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

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