WoW Addiction Story (WoWS) form
I've finally quit WoW after 5 years
My story started when my daughter was born (I already had a 4 year old son). She slept well but it changed our social life, with the wife and I going out rarely.
I started playing Matrix Online just to while away some of the evenings whilst the missus watched Eastenders and the like....
A friend then introducced me to WoW, we used to quest together, chatted online and made some new friends. Fridays down the pub with friends changed to Friday night gaming... well it was a lot cheaper than buying several rounds of drink.. and better for my health... and the wife knew where I was... (sound familiar?)
Some 5 years on the pattern was the same, except worse. I'd get home from work tired, and switch on the PC to 'unwind' and take out the stresses of the day by killing mobs and doing my dailies. I'd then get called for tea and usually turn up late just as my family were finishing. I'd be a bit grumpy cos I didn't quite finish what i was doing. After tea I'd make an excuse to go back upstairs and run the kids bath (putting it on nice and slow of course). I could fit in a couple of random instances if I was quick. Once the kids were in bed the evening was mine... I could often get a good 3-4 hours in and maybe get another epic or two before I crashed out around midnight.
I'd rinse and repeat this every night.
I'd tried several times to cut down, but was still spending most of my spare time on Saturdays & Sundays grinding emblems or running instances. Nothing I tried worked and each time a new part of the game came out I just had to keep up with the other guys in my Guild.
By the end I had 10 level 80s on the same server, one of each class and all geared for raiding.
I'd lie awake at night worrying about the effect on my family. My kids kept asking if I'd do things with them, and my answer was usually "just let me finish this" or "I'll be 5 minutes", and of course I never spent time with them. If my wife went out during the day, my kids would be left watching TV and playing their own games without me.
I've had to see an Osteopath recently to sort out severe cramps and seizures in my neck and shoulders and my hands have started to hurt. I have a beer belly now (although I don't drink beer) and my posture looks like I'm always sitting at a pc.
I've worked out I've been spending best part of 4-6 hours a day playing WoW and I'm now 42 years old. That means probably 1-2 years of my life has gone. My duagther is 6 and I love her to pieces but I'm not really the dad I want to be. What will she remember me for? That bloke sitting at his computer.
Then this morning, about 4am, I lay there thinking about all these things. It was hard realising this to myself. I felt guilty, unhappy and trapped. I threatened to quit WoW lots of times and always talked myself out of it. My wife is understanding and patient (maybe too much soo), and she doesn't mind me playing in the evenings.
I broke out into yet another cld sweat as I thought about stopping playing again.
Then at 4.30am I woke my wife and told her I was quitting for good. I explained all of the above, about how I was missing my children growing up and what a bad influence I was on them - surely they would copy me. I started my pc and then one by one I deleted my characters - all ten of them. The first was really hard, the others easier, but the last (my first character) was a real wrench. Should I just keep the one and only play that one I thought?!
As I typed the final word 'delete' and hit return I gave a big sigh. 5 years of effort wiped out in 5 minutes.
I logged onto the Battlenet site, cancelled my subscription, found the WoW folders on the PC and deleted them, thank god they were too big for the recycle bin. I found the game boxes and cut through the disks.
It was done.
I went back to bed, my wife telling me how proud she was of me.
It's now 5.20pm the following day, just about the time I'd start playing. I've been out with my family today and it's been fun. I'm finding it very hard now, especially when I've run out of other things to do, but I know it's the right thing for me.
I've stopped justifying it to myself, stopped making excuses, and writing this is helping a lot. I'm looking forward to not feeling guilty, getting my health back and helping my children grow up as they should.
If a hard-line raider like me can bite the bullet, then I'm sure you can too.
(13 hours and counting)
WoW ruins another friendship
Two of my co-workers play wow. One is 45, lives alone, and that's all I care to know about him. Another, who's around my age, I was hoping to save. I'm a good friend, or at least I try to be. But I'm giving up on him. The last straw was when I tried to hook him up with one of my wife's co-workers. 3rd girl I've thrown his way mind you. She was only available Friday, the day after I told him about her. He said he couldn't join us that night because he had to play WoW. He has a strict schedule of 4 hours a day for 4 days a week, and every Friday night just happens to be one of them. He said there is no way he could let his guild down. I understand to an extent, but when you promise someone 4 hours a day for 4 days a week, they have to give you some understanding when life happens. It was kind of a slap in the face. Me and my wife go out of our way to try to help him, but he doesn't care. It's not that he doesn't want it. He probably doesn't remember, but when we first started working together, I took him out and we got sh1t faced drunk. I passed out on his bathroom floor. But before I cozzied up next to the pee stains, I remember him saying how sad and alone he was, and how he was so ready for a girlfriend. My wife was out with us that night, and he could see how happy we were together. I knew then that I had to try to help him. But WoW got in the way of that. He spends more time leveling his character than leveling himself. Physically, socially, mentally, economically. I took him to the gym with me, and the poor guy can barely lift the bar. That's bad for a 6'2" 25-year-old, but his character can slay any beast in one blow. He's in debt up to his eyes, but his character has all the best gear and over 5k gold on any given day. He never wants to hang out with people in real life, but his in-game his character hangs out with other characters of people also sitting alone at home in front of their computers. I think me and him have the potential to be really good friends, but he doesn't see friendship beyond the game. I'm not in his guild. Any girl I try to introduce him to won't be in his guild. He'd never set aside 4 hours a day 4 days a week for either of us. He lost a good friend today, and I won't be responsible for ruining any innocent young girls life by trying to hook him up.
I actually have another friend addicted to WoW, but he's not so bad. He ditches the hell out of me for the game, but is otherwise rather social and has his life together.
I've tried WoW twice and deleted my accounts both times. I got a dwarf hunter up to lvl 20 two times, and a druid to lvl 16. But after that, it starts to get really fun, and I found myself playing more. So I quit because of fear of becoming addicted. I have a very strong will, but don't want to test it with something that has ruined so many lives. I have a wife, a baby, am trying to learn to play the guitar, and can almost bench 315lbs. That's two achievements, an almost completed quest, +140 strength(pounds I can lift more than my body weight), and I'm only lvl 29! ;-)
Finally quit
I got hooked last year and WoW started to dominate my life, school bascially everything. My friends played so quitting was not something i was going to consider and as the months went by i spent more and more time online. Then one of my friends quit, he'd had enough and wanted to get on with his life. However i didnt quit at this point and my addiction got worse.
I'd played for about a year and quit a few weeks ago. I felt that WoW had consumed enough of my life and i didn't want it to get any worse.
I had a relapse once but found the game no longer appealed to me like it had before. I URGE people to give the game a break and you may find that actually there are better things to do.
:)
I want to take the portal to real life
I have been playing wow since 2004; I played got addicted then watched my relationship with my previous boyfriend fall apart (not just for reason of my own he played too). We quit the game and things started to slowly get better we got married and had a baby. Then one day we were bored and turned it back on again sure enough a few months later, the same thing happened.
I can remember actually cancelling plans with friends and family to raid or level, it was pathetic so yet again we quit. We had a lot of other relationship problems that made us doomed but I'd be lying if I didn't say wow was a big part of it. We separated for 6 months then got back together yet again seemingly ok, then BAM turned the game on and this time we were done, divorced.
I moved out of state with my son and in with my current boyfriend who, guess what, plays wow, we both do. But 5 days ago I cancelled my account. I want to delete the game forever. The hard thing is my new boyfriend and his son both play and my boyfriend is a GM so he has real money invested in the game, with a website and Ventrillo. I can't even sit at my P.C. next to him while he plays it feels like an invisible rope tired around my insides pulling me to it. I cry a lot and see how pathetic it is I ever put so much time into this and just the past week alone spending more time with my 3 year old has made him and I so much happier. I don't want to be the typical non-playing wow g/f that guilt her boyfriend into quitting but I'm so afraid he's going to draw me back in unintentionally. I don’t want to be a loser who fills her life with make believes video games I want to go out and meet new people have friends and start a life here. This is so hard.
/wowquit girl
Im Not Sure what to do..
Well i started playing WoW about 11 days ago,i got the free trial,an played till now,today was the last day and decided to just spend my time surfing websites instead of playing since my trial expired,i sit here an read all these stories and,i like the game very much,but,i wonder if i can control my need for the game or if im just going to be back here in 4 years writing how i wasted my life,im 15 an have a girlfriend,she is 16 an i know i love her,but we spend all our time arguing all day,until i get home to play WoW i forget about the real life i have,i realize i get mad at her for so little things,i realize that i just do this to pass the time until i get to play,ive been thinking all day if buying the full version of this game is the best for my life,i honestly feel need for the game right now and i dont know if i can control myself if i buy the full version.im only level 20 but have gotten so into the game with many friends and groups who just wait for me every night,i sometime ignore my calls when im playing wether it be my girlfriend or friends or loved ones,i feel like i can control myslef,but i know im weak when it comes to things like this,i just kicked a 3 year xbox 360 addiction an have just started playing games again,every moring i wake up at 12 pm (i am homeschooled) from being up all night ,i wake up with my whole left arm numb and my right hand sore,i know this is bad for me,but i really like it,as i am 15 i dont have a card to pay but i do have a job,minumum wage,i asked my bro for his card an said id pay him each month,but i feel guilty for it,his daughter is about to be born and i just feel guilty for taking money from him while he needs it now more than ever,i realize my fingers itch every night to just get on an play WoW from 10 pm to 4 pm at night,thats 70 hours ive wasted playing this stuppid game,im not sure if i should just keep going and try to control it,or try to quit while im ahead,please help...
