Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Why I gave up World of Warcraft and why you should too.



I am a mom.  Everyone knows that moms need a way to blow off some steam after the kids are in bed.  I heard about this really cool game called World of Warcraft.  I got the game and joined a guild and goofed off for a while.  I got to maximum level and figured out a way to make a ton of the stuff called gold.  I then found myself doing something called farming for gold.  I spent a few hours of leisure time every day farming for gold.  My character had everything she could ever want.  If something new came out, I bought it.  I found out there was this thing called gold cap and I wanted to see if it were true so I spent hours making gold.   I was then approached by a guild to see if I wanted to do this thing called raid.  I decided to try it and was addicted.  For the next few years, I was in and out of guilds always trying to have the best gear, spending hour upon hour of my free time at night raiding and additional time during the day farming. 

The game has a satisfaction to it.  There are quests that you finish and they pay you gold to finish them.  If you kill a boss, you get good things for your character.  There is always a task available to you that will get you something in the game and the task is clear cut and can be easy or difficult but there is a beginning and an end to each task.  Most tasks are turned in and a new task is given, so there is always plenty to do in the game.

I had game friends.  I knew their real names and a lot about their personal lives, but no matter what I told you at the time, they were not real friends.  I could not go to their house for dinner; I could not go for a walk with them.  I did make some friends that I am still in touch with, but I believe that my time playing this game was wasted time.  I could have been investing my time in charities, making real friends and making my community a better place to live. 

I was addicted to this game.  I was addicted to talking to my online friends and raiding with them, spending hour upon hour in a game talking to people who lived halfway across the world from me.  I belonged to a guild at one point that would require you to give your real phone number and an excuse if you were going to miss a raid.  These people told me what to do and I did it.

So you say this is harmless?  I raced through so many real life things trying to make it home in time for raid.  I rushed dinners, nights out with family, nights out with friends, I even turned down parties because I had to raid that night.  I rushed out of my kid’s school functions and made my schedule around a game.   I actually had to attend a meeting one time during the day with my guild because there was an unacceptable amount of time that my dots were not on a raid boss.  I kid you not.  It was like being in the principal’s office at school. 

I don’t recall why I decided to leave the first time, but I left.  I think I recall there not being any new content and I was bored.  No one wanted to raid because we had done it all.  There was hardly anyone left on our server because people were jumping ship and quitting.   I think there were six people left in my guild and I decided to go to school.  I was busy studying and I really couldn’t raid and study and the timing was perfect for me to leave. 

When I finished my degree, I logged back into the game and was almost immediately snatched up by a guild.  We leveled together and I raced to be the first person in my guild to reach level.  I even took a day off work to do it.  I used a vacation day so my character could be a high enough level to raid. 
When I got to max level, my guild started to raid, and immediately I was stricken.  I thought back to all the time wasted in the game and realized there was no way I could play this game and have a real life, a real job and real friends.  I decided to make my real life my real priority.  Friends asked me to go out on to dinner on a raid night, and I went.  I didn’t rush dinner; I didn’t log on that night.  I didn’t play if I had to work the next day because I couldn’t be up until midnight playing and up at 5am for work.  I got called into a meeting for missing too much raid and realized that the game was not for me.  I was no longer the person who had no real life and needed something to fill the void.  I have a full, rich life and I do not need the game.  I was sad about my decision, but I closed my account and have not logged back in since. 

So if you play this game, why should you quit?  The game takes all of your social time.   It takes time you could be spending making friends or doing something good for your community.  I do realize that there are some people who have no friends outside of this game, but if you are one of those people, you need to find people in your community that like the same things you like and start doing things with them.   I decided that my family and my friends are my priority and the game was taking those away from me.  This is just like alcohol taking a person’s life away, it IS an addiction. 

If you are a person who talks about World of Warcraft as if it is your real life, you are my target audience.  It is time to have a real life with real people who love you.  Join a meetup, go to the library and read a book, go to a convention for a group that interests you or even write a book about your Warcraft addiction. 

I wish you a full and successful life in the real world.  You will be amazed at what life is like once you make it offline and acclimate to real world living.  #worldofwarcraft


While you are here, head on over to view my post on organizing your fridge.  ORGANIZE FRIDGE


© Emma Francis and EmmaFrancisishome@bloger.com, 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Emma Francis and EmmaFrancisishome@blogger.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

5 comments:

  1. Or, some people can have a balance of work, personal, and pleasure. And some people play games WITH their in-real-life friends. Not everyone should quit playing WoW just because you found in unacceptable for yourself and interfering with your life negatively.

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  2. I agree with Rebecca. If you practice moderation, and you have some free time, it's (like you said) a great way to blow off steam. So is a glass of wine after kids go to bed, but if you drink the whole box of wine every night, there's gonna be a problem.

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  3. I agree with Rebecca. If you practice moderation, and you have some free time, it's (like you said) a great way to blow off steam. So is a glass of wine after kids go to bed, but if you drink the whole box of wine every night, there's gonna be a problem.

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  4. With some games, it's not a matter of moderation. I know b/c I was addicted to Mafia Wars & played it P/T at first b/c I was working F/T & then F/T when I retired. I played for over 7 yr. as a mafia boss w/ 5,000 friends but they are not friends like real friends (see her comment). I put on over 30 lb. sitting on my rear & sneaking to play it, getting up @ 3 am to fulfill some jobs, playing instead of sleeping b/c 5K friends depended on me being there. They finally shut the game down & I left the game playing then & refused to join other games. I weighed 107 lb. when I retired but wow, the weight piled on over 5 yr. @ appx 10 lb a yr. I was cooking more b/c never had a chance to b4 b/c of working. I realize that I have an addictive personality so I didn't remove friends & we still talk sometimes but am working on being more frugal, love pinterest, etc but get on here now when I want to, not b/c I have to. I got into trouble with some guy who was a troublemaker, was in a family with a wimpy boss, who threw me under the bus rather than taking up for me since he kept attacking me all day long and I had hoped the game would end so was ready when they took it down. Exit looked good. Now working on losing the weight I put on too so totally identify with Emma. They pile the jobs on until u can't keep up by overlapping the jobs so u can't get out either. It's a trap & one I would not advise anybody to do unless u want to be fat. I felt like I wasted 7 yr. of my life so never again. You get into trouble with others if u don't complete your jobs so sorry, but there is no moderation in these games, either u r n or u r out. I'm glad to be out & doing other things now. Hope this posts and helps others realize they r not alone. I let the game run me, not the other way around, housework suffered, health went downhill, cooking suffered but now back on track. Good Luck to all !!

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  5. It is certainly not for everyone, but for some of us, it is better to have online social interaction than none at all. We played WoW WITH our real-life friends - people we DID spend time with outside of game - though most of us (our group of friends) are introverts and prefer to be home, so we actually socialized more when we played WoW. When we eventually quit because we all got bored, my social life actually diminished. We still did the same activities as a group offline, but had fewer things to discuss - we could not all settle on another group activity. I truly played in moderation - work never suffered due to game, housework never suffered due to game. Depression due to a complete lack of social interaction however - yeah - work has suffered due to that, as has the house and many other aspects of my life. My husband and I have now moved away from our friends, and since we do not have that shared online presence, and as introverts, we do not make new friends easily, we do not have a social life now. Depression has me in a vise - so work suffers and housework suffers, in part because I DON'T play WoW any longer. It was my "sport" or whatever social activity you may choose. We made new friends - many of whom we did meet in real life - a few of whom are still real friends that we see on occasion - just like any other social activity. The difference is, it was a social activity that worked for introverts too. I have tried to play since most of our group quit, but the social aspect just is not there without my friends. You played the hardcore, addictive style WoW - that was not the only way to play. It is unfortunate that I came to your blog following a housework link then saw the suggestion for this post suggesting that everyone else stop playing WoW so I came here first. One reader won't make or break your blog for sure, but I won't be back. Anyone who thinks there is only one way to to "be" is not someone I will follow. Best of luck to you.

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