A tipster sent in a link to this post about World of Warcraft, specifically, how to force yourself to stop playing it.I don't know why this made me laugh as hard as it did. For starters, some of the advice is good... I'd encourage you to read a book or take a martial arts class whether or not you're going to play WoW any longer. Books are fun. I sometimes read a book while I play WoW, but I suppose that wouldn't really be what the article is going for.
Part of the problem would be that I don't want to dismiss the article out of hand. After all, "Psychological dependence does not have to be limited only to substances; even activities and behavioral patterns can be considered addictions, if they are harmful, e.g. gambling, Internet use, usage of computers, sex / pornography, eating, self-harm, vandalism or work" according to Wikipedia's article on the subject. I suppose for me it's the 'if they're harmful' qualified that gets me. So far, WoW has given me and some friends some fun times and a chance to do something as a group when we can't all get together in one place, it's allows me to make new friends who live well outside my range, and it's allowed me to work out some frustrations that would otherwise go without venting. So for me at least WoW is a game that I play and a source of fun. Clearly, for some people WoW has become a big part of their social lives. And anything you care about can become an obsession or an addiction.
But still, I cannot help but laugh when I see advice like "burn yourself out by finding ways to cheat...Find a private server to play on" or my personal favorite, "Sabotage your WoW future". I'm kind of surprised the original author didn't feel the need to add "Seal yourself in a lightless vault with only tins of tomato soup for sustenance" or "hire an angry man to break your thumbs if you go near a keyboard'". It just seems so hyperbolic and reactionary that I can't help but be amused by it. The funniest part is when he advises people to play on private servers, warms them that this may get their account banned as it is a violation of Blizzard's ToS, and then later advises people to violate Blizzard's ToS to get their accounts banned. I don't think most players have to go to these extremes, I know I don't play so much that I feel this kind of fear over it.
Have you already begun to construct your WoW-proof bunker?
Subscribe
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-27-2007 @ 3:36PM
Dhestroi said...
A relative of mine has been a psychologist for many years, so I asked his opinion:
"You can only be helped with an addiction if you want to be. You have to believe that it is bad for you, and then a mental health care professional can help develop strategies to be rid of it."
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 3:52PM
Attapooch said...
The easiest way for me to quick playing WoW at the moment was to buy Bioshock.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 4:02PM
Krishan said...
Well I just got my account hacked whilst i was on holiday for a week away from wow, and lost ALL my half tier 5 and half crafter gear that I worked REALLY hard for, so i'm pissed off, so much that I can't really be bothered to play anymore. That holiday was enough to show me that I can go without playing wow for a while and now the fact that i'll have to regrind my gear AND that my game card has run out meaning i will have to top up is enough to let me quit.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 4:20PM
Darlene said...
I am completely addicted to WoW... but you have to want help first... I don't want help. One day maybe I will be ready to quit... but I know the withdrawal will suck.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 4:28PM
Juan Shue said...
perfectly valid points, but acknowledge that some people's personalities do make them more prone to addiction, and something viewed as a fun distraction from reality for most of us becomes an obsession for them...
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 4:43PM
Coherent said...
If you feel that you're "addicted" to WoW, then why don't you quantify EVERY leisure time activity as a potential "addiction"?
For instance: in the evenings on workdays, I like to play WoW. When it's dark outside, most people watch television. I watch my monitor. I can't say that I'm missing anything on TV, because I just Tivo it and watch it while I'm eating dinner. I STILL have 2-3 hours of leisure time in the evening. Buying enough books to fill it every day would be hideously expensive (I read fast), so it's either #1) stare at random TV programs I don't particularly want to watch, or #2) Play a computer game.
My computer game of choice for most evenings is WoW. Not always; I've gotten tired of WoW several times, taking 2-3 month breaks. But I always come back. Online MMO's are a fun way to spend an evening, and WoW is simply the best out there right now.
If this is "addiction" for anyone, then I figure they're the same people who need draconian measures to break them of their television addiction, their fast food addiction, their sugary soft-drink addiction, their telephone addiction...
The world is full of "addictions", but only for the people who see EVERYTHING they do as an "addiction".
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 4:51PM
Coherent said...
The most amazing thing about people like this is that they see the OMG $15 PER MONTH!!! as such an INCREDIBLE BURDEN. Man, I spend $15 going out for a nice lunch and I do that way more than once a month.
If you played another game to break you of your "WoW addiction" you'd have to buy AT LEAST one per month, and that's going to set you back $50 each, so that's from $15 to $50 per month. Make sense yet? I didn't think so.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 5:18PM
Darlene said...
@ 6....
I qualify my WoW habits as addiction.. why wouldn't I feel the same way if I was spending my evening watching TV..... there is a difference... I like TV, could spent 3-4 hours watching it at night.... but I don't think about TV constantly, don't count down until I can get home from work to watch TV, I don't spend time on websites researching my TV shows etc etc,... Don't know if that makes sense.
I was with family Sunday night for dinner, and all I could think about was when I could leave and get home so I could log on to WoW..
WoW is a major addiction for me, I personally believe I have an addictive personality.. I don't drink, but I know if I did I would probably be an alcoholic... the same with smoking.
Now don't get me wrong, I work full time, and do have a RL... I spend time on weekends out doing other stuff with friends...
But yeah Im crazy addicted to WoW.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 5:23PM
pokute said...
did you know you can get addicted to caffeine?
even salt and sugar?
*facepalm*
willpower of a five year old...
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 5:28PM
pokute said...
@8 Your "addiction" to WoW sounds like my uncle's "addiction" to sailing, or my friend's "addiction" to Buffy a number of years back.
Just because you've found something that you really love and are obsessed about it doesn't mean it's an "addiction."
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 5:37PM
Darlene said...
@ 10...
haha, thats your opinion, but I feel my addiction to WoW is unhealthy... thats what makes me know its an addiction... It is however an addiction I do not wish to stop... one day.. one day...
Plus chicks that play WoW rule :) LOL
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 5:49PM
Sargentd said...
all I had to do was get something that was more fun at the time (ex. halo 2)
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 5:49PM
Rockstar said...
Well, I thought about what caused my WoW addiction...
I discovered that it's the happiness of pwning noobs.
That post was priceless.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 6:59PM
wearedoomed said...
@6
Very well said. I too am tired of everything being called an addiction. What about people who golf every day? How about people who watch 24 news channels all the time? Oh, and don't even get me started on the dangers of woodworking or knitting.
This is another example of a solution trying to find a problem.
Here is my thoughts on this. It is none of your business if I choose to play WOW 2 hours a day or 10. Go bother someone else. Go take your sudoscience elsewhere.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 7:33PM
Magellan said...
Who needs a WoW-proof bunker when there's a ready time-consumer just outside your door.
Wimmens.
Well, the women that like WoW geeks, at least.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 8:09PM
Matthew Rossi said...
Yes, I want to also attend the 'shooting magic out of my hands' seminar, and I would indeed be willing to stop playing WoW entirely if I could figure out how to Frost Nova irl.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 8:55PM
jeff.bragg said...
I wonder why you never see TV shows about how people are addicted to TV? And yet people watch TV for hours a day and no one finds it odd.
Oh and the question .... totally rhetorical.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 9:20PM
Quoi said...
So, according to that post, I should study the art of shooting magic out of my hands IRL. I should also find a way to pwn noobs in everyday life. lulz.
Reply
8-27-2007 @ 9:22PM
zack said...
@8 Same situation for me but its in my blood.
lets see 5 alcoholics that are close relatives, 3 of which had drug problems, 1 of them is a sex addict and a sadist, so im screwed thats why i dont drink but 8 also remember that there is a difference between alcoholism and addiction although they are usually hand in hand and can be overcome in similar ways. Im just glad my addictions are semi safe. food, games, soda, and T.V.
Reply
8-28-2007 @ 12:00AM
Kettu said...
Oh yeah... I've been playing WoW for a long time. Going on three years come January of 2008. During the last year of my life, I definitely let it rule my life. Not long ago I finally got fed up with it and quit for about four months. Well I'm back again but at least now I figure I have a good grasp on it. I don't forsake public or family events anymore and I take time to go other things like reading, watching a movie, step out into the sunlight, etc... >.>
Sure I play about 2-4 hours every, or every other, night with the exceptions of weekends but that's a vast improvement on how I used to play. However I don't see my playtime as being too terrible because, like mentioned earlier, people spend hours after work or school watching TV or something. It's all about time management and prioritizing in the long run.
Reply