Comments on: Quitting World of Warcraft

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:35:11 +0000

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.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 20:21:31 +0000

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.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:07:31 +0000

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.

By: Technique

Technique — Thu, 24 May 2007 22:40:32 +0000

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.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 24 May 2007 17:46:33 +0000

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.

By: Technique

Technique — Thu, 24 May 2007 00:23:58 +0000

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.

By: Rowland

Rowland — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:01:48 +0000

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.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:38:19 +0000

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.

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:06:48 +0000

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.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:19:20 +0000

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.