much time on a game, if you can game in moderation then be proud of yourself, it seems hard but it’s possible!

Zanzuke

Wow is not just a fantasy world where you drop in and socialise. It is an alternate reality carefully constructed to allways offer the allure of increased rewards for more time spent. It has a multitude of
tasks that are not difficult, but take up huge amounts of time. It has a drop system aimed at having you repeat content over and over again. This is not by chance, Blizzard employ people with very specific skills in everything from information sciences to cognitive psychology to create this carefully balanced world.

Don’t mistake my comments for any kind of excuse, I got myself someplace, I got myself out of it but absolving the game from any kind of role in all of these stories is like absolving big tabacco from any kind of role in cigarette addiction.

In 2002 stepped down from leading a hardcore Everquest raiding guild because it felt a little too much like being a bartender on an Indian reservation.

Now as to those people who claim that you must have an addictive personality. I dispute that. I experimented with soft drugs as much as most teenagers and never got hooked. I drank and binge drank as much as most students and never developed an alcahol dependency. I got really into poker during the no-limit craze, yet did not have a problem. I simply stopped when it stopped being fun. I dont have an addictive personality, yet I was addicted to Wow.

Then their are those people who say that it is impossible for Wow to be addictive. Well, call it what you like, an addiction or a compulsion, I smoked for 13 years, I was hooked, and it is amazing the similarities between them. I would rush to the keyboard, first thing after waking to check my auctions. I would grab my smokes as the first thing I did when I smoked. While I could not play wow, the only thing I thought of was related to wow. When I was at home, regardless of what was going on, I just wanted to play, I had an urge to play, I would get irritated if I was expected to do something else instead of logging on. I would do anything I could to get time to play, including neglecting important aspects of RL. My 13 years of smoking, and multiple attempts at stopping before I finally kicked it taught me what an addiction is. Sorry to those who would prefer to deny it, but I was addicted to a computer game. Even the urge to log on and play again is not as strong, but not that dissimilar to a tabacco craving.

2 months wow free and counting.

I’ve played the early stages of WoW Alpha (I’m a lucky Californian kid), and from there, I’ve raided everything pre-BC up to Naxxramas, got three world firsts, as well as two characters to Rank 14.

When the PvP system changed, I quit. Transferred the characters to other accounts, and individually sold them all : 2700$ profit. Ten level 60 characters, just before BC comes out. There was a rush of people willing to get their hands on fresh 60s to come right in the expansion.

Two months later : I come back, start from scratch, and I level a Holy Priest to 70. I play, get a guild together, start raiding, guild disbands, I’m not in the mood of farming all day long : sell account 300$.

Another month later : I buy three accounts at once, I upgrade them all and play them all at the same time. In less than 30 days I have three level 70 characters, on different accounts. I sell two of them after sending all the gold they had to the third account : 700$ + an account with a Hunter that’s left with roughly 15,000 gold from all the combined grinding.

Then I play the Hunter a few months, never get in a raiding guild. I hit 2250 Arena Rating in Season 2 as a Survival Hunter with a Restoration Shaman partner. Season 2 ends, from there I stop PvPing and I just straight farm reputations. Get Exalted with most factions, halfway to gold-cap : 100,000 gold. I sell the gold to particulars for 12.25$/1000, and the account on top of it. Total gains : Roughly 1700$.

Another month later I get another account, upgrade it, level up yet another Priest to 70, and get bored. I end up giving the account away to a random dude after gathering 20 people and getting them all to /roll in a raid. He rolled a 20. Way to go !

Some people take a long time to figure out the inner workings of WoW, but I guess I was just motivated enough (heroic fantasy is more than a passion for me). I’ve always been in the top players on servers I played on, in terms of skill, when I worked it out. I get the hang of things quickly, and I’m not sure whether it’s a curse or a blessing, but generally, I’m gifted when it comes to MMORPG RTSs.

I’ve never really suffered from WoW, even with a full-time job. I’m not living with anyone yet, but I’ve been steady with the same girl for three years and a half now, and I’m only 19 years old. We never argue, we never fight, she never played WoW. I knew when to let down, and she knew when I really wanted to play.

It’s all a matter of compromise and concessions; get your priorities straight, and when you’re over with them, you can play all you want. Least that’s how I see it.

Yet, I’m still addicted to WoW, in that I can’t spend a single day without wishing I was still kicking ass in front of a computer instead of learning how to brew a cocktail up in that restauration institute. I’m just an everyday normal guy; fairly in shape, yet never enough, I have a job, I pay a rent, I go to school, I buy food and whatnots. And I go out and make a girlfriend happy.

Want my opinion ?

The problem is not WoW alone: it’s the idiots that play it.
If you really want people on your server or your group of friends to recognize your “talent”, just maximize your time/accomplishment ratio. You need gold ? Farm and use an auction house alt. Don’t just stand around in a city; oh wait, you want to ? Alright, well stand around in a city on your auction house alt and make deals as you speak with your friends.

Nothing’s stressing in that.
Just play your game, but play it well, and be efficient.

Samething with your life : if you wanna live, live well, and be efficient.

Efficiency’s the only way to live.
If you want to rest, make sure your priorities are taken care of, and then only you can relax.

My two copper.

Crazy!

-For the Horde!

I would think it would take more pathos and immersion to draw people into a game like this, so they’d rather live in that world than this one… But I guess all it takes is (poorly) emulating a world where we can easily carry out our baser tribal instincts.

It’s Devolution!

I am the oldest brother, and though it was difficult for me- I have quit. They are both fairly sensitive guys, and they let the shades down anytime I mention quitting or addiction. Of course- they will hold a conversation with me about raiding or epic drops or dps or yada yada any day of the week.

I hang my head in shame for this…

Anyone who thinks that WoW addiction is not a REAL addiction, read this:

Taken from the DSM-IV (Diagnostic criteria guide published by the American Psychiatric Association)(book used to reference criteria used to diagnose psychiatric disease):

SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE

A maladaptive pattern of substance use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as manifested by three or more of the following, occurring at any time in the same 12 month period:

-tolerance
-withdrawal

-THE SUBSTANCE IS OFTEN TAKEN IN LARGER AMOUNTS OR OVER A LONGER PERIOD THAN WAS INTENDED

-THERE IS PERSISTENT DESIRE OR UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO CUT DOWN OR CONTROL THE SUBSTANCE USE

-A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance, USE THE SUBSTANCE, or recover from its effects

-Important SOCIAL, OCCUPATIONAL, OR RECREATIONAL activities are given up or reduced because of the substance use

-The substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance (In the case of WoW, depression, insomnia, ect.)

… scary