So I haven’t posted in a while. This is due, in no small part, to my apparent addiction to World of Warcraft. It is funny how addiction works, and even funnier when it is related to a video game. It sounds pathetic, I know, but I can assure you it is quite real, and affects a lot of people. My recent bender regarding World of Warcraft started at the launch of the latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. I was determined to be one of the first people to level 80, and I was. I was the 3rd Warrior to level 80 on my server, and 19th overall. Yes, out of 10,000 people, I was the 19th person. As you can see from my armory achievements, I got level 80 on 11/17/2008. It should be noted that I got level 80 at probably 1am that day, meaning I could have gotten it on 11/16/2008. The game was released on 11/14/2008.
After getting level 80, I decided to start my own guild, part of which I outlined in this post. Which as you might notice, is one of the last posts I made prior to my hiatus from blogging. I must say that it was a valuable experiement, and I did enjoy the experience quite a bit. The guild was very successful but ultimately didn’t work out. After I decided to quit leading my guild, I made an even smarter decision on how to use my time: I joined one of the top guilds in the world. This was quite an eye-opening experience for me, and after participating in the progression rush after Ulduar launched, ending with a Server 1st, US 25th Yogg’Saron kill, I decided it was time to call it quits.
Quitting an MMO isn’t all that difficult to do, I have done it a few times. It’s the letting go part that is hardest. The friendships you make, the sense of achievement you get while playing (especially with WoW’s insanely addictive achievement system), and leaving the characters you worked so hard on behind, to rot. For me, I have not only a top notch level 80 warrior, but 3 other level 80 characters. A paladin, shaman, and warlock. A testament to the amount of time I spent (wasted), playing WoW.
But now, I am back. Back from the depths of the ultimate time waster. Back to make an account for all those who are currently addicted to, or pretending not to be addicted to, an MMORPG.
I am an introvert to begin with, always have been. I am not a outgoing social butterfly, but playing an MMO to such an extent as I was only magnifies the issue. When you are like me, and your only real responibilities include work and paying bills, it is very easy to get caught up. I would hope that those who have kids are a little bit more responsible with their gaming habits, but as I have witnessed first hand, that is not the case.
My entire life was basically dictated by WoW. My raid schedule, content releases, etc. Wake up, go to work, come home, play WoW. All the while, eating like crap, and getting almost no exercise. Now granted, this schedule isn’t all that much different than it would be for most people my age, except you’d substitute “Play WoW” with, “Play Xbox” or “Watch TV”, but it is all the missed opportunitues which became replaced with “Play WoW” which concern me. Write a blog post? Go out with some friends? Go visit family? NO! Play WoW!
It’s amazing how many things you miss out on that you don’t even realize. Now that I haven’t been playing for almost two months, my social life is extremely active, my family life is much better, and I am overall much happier. Being a gamer at heart it is going to be very hard to avoid the allure of MMO’s forever, especially since they seem to the wave of the future in terms of gaming, but it is just something I have to do.
Either way, I look forward to writing again, and if you ever find yourself in a position where you even begin to feel like you are playing video games too much, you are, and it is best to quit while you’re ahead.
I had no idea how attached people got to this until I was at my friend’s wedding last month, and at least one of the groomsmen was someone they ONLY KNEW through WOW. Iam perpetually glad that I suck at video games and can pick them up and put them down without a lot of drama, and never got into the MMOs.
Everyone’s gotta be addicted to something you know. When it is so difficult to make any “progress” in real life, why not waste your time on something where you can at least pretend to make progress.
I’d say as long as you don’t loose your wife, kids, job, home, freedom playing WoW or any other addicting game/activity, no harm done. Move on to the next time passing addiction.
Wow trumps most other addictions though. I may be addicted to guitar hero, but I don’t have to sit in front of it for several hours and plan my schedule around it.