Are A Lot of People Really Addicted To World of Warcraft?
I play World of Warcraft a lot but I don’t consider myself addicted. I only play a few hours a day and I don’t neglect real life. I really just have a hard time believing that there are people who are really addicted to this game. Come on, it’s just a game! Anyway, are there a lot of people who are truly addicted to WoW?
I know when I first looked around and read story after story from players I was shocked as well. There are tons of people who are truly addicted to World of Warcraft. Some might think it is funny being addicted to a game but isn’t Blackjack a game as well?
Here is one story that I have read on the internet from someone who is addicted to the game so much it really is interfering with his work, family life, and many other things. I was absolutely shocked seeing how this person was able to become so addicted but the stories kept coming with more people chiming in. Anyway, here is the story:
My Husband started playing WOW almost 2 years ago and our marriage has slowly deteriorated since. A �friend� of his gave him a free 10 day trial and he actually asked if I cared if he tried it out�and I said �sure it�s a free try why not� I can�t tell you how much I regret that statement.
First he played a couple of hours ata time then he announced friday nights were now his �Raid night� and I could not make plans that included him on fridays from then on. I asked for him to talk to the other 50 raid people to see if they could switch it and he said no, he said that was the night that worked for everyone else�(regardless of whether it worked for his family). I was told to expect this indefinitly. Every �date night� essentially gone.
In addition to �Raid night� He started playing every night after dinner, the routine was, he�d come home, have dinner watch an hour of TV with me, then go play until midnight or so. Later he told me that OTHER players� were having a hard time with the friday thing so they changed it to Wednesday AND Thursdays instead. OTHER people had a hard time so they moved it, it didn�t seem to matter that I had a hard time with it but, at least other players cared what their wives or family thought or needed. He also has a raid o sunday afternoons now which don�t seem as urgent so, he does miss them every now and then.His MD started him on this drug for his ADD and he now plays until 3 or 4am almost every single night of the week. He gets up at the last possible second, has a shower and barely makes it to work on time. He does not eat breakfast or make coffee anymore and of course buys his lunch IF he remembers to eat during the day at all.
He gets home and is so hungry he�ll have a huge dinner and then after I go to bed, he�ll binge on something else (Like a whole bag of Nachos or A tub of frozen Yogurt). I don�t keep a lot of junk in the house but even a whole tub of frozen yogurt right before bed can make you fatter. His weight has shot up and he weighs close to 100 pounds more then when we met. I don�t know what to do anymore, i�ve tried so many times to talk to him and he just doesn�t listen. He�s cut off friends who aren�t gamers and doesn�t talk to his family much anymore.
If plans are to be made, I make them and its often a battle to get him to go. We don�t have kids although I want at least one. I just see how neglectful he is of me and our dog (yells at him if he noses him to get some attention, doesn�t remember to feed or water him in the AM �cause he�s so rushed) and I don�t want to put a child through that. I don�t want to get divorced but it�s starting to look like the only solution. I miss the man I married, the guy who was fun, who loved to hike and take our dog for runs together. I feel like a failure because I wasn�t enough to keep him interested and that really hurts.
Also remember it isn’t just the guys who can be addicted to this game. There are tons of women addicted to WoW as well. Here is one example story:
I find all of this a bit strange. My wife is addicted to WOW. I dont know what to do. she plays with every free moment she has. Ever since BC came out she has been playing nonstop. My problem with it is all the time dedicated to playing. She spends more time with her online friends, which are all guys, than she does with me. I have also found that she has one of her online friends phone number and they are conversing out of the game.
I am at my wits end. I feel i should call this guy and let him know she is married and not on Wow to hook up but i am afraid of what the consequences of doing that will be. I am this close to filing for divorce. And when i do i will send blizzard and dell a thank you for ruining my marriage. without them (blizzard and dell) i think i would still have my wife.
I want to put another story I’ve read into here as well. The other stories listed were from married couples (not sure the age) but this one comes straight from a 16 year old student and is probably yet another example of many stories like this as well.
My names Josh, im a 16 year old High School student, and im a Wow addict. And by addict, i mean the real deal. Its humorous to hear people say how hard it is when there husband plays like 40 hours a week, Look at myself, and see that i play anywhere from 70-90 hours a week. Its rough, but i enjoy it. I realise, a lot of people just see the bad sides of WoW, and in no way am i here to justify it, more of just to give another perspective.
For a while, i had family problems, and WoW was a shelter. It was my anti-depresant. Ive been playing WoW since the release, and ive been playing with the same group of friends for that amount of time. Ovbiously theres been some variations, but the majority of my close friends have been for 2+ years. So WoW was my source of fun. It kept me in a good mood and what not, but� theres a few problems that came with this oh so amazing bliss.
Im a smart kid, im mature, im not bragging, but growing up in a school system where you get kids form down town, you can realise it. Ive been in a program called TAG – talented and gifted, basicly honors / ap for elementary school. Droped out. Why you ask? Too much work, not that i couldnt do it, but i didnt care. I have no drive outside of what i care about, and honestly, what i care about is my girlfriend (which the relationship has gone to ****), and WoW. Now in highschool, my GPA is 1.7. Yet i want to get into college? Its really a reality check, but i cant stop. Ive had� lets start with before TBC. 60 tauren warrior, Deleted 3 times and restored each due to addiction, 60 priest, quit, 51 mage, alt that i quit when trying to quit, 60 human rogue, traded for horde rogue, who upon level 70 and nicely geared, was hacked. Now im playing another character who ive level to 30 in aprox 4 days.
WoW isnt just addicting for the never ending repetive system, more so for the social enviorment. When you get so close, and you see them making comitment to �spend time� it feels like a freaking relationship, but you enojoy it, and its blinding (as some relationships are). There really isnt a easy balance when your hardcore. Between farming consumables, making sure your arena team is 2200+, and being a raid leader? Where does real life come in? Especially when your parents pay for it all. What should i feel like i need to work for? Paarents also bought me a new car. I dont blame The companies, i blame my parents. And for my friends, i blame there parents, as most have the same story as me. Kids today, my peers, have no work drive.. we arnt given a reason to work for anything, and yes, knowing that this is the problem, i should be mature enough to correct it, but i dont have the -drive-. I want it, but i dont have it. Slowly, im getting back into school, focusing more, doing my work, but its only because I want it, and changing myself, which im proud of.
Basicly, the point of this, is so you all can see that WoW has good and bad sides, more bad then good. If you are a parent, and dont want this to happen to your child, MAKE them work for something, make them do chores, make them have a drive, because if i could go back, i would tell my mom to make me work for everything i have, my 30,000$ car, my 1.3k computer, all the crap i never use in my room, and more importantly, the 300+$ my parents pay in MMORPG/FPS monthly funds.
I love my mother, im so apprecitave of everything, but parents, money isnt everything, toys arnt everything, and if you dont do something, they may end up like i did, and honestly, its not worth it.
Now what am i gonna do when i get home? Ill tell you, im going to forget this article, double click ventrillo, connect, scream in joy at all of my friends, ask how there day went, log onto wow, and level my butt off untill its time to go to bed.
These are just a few stories of people addicted to the game from the many, many more out there. World of Warcraft can be as addicting as anything else out there. It can be addicting just like poker, alcohol, drugs, etc. While it’s impossible to tell exactly how many people are addicted to WoW I believe it has some huge numbers. Luckily, some addicts are starting to realize their addiction and are working on getting out of it. Here’s yet another story:
(Quick thin bio: I�m a 30+ married father of 2, I work full-time, my wife is a stay @ home mother, both kids are young, not in school yet.)
I finally rid myself of my WoW account. This will be the 3rd�yes 3rd, time I�ve walked away from the game. The 1st time I deleted the character, but then created a new one a few months later. The 2nd time, I deleted the character and walked away. I came back a 3rd time, and what do you know, but Blizzard can un-delete your character if you ask them. At the time, I was THRILLED of course. I started playing this 3rd time and actually seemed to be keeping it in check, it wasn�t becoming a problem.
Slowly my play time ramped up slightly, still it was a problem. Fast forward a few months and I was playing a lot and was already becoming addicted, the last 2 months were downright shameful at how addicted I�d become. While the time playing and neglect of life was a major problem, one of the more interesting aspects was how it affected me when I wasn�t playing. My wife could tell, it was all I thought about.
I remember going to meetings at work and just zoning out and thinking about WoW. I�d take the kids to the park and sit on the bench while they played, I�d just sit there thinking about WoW. I must�ve looked like some drugged out loser, I�m sure I had a 10-mile stare. But let�s not forget the time played. While I was leveling from 60-70, I would actually set my alarm to wake me up @ 3am so I could get in a few hours before work.
Of course I was exhausted at work, hardly did anything productive, and spent most of my day surfing about WoW. On nights when my wife worked, (she works a part time evening job to help out) it meant maximum WoW time without me feeling like I actually needed to spend time with her (sad on my part, I know.)
I would hurry to get my kids in bed so I could start my WoW session for the night. Of course, I always had WoW running while I was getting them ready for bed, whether it be scanning the auction house, getting that enchant that I just HAD to have, or moving my character to the next fly point so I could hit the ground running once they were down. I started to actually regret weekends that we had social activities planned. I didn�t want to give up my Fri/Sat nights, those were my maximum WoW nights. Sure, I�d still play after we got home, but that meant I�d lose out on a few hours.
No matter how you look at that, I was sick and pathetic and hate that I actually behaved in this manner for any stretch of time, and for a game?!
Anyway, to avoid me re-installing and asking Blizzard to un-delete my account, I sold the account. Yes, some may frown and say that I�m actually contributing to the problem with WoW addiction. But, this was the one way that I could be sure that I couldn�t get this account back. While I was addicted to the game, I just don�t have it in me to level a character from 1-70 all over again, so no chance of me doing that. I�m just thankful that my wife put up with me through it. She couldn�t have been more thrilled once I made the decision to end WoW for good. She was sweet, she actually left me a card the other night, thanking me and letting me know she could already see a difference in me, for the better. On nights when she works, I actually spend time with my kids and I�m not in such a rush to get them off to bed so daddy can be glued to the keyboard and try to grind out �just a little more rep with�.� Wish me luck, I�m just glad it�s done and I walked away.
So, while WoW addiction might seem like something that couldn’t be real, it really is. If you are someone that is worried about becoming addicted just limit yourself from playing the game so much and treat it seriously. Anyway, hopefully this will put some light into the subject of WoW addiction.
Hello readers,
I would like to start by saying that I sympathize very much with the users who are losing loved ones to a mere computer game. I’m very sorry about what I read and I genuinely hope circumstances improve for you.
I would then like to mention my circumstances. I am a second year student at University of California, Irvine.
And I hate it here so very much!
I am a very quiet person. I suck miserably at making friends with much emphasis on suck. It took me an entire year during my first year in high school to make a single friend. And that’s seeing and socializing with my fellow students every single weekday.
Now fast forward to University. I live off campus in an apartment and now it’s like high school but there is no recess nor lunch. (time/opportunity to socialize and make friends)
Now i’m alone here, asking myself every day why I bothered to join this terrible university while I had very strong friendships back home given I am extremely unskilled in establishing new relationships.
I spent my entire first year in depression and in WoW. For me, I would have been much more depressed should WoW not have taken a part of my life. I maintained B’s in school, played guitar on a regular basis (though not enough to develop skills but only to keep myself from becoming rusty), and did WoW every day for whatever time I can set aside for it, including 14ish hour weekends.
While I was addicted, it kind of helped me survive that year.
Summer! It was the best 3 months of my life! No, not because it was fun and I was active and doing amazing things. I got to be with my friends a few days of the week! After an entire year of universibullshit, returning to how it was during high school made me feel indescribably joyous! I quit WoW and most pc games I played, and i played more guitar with my drum playing friend, I socialized with my friends, etc.
Now i’m back in university, 5 weeks into classes.
Back to WoW, I suppose.
–
PS
Should anyone consider replying to my comment, I would like to add that making friends for you the reader may be a somewhat trivial feat, but for me it is comparable to a solar eclipse. Please note and understand that it is something that *I* find difficult. (”Oh come on it’s not that hard”, “just force yourself”, etc. No thank you)
Slightly unrelated.
After reading some other people’s comments, I am very appreciative of my health-freak nature. I am muscular, going to the gym often, and have a strict personal dietary regime regardless of how much WoW I play. As advice, I encourage individuals struggling with weight to live independently and buy your own food (or ask mother/spouse/whoever to only purchase healthy consumables). Now go to the supermarket and, according to a healthy-living shopping list you have created prior to driving down there, purchase all necessary food. Now you are forced to enjoy a healthy diet!
i was addicted to wow for about a year. i really enjoyed the time i played and i have no regret in playing the game. but after tbc came out and after the first arena season reset i realized that wow lost its touch. it can go on forever with little or no change to the basic of what the game was. all the “new” things blizz comes up with r just a prolonging of the game so they can make more money. people do not see that it is a waste of time to play because it is so simple to just log on to wow and forget everything else because i too was once like that. the only thing that matters is how long it takes somebody to wake up and quit the game. i quit just like that no account termination no character deletion i just stopped paying and so playing the game.
@ Sparky:
I got your joke about your jogging girlfriend – but it is not so funny as you think – because my husband blamed me just because of that! And why? Probably because I didnt spent time with him playing WoW.
Here is my story:
My husband and me started the game together in Oktober 2006 – it never mesmerized me, but I played it to do my husband a favour. But then his playing time increased. He wanted to reach another level – quest more – spend more time in game. I had a female lvl 37 dwarf paladin when I quit WoW. After quitting I had my own ‘addicting game’ SL while he played WoW. So we spend a lot of time at our computers – each for his own. And so I didn’t recognize how addictive this game got for him. His argument for playing the game is not that he loves the game so much – but he says he has made friends in there (who he has already met in RL) and they are just playing the game because they got to know each other there and it’s fun playing together. But when I listen to their conversations (yes – he is talking with all his friends in Team Speak all evening and night long, which is annoying) they just talk about the game. Seldom other topics, you normaly talk with friends about. And they developed an own language about raiding, looting and whatever….
At least my husband is still going to work – but when he comes home the first way is to his computer. And there he stays till 1 or 2am. He seldom does housework. He avoids doing sports. He gains weight.
I’m tired of having arguments with him about move his butt and do his chores.
I still cook for him, do his laundry and clean the apartment – because I’m married with him. But I feel more and more like his cleaning lady and not like his wife.
We have now negotiated fixed times we spend together – but somehow I still have the impression that his thoughts are still in the game.
My question to all the other partners of WoW addicts: What do you do or try to tempt your spouse away from the computer? Did any of your effords work?
We haven’t made friends in the town we live now (even before his addiction started) nor have we had lots of hobbies. And he is not interested in trying new things as long he has so much fun with his WoW friends. So it is hard to bait him with something.
I’ve read a lot of your stories, and now feel like I’m in a bit of denial over my WoW Addiction, but not only that but my real problems that I’ve been running away from in real life. The bigger problem is I feel like there is no one to help me, the feeling of complete hopelessness just fills me to no end, especially when I’m not on WoW losing myself in play.
My parents are crap, they have been drunk or high all my life, none of my family cares about me and my real life friends no longer visit after I got knocked up at a young age. My fiancé works 40+ hours a week, I go to classes 5 hours a day Mon-Thurs, go to the gym on campus, and also watch our son for a majority of each day and all through the weekends.
The thing is, WoW is my life other then school and my son. I Don’t have time to go out in the real world, I have no other hobbies, and I play with two friends who I have known now for 7 years Pre-WoW… I feel like I would rather be playing then vegging out in front of the TV anyway.
When I get home and my son is napping I’m instantly on the computer. I’ve managed to stay at the top of my class, but some of my other activities have really been impacted. I no longer clean the house everyday, sometimes it’s a day or two before I take a shower, and my kitchen is in constant chaos from cooking but not following up with dishes right away.
I don’t think I want to stop playing, but I’ve seriously been given some things to consider before my problem gets worse… Even so I think I need to pull myself out enough to look at my real life problems and why I’m hiding from them.
start playing a contact sport
it will feel good to hurt people and take your mind off it
I’ve had WoW, on and off for about a year now.
I started playing because most, of my friends play it, and it seemed like a fun way to pass time at night (I was already kind of an insomniac.). Anyways I just got lk, and i play every now and then, at night when I have no other more pressing work to do. I have a 90 average right now ( im in 2nd year uni), a great job (blockbuster), and a caring girl friend. “Addiction” in this game simply comes down too moderation, and if some people don’t have the will power to moderate their play time, no one can fault WoW; if they didn’t have WoW, they would simply reach out to some other venue to acquire friends, whether it be a different game such as EQ, drugs, or even (for lack of a better term) becoming whores because “boys will like them”
p.s that last part was mostly directed at girls, unless your a guy and like boys (not that their is anything wrong with that )
My only brother is addicted to WoW, and its my fault for introducing it to him. he still wont admit he has a problem, even though its cost him 2 years of highschool, and his first semester of college.
its a VERY long story if anyone cares to read it, (and i dont always use punctuation correctly)
I have played the warcraft (along with many other) games since 4th grade. I watched early previews for the world of warcraft that were on my warcraft 3 disk, and it didn’t really look that great to me. as i was entering highschool, some of the guys i hang out with got into the game. naturaly, i was curious and after hours of youtube videos and online reviews, i decided to try it.
summer vacation of my 9th grade year (his 10th grade), i convinced my parents to let me have a subscription (i still payed them back) and i was off into the game. I, having an addictive personality, spent almost all my time on the game. it was slow going at first, and i still took time out to play my many other games. during the first 2 months i had the game, i experimented with all the different races and classes and stuff, but all the repetition bored me, so i would sometimes ask my brother to take over for me while i did something else.
my brother had known game addiction in the past. when that yugioh game was popular, we both played, but i really never got into it. he spent sometimes 7 hours without moving from the chair just browsing the forums dealing with the game. he played until he was 15 (around the time i bought WoW).
(you can skip this part, i go on a bit of a ‘victim of injustice’ rant-like thing)
Eventualy, he asked if he could have his own character on my account. i agreed, but made him pay 1/3 of the account fee. he chose a tauren druid that i had been working. in no time at all, i found myself competing for (and loosing) time on our 1 computer and the game that i owned. i threatened to delete his character off my account and instead of backing down, he bought his own copy. but he didnt just buy the game; he went to our mother and explained how he had a character on my account that i let him use, but ’somehow’ she got the idea that he was the only one who used said character. one day, after waking up from a nap, i find both my mom and brother trying to get into my account so that they could put the previously mentioned character onto his new account (he installed his copy on our dad’s old laptop). i didnt get a chance to question why or explain my side because my mother likes to silence all opposition with a series of loud vocalizations commonly known as “screaming”. so in the end of this, i had to give him the character that he used to waste my game-time and by extension, my money.
but even after getting his own copy, laptop and one of my characters, he decided that the laptop wasn’t powerful enough to provide him with a sufficently enjoyable gaming experience, so i find him every weekend morning up at 5a.m. and every day after school on our one Desktop. Once, i tried to play WoW on the laptop, but he threw a big tantrum, insisting that it was HIS laptop and not mine. i took the case to our parents, who told him to use the laptop instead, but did nothing to enforce it (-(you see; my addiction isnt to any one game, but to all aspects of computers. this has gotten me into (and still is) a lot of trouble with my grades. i turned into (and still am) a chronic liar when it comes to schoolwork. so my parents tend so side with my brother, whom they seem to see as (bluntly) a better person than I)-).
during the next year (my 10th grade and his 11th grade) i got real friendly with the TV, and what computer time i managed to get was greatly enjoyed. during this time, he got much farther ahead in the game than I did. I was able to beg a good (at that time) computer out of my dad for christmas. Soon, the expansion came out; and with no more competition for the computers (except for one instance when i caught him playing on my comouter, which really pissed me off because i wasnt allowed to use ‘his’ laptop), we both indulged in our warcrafty pleasure. at this point in the school year, i had started noticing something strange about my brother; he started hiding his grades, just like me.
(end of rantish area)
summer came and went, marking off 1 year of WoW for me. my infatuation with the game grew stale, so i dabbled with private servers. our parents occasionaly inquired about our end-of-the-year report cards, which we had recieved (and hid) 2 weeks in to summer vacation. my brother spent his every waking moment on WoW or WoW related sites, but my parents didnt question is because he whined about deserving a break after ‘working so hard’ with his AP classes that year. this continued until July; our dad had decided that our grades were late and was going to check with the school the next Monday. it was still Thursday, so we decided that we would give them our report cards Friday and claim they had just arrived.
We gave them our grades. they were not surprised by my lackluster performance, but we all (including myself and the cat) were surprised when we discovered that he had failed, or nearly failed, every class that year. So, naturaly, they cancled our accounts. It was no big deal for me, because i had found a free private server that i liked, but he fought and argued with them for hours that night, and some of the following day.
I spent the rest of the summer watching TV, playing my vast collection of games, and being a general ‘netophile. my brother, however, took it really hard and experienced what can only be described as ‘withdrawel symptoms’ (paranoia, moodiness, and being a dick to everyone). this was so until he found something called ‘prepaid time cards’. the next school year was an exact repeat of the last one.
in the end of it all (by all, i mean the highschool portion of this chronicall) he managed to graduate, but without all the honors and scholorships he could have had, and during this whole episode, he managed to alienate his friends (-(which he blamed on the friends themselves; for example, he said that he stopped hanging out with his best friend (who i also knew) because he spent too much time with his girlfriend, even though she and my brother were also friends)-).
During summer 3, we moved to the other side of the country. during that time, i quit playing after attempting to start up my own server (i dont know enough about computers yet). since the move, i have started my Senior year with an online school (still doing as poorly as ever), and my parents have sent him off to college.
Unfortunately… he never did stop playing. he even cuts class (often all his classes) and sneaks into the house to play. even more unfortunat is the fact that i have an unquenchable urge to teach other people how to lie, cheat and sneak, and he is learning quickly. i still have no idea where he gets the money to pay for time since our parents stopped paying us for chores, and they (parents) have no money themselves with our already tight budget being even tighter since they payed for his college (which he doesnt even go to), and he is far too busy having a super wowgasm to even remember the word ‘job’ outside of the game.
even unbelievably more unfortunately, the new expansion came out yesterday, so thats another excuse for him to stare for hours at his new laptop that he demanded for his graduation present (which, incidently, is very similar to my desktop in specs and features, except one step better as opposed to his old laptop and the family’s desktop, which are far inferior to my computer)
Even though he has been a jerk to me since the day i discovered how to remember things, he is stil my brother, and it pains me to see anyone, especially family, that pushes everything outside the game away or that cant even glance away from the monitor for an instant bacause they are so enthralled (the worst is when you ask him to do something in 10 minutes, and you find that an hour has passed and he denies ever being asked to anything, because he couldnt hear you through all the warcraftyness and only said”ok” to eleminate you as a distraction).
Its like a moth that cant accept that he has a lightbulb problem, and hopefully one day, he’ll look at himself and see that the lightbulbs did nothing but burn him.
i started WoW in about May or June of this year. Right off the bat I made 3 really good friends. At the time I was in this failed courtship that I had a hard time getting over, and WoW kind of smoothed out my mood to where my rejection wasn’t so thorny. I eventually leveled and got into a decent guild. Predictably the WoW sessions became more indulgent, lengthy, and rather immersed. Soon I became one of those addicted type. No one intervened to tell me this; I have a sort of addictive personality, and have exhibited similar habits in the past.
The thing with WoW is that, in spite of certain graphical inaccuracies, it is, in fact, emulating real life rather effectively. You work in hunting and gathering materials, and work in trades, and it’s usually an endless process. You learn new techniques, skills, you graduate in your gear and status among people. The world, it’s beautiful…vast…in spite of the violence involved it is rather soothing to zone and just watch the landscape progress.
I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon, I have many friends on both sides of the Azeroth conflict. But putting more qualitative time IRL and online is much healthier.
Okay there is a pattern here. Some of the stories are real addicts the other are not. The one guy who sold his account, he did that out of guilt laid upon him by his spouse. I noticed that he made a point to do the game after she went to work or when he was by himself. Why do you think he did that because like the other posts, the spouse was most likely jealous of him interacting with any one but her and her kids. Sounds pretty selfish to me.
So in otherwords, he had to give up a thing he enjoyed in order to make his wife happy. What did she give up?
I have to admit, the game requires alot of time, but so do other things. When my husband gets home, we sit down and watch TV for 6 hours straight, or we go out to the bar for 6 hours. Or we go have dinner and a movie for 6 hours.
I am happy to do those things. I am happy playing wow too. He is not. He doesn’t like the game, he gets jealous.
I admit that you should do things together, but most of the “relationship” problems arise from the jealousy of the other partner. It doesn’t matter if I play my game once a week in front of him, he complains about it. Buts its okay if we sit and watch TV all night, just don’t play wow. Oh what about bowling, we can do that all night, he enjoys that. Oh and gold thats fine. But wow all night is not.
That is what is going on with these relationships i promise you. Because the game has a social interaction and the other person doesn’t play the game, they feel left out and get jealous. Instead of playing the game too, they lock up and become jealous. That is the other persons issue, not the person playing the game.
Hey I’m 30, good looking, smart, talented, and HATED WOW. Its been almost a year since I started playing WOW. My husband had been playing for a couple years before that and our marriage took a huge turn for the worse. He became neglectful, abusive, I suspected he was having a relationship on WOW, and found out he cheated on me with a girl at his school… my life became very lonely, he was everything and my last ditch effort was to suck it up and play with him. It helped some, but we both go through long periods of WOW addiction and I think we just use WOW to avoid issues and fighting.
He hurt me so bad so many times for WOW that when I met a guy that struck my interest in the game, I thought this was my vengeance. I had 2 real life affairs with men I met in the game, and I’m becoming emotionally involved with another one. But I love my husband, it’s just still lonely, he comes home we get on the game together.. on different servers, and then he plays till he has to go to sleep and I play almost all night. I barely go out with my friends, answer the phone, go shopping, I gained weight, and I’m not looking for more work.
We both know its a problem, but I think we’re afraid to get a divorce and know that people we used to be are still in us some where. I don’t want to quit WOW, but i have been playing a lot less, it just isn’t giving me the satisfaction I need for the amount of time I had invested in it.
As far as romantic relationships go in WOW, it adds to the addictive factor. People get caught up in each other and want to spend as much time together as they can because they are not physically with them in the real world. For both of my affairs that were a result from WOW, I was so immersed in them, but as soon as we met in real life, it wasn’t the same. I’ve heard of people meeting in WOW and getting married or moving in with each other, and if it works grats, but I doubt if its a lasting foundation to build you relationships on.
I played WoW for over 3 years, and i really liked it alot. After i got bored to a certain character, i made another and leveled it to max. Then i joined raiding guild wich had raids 3 times in a week and told my girlfriend i can’t do nothing else than play those days. She kept nagging about wow all the time but we sticked together, since we share nice apartment and financially do well with both bringing money to our home. (Yes i kept working, but usually i was very tired, and whatever i did at work i would think of the “gear” i would obtain in game later that day.)
Well everything circled around wow, like people said here it’s all about wow. and for me atleast it’s all or nothing and once i got really bored with farming epics after lich king, I thought this was the right time to retire from that charming game.
I haven’t played for 3 weeks now and find it hard to figure out what to do with my “spare” time, since i don’t want to play wow anymore.
I asked my old friend via MSN to come to visit me and maybe we just watch TV
, but right now it’s better than WoW.
Take care people, and I understand your addiction and how hard it is to leave an habit like that. but i surely hope that u get your life back to what it should be, without wow. Try to find something new from internet or a game that u don’t play so much than Wow. i still get anxious even right now, about thinking installing that 15 gigs back to my computer and continue playing, but fuck, when i start to imagine how i would play with my character and farming shit and flying around with my epic mount i remember it’s boring and i want away from it. That’s how i deal with it
Hi all. I have a wife who has a case of wow addiction. I play, but my neighbors got her to play. On weekends she can spend up to 13 hrs a day playing. ON weeknights, she plays from 5:30 till 11pm. And she has a full time job. I don’t know if she is having an online affair or not. I have gotten tired of caring about it and about her. I’ve talked to her, and it only last for a few days, then she is right back at it. I’m fed up, and looking for a second job so that I can leave her and go on my own. I play, every other day for no more than 2 hrs. Sometimes even less. My sis plays as well, but she doesnt have an addiction. My wife spends more time with her online friends than she ever will spend with me. We used to have a great relationship, which has all deteriorated. I haven’t spoken to her in a week I’m so frustrated. It’s a shame. I am just waiting for the right time, financially, to tell her it’s over. I even saw a note in her pocketbook, about how the game is always changing but to be loyal to your guild members and they are all that matters. I will truly miss her, but I love her enough to let her go. Thanks Wow for ruining my marriage, or thanks WOW for showing me the light.
there is such thing as addiction to games. my stepdad’s addicted to GW2, he plays from the time he gets up to the time he goes to bed. he wont even eat unless its handed to him. he doesnt have a job and wont help out with my brother. thats addiction.
Hello, thought I’d post my story here
I “kicked” just over a month ago for the 2nd time now (first time lasted 6 months then well 2.4 “Remember the sunwell” seemed to trigger me back, pretty sure that was delibrate subliminal messaging right there), and seem to be going strong
To those finding it hard, chin up! Dont surf the wow forums as that can eventually just retrigger your addiction.
Get creative, do some art, learn something new that you always wanted too like karate / kick boxing / kung-fu / tai chi / playing the guitar / gardening / researching your new found interest in diatoms and other microscopic single celled organisims in the ocean / you name it, get outside, go to a cafe, meet people, see your family, contact your friends that you may of left fall off the radar since you fell into it.
Dont forget all of that time we wasted in wow we will never get back and think of all of the cool things that you could of done with that time.
To those of you in the first week of two of “kicking” i know its not easy as our minds are like wheels and the grooves are worn and you will find that because you are used to thinking about it you will keep recycling that wheel and it will take time for that to change.
The best way to “kick” is to do it cold turkey and go on holding for 2-3 weeks preferably to a place where you cant even access the internet, take a book or two, goto another town / city / country or visit family that arent into it in a far off location, take you partner on holiday.
It takes a good week or two for the haze of addiction to fade and like I mentioned you will be used to thinking about that game all the time and it takes time for you to create a new thought pattern habbit.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that you feel socially ok and happy with your online wow life / vent buddies, none of that is actually RL so dont be suckered in, if you need to be a social creature (and we all do) get into something new that involves interaction with people (which is why I suggest 4 different martial arts).
To those of you that haven’t kicked but realize you need too, you are not your rating / class / level / guild / gear / character. You are an amazing human being living in the daise of MMO addiction and like myself might have given up on the real world as you seemed to suck at it but could finally be a god in a world that doesnt even exist.
Well fight back, RL is worth it!
/played, 320+ days and not fucken proud of it one bit.
So go agro RL, tank it for the rest of your life and leave this piece of shit game in the dust where it belongs…..
I think I’m addicted. I’ve been playing since BC dropped, rolled a belf and been raiding in a hardcore top notch raiding guild ever since. I wake up every day and I don’t even shower, i just go straight to the computer. Most days I don’t even brush my teeth.
my boyfriend is the same way, cept he works. I don’t even do that. I don’t know how to anymore. when i go out in public i have panic attacks, people and social interactions scare me. if i can’t type the words i get scared.
WoW, has basically…ruined whatever future i may have had.
its honesty.
i started a little over a year ago, and played on and off, and now i’ve gotten deep into it. i mean, 3 chars at 80, raiding almost every night.
everything takes a back seat to WoW, homework, socialising, my family.
as a result i’m deeply behind on coursework, and will most likely fail a few of my GCSE’s
all because i’m addicted to this game, i cant stop playing it, or stop thinking about it.
its just one of those things, i still maintain a good social life, i have a wonderful girlfriend, but, not bragging, but i could have been something amazing in terms of school work, im on the gifted and talented list for my school, but now i’ll be average. if that
=]
If i can give you my advice, it is much harder then it sounds to live feeling friendless and unloved but all it is is how you feel, putting up with school can be a nightmare if circumstance can allow it, although school feels like your life now as soon as its over your life really begins and you can be whoever you want without wow in your life, if you can stick through it and make the ebst of it you will be so glad you did
Hi there.
I play wow since the bc by 10 months I guess, and I dont realy know if I am realy addicted, my daily routine is basicly come from the school be on wow till midnight (just eat a sandwish) and watch some anime till 3 o´clock.
So basicly almost all my day (except when I am on school) is passed on wow, I get out with friends and those kind of things, nothing of that changed but if I have nothing to do I pass as much time as I can on wow, I have realy good friends we’re allways on teamspeak.
But when someone says to me: “Hey you’re addicted do you know?” I answer then that I am not I can stop when I want but the problem is that I dont want to stop.
But I think that is stupid to finish realtionships and quit jobs and those kind of things because of a game.
I know alot of people may laugh at WoW addicts, but if they themselves were to play, they’d actually see how much of an addict you can become.
When I first started to play the game, I became an addict. I would run home and avoid dates just to go home and talk to my guild, or level. I’m not so much anymore. My boyfriend also plays WoW and he is an addict. Whenever he does not have his paid time, he tends to go onto private servers without anyone knowing. I’m worried about this as he hardly goes out, and some days would prefer to stay in the house then go out with me, or his friends. I agree that it is very hard to stop!
I have just one question, and a reply would be much appreciated!
how do I stop my boyfriend from being addicted to WoW??
I’ve tried alot!!
I go to his house an he still plays WoW. I can’t get him off the damn thing!!!
when we play around for abit he easily becomes bored and will go back to his computer screen. nothing I can do makes a difference!!! what can i do please?!?!!
i want him to break his addiction!!
its stupid to loose ur gcses over wow!!
u need to stop playing an do ur coursework because think of it this way, if u get good grades an stuff durin the summer u will have loads of time to play dis game so dnt waste ur grades now, work hard on them an then have all the fun u want l8r on the game!!!
As in any “addiction” the behaviour is usually linked directly to the pleasure obtained and the mental state that creates an alternate focus. For most people their relationship, children, friends, family, jobs, hobbies & interests hold their focus. When the addictive behaviour kicks in there are usually hard core avoidance issues relating to real life. In reading the above commentary, one could easily replace WoW with any number of other behaviours and/or substances.
The basic issue always comes down to what is more important in our lives. On-line or Real-time.
I am 26 having been playing wow for a little over 3 months now, and love it.
I still tend to all my responsibilities,
Make plenty of time for real life social interaction,
Since playing Wow, I’ve found that I am not drinking as much,
and seemed to be more grounded ( not travelling all over the place )
There is 2 ways you can quit WoW.
One is to Sell your WoW Account to someone else (mentioned by someone)
Two is to play another MMORPG. Majority of people who quitted the heavily grind MMOs of WoW and MapleStory came to Mabinogi (mabinogi.nexon.net). Mabinogi is a MMORPG that is based on Welish Mythology with 3 races (Humans, Elves and Giants) and 2 continents so far (Uladh and Iria). Mabinogi is not as well based on grinding as WoW and MapleStory, the casual-like factors of Msbinogi is its Rebirth System (free at age 20, yes theres a more realistically age system, which WoW doesn’t have) and a very unique Combat System involving countering the skills your adversary, whether ti be a monster, or a pvp match, uses. The combat System require you to use your mind like real emergencies irl to react. One false move and you will most likely die. This game is NOT a gear based game, armor doesnt do much, this game is more based on your mindfulness on the timing, and the Appropriate skill. There are really satisfying achievement in this game, which comes in the form of a extensive FREE Storyline which tells you events. And theres rewards of enchants, Awesome titles, and transformation skills that you can use each in-game day (Yes there is a in-game time), which makes your attack strength off your ordinary charts. FYI Note: Ever since February 26, 2009, the FREE Massive Pioneer of Update has made Rebirths at age 20, Generation Quest (Storyline quest), Transformations, and Spirit Weapons ALL FREE!!! Plus at the start of the game, when you make a new character, you get to meet a Hot Chick called Nao!!! Come join now. And Please join the Ruiari Server and add Greatryan95 to your friends list, as I am recruiting a diverse amount of Casual and ambiious players to my guild, called MabiKnightz (short for Mabinogi Knightz).
I read about half of all of the posts and I have watched the kid freaking out over his Mom cancelling his account. I haven’t seen anybody talk about any spiritual aspects to this addiction. Addiction usually comes from a spiritual deficit in someone’s life. Some people call it the “God hole”. The idea is that there is a hole or need in a person’s life for God. If God isn’t in that place something else will have to fill it. This something can be anything; relationships (try being everything to somebody sometime, it’s an impossible task), sports, drugs, alcohol, and gaming. The problem is that the promise of that thing taking the place of God is never fulfilled and so the person returns to that thing more and more frequently to try to fulfill that promise. So that thing is essentially a lie. WoW is a lie. It promises to fulfill if you get to a certain level, do more raids, etc. And to a degree it is fulfilling, but it is fleeting. It demands more and more of you to get that feeling. It uses you up and leaves you empty like any other addiction. I truly believe that is why some people don’t get addicted. These people are not looking to fill that void so they just have fun. But for those who have that void it is very dangerous. I recommend praying and seeking the grace of God to break this addiction. Don’t just go to another distraction. This world is full of distractions. Go to the source of fulfillment; God.
ok easiest way to quit is to simply take drastic action. if you really wanna quit offer your account details in trade chat and give to the first person whos below level 20 that /w’s you. this will insure that not only do you quit but also that they will be able to see what its like to be top level with nice gear(assuming you are top level with nice gear etc)and because of this they will be shown that it is not that great being able to pyroblast some target dummy for 6000 or throw a 10000 hp heal to a buddy in need. also destroy the discs and uninstall the game from your computer. get a game that you can pause whenever you want. if you have any friends in real life that play WOW just ignore them and move on- yes its tough but friends are not hard to make if you know how:) finally to remove all cravings for the game you could try finding a hobby that can be addicting but easy to put down(a musical instrument is a wonderful idea)
i am actually a former WOW player and i believe i was an addict. i played for a little over a year and had a level 80 dwarf warrior, a level 71 Human Paladin and numerous alts over level 30( i deleted any under level 30 at one point). i shamedly admit to not only BUYING WOW gold, but i also used a powerleveing service on 3 occasions because i did not have the patience nor attention span to do it myself. all in all i must have spent close to £300 on this game( about $450 for any americans out there) and i still wasnt that great at it, nor did i do any serious raiding. the night that i quit was late at night after a terrible weeklong binge i decided within 10 minutes that i was wasting my time on a virtual world and that there were things to be accomplished in real life( getting better at the guitar for example).
to those who dont think they can quit its just because you cannot imagine what your life would be without this game, think about all of the late nights and all the hours you spent waiting for that supposed ‘uber geared dps’ to show up( then find out he’s high and likely bought his char on ebay). destroy your dependancy on this game to entertain you and you will have conquered it. ask a mate to hang out with you and explain your problem to them to see if they can help. go onto your control panel(if you can) and block all WOW related sites from being accessed. dont think about the game. eliminate any need to play the game. just because you think you can rise above adversity and manage to play the game and maintain a real life doesnt mean you can- you are infact lying to yourself, you will be sucked back in eventually( couple weeks to 5 minutes) and it will be 2x as hard to quit.
i seriously think that anyone can shake a WOW addiction once they put their mind to it and admit they have a problem( dont hide behind the lies your mind is telling you, follow your heart always), this is a question of taking action and not planning to simply cut back on playtime, cut the head from the monster and you kill the monster; cut off a limb and it will grow back 2 more in return. believe in yourself and remember that what doesnt kill us makes stronger.
give me an email if you need some more specific advice/help- red_morse@hotmail.com
Remeber guys…The longer you stay here on these forums the less gold you are farming for that bad ass epic item for your alt…think about it…
Kay, I just started playing about 3 days ago, lvl 15 mage. I am really thinking of quitting after my 3 month period ends, thanks for the advice. School is starting to screw up for me kinda because I just got a new computer with awesome specs. I really have to stop, or at least limit my play times. Balance is the energy of life, people. I’m going to have a shower and knock-off some homework.
Good on you, there is more out in the real world. WOW is a good game, but thats it, its a game. I know of someone who is addicted to the game, he’ll swear at you if you interupt him during his game or just completely ignore you. I take his breakfast lunch and dinner into him and anything to drink if he wants it. The thing is he could go without bathing for a week even longer, he also goes to work in that state and when told that he smells or needs to shower he gets so angry to the point where he’s ready to punch you out.Everything is WOW and I wish that Blizzard would blow up at times because it has taken over and destroyed a lot of peoples lives
I honestly don’t find anything, anyone, or anywhere addictive. I do things for fun. I’ve heard of people killing their selves over this game. It’s sad when there are many wonderful things in the world besides the computer. Like your loved ones, WoW is replaceable you can always start over. But your family and friends you could never get them back. So spend time with them find other things to do. A hobby…for example I love to draw. My little cousin was addicted that’s why I’m here. I was on IMVU for a while like a week then gave it a rest. Iv’e seen this kid literally try to anal rape himself because his mother canceled his account. I didn’t think it was possible for a human being to be addicted to a game that doesn’t matter or have any value. WHat do you win from being in the game…money? love? luck?. The only thing I spend my time doing is talking with friends and hanging with them, and drawing, animating. But I do hope that everyone gets better and take what I’ve said into consideration
I can’t see what’s so great about WoW. I got a 10 day free trial, played a bit, and got bored. It really kind of sucked. Some of you may say that I didn’t play for long enough to get the “real experience”. That’s a lie. According to many of you, it’s possible to get to level 60+ in about 4-5 days. That’s more than enough time to get the experience of the game. I wish I could feel sorry for you people, but the game holds no interest to me and I can’t understand what you like about it. I just can’t put myself in your shoes. My only thoughts is that maybe I’m not as insecure as you? I don’t know. Could be demonic. My advice is to just stay away from it.
-A Video Game Addict
hellz yeah, Tim and Eric reference
ok if you are addicted to wow or know someone addicted i suggest dont take them out camping becuase they proboly wont like that scince they like video games take them to movies or concerts something that will keep you and them interested just try to keep them interested in other things
LIKE THE WWE!!!!!!!! GO DEGENERATION X
there is nothing you can do i have been with my fiance for 4 years and he has been playing it for almost a year. it sucks it really does especially when they ignore you but if you love him hang in there. i have and will continue to. i think i would help if he had some friends that didnt play that game that could get him out of the house. you cant do it on your own. i have tried and all we do is fight when i try so try to get some more people to help you try to get him off of he game. dnt let it get worse. he needs help because my fiance says he cant stop playing it because his body wont let him. so my advice is for you to stick in there if you love him an get him some help. good luck.
reading these stores has confirmed my problem….i am addicted. i’ve only been playing for 5 days, but in those five days my lvl 15 blood elf warlock has consumed my life. i play for 8+ hours a day and i’m already beginning to suffer in my job, relationships….i don’t eat any more. my skin is translucent from not going outside & just sitting in front of the comp. all day. but not playing is painful. all i can think about is pwning noobs with my immolate spell & sick voidwalker minion.
i need to stop this.
i need help.
i keep fast forwarding in my mind 5 months from now and yes i will be a lvl 70 then….but that’s it???
I first started playing WoW after I had quit guild wars, my addiction to guild wars was too much and I gave my account away. Anyways my friend played it and I thought man this is nice to play in an enviroment where you can walk past people or help them out (guild wars is instanced so only way to meet people was in town) so I started playing a Tauren Druid, if only I would have quit mmo’s altogether after guild wars. I was up to half a pack a day with smoking while playing this game, I lost 2 jobs over this game and almost a third. I have tried quitting 3 times each time was a failure, deleted my accounts gave them to unknown made up hotmail accounts so i could never find them again, only to buy the game and start over again. I think I leveled a druid to 60 (pre-bc) 2 times and then to 70 2 times, each time vowing to quit but coming back. My hygiene and my life were dying before my eyes, I would not shower for days on end washing my clothes took too much time so febreeze masked the stench of my clothes. I was at a good paying job but found myself going to moneylenders because i wasted my money on take-out i tallied up one month (i didn’t dare want to look at how much i’ve wasted since this addiction) but 700 was spent on take out in a month. I don’t know how much I wasted on smoking cause I would substitute smoking for eating to curb my appetite cause cooking took time away from WoW. I remember staying awake for 26 hours one time playing the game, I barely talked to anyone of my friends except one….. cause he played WoW as well. Get together’s with my family became a chore because I was longing for WoW, my friends wouldn’t hear from me for week’s to month’s on end (i would call them when I felt I’ve played too much). So with failed attempts at quiting and realizing that this addiction is as bad or worse then drugs (with drugs your altering your mind for that great feel and you start craving that mind alteration, with WoW addictions or any video game addictions your in a sober state of mind you don’t see the addiction setting in like drugs) I needed help. On January 1st 2007 I asked God to free me from both WoW and smoking, I pleaded with him because I knew I was too weak to fight it. That was the last time I’ve played WoW and smoked. So my advice if you tried quiting and failed hundreds of times: pray cause you can’t do this on your own strength. I depended on the strength of the Lord Jesus to free me from my addiction. I still get tempted and the Lord has to remind me why I quit (which is why i found this site) but I have a beautiful wife a great job a new house. I felt like Job (but he had it worse) in being restored after losing so much.
Meh, if you like the game then play it, if you cant fit it into your daily life then gtfo. Sometimes there are things more important, fortunately I dont have those things, so I say PLAY ON!!
I mean it takes very minimal effort to give my girlfriend and family the attention they deserve whilst still being dedicated to my character. Prioritising is key, this game brings out who you are as a person IMO, if your other/spouse is neglecting you to play this then obviously he/she thinks its more important than showing you a little attention(this is basically just early signs of your relationship showing its not going to work which can be seen from anything not just them being involved with video games). In my opinion mental addictions only impose on the weak, unless there is actually a physical substance thats making me crave then I can overcome anything. I play this game because I enjoy it, I put the time into it that I want and fortunately I have that time to give, most dont.
And for all those who frown on this game because its “fake” or “imaginary”, why the hell does that matter? Its about how you enjoy spending your time and if your enjoying it more power to you. Everyone who thinks we are wasting our time is wrong, its called self fullfillment and whos to say getting that from a game is wrong?
Great quote from John Lennon: Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.
I mean whos to say being online and doing a 40 man raid with people you have spent monumental amounts of time with is any different then stepping outside and throwing horseshoes with a few buddies? Yea the physical aspect isnt there but theres alot of people who dont like being physical or sports etc. Oh wonder who that would be..nerds? nerds like? video games? ah wonder where this is going..
Dont let anyone troll on this game because people are losing their marriages etc, blame yourselves. Blizzard only put this game on the shelves, your the one who bought it.
LOL i feel almost all u..i dont have a wife or kids or nothing like that but for the past i unno since BC came out iv been playing all the time. Iv tryed to quit a few times more then i can count on one hand.. iv deleted my chars, just recently i deleted wow from my computer and snaped my wow disks but guess what while im writing this im trying to re-download wow from the web site..haha thats sad rit =( but what ever for real as long as you dont for get about whats real in life its ok.. think of it this way would u rather have ur kids out on the street doing drugs hangin wit the wrong kids or would u rather them in the safty of your house playing wow?? For me i did drugs while playing wow Haha i know its not really a good point to argue. For alot of ppl makeing friends is hard but on wow u kinda just click. well i dunno what the point of this is i dont even know y i wrote this lol bored and cant play wow i guess but gl wit that reall bad shit dont let it over run u..just have some free will man?????
Listen people this is the way to stop…just throw away your computer. Or give it away. We don’t *need* our computers. It’s not a basic necessity like food, water, or shelter. Need to check e-mail? Do it from work or from the library. Need to do anything useful? Do it from another computer. Just don’t own one yourself.
If you waste 30 computer hours a week on WoW, and spend 1 computer hour a week doing useful things, then surely part of those 30 hours could be spent going to a library computer and getting done that 1 useful hour.
Sometimes I think technology has done us a disservice; not because of it, but because of the things we develop with it and the way we use it, knowing the consequences.
I got myself addicted to WoW as well. What happened in my case was I ended up needing multiple surgeries and for a few months I had to stay home recovering. After one of my surgeries I bought WoW for something to do while I was stuck at home, and with nothing else to do all day, I quickly ended up spending all of my time playing, except for when I was not eating or sleeping or taking a shower. I even ended up relying on naps throughout the day rather than straight sleep, as I’d stay on WoW as long as possible before I had to sleep, which obviously messed up my sleep schedule. Eventually I ran out of money from not being able to work and sold the HDTV I was using to play it, so I couldn’t pay for a subscription (I knew my parents would not support the game financially so I did not even ask) and had no acceptable monitor to play it on. I’ve been living with my parents since my surgeries and it has been over a year now, but I constantly fantasize about getting back into the game once I have an income. Sometimes I just sit on the internet reading about the game or watching gameplay videos, and I often go to sleep thinking about it. I literally just want to do nothing but play WoW, and I am pretty sure that it will end up having a negative impact on my life when I do resume playing.
As the wife of a WoW addict I have to mention one little thing. The person who claimed that the reason the “WoW Widow” (I like that term) is having a problem with the addicted spouse is due to jealousy.
I’ve got one thing to say to that…
Spoken like a true addict.
Like I told my husband “Try to see it from my shoes”. As he spends every waking moment (he probably dreams about it too) playing WoW and the addiction is getting to the point where he’s missing work and we’re late on rent.
Yes, I’m just jealous.
It’s not the fact that he and I are married and that he should treat me as if he at least likes to spend SOME time with me. No, I’m just jealous. We do the television watching thing too, but it’s only when he needs a break from playing.
I was alright and used to joke about his addiction when he still had a little bit of control. He’s quickly letting WoW take complete control.
I’m sure he’ll be trying to log into public libraries and other places that have computers once we’re living on the streets.
Jealousy has absolutely nothing to do with it.
It’s disrupting not only his relationship with me but his life too.
I am a normal guy and i play wow.
I have a 3.0 GPA, i have a girlfriend that has a 3.5 GPA and we’ve been dating for 6 months. She knows i play, she lets me as long as i dont get fat. I am on the varsity Football and soccer team. I also run track. I am honestly a pretty social kid, and pretty athletic.
Im not trying to brag, im just saying that i play WoW about 30 -40 hours a week, with my brother too. I have a part time job at a department store ( im only 17.) i really dont see the problem with it. I suppose it might be because i dont have an addictive personality. But im not sure. Any comments? I HONESTLY, am not trying to brag. i just hear these stories and i dont know how people cant hold steady lives while playing WoW alot. I mean ppl watch TV, read, Etc. WoW is just another fun activity for me to do.
Greetings,
My name is Tate. I am of course a “retired” WoW player of 5+ years. I am 19 years old and played World of Warcraft with my entire family which consisted of: Father, Mother, Brother and myself. I have a little sister of age 4 now. She was neglected by whoever was playing and was told to watch television or play with her toys when we where currently online. After the entire family decided that we are addicted and corrected the problem by putting all of our high level characters and gold on one account and selling it(8,000$ total for account). I figured out this statistic which made me realize to never get addicted to a never ending game that takes your money…
4 People x 15$ a month subscription = 60$ a month
60$ a month x 12 months in a year = 720$ a year total
720$ a year x 5 years of commitment = 3600$ total spent
8000$ for account – $3600 spent = 4400$ profit
4400$ profit/4 People = 1100$ sold for 5 years of servitude per person…
One guy claims we are jealous, another claims that if the relationship is failing because of WOW, then it was gonna fail anyway. Wrong on both counts.
My husband and I were together five years before we married and have been married for ten years. We have a good relationship. However, he is still a WOW addict and it got a lot worse when he found out his brother plays.
Now its raids every night and other WOW activities all day. He had a job and got fired for a mistake made at work due largely to his exhaustion from being up way too late playing WOW. He starts to do things around the house while I am at work and spaces them in favor of WOW. He even wanted to drive 8 hours just so he could have a face to face talk with his brother about WOW.
I hate to even talk to him about it. He knows what its doing to him, but he still keeps diving right in. He promises to do better, but falls back into the game five minutes after the promise is made. Since I am the only one working right now, I have refused to buy him another card unless he gets another job. I haven’t told him about the free servers but I have no doubt that he will find out about them as soon as he lets his raid buddies know that he isn’t able to support his own habit any longer.
Its not the game itself that I have the issue with. I also like video games. I would probably love WoW if I allowed myself to play it. However, having cleaned up my own past video game addiction many years ago (I was a SimsOnline freak) I will not allow myself to get drawn into anything that consuming that doesn’t have a pulse or provide me with a paycheck.
My problem is what he’s become now that he’s hooked. My husband is fading away from me, being replaced by something that is little more than an organic add on for WoW.
Honestly,WOW is addictive to many people. They will believe whole heartedly that life in WOW is much better then real life. Their life in wow will be more enjoyable then real life hence they day dreaming about wow while not actually playing it.
And as for the other comment “It’s the other persons fault for being jealous”. Ummm….NO, In a relationship you have a responsibility for the wellbeing of the other person and negelect is poisonous in a relationship.
People only quit things when they see quitting as more beneficial then continuing. E.G giving up smoking when you get diagnosed with cancer, some people will continue but others will stop in fear of iminent death.
Another e.g Obesity, after having a stroke/ heart attack people may decide to lose weight or die.
Problem with wow is it wont kill you so people are presented with the challenge of giving good enough reasons to quit.
I found that going to gym really helped when i was addicted as it gives you the sense of improving yourself in real life rather then a videogame and the confidence helps to go out and do things as you feel better about yourself and the way you look.
To the women out there i suggest you sign your husbands up for a gym membership, compliment them on their increasing appeal (whether apparent or not) and make them continue the pattern of improving their character in this case themselves.
I hope this helps.
I am a 16yr old girl.Ive lost both my parents and started playing WoW 3yrs ago…it was my anti depressant after they died…it was the only thing that helped me…3yrs later i rarely hang out with friends,get straight F’s miss alot of school and lost my bf of 2 yrs due to my WoW addiction….Did that make me stop? NOPE just made me play even more.
My ex-bf is addicted to WOW.
It wasn’t the the “thing”that tore our relationship apart but it was a sign. For the first 3 months everything was great. He complained that his old gf didn’t like just coming over to hang out and she dumped him. (She was wiser than me – I held on until I got dumped.)
What would happen is that he would play for intervals at 14 hours straight. Even if I came over for the weekend, he wouldn’t pull himself away. I had to amuse myself with my own computer or book. Or I would find myself cleaning because he let his house become such a dive. Molding dishes, dead mice – he once went without toilet paper for a week. He ran out on a Sun when I was there- when I showed up on Fri he still hadn’t bought more. He worked inside a Walmart too.
I had to beg him to put the games down. His supervisor once told him he was being selfish and needed to spend more time with me rather than devoting all his time to videogames. The lesson was learned for one date but after that it was a rush to dinner so he could return home and play.
At the time I felt really bad at getting dumped since I put so much time effort and patience into the relationship. For anyone dating a SERIOUS wow – gamer – get out now. When it becomes more than just a game or any other hobby and it rules their life – save yourself and get out. You won’t be able to depend on them for financial help (mine worked series of minimum wage jobs provided by his parents, lived in a house with the down payment made by the parents, and drove a car that was a gift from grandma. A lot of dinners were also at his parent’s house so he wouldn’t have to pay for a date or feed me. Did I mention i used to bring my own food to his house (stuff he didn’t like and wouldn’t have on hand – but he ended up eating it all up on me anyhow). Oh and he is 26. You can’t depend on them for emotional support they really don’t care. Even on a vacation in FL he had to bring his laptop along so he could play and check if he was selling something or whatever.
All and all he has nothing to look forward to – just the pitiful life of an underachieving slob that is sterotyped on movies. If he is happy with that fine- just don’t let him drag you down with him.
From Wounded Wife
I sympathize with all the wives who have at home an addicted WOW Husband!!!! I’ve been going through the same for over four years with my 38 year old Husband. Let me share my story with you.
Hubby got transferred to Texas, where we knew no one, it was only my hubby , my four year old daughter and me. we use to comfort each other, being we had no family or friends near. For the first year in a half here in Texas we shared everything, we use to watch movies together, eat together, go out, do the yard, walk together, in other words we had family time and quality time, there was a lot of solidarity in our marriage; until Hubby got it to WOW. Everything changed, then it was only my 5 ½ year old and me, because he was always in WOW. Since then I feel I have no hubby, only a sex partner, can’t count on him as a friend either because when I talk to him… he ignores me cause he’s listening to his WOW friends while playing and if I say or allege something he gets irritated.
My husband usually works night shift, and there have been days he comes from work sits and plays until he has to go back to work. He has been without sleep for days drinking caffeine pills to stay up at job. And forget about his free days…those are all days and nights for WOW. My daughter is now 9 yrs old, and it hurts to hear her say, she would like her father to spend some time with her and wishes he could assist to her school activities instead of preferring to stay home playing WOW. I’ve been for the last four years mom and dad speaking emotionally like, he does provide her on things money could buy,once in a while he tells her he loves her but that’s it, only words..
It hurts to see he prefers his WOW and online friends over his family. I’ve been seriously thinking of a divorce because no matter the times I tell him my feelings and how Wow is destroying our marriage he doesn’t do anything about it. Things just keep getting worst, lately when big raids are on and he’s at work, he comes from work plays and when raid is over he goes back to work. It really scares me knowing the way economy is, he loses his job because of WOW. Like I tell him, ‘I don’t tell you not to play, just to limit yourself and spend more time with your family than with WOW and online WOW friends’ and treat me as sweet and polite as you treat them.
When he says he going to change, he does but for a couple of hours. He gets irritated, he just can’t get out of it, he starts wandering around the house looking at the clock, until he sits in front the computer to enter the WOW catastrophe. He just can’t stay with family for a while and the two or three hours he tries, you notice he is forcing himself to do it. That’s what really hurts…to see he is forcing himself to be with me or his daughter, while he is thinking of WOW and what he would of accomplished on WOW all that time.
WOW isn’t only getting richer; it has also destroyed my husband’s real world, his health, his appearance, his faith and his family (the ones he once called loved ones). I’m Tired, I guess sooner or later, WOW wins and stays with hubby. The good thing is that then he will be able to accomplish his WOW GOALS, after all that’s what his priority in life is.
Guess Wow could fulfill his love for family, his appetite, his laundry, his house cleaning, his money in pocket and his daughters love.
Ironic to know Hubby paid monthly or yearly payments to have something come between us and destroy what could have been a beautiful God blessed family.
I wouldnt say im addicted to WoW but reading these stories has shown me that i am very much on the edge. i am in college and have noticed that my quolity of work has declined since high school. That could just be that the work is harder but i do offten find myself thinking of getting home and login into WoW. Iv never had a drematic social life anyway but it has got worse than it was before. Now the most social I am is going to my mates house on a weekend where we watch films, drink and play WoW. The problem is that its just so fun. Also WoW does serve as a relese for me as it helps me get away from all my problems. I cant realy say im addicted as I dont really play anything like 50+ hours a week but it could become that soon.
My husband started playing WoW 2 months after we were married. His 16 yr old son had been playing it for years and got him to try it so that they could play together. As soon as my husband started playing his son went to another server. His son plays for 12-14 hrs straight, doesn’t shower, and has no desire to get his license or a job. I’ve made statements that this is not healthy for a 16 yr old to be on the computer so much. That he should be out with friends. My husband’s response is that he has friends and they are all on WoW. Now a year and a half later my husband plays WoW every free moment that he can. He is unemployed right now and plays this game nonstop. I complain about it but he refuses to get off of the game. He says that he has no friends and he does on WoW. I feel like I am married to a 14 yr old kid and not a 40 yr old man. It’s really turning me off. He never wants to get out of the house, not even to go to the store. He is angry all the time towards the kids and basically shut’s hisself up in his office and locks the door. I am so disappointed in how my marriage has turned out. This is totally not what I bargained for.