WoW: How to quit?

[Dutch]

As a former WoW player, and a guy, I was asked by a friend about a predicament she was facing. Recently I had a conversation with a close friend of mine. She was overly concerned with the addiction of the game coming in between her and her boyfriend. As a gamer myself I did not have the heart to explain to her the monotonous and repetitive spread-sheeting phenomenon that is 'World of Warcraft' was not only cheaper, but probably better and easier entertainment. I don't know if it is because the lack of sleep, or that I still hold deep feelings for the game subconsciously, but I honestly can not think of a way to help her. Mainly because it took me months of social decline and a mental breakdown to quit. This predicament has all the sense of a low-budget Hollywood movie. She has recruited me to her cause, the only man who can take down the others used to be one of them. Etc.

Anyway, I thought that this hypothetical would become a good topic for conversation in the TRS community. So I pose this question.

What do you think someone could do to quit Wow, or ween their significant other from its frigid grasps?

[Redrocketman]

Well as a former Wow player I can't say that I found it really that hard to quit playing it at all, and its not like I didn't play it that long I played it for about a year and a half, and in that time did lots of end game raids played the xpack and all that jaz...

but my advise to help someone quit the game would be to show them that the outside world and hangin out with friends is more well fun then the game.

[kristen_]

1) nothing
2) risk resentment by doing a 'me or the game'
3) play with and go over to the dark side

[DarthEnder]

When they hit 70 and finish all their quests, unless they're in a raiding guild they'll probably stop playing on their own because there's nothing to do.

That's the only thing that weaned my insterest.

Now adays I just log on once a week to do the Arena. And play in AV on the weekends when it's double honor.

If someone was inclined to want me to quit, this would be the time, before the next expansion comes out.

[WizMaster]

Stop paying. When the account reaches the end, the inability to log in will ween her off of WoW. This game is only fun with friends so she must have many friends on it which will be the hardest part to ween off. I might go back to WoW but I doubt it. I'll probably try out another MMO in the future.

That said, if a game is starting to damage your relationships (intimate, friendship, family, etc.) then it's time for an intervention.

[Serenity]

If it's a serious addiction (as mine was - I love raiding) it's best to sell the account. Anything less makes it too easy to get back - even deleting all your characters. (I tried)

[WizMaster]

If it's a serious addiction (as mine was - I love raiding) it's best to sell the account. Anything less makes it too easy to get back - even deleting all your characters. (I tried)

Yea, that's one bad thing about WoW. They don't delete accounts because they know you'll come crawling back.

[blure007]

Have them give you their account information, change the password and sell the account for them. If the addiction is that bad then the responsibility needs to be handed over to another person.

[GoNZooo]

If you haven't quit already, why bother? You obviously like the hideous carebear PvP, the circle of wanting item -> getting item -> wanting item -> ..., the barely existing trading system and not-at-all free market.

If you're OK with all these, why should you quit?

(The best way to get rid of the addiction would be selling the account, or just giving it away. That's the method I've used with all my MMORPGs.)

[Dutch]

Well, I might mention how I quit. After a few life choices I ended up giving my account away and threatening to kill them if I wanted it back. It worked. The problem with some people is that they still think they can maintain an avid social life, a relationship, and still play the game at the same time.

If you raid, you have little to no social life or time for a relationship. This isn't set in stone, but from seeing it happen over and over, both in guild and out, i'd say it is in 90% of cases.

[MrZ]

Like all hobbies it can be intensive. But I think its many things to many people. I think there are a lot of levels ranging from wholesale life destroying addiction to "meh" its a fun little game. Not all raiders sell their life to the game. But yeah some do.

All comes down to the individual. One person's casual interest is another person's problem. I think we all have holes in the armour for various things.

[deegraww]

See this is why with WoW I use gamer cards and not just letting them pull money from my checking account. I did that with SWG and I played it for over two years. WoW doesn't have that hold over me. I log in but I haven't played (Done quests or grouped) in a while. Meh.

[siraim]

Step One.. break their gaming rig. Subtly. If they put a ton of effort into fixing it straight away in order to play.. there may be no hope short of an intervention.

If they do let it be dead for a while... maybe it's the break they need in order to step away from the game for a while.

[iccanui]

What do you think someone could do to quit Wow, or ween their significant other from its frigid grasps?


Turn the computer off and go outside. 2x as easy if you got someone help you.

Im dead serious. The world is awesome and if you can get someone to go outside and just sit and listen to the wind blow, the calming pace that nature walks, its infectious.

[Berrex]

I used to play WoW. A lot. In fact, so much so that it even began to interfere with my grades (which is a huge deal for me). To date, it has been more than 1 year since I have logged on. How did I do it? I learned self-control. I find that it is best not to think in absolutes - i.e., "either play all day long, or don't play at all!" Quitting an addiction is a process, so it should be treated as such. How many ex-smokers do you think have been able to quit instantly? Probably not that many.

I'm sure your friend wants her boyfriend to stop playing WoW. She wants to see the change happen now. But that simply isn't realistic, and she needs to understand that. What she can expect, however, is a process of change. Things take time. Tell her to find ways to get involved with him. Go out and do things once in a while. Eventually get him to replace the time he spends on WoW with spending time with her/with real life. Have him get a job if he doesn't have one. Etc. Give him a chance to learn self-control. But (I cannot stress this enough), do not force him to quit altogether. That leads to resentment and an unwillingness to comply. If "successful", it will lead to withdrawal, which will probably suck him back into the game sooner or later.

The key thing here is time. Give him time to practice self-control until it becomes habitual. Then life will be good. At least, that's how it's always worked out for me. And believe me, I have a lot of experience with this kind of situation, being a seasoned MMO player. Those games are too dang addictive!

[vermknid]

I was really into raiding just a few months back (uber pally healer ftw)...anyway first of all college has taken up a lot of my time, but one of the main things that helped me quit(at least for now), was to question the reason for playing..."once i spend all this time getting this epic item, what am i going to do with it, there is always something better...and i will just have to continue wasting 3 hours a night raiding. And then when the next expansion comes out everything i have earned is null.

just question the game.

[necrosis]

As a former WoW player, and a guy, I was asked by a friend about a predicament she was facing. Recently I had a conversation with a close friend of mine. She was overly concerned with the addiction of the game coming in between her and her boyfriend. As a gamer myself I did not have the heart to explain to her the monotonous and repetitive spread-sheeting phenomenon that is 'World of Warcraft' was not only cheaper, but probably better and easier entertainment. I don't know if it is because the lack of sleep, or that I still hold deep feelings for the game subconsciously, but I honestly can not think of a way to help her. Mainly because it took me months of social decline and a mental breakdown to quit. This predicament has all the sense of a low-budget Hollywood movie. She has recruited me to her cause, the only man who can take down the others used to be one of them. Etc.

Anyway, I thought that this hypothetical would become a good topic for conversation in the TRS community. So I pose this question.

What do you think someone could do to quit Wow, or ween their significant other from its frigid grasps?

tell her to play more, unless shes addicted really hardcore she will get bored of it. Id say if that doesnt work, delete her characters and have her give you her account (changing it to your email and all that).

if shes really desperate and calls up blizz to get her stuff back then she really has a problem, at that point i would take drastic measure, install a keylogger on her pc and keep changing her password and what not, give her hell.

there really is no easy way to get somebody to quit, its different for everyone.

[mrhaines]

I quit by giving all of my money and items away and then deleting every single character I had. Someone told me that I could have sold them for a lot of money, so this is an option too, especially if you have a decked out 70 (or 80 now I guess). If you have been a heavy player for a while, the thought of going back and doing 70 levels of grinding again just so you can start playing may be enough to keep you from starting again. I also uninstalled it from my computer and threw away the CD's.

Its funny that even talking about it like this gives me the urge to play again...it really is addictive and must be viewed as such.

I think that the best way is to have better things in your life to care about. Grinding for hours for an epic sword that is just going to be useless in a few months due to the next expansion really puts things in perspective. The opportunity cost is just too great to waste time on a game like this. Think about it, if you put the effort you put into making gold in World of Warcraft in real life, you would have real gold to buy real epic items with.

[Ryudo]

Am I the only one who has never played WoW and has ZERO interest in it?

[Grazz]

I can't believe you guys. I'm a MMO junky from the UO days and I know the best way. Sit down and talk with them about it and clearly explain how you feel. If that's not enough to get them to quit then you were wasting your time with that person to begin with. And if you need to quit, well then you quit but you never really need to quit if you don't make the game a job, aka hardcore raiding guild =P

[siraim]

Am I the only one who has never played WoW and has ZERO interest in it?

yep.. you're that guy we all talk about in hushed tones around the water cooler..

[Ryudo]

yep.. you're that guy we all talk about in hushed tones around the water cooler..

ok...but but I can set the building on fire....

[Vurtigo]

You have to quit WoW cold turkey. There's no if , ands or buts about that.

[Serenity]

ok...but but I can set the building on fire....

Excuse me but... I believe you have my stapler.

[magunwarrior]

Read a book.

[Serenity]

Read a book.

Without fail, now this Read a book! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOcMFeWUsuM) is all stuck in my head. :P

[Anoesis]

Get your account banned like mine! I stopped playing for like 2 months someone in asia was playing my account which i didnt know they were. so blizzard sent me an email saying your account has been banned. It was the third strike for me. As they said my account has been associated with people that are violating the terms of service 2 other times but those times i knew about (leveling service on my third lvl 70 toon):D.

[damnedeyez]

Am I the only one who has never played WoW and has ZERO interest in it?

Nope, I'm the same way.

[WizMaster]

Without fail, now this Read a book! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOcMFeWUsuM) is all stuck in my head. :P

LMFAO. That was hilarious.

[TheCakeisaLie]

Play other games :)

I still play wow (Lugano in the Totally Rad Guild), but I don't play as much as I used to. I have a wonderful girlfiend and I basically made it clear to myself, that if she wanted to do something I wouldn't put WoW over her. I also started playing other games when I got the itch for a WoW fix. I sometimes play TF2 or Portal (obviously), both games you can put down at anytime.

[HiPNoTyQ]

all I'm gonna say is that Diablo 2 took two years of my life that I'll never get back, that is why I have never touched World of Warcraft. Oh its been tempting, but I've stayed strong :)

[iMarcella]

Honestly if the person has a problem with there boy/girlfriend playing W.o.W or even playing games; I say there is the door don't let it hit you on the way out. This topic for me has always been a teeth grinder for me. I am a girl gamer; I grew up on video games and till this day (25 now.) I play video games on a daily base my ex boyfriend would hate the fact I would wake up just to log on to W.o.W and not go to bed with him cause I was finishing up quest...screw that he hates/hated it there is the door no man or woman (yes I am bi) is going to stop me from gaming. Sry if this sounds a bit b*tchy but it's my honest feelings about this. It's being passionate about something and I think if someone is passionate about what they do even if it's just a job they are passionate about they shouldn't stop doing it...

[Tgrosslhk]

As a former WoW player, and a guy, I was asked by a friend about a predicament she was facing. Recently I had a conversation with a close friend of mine. She was overly concerned with the addiction of the game coming in between her and her boyfriend. As a gamer myself I did not have the heart to explain to her the monotonous and repetitive spread-sheeting phenomenon that is 'World of Warcraft' was not only cheaper, but probably better and easier entertainment. I don't know if it is because the lack of sleep, or that I still hold deep feelings for the game subconsciously, but I honestly can not think of a way to help her. Mainly because it took me months of social decline and a mental breakdown to quit. This predicament has all the sense of a low-budget Hollywood movie. She has recruited me to her cause, the only man who can take down the others used to be one of them. Etc.

Anyway, I thought that this hypothetical would become a good topic for conversation in the TRS community. So I pose this question.

What do you think someone could do to quit Wow, or ween their significant other from its frigid grasps?

My solution.... find another game!!!


but really dont you think about it at night

[JC Magnus]

This was my strategy to stop playing WoW:

Step 1: Stop playing
Step 2: Do something else

and thats it.