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I've played WoW since release and have quit about 5 times, each of those times ranged anywhere from 3 to 8 months. I forced myself to quit the first time and that was probably one of the lowest moments in my life. I was 14 and failing school, I cried a shit load and had legit withdrawal symptoms. Every time I've gone back since then I've become less and less attached to the game, I happen to be subbed right now and I could stop playing at the drop of a hat.
I think a lot of people will disagree with me but in all honesty just keep playing if you really feel like it. I have no doubt that I was genuinely addicted during vanilla and that looking back on my life I have easily spent more time playing WoW then anything else besides eating and sleeping. But at the end of the day I had a huge amount of fun and I honestly cannot see what I would have done with that time anyway. I was in high school so I was pretty much locked down at that point in my life, not like I could have really done anything else with my free time. I still went to friends houses, got drunk my first time, and all that stuff too though. In fact I'm pretty sure I lived the exact same life and had the exact same experiences as all my peers except they watched TV instead of playing WoW.
I give the advice that you should just keep playing with 2 things in mind though, 1. You're in high school and 2. You have other interests.
Despite having played so much I have NEVER considered WoW one of my main interests. Even when I was sinking hundreds of hours into theorycrafting and the meta game, not being even 100 feet from a computer with WoW on it I STILL didn't consider the game a real interest of mine. I've always considered my main interests to be things like music, film, art and all that good stuff and even when I was playing WoW (and especially when I wasn't subbed) I still kept up with other interests and that's why despite having played so much I still consider myself a very balanced person, even someone with some expertise in certain areas.
If you weren't high school (eg. locked down to something that takes up 90% of your time anyway) or didn't have any interests beyond WoW then I would be concerned for you and would probably give completely different advice. But I think if you're like me then the amount of time you play doesn't matter because it will never define you as a person and will always just be something to mess around with.
Lastly I give this advice because I think I'm proof that playing a shit load of WoW during high school isn't a big deal. I'm 19, planning to go to a film tech school next year, have had two girl friends, read 2-3 books a month, watch an absurd amount of films, am teaching myself French, go out every weekend, and play some video games when I can. I'm also someone who at one point in their life broke down emotionally over losing a roll for the fire resist slippers off Rend.
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Think of it this way. Being good at WoW will never get you legions of screaming fangirls. SC might.
On a more serious note, out of all unproductive activities, I think wow is the worst. I had to quit it myself, and it was usually due to the fact that I wanted to do other shit. Find something to do. I suggest these 3: Go work out at the gym. Learn to cook. Learn to play the guitar. All three are not only very, very productive and useful skills, they are also chick magnets 
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Don't overthink it.
Cancel any schedules you have in the game, don't raid. In 2-3 weeks the game itself will start to bore you, it's gonna become a chat room (And this is fine! Talking to people in game is not bad!). You will start spending most of your time alt-tabbed, and soon it's gonna feel natural to just close the game so your pc runs faster.
If your guild has a ventrilo, perfect, join them and have a blast while playing something else(i.e.TF2 or SC2), you get your fun chatter without the wow gameplay.
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Tbh it's not going to be easy at all to get your social life started at the age of 17. Just try not to be socially awkward.
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Here's what I did I uninstalled it and I stopped paying easy as that 
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Like most have said the quick solution is to subscribe to some activities you want : sport, music, theatre etc.
On the other hand I think really getting to know your addiction helps. The issue with WoW and most mmorpg is that it is very slow paced. Meaning you gain little for a lot of time investment. When you kinda aknowledge that most of the time you spend in wow is just useless you have to just say "all right i log off" when you are doing nothing really productive. Just ignore all the garbage like farming achievements and stuff. You will also have to leave your super guild at 7/7 and join a smaller one. When you play 2 to 3 evening a week it will be a lot more normal behavior for such a game. Then strangely with your other activities you will just see this game is a huge waste of time.
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On October 05 2010 06:09 Diuqil wrote:
Meet some people in real life? That sounds like the only solution. I don't understand how you can stand to play a game for more then 2-3 hours at a time.
Every single post I've read of yours, I realllly can't decide if you're joking or not. For instance, you just posted the last statement on a professional gaming website where probably at least half of the user base has regularly played a game for more than 2-3 hours at a time. Then I take a look at your anti-drug arguments (which are fallacious) among other things and start praying to a God I don't even believe in that you are indeed kidding and making fun of ignorance or something
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Start dating, unless that is totally out of your realm. (punny  )
Anyways, imo you should try to develop your social life more!
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In China, they use shock therapy to cure gaming addiction. I'm not saying you should go stick a fork in the electric socket, please don't do that, just putting some interesting information on the table here.
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Yeah, toaster in the bathtub is so much better.
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Philadelphia, PA10406 Posts
Look, there's no one thing or another that we can give you to replace WoW. You're going to have to find something else you're interested in. I can list stuff that I like, but that won't be helpful to you. I could tell you to get a girlfriend, or join a random after-school club, but that's easier said than done. There are some concrete steps you should take however. You've already taken the first step in deciding you want to change your situation, so honestly you don't have far to go.
Three things that you should do immediately:
- Delete WoW from your computer. Freeze your account. You might want to delete Sc2 while you're at it. This is non-negotiable really. As Mani said, you've got to make it not worth the effort to re-install.
- Get your parents involved. Give them your CDs for WoW and have them hide them. Tell them your situation, and tell them you want to find other stuff to do. They'll probably have some ideas, but you don't need to take them. But you might want to. Your parents also probably know more than any of us what you're liable to like.
- Figure out your musical tastes. I'm serious. You doubtless have heard at least some music you like, and now is the time to seek it out, and find similar artists and songs. Music is a wonderful thing to be interested in, and is a great way to connect and meet people. Everyone loves music.
Post back and tell us how you're doing!
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Osaka27131 Posts
It is important to make yourself accountable to others. If you went to your parents and told them you want to change, I think it will be easier to stick to it than just telling yourself.
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If you want to quit you have to actually WANT to quit and have a reason. My reason was the fact I was bored with the game and Blizzard recycling content. I decided I'd rather have an extra $30 a month and just cancelled the subscriptions of my 2 accounts and stopped playing.
I still have it on my computer if I want to play it again but right now I'm having more fun doing other things. I've never been tempted to log back in for anything.
I can't help but wonder about the age of people "addicted" and also wonder if you are the ones paying for it with your own money. If you aren't paying for it then I suggest you get a job and take control of your own life. This is as good a reason as any to stop playing WoW if you think it has become a problem.
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On October 05 2010 06:29 Scorch wrote:
Sell your account so there's no going back. Find something else to do like a new sport or a job, join some club, do social work, or learn a programming language or a music instrument. As long as you keep yourself occupied, you won't long for WoW. You'll get over it after some time.
Agreed. You get money for all that time you invested in WOW and you can’t go back without restarting.
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Firstly, I advise to get over the "I've been addicted to WoW" mentality.
This, and all other claims to addiction, can be understood as "I have habitually decided to play WoW".
Note this, addiction is but an excusitory myth for people of weak character to suffer.
Your body becomes used to sitting a certain hours of day and muscles atrophy. That is why your sides ache and you may feel nauseous if you do not visit Orgrimmar. But, let me assure you that you are not a victim.
You are an agent with choice. Choosing requires the will to choose. Fostering a strong will requires intuition and experience. There is no clear way to manually buff intuition unless you are a mage. Are you a mage? If so maybe WoW is a good choice. Otherwise, get up and break a sweat.
Manifesto's suggestions are all splendid and should give you plenty of ideas.
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sell your charcater for cash, break the cd, uninstall everything, use the cash to get some nice clothes and go out for a drink with friends at bars. hook up with girls and get laid.
edit if u cant or dont want to sell it, just delete all your charcaters for good and dont look back.
i was addicted to wow once, but i just quit and never look back, takes some will power but doable.
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Australia7069 Posts
Go and see a psycologist. I had a huge wow addiction, i'd quit and come back 6 months later. Go and see someone to make yourself accountable and have someone to talk to honestly. and dont lie. seriously. whoever you're getting support from, whether it be parents or psycologist, dont lie to them. If you keep playing, tell them that. tell them why, dont just start up playing again and keep telling them you're clean, it just wont work
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Honestly the best thing I think you can do is concentrate on school. You're 17, so you should be going to college in a year or two. Maybe just concentrate most of your efforts on finishing high school on a high note. Join some clubs as well.
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Wait for Cata to come out. Go out and buy it, you'll be happy for another year or so. Once you get bored, pray for the next expansion to come out.
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EPT
