Quitting World of Warcraft
As most players will tell you, World of Warcraft can, and often does, become an all-consuming pastime. What with my background in psychology, I’m not generally one to throw around terms like “addictive” offhandedly. The game is definitely compelling, however. Up until a few months ago, I played it for several hours a day almost every day of the week. At the height of my interest in the game, my playtime would have been on par with a part-time job, which, in addition to my real job and my family, ate up most of my free time.
It’s difficult to say whether or not the game itself is addictive. There can be no denying that some people take MMORPGs to an unhealthy, and occasionally disorderly, extreme. I’ve heard of cases in which people neglected their jobs, their schoolwork, their friends, their loved ones, and even their health in the pursuit of virtual goals. Many players are capable of admitting their problem, even if they aren’t capable of doing anything about it. Still, you can’t blame the casinos for gambling addiction, so you can hardly blame a game company for making a game that’s too much fun for some people to handle. I tend to think of the problem as one of addictive personality rather than addictive material; too much of anything can be unhealthy, even if that thing is perfectly harmless otherwise.
Despite its appeal, however, I found myself withdrawing from it almost completely a few months ago. I achieved level 60 and started going on guild raids, determined to experience the most difficult and privileged areas of the game. It didn’t take long, however, for me to realize that I wasn’t having fun anymore. Playing in high-end instances felt more like a chore, and there wasn’t anything left to do other than that. It didn’t take long for my interest in World of Warcraft to dwindle to nothing.
I don’t consider it a bad thing, and I still play on occasion, although my total play time is now little more than an hour or two per week. It is interesting that a once-heavy player such as me could lose interest as dramatically and spontaneously as I did. As I’m fond of telling friends, I closed the game, blinked, looked at my watch, and said, “Where’d the last year of my life go?” It really is amazing to me now how much time I devoted to it. I imagine I’ll pick the game back up whenever the Burning Crusade comes out. After all, the prospect of a Draenei shaman seems too good to pass up. Still, I doubt I’ll ever be as interested as I once was.
As for the larger subject of gaming addiction, there are those who joke about it and those who consider it a real problem. As in most cases, I don’t think either extreme is entirely correct. More than likely, there are plenty of players like me who play and then quit without difficulty and there are a few for whom MMORPGs become a real problem. And while these individuals certainly deserve help, it isn’t really fair to label the rest of us as addicts just because we seem to play a little too much.
August 22nd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Your progression and insight is very interesting. I recently got hooked on WoW and have been spending all of my free time on it. Even my downtime at work, which isn’t much, I find myself researching different aspects of the game, the culture, and recently the economy. I stubmled across your blog when looking for articles about in-game economies and google returned your article from a search. I started playing about three weeks ago and have progressed through to lvl 40 through some very intense gameplay. Last night my girlfriend was staying over and she wanted to go to bed early, I was actually excited to send her off to bed so I could get online and check my in-game auctions and turn in a few quests! That kinda scared me. Am I sacrificing my personal life for my work life? Is my WoW character becoming more important than my girlfriend of 5 years? Is my drive to succeed in life being supplanted by my drive to succeed in the virtual world? I had recently taken a break from my seven year study of kung fu to have more free time (and play more Warcraft)
What am I doing to ensure that WoW takes up my optional free time and not my time that is otherwise committed. I think I’m striking that balance, but it is a struggle. I know that I have an addictive personality, mildly not clinically, so I moderate the availability of things that would consume me. Ultimately, I think we’ll be OK. World of Warcraft, ever since that very first quest in the Night Elf starting zone, has been a passion. And I think that ultimately is what separates us from addiction: we are passionate not just about WoW but about anything to which we dedicate ourselves. I dedicate myself to work and I’m passionate about winning there (I’m in sales). I dedicated myself to kung fu and I was dedicated to learning there (and I’ll be back). And I’m passionate about WoW and exploring there (and will continue to do so). I say be passionate. Live life to the fullest, even if it means living your virtual life.
August 22nd, 2006 at 5:33 pm
I’ve been where you are, Rich. MMORPGs in general, and World of Warcraft in particular, have a way of encroaching on other life activities when you’re hooked on them. I think you’ve crossed the line into addiction when you are no longer able to prevent it from encroaching on necessary activities (e.g. school, work, sleep, meaningful relationships, etc.), when you no longer care if it does so, or both. Anything prior to that point, I think, is more appropriately described as enthusiasm for a hobby, or “passion” as you put it.
That being said, I think you’re okay. You mention World of Warcraft dominating your free time, but you don’t mention skipping work or meals to play. Likewise, you mention being excited at the opportunity to play when your girlfriend wanted to go to bed early, but you don’t mention neglecting her prior to that.
If you’re concerned, I would advise you to ease back your play time a bit. Try limiting yourself to a few hours a day and make a resolution not to play when you are supposed to be doing something more important. If you haven’t crossed the line into addiction, this should be entirely achievable, even if you find it to be difficult at first.
As for your girlfriend, talking is always the best option. It’s possible that you feel neglectful of her when she doesn’t see it that way. Just open the dialogue with, “Do you think I’m playing too much?” If she thinks you are, then that can provide some extra psychological incentive to help you ease back.
As for living life passionately, I agree. There’s nothing at all wrong with seeking virtual fulfillment; many rewards in life are, in many senses, virtual to begin with. So long as your passion doesn’t prevent you from meeting your other needs, there’s nothing wrong with devoting yourself to virtual success.
At any rate, thanks very much for commenting, Rich. I hope you’ve found some of what I’ve said to be useful.
P.S. Level 40 in three weeks? It probably took me three months to pull that off.
October 5th, 2006 at 7:16 am
http://blog.pjsattic.com/corvus/2006/10/carnival-of-gamers-revival/
[...] Stephen W has spent time with these folks as well. Spent a lot of time. But know, sensing a problem, needing some perspective, he’s Quitting World of Warcraft. [...]
October 5th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
Thanks for the post. First time to the sight.
I find myself desiring the addiction and envying those who have the time to devote to the game. Sounds weird I guess. I just wish I had more time in the day to play. I wish I could just put everything else on hold. But I can’t do it. I have too many other responsibilities. Oh to be single, have an easy job with free time and milkshakes. Would I really change my life for a virtual one? I doubt it, but I’d sure like to see how it feels.
KK
October 6th, 2006 at 10:32 am
…/gaming/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-on-south-park.php
[...] As for the portrayal itself, the style of gameplay was exaggerated but accurate. Players who become hardcore are known to adopt a dull, monotoned, announcer-like voice when coordinating over TeamSpeak. Some players do become addicted to World of Warcraft, neglecting their families, their schoolwork, and even their health, although this by no means describes the majority of players. [...]
November 22nd, 2006 at 2:04 pm
i agree that it takes an addictive personality to encounter that sort of problem, but i’ve also seen firsthand what WoW can do to you. a good friend of mine who used to be an A-B student is now a D student, because all he does is play this game. he’ll lose sleep over it, and the reality of school is sometimes too much for him, and he goes home early. his counselor has studied other cases with these games, and the MRI’s of these kids who become addicted resemble the MRI’s of a cocaine addict. it can get to the point of divorce, child neglect, failing grades, and even abnormal brain development. i’ve been looking online lately to see if anyon has noticed this alarming trend, and not many people have. my question is this, if the gaming industry is becoming such a problem, why hasn’t anyone said anything on the news, or in the papers? to me, this industry and it’s supporters have gotten out of hand, and it needs to stop. what happened to playing capture the flag outside? same concept, with fresh air and exercise, and a social development with people who arent logged onto a computer 3,000 miles away. we have all this incredible technology, why cant we harness it for a better use?
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:19 pm
I entirely agree with you, Stephanie; the effects of addiction in any form can be profound and life-altering. Again, though, I believe that the games themselves aren’t the problem. Most people are capable of drinking alcohol and gambling in casinos in perfectly healthy, moderate ways. For some, however, these become addictive, disorderly activities. The same applies to gaming. My suggestion regarding your friend would be to treat him like any other ailing addict. If he can’t recognize his problem and/or cut his gaming time down to a reasonable limit, his probably needs an intervention of some kind. I don’t say this idly, as I have a friend from college who very much needs the same sort of help.
Regarding your other point, believe me, people have noticed that video games can have a negative impact. Just plug “Jack Thompson” into any search engine and you’ll find out just how far some people take anti-game activism. The problem, of course, is that they want to censor the industry, which violates freedom of speech, but that’s a different topic.
Your statement is actually ironic, as there is a “capture the flag” game within World of Warcraft’s PvP battlegrounds. That should give you some indication of where it’s gone. Is it tragic? Perhaps. Should we remove games to counteract the influence? I don’t think so. If we can teach people to enjoy games in moderation without neglecting the more important things in life, I think that will make the most people the happiest.
At any rate, thanks very much for the feedback, Stephanie.
April 24th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
I recently quit playing World of Warcraft, and honestly have very mixed feelings about it. When I first began the game, I only played a few hours per week. Once I started hitting the higher levels, joined a guild, and had to stick with the guild’s “raiding schedule” I became very much what I would like to call addicted. I still attended my job part-time, school part-time, but besides that, I played WOW. I used to be a very active person, but ever since getting serious into the game I quit my hobbies, gained weight, never slept a whole night, and lost my social life. I finally decided to quit about a month ago when my Mom flew in to town an made a “comment” about how I had changed. She had no idea about my “wow addiction”, just thought other things were troubling me. Once I realized how much this game had changed my life, I decided I had to do something about it. I am not saying this game is bad what so ever, if played in moderation it can be very fun, and not unhealthy. I just feel that I have a somewhat addictive personality, and I got too into leveling, questing, raiding and so on.
Anyways, so on to my point of mixed feeling . . . I canceled my account about three weeks ago (still had a month of playing time due to my subscription), and havent logged back into the game until today. I gave away my gold, potions, and other items to some in-game friends. I will not actually “sell” my character because she actually means something to me (wierd as that may sound). Getting rid of her (and cancelling my account) makes me feel like im loosing something I have worked so hard on. Considering I have over 130 days of game play (omg, yes . . . 1/3 of a year sitting on my computer doing nothing but playing this game). I dont really know what else to say, I am sad about quitting the game, but I know its better for me. So, I am going to get off this computer, and go take my dog for a walk. Thanks for reading.
April 24th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
And thanks for sharing your experience, Julie. Warcraft can unfortunately have the effect you’ve described. My brother recently came to the realization that it was having an adverse effect on his marriage and decided to cut back his play time. Since initially writing this post, I’ve picked the game back up to some extent, although my play time is nowhere near as much as it used to be. It’s a hobby that I indulge no more than a few hours a week and I like it that way.
The feelings you describe are entirely understandable. Those of us who really enjoy WoW do so because it instills in us a feeling of accomplishment. We look at our level 70 character with our epic gear and flying mount and feel a sense of pride. Giving that up is paramount to throwing away all the time and effort it took to achieve. It’s not easy by any means.
In the end, the healthiest response you can have is to acknowledge that it’s just a game. It shouldn’t dominate your life and, if it does, it’s probably best to cut back or quit altogether. I’m sure you’ve made the right decision for you and will come to appreciate it all the more as you reacquaint yourself with the other aspects of your life that you didn’t even know you missed.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:01 am
I agree totally with both your posts Stephen. I used to love WOW pre-expansion cause you could indeed, play part time and casual, still level to 60, still get the endgame epic gear just by raiding a 2-3 nights a week for a few hours after work like i did. If you got bored you could even start another charecter and do it all over again pretty fast. I have quit, not because i didnt play an unhealthy amount of time (although sometimes i did) but because in the expansion, it is too much work to improve your charecter even marginally. This is waking many people up, making them realize that they are too involved in the game. Thus, many people are quitting wow now, for this reason. I do not reget the time i spent playing.. and i am very sad to leave. My semi-epiced out level 70 warlock has been deleted. I know this is the end because i could never relevel a charecter that high again.
Also, i was in the same boat as kitten. I actually wanted a game to get addicted to. TO me, its fun.. and even pleasureable to get so involved in something. But the reward has to be worth it. And it was upto Burning Crusade.
May 23rd, 2007 at 8:23 pm
What do I do about a co-worker that continues to harass me for playing World of Warcraft every night? He always comments on my personal hygiene and i think he is being sarcastic when making comments about all the women I get. He doesn;t understand how important it is to raid and see the end game material.
May 24th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
My first reaction would be to tell your coworker to mind his or her own business; what you do with your free time isn’t their concern. However, gamers are among those social groups that are considered acceptable to pick on. Even if they weren’t, some people are just jerks who want to get a rise out of you.
To resolve your differences, you may try to befriend him and make him better understand what you get out of your hobby. Alternately, you may attempt to candidly explain that his comments are rude and demeaning. If you go that route, threatening to bring your complaints to the attention of a supervisor might help, since he is, in effect, creating a hostile work environment. Then again, you may choose to ignore him completely.
Whatever you do, you shouldn’t feel bad for having a hobby that you enjoy. Decide for yourself whether his criticisms of you are valid. If they aren’t, he’s simply being rude and should be treated as the jerk he is. If they are, it may be evidence that you should take your Warcraft activities down a notch or two. You are, after all, entitled to your opinion, but I wouldn’t describe raiding and seeing end game content as anything more than your own personal goal, rather than as “important” to everyone.
May 24th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Stephen,
Thank you for your kind words. The issue I had was that the coworker that was making the demeaning comments WAS my supervisor. I took your advice and decided to tell him to mind his own business and it proved to be futile for my employment. My boss responded with “You will have alot more time to play your stupid game at home every day now that you dont have a job!” and then he proceeded to promptly fire me and send me on my way. First my wife and kids and now my job. If it weren’t for World of Warcraft and my three level 70’s I might actually be depressed right about now. Anyway, my guild is getting ready to start buffing eachother now because we’re going in for the kill and taking down the Curator tonigh. Talk to you soon.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:07 am
I sincerely hope you’re joking, Technique. If not, I’m very sorry for your loss. Perhaps you’ll be better off in your next position without a supervisor to demean you over how you spend your free time.
If I may suggest, many players (myself included) find a certain level of personal fulfillment through World of Warcraft. However, there are more important and lasting paths to fulfillment than WoW. Family and career come to mind in our conversation. It might be worthwhile for you to reassess the personal costs and rewards of playing so much. If Warcraft is indeed interfering with other aspects of your life, it’s probably time to consider playing less or even quitting. It’s only a game, after all.
June 26th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
People only look at the negative side. Those who do not play the game only lash out on the sever cases in which people accually believe they are part of the game and what not. World of Warcraft is a very useful and accurate tool to help kids prepare for the professional buisness world. You can join groups called Guilds, in which groups of people get together to progress through parts of the game. In these events, people have specific, yet simple tasks to perform in a larger group. Teamwork and communication skills are a vital part of your success in these events. If the group task is not accomplished, it is discussed within group and players provide input about what they observed and try to pinpoint the problem. A solution is then concocted for the next attempt. Outside advice is also encouraged to aid in the process. Leaders of the guild gain valuable leadership skills that can be translated into the work force at all levels. If played correctly, games such as these can be a very good source of first-hand experience. It helps teach the basics of group dynamics and interaction among your peers at your job, whether you work at a law firm or simply work at a local grocery store.
June 26th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
I would agree that World of Warcraft has educational merit, Chris. Teamwork, communication, and leadership in raiding guilds is indeed crucial to success. However, I’ve heard it pointed out that Warcraft gives its users the unrealistic perception that effort is all that’s required for success. Without any sort of effective strategy, a player can nonetheless climb to the heights of power and wealth in the game through hard work alone. Unfortunately, effort does not always equate to reward in the real world.
As you point out, though, WoW can be a valuable training tool “If played correctly.” I think we can all agree that abnormally high play time on a regular basis is neither correct nor educational, but rather disorderly.