Quit WoW Now! is a community of people from across the globe, brought together by World of Warcraft, the massive, multi-player, online game. This site offers support for gamers who want to quit playing WoW. Tell your story and read about how others have successfully quit. The site is not about hating people, games or companies.
If you play WoW and really want to quit, the best place to start is Here
If you have a friend or family member who is addicted to World of Warcraft, click Here
If you play WoW and want to flame or criticise this site, please take a look Here
If you are just curious and looking about, then enjoy the site, and buy a cool t-shirt from the store!
Solve the following puzzle
Posted by admin in 10 steps to success, Game Psychology on February 16, 2010
First, a very brief story. Picture the following:
You are sitting chilling in your home one evening, whistling a merry tune and flicking through the latest edition of Hedge Trimmer Weekly (or whatever) and watching TV. Suddenly you hear a loud knock at the front door. You pull yourself up and go to open the door. On your door step you see a smart, official looking man standing there, holding a briefcase and some paperwork.
“Good evening”, he says, shaking your hand.
“I am Mr. Jones from the newly formed Department of Particularly Incredible Offers”.
He continues “It’s with great pleasure that I can offer you today, a $10,000 cash gift, risk-free and yours to keep”.
That quickly snaps you out of thoughts about the new electric-powered, 550w, 90cm hedge trimming beauty you were just considering buying. However, you are rightly suspicious of this rather unusual offer, as you have never heard of this so called Department of Particularly Incredible Offers, and anyway, who goes around giving away $10,000 for free?
“I can see you are slightly doubtful of this offer. Don’t worry it’s a normal reaction.” Says Mr. Jones.
To your amazement, he opens the briefcase towards you, and sure enough, there’s $10,000 sitting inside, tightly bundled in stacks of $10 bills. He shuts the briefcase and then calmly hands it to you.
“Please, take the case” Mr. Jones suggests.
“But what’s the catch?”, you sensibly ask, as you take hold of the weighty briefcase.
“Ah, the catch” he adds, (looks like you were right, there’s always a catch).
“Well” he says “Starting now, and every day for the next two weeks, you must jump up and down in the air 200 times outside the front of your home. I want you to keep the briefcase, which is of course indestructible and locked. Someone will be watching, and once you have jumped up and down outside the front of your house 200 every day for two weeks, you will be handed the key which unlocks this case. If you fail at any time to jump up and down 200 times outside the front of your house, someone will drop by to take away the briefcase. Here is my official identity card and here’s a signed guarantee of this offer, plus my contact details”.
Well, how strange, seems quite legitimate, in fact it is a legitimate offer. You now ponder what you see as the two main possibilities:
1) Ask the man to leave and take his briefcase with him, you are too busy, and anyway how likely is it that you will get to keep the $10,000. Also, you want to get back to your TV show, which is starting in 15 minutes.
2) You decide that the offer, though strange, looks true. You decide to take the briefcase, and to jump up and down 200 times each day outside the front of your house. You will then take the key and open the briefcase containing the $10,000. Every time you are jumping up and down, you will be thinking about how you will spend the $10,000.
Now my question to you. Do you choose 1) or 2) ?
12 things to do, instead of playing WoW
Posted by admin in Benefits of Quitting, How to Quit, Life After WoW on June 8, 2009
What’s the best way to beat the Warcrack habit?
Why finding another cool, yet less addictive past-time of course!
Here’s Matt’s top 10 things to do, instead of playing World of Warcraft.
1) Pump it
Yes I do work out
You play a muscle-bound hero in WoW, whether you are male or female. Why not take this off-line with weights, wrestling or martial arts.
Many WoW addicts also gain some pounds while gaming, so pumping iron or fitness is a natural solution to getting lean again. Drop and gimme 10!
2) Party time
Hire a party bus
Remember those people who were always hanging around before you started playing WoW?
Not guildies, but “friends”. Real life people who want your company, want to see you, laugh, joke and make physical contact. Get out of that house.
3) Romance
My foot is stuck
Your love life might have been nerfed during your WoW playing days. If you are in a relationship, re-ignite the flame with some romantic gestures, eating out, flowers, a card, a love note, eating flowers… Use your imagination. If you are single, get back out on the hunt, the fun of the chase will keep your mind off gaming.
4) Sleep
Is it really 2015?
The WoW addiction can leave you drained and lacking sleep. All those late night raids and dailies take it out of you. You deserve some rest fella.
Getting back to a full night sleep can be one of the most mentally refreshing activities imaginable. 8, 9 or even 10 hours sleep a night will get you back in business.
5) Start a blog
It all started when...
Let it all out, tell the world how you feel. Writing down your thoughts is a great way to let the emotion out.
It’s also a different way of expressing your creativity, without needing 10 hours per day investment and dollah per month.
6) Surprise a family member
Mom, it's me
Gaming can often leave you feeling completely self-obsessed. WoW addicts spend their entire time thinking about the next bit of gear, the next quest, the next mob. Why not surprise your parents/other half/kids with something special, a cool gift, a day out, a massive kiss or hug. Something out of the ordinary that will make their day. Make their day.
7) Surprise your boss
my job is your job
Many WoW addicts will let work slip, and only do the minimum necessary. Surprise your boss by getting in to work early, working with maximum enthusiasm, being the new ‘Best Employee’. It’s amazing how quickly this will have an effect.
Climb a mountain
you first
Running around Azeroth can be tedious. Climbing a mountain will leave you breathless, exhilarated and inspired. It’s also a real adventure. Fantasy and discovery are not only available in MMO’s, it’s out there free of charge, just grab it.
9) Sweat
running makes you tired?
Playing WoW all day long, your body stops moving, your joints and muscles atrophy, you forget what it’s like to be a physical entity, and not just a brain connected to a digital device. Go and do something that makes you sweat, the feeling is immensely rewarding.
10) Watch your favorite sport
Use the 9 iron!
If you have been playing WoW excessively, you have probably cut back on your sports too. Make a point of watching the next big game, your favorite match. Get back into it, be uber-passionate, cheer if they win, cry if they lose.
11) Get a Massage
thats it right there
Treat yourself to a full body massage. Let the stress flow out and relax. No more gold to farm, no more uber gear to worry about.
Get the blood flowing and those muscles loosened up. Let it out man, it’s over, big breaths now.
12) It’s all a game anyway
Remind yourself that life is all one big game, and you are a player in it. How many points have you scored?
Make a system where different activities earn points. Who is current top of the leaderboards? can you catch them?
What activities in your life earn the most points?
Start doing them.
Quit WoW: 10 steps to success
Posted by admin in 10 steps to success, How to Quit, Life After WoW on June 7, 2009
Are you ready to quit?
If no, then read this, disagree with one or more steps, then go back to playing WoW.
If yes, then follow these steps to remove World of Warcraft from your life, and make sure it stays out.
Remember, this is not about hating WoW, or thinking it is more addictive than some other MMO. This site is about obsessive WoW play, other sites can deal with other problems.
This is about stopping your WoW habit, when it has caused problems in your life, with the aim of letting you get back to living and loving life again.
1) The Foundation
Look at where you are now, this is the basis of quitting. Make an accurate assessment of your life now compared to where it was before you started gaming.
Look at these areas:
- Relationships with loved ones (Friends/Family).
Look at each relationship, how has each one changed? Are you closer, or further apart? Is it tense, or easy-going? Has WoW caused problems?
- Physically
Look at how much and how well you sleep. Are you sleeping enough, do you feel tired? Do you need to sleep more, or get back to a better routine?
Are you using your body? Do you need to start moving again and learning what it is like to be alive, and not chained to that chair?
Look at your diet since playing. Are you eating badly, at your computer? Are you eating junk? Have you put on weight? Has it affected your health?
-Socially
Look at your social life outside of the game. Do you see friends and family as much as you did? Do you really relax away from the game?
Are you an “oxygen thief” doing nothing but consuming and taking, or are you adding anything to the World around you?
Make note of the top 5 things that have been affected since you started gaming. At some stage in the future you will forget why you quit. This list will remind you just why you quit, and what would happen if you went back.
2) Accept it is out of your control
You love gaming, you get a lot of pleasure from it, it has been a source of fun and excitement in the past. It kicks ass and you will miss the good times. You made some good friends, it was a wild ride.
The reason you became hooked is not your fault, it is out of your control. The same thing would happen again in the same situation.
3) Accept that you are responsible
The fact that you have played too much is not the fault of the game. Your obsessive gaming is not the fault of the game developers. Your long hours in the game are not the fault of your friends or family. Even though the degree of your obsession was out of your control, every decision was made by you, and you are responsible for the results. You are also responsible for kicking the habit and getting back to life. You are responsible for change. Tell your story here on the forums later on.
4) The only way forward is to quit
It’s a shame, but it has to be done. Accept this now, and know that if you put it off, you will only drift back into the traps that have been sucking your life dry. Things don’t look so bad the next day, so finish this while you have the chance, and while your desire for change is strong. Do it now.
5) Quit fully and totally
Do whatever you have to do. Make it a ceremony, fraps it, tell the world on Twitter.
Also, delete all items and gear, get rid of gold, everything. It only makes it harder to go back. delete the characters, all of them.
Do whatever else you need with disks, installs, other files, browser bookmarks, resources and sites. You won’t be needing any of it, so do it in style.
6) Announce it
Tell your game friends, your real friends, your family, your dog, you have quit, and you won’t be going back.
Tell game friends it has been fun, they are great, good luck with things. If they are real friends they will stay in touch outside of the game.
Friendships are bigger than games.
Tell friends outside of the game you are back. Tell family you are finally back.
7) Make things right
You might have really hurt people through your actions. You might have driven people away from you. The “you” they have been living with is not the real “you”. The real you is back now, ready to make a difference, to meet the new challenges with them. Apologise – it is well worth it, and necessary. People need to be able to forgive and forget. There is probably a lot of emotional baggage to get rid of. Be the big person and apologise.
If the place is a mess, clear it up. Do all of things you should have been doing while you were gaming.
Plan your success
Remember those huge dreams you had about the amazing things you wanted to see, the things you wanted to do or buy, the person you wanted to be, the places you wanted to visit?
Take a big breath, you are alive, and those things will be yours now, if you really want them.
Plan your Dreamlines, make them real, make them tangible. If you need to find a job, or fix a relationship, or fix your health, do it with passion and excitement, do it with energy. The new “You 2.0″ is going to be a work in progress, a work of art. The real adventure is just beginning, the pixels you have been playing with mean nothing now.
9) Find a Hero
Read the post here on finding a hero. Find someone you admire, respect and would want to be more like.
Follow their strengths and the basis for their success. Aim to be more like them, work towards improving yourself in the ways you admire.
10) Commit to an excellent life
You are a unique and excellent person. You have a set of skills no-one else has. You potential as a person is almost unlimited.
Use this period of shock and change to make other radical changes in your life. Get out there and take life by the neck, pull it in the direction you want.
Dump any useless friends who are going to pull you down or tell you that you made a mistake.
You are going to feel a lot of crazy emotions. It might not be easy, but if you want it, and if you have given yourself the desire, then you can do it.
Tell your story on the forums here. Use the community for support, many people have been there and pulled through the other side.
Your love of adventure, fantasy, discovery and excitement will not end. This is only the beginning.
10 rules for being human
Posted by admin in Life After WoW on June 6, 2009
- You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
- You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”
- There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”
- Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
- Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
- “There” is no better a place than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”
- Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
- What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
- Your answers lie within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
- You will forget all this.
From here
Finding a Hero
Posted by admin in Life After WoW on June 6, 2009
When you quit, you are going to be feeling a whole different mix of emotions: anger, fear, sadness, demotivation, emptiness, loneliness, indecision and much more.
It’s a very hard time, your emotional state is shocked out of the regular routine and security of your game playing.
It’s a time when your mind is very open to moving down new paths, and a time to take positive action.
Unless you can find something to fill the WoW hole, it makes things tough. This is why one of our recommended steps in the recovery process is: Find a Hero
It’s nothing dumb, no idolizing people, just finding someone who you know or know about who you respect and admire. Someone who has achieved what you would dream of achieving, someone who can be a role model as you start to move forward in a new, positive way.
First, if you can think immediately of someone who you respect, and would like to be more like, use this person as your Hero (they don’t have to be famous).
If you don’t have someone in mind, think about an area you enjoy, like sport, music, films, art, history, science or business for example.
Once you have found your Hero, start to research them a bit, use Google or the library. Dig into their history, and look specifically at areas like:
- What have they achieved?
- How did they do it?
- What are their strengths?
- What kind of personality do they have?
- How did they overcome difficulty?
- How would you like to be more like them?
Write this stuff down, it’s going to be useful when it comes to creating your Dreamlines. Your Dreamlines will be your wildest dreams about how good your life can be.
I will tell you about one of my Heroes. His name is Lance Armstrong. You might have heard about him, if not, the man is a legend.
He is a bike rider who has achieved at the highest level in his sport. He has won the biggest race in the world, The Tour De France, which takes place only once a year. He has won it seven times! Even though he was struck down with cancer and almost died. He fought through it with all of his heart and recovered to do what many people said was not possible.
He did it through determination, focus on his goals, passion for life and love of his friends and family and the sport to which he wanted to return.
His life is for me a huge motivation, and every time I look at what he has done, it drives me forward again, to try and achieve my own goals.
Now, at the age of 37, he is trying once again to win the Tour De France. A lot of people are saying it is impossible, but Lance lives to make possible what is impossible. You will see a link to his blog on my links to the right of the site. Or click here
Lance will be riding to raise awareness of his Charity fund.
Now it’s yout turn to find a Hero. Someone who can drive you forward and help you through the tough times ahead.
Life after WoW
Posted by admin in Game Psychology, How to Quit, Life After WoW on June 6, 2009
What can you expect if you quit?
At the very least, it will be a mixed bag of emotions. If you have been playing a lot, it’s going to feel a bit crazy, a whole churning pot of emotional turmoil.
Take a look at this list below, and expect some of the following:
Difficulty sleeping
Depression
Feeling completely empty
Vivid dreams about the game
Fear about the future
Anger at people around you
Irritability and restlessness
Periods of just sitting and thinking
Relief
Strong urges to try and go back
Mood swings
Sadness
Missing game friends
Missing your characters
Anxiety
Loneliness
Boredom
Lost for what to do now
Lack of motivation
Lack of goals
Illness like flu or a cold
Wanting to be alone
Putting off important stuff you know you should do
Wishing you could have it all, and play
Lack of enthusiasm
No passion for anything
The first few weeks after quitting is tough, and a lot of people give in and return to the game and waste all of the hard work they have done.
It’s going to be hard!
Remember though, you are not alone, and the toughest things give the biggest satisfaction. Remember what Gandalf said “All we can do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us”:
Don’t be fooled
Posted by admin in Effects of Gaming, Game Psychology on June 6, 2009
You may have reached this site because you are playing too much WoW and it’s becoming an issue. Maybe a friend or family member is playing WoW and it is causing problems, you can see them putting everything into the game, to the neglect of all else in life.
Before you start shaking your fist at WoW and cursing the developers for ruining lives, first consider these facts:
- The developers are creating a highly imaginitive game for socially responsible and balanced individuals. (more on this to follow).
- It’s not due to the specific nature of WoW that gamers become addicted. They are vulnerable to other potential game addictions.
To expand on the first point. Game developers spend months creating exciting and vast worlds with incredible graphics and game play. It’s their job. It’s not reasonable to ask them to create something sub-par, or mediocre.
Harley not so proud of new bike
It goes against the pride we have in our work, against human desire to excel in our chosen field and against the primary objective of creating profit for the game company.
Games companies will continue to try to be the best they can be, and games will continue to develop, become richer and more involving. Don’t believe me? Just read Mona Lisa Overdrive or Neuromancer
by William Gibson to gain a glimpse of how the future might look. Games will become multi-sensory and utterly engrossing.
However, I’m a firm believer in education before prohibition. People need to make their own choices and make their own mistakes. How else do we learn as individuals, and as a society? Banning something is generally not a solution, in fact it often makes it more desirable. Educating ourselves and each other is the key, as these learnings can then be carried forward into other areas, to prevent repeat mistakes (hopefully).
Lessons not passed on from father to son
Also, be aware, if you or someone you know is obsessed with WoW, the situation would probably be the same with another similar game. This means the solution does not lie in simply switching to another game to break the habit (unless the game is completely different). The main aim should be to fill the gaming hole with something very different, and certainly more positive.
More on this in our eBook “Quit WoW Now, 10 steps to success” which you will see on this site very soon. Our solution is much more proactive, involving your Dreamlines, finding heroes, and making a positive step forward in your life, as a reaction to the shock of quitting WoW.
What is addiction?
Posted by admin in Effects of Gaming, Game Psychology on June 6, 2009
Although the term “Addiction” is used in the area of gaming, and also on this site, it needs some clarity.
Some interesting observations can be seen at the IGDA site (International Game Developers Association).
Passion – When you are passionate about something. It draws you to something; it increases the value of activities in your life; it increases your energy, your motivation, your creativity. You feel expanded, revitalized, and passionate.
Addiction – takes away from your life; it reduces your motivation to do things outside of the one activity. The hallmark of an addiction is that it takes away from your life. It makes you feel compulsively involved. You feel a compulsive desire to move towards that thing, where compulsion is being driven by some external thing rather than being driven by something internal; by your own internal creativity.
It is possible to differentiate between these 3 things:
- Excessive use of something;
- Dependence on something, behavior dependence, when you continue to do something despite external factors that tell you it’s wrong. “My wife keeps yelling at me to stop and I know it is bad but I don’t stop.” “My grades keep falling but I keep doing it.” “I’ve missed work 3 times this week but I’ve done it.”
- Addiction to something, which is supposed to be physiological; cocaine is addictive because over time my body begins to crave cocaine whether or not mentally or psychologically I actually want the cocaine.
Things labeled as addictive should have the physiological component. The opinion is that this is where the whole idea of computers being addictive becomes problematic.
Gaming can fit the outwards characteristics of addiction, but is this physiological aspect also present?
The IGDA study agreed that games can be seen as addictive and cited a particular study done in 1999 that showed PET scans of people playing a gambling game. The scans showed increased levels of dopamine in the brains of the players, and based on earlier correlations made between increased dopamine and other forms of addiction, the study suggests that game playing is also addictive. Of course, many activities can cause a similar effect, so gaming is not unique in this respect.
In the early 1950s, Peter Milner and James Olds conducted an experiment in which a rat had an electrode implanted in its brain, so the brain could be locally stimulated at any time. The rat was seated in a box, which contained a lever for food and water and a lever that would deliver a brief stimulus to the brain when stepped on. At the beginning the rat wandered about the box and stepped on the levers by accident, but before long it was pressing the lever for the brief stimulus repeatedly. This behavior is called electrical self-stimulation. Sometimes the rats would become so involved in pressing the lever that they would forget about food and water, stopping only after collapsing from exhaustion.
Sound familiar?
For Friends and Family
Posted by admin in How to Quit on June 6, 2009
Is a friend or a member of your family addicted to World of Warcraft, or is pathalogically playing the game?
There’s a more formal test for this, but if it is causing you anxiety and stress, it’s clearly an issue.
Gaming habits do not appear overnight, they develop steadily over a period of time.
Lines are not often quickly crossed, mostly they are moved. You may be seeing things now which you would not have allowed to happen 6 months ago.
I would never play in front of my partner. I would try to move the line by playing while she was there, and judge her reaction. Her reaction was always cold and firm in these situations. This reinforced her position of not wanting me to play. This lead me to going around the line by playing while she was asleep. This is how the mind of the gamer works.
Friends I played with would have no problem playing in front of their partner. The nagging and shouting seemed to be part of it for them. Different people have different tollerances.
It’s a hard place to be, and can feel very frustrating, I see that now. Gamers who are playing obessively have tunnel vision. They are often so heavily focused on the game, when they can play next, the next objectives within the game, when the next raid is and so on, the rest of life becomes a blur. As an outsider, all you see is the back of a head.
Part of your task is that of understanding. You need to understand, in part, the game they are playing (I don’t mean also playing it with them, or encouraging them to play). You should know for example, the nature of World of Warcraft. It is a massive, multi-player game, with many different Realms, or game servers. All of these servers are the same world, but support different players. It is a subscription-based service, which means it requires an ongoing fee in order to play. The game can be played alone, or with other players. Players within the game form guilds, which are teams of players working together towards similar goals.
It’s a social game, unlike more traditional computer games. The human interaction takes the potential to a different level, which is why it is far more compelling and potentially addictive by nature.
This information is not useful as material for nagging, spying or emotional blackmail, but try to understand what they are doing and why. It’s useful to see where they are at in terms of their relationship with the game, which can help to tailor a response.
This site aims to provide you with an advice network and support in dealing with obsessive gaming. Hopefully the situations of others will be encouraging and useful. It’s not an “us vs. them” situation. Nagging and emotional blackmail may work for some, but I have found that in the main it drives further distance between you and will only encourage more dishonestly and anger.
In the main, if the gamer is a self-supporting adult, it is necessary for them to come to their own realisation that gaming is causing problems in their life.
For younger adults and children, the situation can be different.
As this site and forums develop, further resources will be available for this wide variety of situations.
Overall, keep in mind that you will often be asking someone who has build a reputation within a game, with power and recognition, to come back to a real world, where things look a lot more bleak. More on this to follow, plus additional resources and articles are available throughout the site.
At this time, we really want to hear your story, please tell it in the forums.
It’s not about the game
Posted by admin in Effects of Gaming, Game Psychology on June 6, 2009
I am Matt, the founder of this site, and I love gaming. Ever since I was a young kid, I have gamed. It’s a big part of my imagination, and has directed a lot of my creativity.
World of Warcraft is just one of many, many games out there that I have played. The imagination and creativity that has gone into building WoW blows my mind. Entering the game offers a chance to let your imagination run wild. The whole experience is huge and exciting.
For a lot of people, playing WoW causes no problems. For others, it causes severe problems. For me, gaming has caused problems. I had to give up gaming, because I can’t do things by half-measures, I want to be the best and compete at the top, or not do it at all. Playing more and more and competing at the top, the time requirement gets bigger and bigger. The more you play, the less obvious are the rewards, and the more time is needed to achieve certain improvements.
For reasons like this, many people let their gaming get out of control, and it affects other areas of life. If I look at what I have given to gaming, and what I have got back, it has not been a good relationship. Gaming sucks some people dry and eventually spits them out, a wreck. I could see myself going down that path.
It’s not about the game, is one of my main points. It’s about the person gaming. Some players have the kind of personality that means they become obsessive very quickly (addictive personalities). Games like WoW have been designed and developed specifically to encourgae long-term play. Certain types of people are much more vulnerable to this kind of game type.
When I used to see forum posts of people quitting, it would annoy me, because I felt like it was an attack on me, and on the game that I love. It felt like an attack on my lifestyle, and a judgement of what I was doing with my time. That’s what would make me feel defensive and then become critical of what they were doing. There were plenty of people around me feeling the same way, so I didn’t feel alone in my reaction.
This site is not here to attack games directly, or to try and have them banned. It is here to help people overcome problems they have had due to obsessive gaming and live a normal life again. Simple.
If you are gaming and feel you want to flame or criticise people who want to quit, then go ahead. Most posts are not edited on this site.
What is a problem for others, might not be a problem for you. Please remember that a recovering gamer or ex-gamer was once a passionate gamer, who loved their gaming, often above all else.
How do I know I have done the right thing in giving up gaming? When I gamed I slept badly, had sore eyes, relationships were going down the drain, I was ineffective at work, didn’t exercise my body, didn’t do much else really. When I don’t play games, I am fit, I think about the people around me, I am happier, I sleep well, I love life more, I don’t miss it, I do more. This is how I know.
Have a good look around the site, if you want to have a good flame, the forums are here.
Matt (Game lover, and ex-gamer)
Quit WoW Now- @j_smedley congrats on hitting 2 million with free realms
- Top 12 things to do, instead of playing WoW http://bit.ly/iu2fQ
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