When I quit WoW a few days ago, deleted my account, and canceled my subscription, I had no idea what to expect. Well, that's not entirely true. I knew that I would have lots of extra time and that, if I was to have a chance at remaining WoW-free, I would have to fill that time with other activities that would reliably keep me occupied. I have been doing that, already spending lots of extra time working on my house, enjoying playtime with my puppies, and beating-up on my friends and family in the Nike Plus running challenges we take part in. What I didn't know, however, was how many activities I would actually need to fill the void that WoW once occupied in my schedule. I mean, I sat idle at my computer today for hours trying to figure out how else I could use that "free" time to be more productive. I exhausted all potentials, and that said something very clear to me. It wasn't that I was playing WoW that was the problem, it was HOW MUCH I CHOSE to play WoW.
Before I had the "revelation" (inside joke) that I experienced the other day, I chose to login at work, to rush home to get into raids, to stay logged in after the raid was complete, and to disregard the obvious issues that kind of behavior would and did have on my life. Unhealthy sure, but so was the fact that I completely missed the true issues behind my behavior and instead believed that WoW was the main problem. You'd think someone in tune with behavior wouldn't make that mistake, but I did, even when I had Jade barking at me in another post about getting my priorities in check. I should listen to her more often - she's a smart girl.
So, after much thought, I've decided not to completely abandon the game, but will instead make better decisions with regards to how I spend my time. WoW will become an option instead of a priority, and as long as I correctly prioritize the other important responsibilities I have, everything should be fine.
Hmm. I guess this isn't really a goodbye post at all. Eh, whatever. See you all in-game... after the 8 hours it'll take me to reinstall the freakin' thing.
10 comments:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
I WAS RIGHT.
That's all that matters.
lol. I hate you.
Weak minded fool.
lol, as soon as I saw a 3rd comment, I thought to myself "It's Zy, and his post starts with 'weak...'"
Fear me. ;)
You dont know me and I came accross your blog by accident but I really wanted to say dont do it.
I played WoW since release, I wont give you the boring details but my situation is very similar to yours. I quit for about 2 months and thought that I could just go back and play casually and well before I knew it I was back to not getting enough sleep, being tired at work, letting real life responsibilities slide, etc. It is a choice to play or not to play however the addiction clouds your judgement about that choice.
Dont do it man, if you really care about your real life just walk away.
Thanks very much for your comment, and trust me, your worries are constantly echoed in the back of my mind.
I have many friends who had to stop cold-turkey in order to actually "move on." Those who did not and played it here and there rarely broke away enough to actually change their WoW habits at all. They were the more addicted types, however, and I don't think I am one of them. Of course, I could be in total denial about that, as many, many of us who play WoW are.
Anyhow, thanks again for your response and perspective. It's much appreciated and believe me when I say I hear it well.
just listen to me and you have nothing to worry about... you should have listened to me in the first place and you wouldn't be tossing around so much doubt, to begin with. noob.
Haha, no offence jade - I am sure your heart is in the right place...
But jago listens to people for a living. He is an overly capable critical thinker capable of reading past peoples garble (in theory anyway ;) ) to dig up answers, or the right questions. He is well aware of his own actions and often we discussed the consequences of them.
He has known since I can remember that he is addicted to wow and has accepted it. Placing a good and agreeable argument that so long as his close ones in real life were relatively unaffected by his gaming habits that WoW was an acceptable social environment. I agree with him here.
He once explained to me that according to a statistic that around 90% of people that play WoW are addicted to it. The words he used were temporal reenforcement - the same ones associated with gambling addicts. Basically the feeling of the longer you play, the more you get.
Tossing around doubt is a sign of recognizing consequences, and means that he is quite sane and aware of what he is doing.
Jago - look what our discussions did to me -_- ....
I am in your therapy rewiring your thought process >_<
omg Zy, I'm so quoting that! Yeah, we totally get it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention, it's both temporal reinforcement AND variable reinforcement, the latter being the key ingredient in gambling and similar addictions but both types definitely playing their role. I'll make a post on that sometime soon. Thanks for the reminder.
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