A proper WoW addiction is serious business. The issue isn’t so much the monthly cost of the game but the fact that it consumes outrageous amounts of a person’s time. Addiction to MMORPGs (Massively Muliplayer Online Role Playing Games) has become so widespread that child psychologists are reporting the issue in their professional publications and comparing it to more traditional addictions (like heroin). Furthermore, there are rumors that job placement agencies have been asked to weed out MMORPG players because they keep bad hours and spend inordinate amounts of work time focused on their online pursuits rather than their jobs.

Well, maybe so. But as any serious WoW addict who is in the middle of their first raid on Karazhan at 3AM will tell you: ‘Screw work. Its taken the guild 4 months to get to this point!’.

With that said, here are some tips for those of you that need to break this awful (great) addiction.

For the Horde!

First, consider why you play the game and what keeps you in it: Is it the fantasy? This can be hard to address as there is nothing quite like the feeling of losing oneself in a story. But perhaps you should consider whether the fantasy is an escape from a reality that you aren’t satisfied with or which contains responsibilities you are not ready to accept. For these types of concerns you need to seek out a confidant or professional that is willing to listen to your concerns and work on the issue. The key is to be completely honest with yourself so others can help you and give you the benefit of their insight.

Is it the online social dynamic? People who go far in WoW find that they have serious commitments to their guilds and the characters in them. This is not necessarily a negative behaviour. This type of committed behaviour can be channelled into real life pursuits which will reward you personally, professionally, romantically and financially (much more than any game ever could). This leads me to my next point:

Replace one addiction with another: This might annoy some people’s sensibilities but addictions can’t always be dropped with ease. Sometimes they have to be replaced with another ‘addiction’ which is more productive and socially acceptable. The key is to find something in the outside world that has greater meaning than buying up all the bolts of mageweave in the auction house because it is Saturday night and the lowbies have run the price down below the average for the server economy. When you find that pursuit in the real world that requires your time and attention you’ll find it much easier to separate your game time from your real world time or even give it up the game altogether. Consider a sport, charity or other association which you are required to dedicate time and effort to. Pursue it with the same sense of commitment and sense of responsibility as you did to WoW and the rewards will come.

Or, you could try replacing one addiction with another: This might annoy some people’s sensibilities but addictions can’t always be dropped with ease. Sometimes they have to be replaced with another ‘addiction’ which is more productive and socially acceptable. The key is to find something in the outside world that has greater meaning than buying up all the bolts of mageweave in the auction house because it is Saturday night and the lowbies have run the price down below the average for the server economy. When you find that pursuit in the real world that requires your time and attention you’ll find it much easier to separate your game time from your real world time or even give it up the game altogether. Consider a sport, charity or other association which you are required to dedicate time and effort to. Pursue it with the same sense of commitment and sense of responsibility as you did to WoW and the rewards will come.

Finally, you could try ruining the game for yourself: Hey, sometimes hard decisions call for hard solutions. Shard your epics and sell everything you own in the auction house. That includes all your gear and everything you got in the bank. Shoot, if you really want to ruin the game for yourself can sell everything in your guild’s bank and get blacklisted on the server altogether when they find out. Now, give your gold to some newb or a guild mate. If you’ve spent every night for 1 or 2 months in the BGs getting your welfare epics you’ll cringe at the thought of having to do it all over again after such a drastic measure. When you have done that, cancel your account with Blizzard and uninstall the game from your pc. Then chuck the dvds in the river. That’s closure…

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