Then again, for some people, limiting themselves isn't at all the problem -- it's limiting their kids they worry about! Their children agree to only play for 1 hour, but then 2 or 3 hours go by and they're still in there at the computer, saying, "But Daaaaad, I forgot!"
If either you or your loved one needs a gentle reminder about how much time has gone by while adventuring in Azeroth, WoWTimer may be the addon for you.
WoWTimer is sort of like an alarm clock for a player in "the zone," designed to help snap you out of that state of gaming consciousness that we sometimes fall into where time and the world itself seem to fade away. You can use it to time how long you've been playing, and set a configurable time limit (30 minutes by default) that will send a warning message to your screen when your time is almost up. It will tell you "TIMER EXPIRED!!!" in big red letters when it's time to come back to reality, and remind you how late you are every few minutes thereafter until you either change the timer or logout. You can use the /settimer command to open the options and set the timer ("/settimer 0:30" for 30 minutes, for example) .
The problem (or maybe the advantage?) with this program is that there's no password-protection or other fail-safe to prevent the little devil standing on your shoulder thought from saying, "oh just a few more minutes..." All a potential time-mismanager needs to do is just extend the allotted playtime (or even just reset the timer), and the alarm will go quiet again. It certainly doesn't relieve a parent of the need to keep an eye the clock while the child plays. WoWTimer just gives whoever is playing the game a chance to hold him or herself accountable, or at least start facing reality and admit that they need to get better managing their time on this game.
As the addon's author says: "it's a good way to 'keep an honest man (or woman) honest.'"
(Download WoWTimer at ui.worldofwar.net)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-02-2007 @ 5:35PM
Aiggan said...
That seems nice for adults but for kids you need to use the Parental Controls on the WoW web site. There's a link to it in the Account section of the left hand nav. Or if you log in to manage your account you can use this URL:
https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/parental-control-schedule.html
Its the only way short of changing my password that I could get my teenage nephew to not play all day long during a visit last summer.
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6-02-2007 @ 6:17PM
Becca said...
I agree with Aiggan. That thing would be nice for those "I really don't want to be on long, maybe just an hour to check up on my auctions" moments, but if it does nothing to stop you once the time has expired other than bugging you every few minutes, I'd probably end up ignoring it. Parental controls are great when you have to get off and stay off (consarned school reports...)
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6-02-2007 @ 9:44PM
Brad said...
Thats also why there are no windows in casinos.
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6-03-2007 @ 1:04AM
bwest0526 said...
Bah! who needs a timer! How can you be a true gamming addict with a Timer! Iam pretty sure if my wife saw this though she would install it without me knowing and it would end up scaring the crap outta me the first time! LOL
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6-03-2007 @ 2:27AM
Grrrrrr! said...
Parental Controls on the WoW website? Are you freaking kidding me?? So now Blizzard is in the business of watching your kids for you, too?!?! Is this what our society has come to -- noone taking responsiblity for their own actions. Always relying on others (or other things) to do it for you. How about a bit of self-control, self-discipline, self-reliance and personal responsibility???
Goddamn typical retarded reasoning:
- If my kid plays too much Wow, it's not because I'm a bad parent, it's because Blizzard made the game too good.
- If my kid found porn on the internet, it's not being I have poor parenting skills, it's because porn is too easily accessible.
- If my kid got into my guns and kills the neighbor, it's not my fault for not locking up the cabinet, it's because the gunmakers made guns!
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6-03-2007 @ 4:57AM
Kim said...
@5 that is such a stupid thing to say. The Parental controls that Blizz have allow the PARENTS to say when they kid can play or not. How is it taking responsibility away from the parents?
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6-03-2007 @ 7:23AM
Jem said...
#5 should check out the parental controls section and see that it's not automatic, it has to be set by the parent. And it dumps the kid off the game, back into the lap of the parent who is apparently not responsible. Odds on it's a pissed off kid too, cos he just got kicked off his game. So short story, I'd say the people who use it are doing the right thing in terms of parenting, and I applaud Blizz for making it an option.
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6-03-2007 @ 7:41AM
Sarah said...
@5 What they said above, it has to be set by the parent, why get so angry about it?
It IS the parents responsibility how much the child plays.
Oh wait...your mommy kick you off?
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6-03-2007 @ 1:33PM
Theserene said...
I think his point is that the parents should be getting their kid off the computer rather than using a program to do it.
What parent doesn't supervise their child's computer use anyway?
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6-04-2007 @ 11:05AM
ben1778 said...
My neighbor plays WoW and so does his oldest child (9 years old). He uses the parental controls for his son in order to help both of them get done what they need to do. While his son plays WoW he can clean up the house, make dinner, or do some of his work he brought home. After the WoW time they eat, clean up together, and then the son does homework and such while he plays a little WoW.
He sometimes uses WoW as a reward. If his son is helpful around the house, gets good grades or test scores, or has some other achievement he allows for extended playing time in WoW.
Sure enough, his son now has incredible time-management skills since he always knows how long it takes to do chores/homework, how much time he has to do an avg match in WSG (he loves flag running), and how many mobs he can kill in a given set of time. He knows if he wants to finish a kill quest (ex 30 kills) he should need about X minutes on avg. This is because he has to plan his time due to the parental controls.
My neighbor wishes he had games to teach him time management skills when he was little. He says he'd be on time to work way more often. :-)
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6-11-2007 @ 5:31PM
infection said...
@5
"- If my kid got into my guns and kills the neighbor, it's not my fault for not locking up the cabinet, it's because the gunmakers made guns!"
So when a wreck happens during the day, it should be the automotive industry's fault, since they made the car....
Wow, you are really on top of things in your world huh. I think you need to quit playing video games and try to focus on real life more.
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6-23-2007 @ 12:19AM
Renagade242 said...
So wait; when 5 said "typical retarded reasoning:" and gave 3 examples, you thought he was speaking his OWN mind.
Wow. L2English.
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