Did WoW take over your life?

[BurnItDwn]

Weekdays .... wow took over my life, but I still go out on weekends.
I'm in one of the top guilds on my realm.
I play a healing specced druid, though I also have a prot warrior & 60 with zg gear. I'm working on a lock as well (lvl 57 currently).
I probably raid about 4 days per week, at about 4 or 5 hours per raid. In the winter we were still working on MC, in about a month from when We first downed Rag, we killed Nef. Just last night we killed Sartura for the first time.

I don't like the farming aspect, where you need to run an instance 20 times to gear up, however, first boss kills are loads of fun.
Whenever I get that "second job" feeling of raiding, I just don't log on for a day or two. My guildies understand and nobody gives my crap about it.

As an added bonus, several of my friends from real life play WoW and are in the same guild as I.

So, back to the original question; Did WoW "take over" my life?
In part yes.
However, I know not nearly as bad for me as it has for other people.

 

[JDrake]

No

 

[Ika]

wow didn't take over my life, but only because i didn't buy it.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Played through beta, but never retail.

- M4H

 

[Jawo]

It didn't take over my life but it took over my roommate's life...he did nothing but play wow for about 5 months....no school, no work, nothing but WoW!

 

[cKGunslinger]

Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

 

[Doboji]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

mmmmhmmm... I'm sure you can stop anytime you want to.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

mmmmhmmm... I'm sure you can stop anytime you want to.

Yup, I am pretty sure he could too.
The thing is, it's pretty hard to want to stop.

 

[Doboji]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

mmmmhmmm... I'm sure you can stop anytime you want to.

Yup, I am pretty sure he could too.
The thing is, it's pretty hard to want to stop.

therein as they say... lies the rub

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

mmmmhmmm... I'm sure you can stop anytime you want to.

Well, sure I could, just as easily as I could stop posting to ATOT, or stop watching TV, or stop eating red meat, or stop wearing matching socks.

The point is, why would I? It's something we enjoy and is non-detrimental to our personal and family lives (if anything, it's a lot more bonding with my wife than watching reruns of Friends on TNT.)

I think you may have confused "addiction" with enjoyment. We certainly do not sacrifice things of greater importance to play WoW.

 

[Saint Nick]

I never started playing World of Warcraft. I liked Warcraft 1 and 2, never got into 3 though. I also loved Starcraft. Gave video games up at the end of high school, though.

 

[Doboji]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

mmmmhmmm... I'm sure you can stop anytime you want to.

Well, sure I could, just as easily as I could stop posting to ATOT, or stop watching TV, or stop eating red meat, or stop wearing matching socks.

The point is, why would I? It's something we enjoy and is non-detrimental to our personal and family lives (if anything, it's a lot more bonding with my wife than watching reruns of Friends on TNT.)

I think you may have confused "addiction" with enjoyment. We certainly do not sacrifice things of greater importance to play WoW.

Well... ummm errr... you... uhhh... are... ummm no good... wow is bad... you shouldnt.... demons... evil... addiction... unhealthy...

my fiancee wont play with me :brokenheart: so I can't play anymore

 

[James3shin]

I played my 30 day trial, and quit. Not very hard.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

mmmmhmmm... I'm sure you can stop anytime you want to.

Well, sure I could, just as easily as I could stop posting to ATOT, or stop watching TV, or stop eating red meat, or stop wearing matching socks.

The point is, why would I? It's something we enjoy and is non-detrimental to our personal and family lives (if anything, it's a lot more bonding with my wife than watching reruns of Friends on TNT.)

I think you may have confused "addiction" with enjoyment. We certainly do not sacrifice things of greater importance to play WoW.

Well... ummm errr... you... uhhh... are... ummm no good... wow is bad... you shouldnt.... demons... evil... addiction... unhealthy...

my fiancee wont play with me :brokenheart: so I can't play anymore

Heh, after a week of the game, I realized I liked it, so I knew I had to make my wife like it too. :evil:

 

[Doboji]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Of course not, it's just a fvcking game for Christ's sake. Sure there are sometimes when you realize you may be playing it more than you should, but then you snap up and re-adjust your playing to be more balanced. Same with any hobby - watching TV, going out, masturbation - everyting in moderation.

I feel sorry for you people that are so weak that you can let a few bits and bytes "take over your lives."


And Ronstang, you're a fvcking moron. The idea that your stupid addiction with worthless old car parts somehow makes you superior to people with stupid addictions with worthless video games is a joke. What are you, 21 and single? Frat-boy mentality, FTL! :roll:

mmmmhmmm... I'm sure you can stop anytime you want to.

Well, sure I could, just as easily as I could stop posting to ATOT, or stop watching TV, or stop eating red meat, or stop wearing matching socks.

The point is, why would I? It's something we enjoy and is non-detrimental to our personal and family lives (if anything, it's a lot more bonding with my wife than watching reruns of Friends on TNT.)

I think you may have confused "addiction" with enjoyment. We certainly do not sacrifice things of greater importance to play WoW.

Well... ummm errr... you... uhhh... are... ummm no good... wow is bad... you shouldnt.... demons... evil... addiction... unhealthy...

my fiancee wont play with me :brokenheart: so I can't play anymore

Heh, after a week of the game, I realized I liked it, so I knew I had to make my wife like it too. :evil:

Man I tried... I really did... she absolutely refused to even try it... her friends had been complaining about their men playing before I could get to her with it.

-Max

 

[Alienwho]

I've never played it. The closest thing to a video game taking over my life was my high school freshman summer, playing the original UT99 and Rune. But even then it was networked with my friends. Man I was in a groove that summer. I would sleep in until 11am, dink around the house until 12:30, go to work until 9pm, come home and play UT or Rune with my buddies until 2am, rinse and repeat.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
nope. i'm stronger then that. i actaully never played it. don't like those type of games. Guild Wars is much better. Then there's Oblivion which is even better.

If you've never played it, how do you know Guild Wars is better?

 

[fLum0x]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
yes but i quit.

good call. i did the same but i am back now and just screwing around. I dont want to raid again.

 

[DPmaster]

Originally posted by: I Saw OJ

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: Sloppy
I really enjoyed WoW, and leveled 3 60's (I played for hours at work) but the game demands too much time to maintain even a mediocre level of gear.

I quit last October.

Also, Everquest was more fun, even if it wasn't half as polished and balanced. I'm really not sure why. Maybe it felt more like a giant world, or was more terrifying. Riding the boat the first time was really scary. WoW never scared me. The only time life was exciting was on a PVP server, and even there, people cried about everything constantly.

I never played EQ... but definitly something lacking in WOW was something to lose. I mean why bother being scared? Worst case scenario you waste time... you don't lose your equipment, you don't lose your experience... you sure as hell can't lose your character... It would be really cool to see a game come out where your character can truly die... that would add so much to the game... the higher level chars would be so much more impressive because you know what they've had to survive to get there.

Of course they'd have to really really really improve early game content... so you don't end up playing the same quests over and over and over again. But think of how cool that game could be. Think of the PVP....

WHOOO gets me excited just thinking about it.

-Max

No one would want to play a game like that cause no one would want to invest time into something and then just lose all it to a roaming band of ganking idiots.

Not true because lots of people used to play Diablo 2 in hardcore mode. Once you died, you lost your character.

 

[mayonnaise]

Originally posted by: Sloppy
I really enjoyed WoW, and leveled 3 60's (I played for hours at work) but the game demands too much time to maintain even a mediocre level of gear.

I quit last October.

Also, Everquest was more fun, even if it wasn't half as polished and balanced. I'm really not sure why. Maybe it felt more like a giant world, or was more terrifying. Riding the boat the first time was really scary. WoW never scared me. The only time life was exciting was on a PVP server, and even there, people cried about everything constantly.

That whole risk vs reward thing was a missed item on the WoW design list.

WoW compared to most other MMO's is the same thing as a 4 lane highway that's been perfectly paved, contains zero bends, perfect markings/lighting and has a speed limit of 200mph. Original EQ with it's first 2-3 expansions is like a S shaped dirt road that has enough bumps to bottom out your car every 500 feet- oh and if it rains, well g'luck in that mud!

Original EQ had some very big penalties for death, imagine grinding exp in WoW for about 4 hours then dying and ending up with less than you started with - that's not even talking about the naked corpse runs and possibility of your corpse decaying The raids were a blast too, no instances at all. With 4-5k people on a server you were competing with everyone else for that 7 day spawn! Preparations took anywhere from 20 mins to 3 hours, depending on how fast everyone got there and how efficient/good your guildmates are at playing the game. During the preparation time, any other guild could jump ahead of you and take the kill. It was good times when several guilds were racing to a target and the ones to try the first failed and dragged the said target on the competition to kill them as well. Raid failure meant corpse recovery, if it was deep in a dungeon and you didnt get a rezzer to log out, easily take 2-4 hours to get the bodies back. It has gotten better (read: easier/dumbed down) with the other 8? expansions though and is now more accessible to new players or those who are bored of WoW.

I played during middle school-highschool from 1999(release) to 2002 or so. Had over 220 days played on my main character, and an additional 50 or so on others...(yeah sosad, I know). Got a mage to 60 in WoW in a few weeks sometime around the begining of 2005, got bored and quit. Tried many MMO's in between WoW and EQ and none stuck, havent played anything in over a year now and dont really see anything new on the horizon that I will play.

If anyone read all that, grats on your waste of time~ :brokenheart:

FUNFACT: EQ's 3rd expansion (Shadows of Luclin - nice acronym eh?) featured a trip to the moon that revealed a cat people civilization (new playable race).

 

[brtspears2]

Yes. Then I realized how stupid it was raiding 4 times a week, at 6pm-10pm and a full weekend of farming/raiding. It was 25-30 hours a week, easy. My home was not staying clean, my eyes hurt, I started yelling at people for interupting me.

All I have to show for a 12 month commitment to WoW is 2400 gold, 4 stacks of mooncloth, epic mount and all the mage class sets.

Now I'm back to playing Diablo II. At least in this game, I can quit when I want to and solo the whole game if I wanted to. Plenty of wasted time looking for raid groups in WoW.

 

[Electric Amish]

No. I have willpower.

 

[Glavinsolo]

I played for about a year and a month. Had a 60 mage and 60 Druid. I was an officer and I was there for every first kill from MC through BWL and the first 4 bosses of AQ40. I found more fun in figuring out ways to take out the bosses but like most people said it gets redundant. I quit until recently and now play with a small group of RL friends who only do low level battlegrounds. PVP is much more fun than PVE and if we aren't in a BG we are finding the PVE carebears and making their leveling experience unpleasurable.

Before it was a thing on my schedule of things to do (PVE Raids). Now its an FPS shooter with a ranking system.(PVP)

 

[pclstyle]

this is all terribly sad


well, gratz to those who finally managed to wake up and realize that even if you ever do reach the pinnacle of the gaming community, there's nothing else to look forward to. You'll have killed countless hours of your youth in a fantasy world where the rewards relative to the amount of time and energy you dedicate to playing - are ridiculously minimal. So what, you have a top-tier character with amazing gear, and your name is recognized all over your server. Now what? If you take an objective look at your life, and all of your pride and accomplishments stem from a computer game -- then you really, really need to reevaluate whether you really have your head on straight.

New games come out, new generations of gamers replace their predecessors, people grow older and leave the community, but some don't make it out. And those are the 24 year olds who rush home from work everyday, back to their parents' home, to play until the wee hours of the night. It's a fatal cycle, the ones who have nothing else to look forward to because they've killed so much of their time already and can't see past it being anything but a waste if they quit -> become the ones who continue pouring hour after hour into the same monotonous routine because they have nothing else. Yes, it's not too late for them, they can still go on to have very successful lives. But that line, that point of no return, is advancing much faster than you think -- and there will truly be a time when it is too late, and you'll have nothing to show for it but bitter regrets. Oh, and a million fantasy gold.

Sure, you can get on the defensive and ejaculate any number of explanations for why you CHOSE this lifestyle over another. But who really cares that you have a good time playing, who really cares that you ebayed your accounts for $1000, and who really cares that you've created countless multivar formulas to optimize your gaming experience. Yes, you have a girlfriend, a steady job, a car, loans payed off -- great. but in the grand scheme of it all -- you commit more time in computer GAMES than in any other area of your life. And that's pretty damn sad any way you look at it.



And for those who find this non-applicable because they are aspiring to be a pro-gamers: look how few can successfully make a living off of it -- compare that to the number who quit and retire because they see its futility, even at the top echelons of tournament. plus, lol, (not out of bitterness because I'll never see myself being broadcasted on espn9234 playing starcraft) I could never respect someone who took a computer game that seriously.

 

[Rill22]

Lol, this quickly turned into a WoW bashing thread. I have no qualms in admitting that I still enjoy playing, but it is no longer because of the excitement of leveling, or the excitement of taking down that new boss in AQ. I've been talking to some of these people on ventrilo every week for so long, that I now just enjoy logging on and doing something with my friends.