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How to prevent WOW addiction?
- Thread starter zebraman
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Sun Baked
macrumors G5
You can read ...
You have an imagination ...
You actually leave the house ...
Wow, I'm stunned. I thought all teenagers asses were glued to a cushion.
Didn't know what a book or gym was.
And had their imaginations burned out with an electron gun fired at them by hollywood directors.
In regards to going back to WoW, just don't. I also played for quite some time. I started on release day and played for around two years. I quit once due to changes to classes and such, but mainly it was also realizing that it has inherent flaws to it. I went back for a bit, mainly because my wife still wanted to play ( we played together ) . Then, while on our honeymoon we both decided to quit, since we found so many other things to do. 😉
In regards to what to do with your summer, man I'm jealous. It would be nice to be a teenager again and to have that free time again. Since it is the summer I would do as much outside activity that you can. I saw you mentioned biking, drawing, reading and other activities. Those are great. Continue to do those more. Also, yes, spend time with the girlfriend, I'm sure she is much more worthy of your time.
When there are bad rainy days, do the reading and drawing. If you do have to play a game, what about board games with family, or card games?
Then, when you do get though the summer, Spore will be out, and I would recommend that one. Why? Well, it's not an MMO, but more sim/strategy based that will engage the brain. The best part though is you can walk away and not worry about missing things. The game will be in the same spot when you left it.
Seriously, though, you're young and have time. Enjoy it. It doesn't come around again.
In regards to what to do with your summer, man I'm jealous. It would be nice to be a teenager again and to have that free time again. Since it is the summer I would do as much outside activity that you can. I saw you mentioned biking, drawing, reading and other activities. Those are great. Continue to do those more. Also, yes, spend time with the girlfriend, I'm sure she is much more worthy of your time.
When there are bad rainy days, do the reading and drawing. If you do have to play a game, what about board games with family, or card games?
Then, when you do get though the summer, Spore will be out, and I would recommend that one. Why? Well, it's not an MMO, but more sim/strategy based that will engage the brain. The best part though is you can walk away and not worry about missing things. The game will be in the same spot when you left it.
Seriously, though, you're young and have time. Enjoy it. It doesn't come around again.
I'm a gamer addict so to speak. I love MMOs though they tend to be so repetitive, and many other addictive games.
I try and regulate my game "nutrition" by playing certain days a week, or other kind of regulations, but for the moment my general MMO regulation is to install it in bootcamp (that way when I am working I can't easily access the game XD) and I play, if available, in "private servers" which have a high rate experience ratio. That way I get to, for example in WoW, lvl 70 in a couple of hours, play some instances and I'm satisfied for a while. Then if the urge to play that particular MMO appear I just can retake that account and either make another character, or just keep playing with the old character for another couple of hours.
But anyways, MMOs have their pros and cons. A pro is that you get to interact with other people who share a particular interest that you have.
Of course the cons are lead by the fact that it steals your time mercilessly.
If you do play balance it out with other things, that's my opinion. No need to focus on doing it or not.
I try and regulate my game "nutrition" by playing certain days a week, or other kind of regulations, but for the moment my general MMO regulation is to install it in bootcamp (that way when I am working I can't easily access the game XD) and I play, if available, in "private servers" which have a high rate experience ratio. That way I get to, for example in WoW, lvl 70 in a couple of hours, play some instances and I'm satisfied for a while. Then if the urge to play that particular MMO appear I just can retake that account and either make another character, or just keep playing with the old character for another couple of hours.
But anyways, MMOs have their pros and cons. A pro is that you get to interact with other people who share a particular interest that you have.
Of course the cons are lead by the fact that it steals your time mercilessly.
If you do play balance it out with other things, that's my opinion. No need to focus on doing it or not.
Where did I compare a MMO to actual drugs? I didn't.
What you basically said in the post I replied to is that MMO addiction isn't quite as serious as a drug addiction. I definitely agree with that, but I pointed out that it isn't benign either. Can you rationally say that a MMO addiction has no consequences on your life?
As I mentioned earlier in another post, I used to play WoW, and I still enjoy gaming when I can. The way I see it, gaming is just a choice among others for your leisure time, no better and no worse than anything else : whether you decide to play, read a book, go to the movies or go fishing, it's your pleasure, period. But the subject was addiction, not some kind of ranking contest among hobbies.
NAG
macrumors 68030
Again, you're speaking right past me. I suggest you reread my posts and think "is an MMO only an addiction or can it be other things." You're categorically stating an MMO is an addiction. That is like saying alcohol is categorically an addiction.
And I was not making it about ranking of hobbies. You were. I was talking about how people were treating wow as categorically bad. That is silly. Read the article I posted if you want more info on the subject I was actually talking about.
Hey thanks. Ive been dying for spore to come out and i used to be really into the sim and simcity games so i think ill love this one.
CartoonHeroII
macrumors member
You can't
It's impossible. Just give in and accept WoW. Resistance if futile. 😛 No, it really is.
Anyway, I think of it as just another way to spend my time. If I want to spend my free time reading a book, I will. If I want to watch TV, I will. If I want to adventure in Azeroth with my brother and friends, I will. Yes limits should be made, but that's a personal decision. I played a lot more in between semesters of college (I waited to subscribe until Christmas break) when I was looking for a job than I do now that I have two jobs and a girlfriend. She's a lot more fun than my bro. 😉
Back to your question, you just have to have some self-control in order to not get addicted. All things in moderation. I do like the idea of using the "parental controls" of WoW's account page to limit your time. I know I've lost track of time and played more than I should have. But then again, it was nice to level up my fishing for hours a week while talking to my girlfriend on the phone (don't tell her).
It's impossible. Just give in and accept WoW. Resistance if futile. 😛 No, it really is.
Anyway, I think of it as just another way to spend my time. If I want to spend my free time reading a book, I will. If I want to watch TV, I will. If I want to adventure in Azeroth with my brother and friends, I will. Yes limits should be made, but that's a personal decision. I played a lot more in between semesters of college (I waited to subscribe until Christmas break) when I was looking for a job than I do now that I have two jobs and a girlfriend. She's a lot more fun than my bro. 😉
Back to your question, you just have to have some self-control in order to not get addicted. All things in moderation. I do like the idea of using the "parental controls" of WoW's account page to limit your time. I know I've lost track of time and played more than I should have. But then again, it was nice to level up my fishing for hours a week while talking to my girlfriend on the phone (don't tell her).
I played since 05 and I recently quit my self. It took me 2 attempts to quit entirely. The first time I tried to quit I wasn't ready. the first time I came back was due to pvp I liked the idea (still kinda do, but its to much work to deal with). I came back and got heavy into arena/pvp, I got my pvp fill. Before I thought of quitting I did alot of raiding and alot of lvling. id say your best bet if u want to quit would be to do w/e u crave to do on wow to a extreme. If its pvp do 7 hours of straight pvp trust me after about the third wsg stalemate your going to be sick of pvp. Same goes with all aspects of wow. If its raiding go do kara in one night every week. Killing trash mobs sucks
GL with w/e u decide to do. Im much happier now that im off it
GL with w/e u decide to do. Im much happier now that im off it
ReanimationLP
macrumors 68030
You all do know burning the discs wont solve his problem when its easily downloaded from www.worldofwarcraft.com right? 😉
I got into it at a request of my two best friends. I find it a fun and challenging game, much better than Guild Wars IMHO.
I'm not addicted at all. In fact, I havent been on in days because I've been so busy.
If anyone plays on Frostwolf, my character name is Hohenheim.
I got into it at a request of my two best friends. I find it a fun and challenging game, much better than Guild Wars IMHO.
I'm not addicted at all. In fact, I havent been on in days because I've been so busy.
If anyone plays on Frostwolf, my character name is Hohenheim.
NatPro
macrumors member
Just stop
I played WOW twice. First time very goal oriented and didn't socialize, no guild or anything. Got tired of it. Second time, eventually got into a good guild, had a blast, spent unconscionable amount of time in WOW. Decided real life was superior (even if I don't have spiffy armor and weapons) and quit again. Was a tough decision at first but never looked back.
So, just say no.
I played WOW twice. First time very goal oriented and didn't socialize, no guild or anything. Got tired of it. Second time, eventually got into a good guild, had a blast, spent unconscionable amount of time in WOW. Decided real life was superior (even if I don't have spiffy armor and weapons) and quit again. Was a tough decision at first but never looked back.
So, just say no.
bobber205
macrumors 68020
There an arc in the anime that shows what can happen when someone plays too much of an MMO.
And you are completely missing or ignoring my point. I never said WoW in particular or MMOs in general were bad. WoW is an extraordinary game, and one I greatly enjoyed (and I one that I still miss, to be honest). I didn't say either that all players are addicted - I don't even think real addicts represent a noticeable part of the player base.
However, the OP specifically asked about WoW addiction. I am merely trying to address his point, instead of making general comments about WoW.
NAG
macrumors 68030
And you're missing my point. I'm saying comparing WoW to a physical (hey, i'm using bold, therefore I must be right! 😛 ) addiction is needless hyperbole. It is disingenuous to equate WoW to a hard drug because it belittles people.