Archive for category Life After WoW

12 things to do, instead of playing WoW

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

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

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

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?

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...

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

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

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8) Climb a mountain

you first

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?

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!

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

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.

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Quit WoW: 10 steps to success

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.

8) 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.

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10 rules for being human

  1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
  2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”
  3. 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.”
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. “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.”
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
  10. You will forget all this.

From here

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Finding a Hero

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.

lance ArmstrongI 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.

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Life after WoW

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”:

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Deathbed Test

How do you judge the value of something? Not easy really, when it comes down to it.
One method I have found to be good fun, and pretty useful, is the deathbed test.

Basically, it goes like this:

    Imagine yourself as an old man/woman.  Your final days are upon you, having lived a full life (let’s say you are 85).
    As you lie there, breathing heavily, you think back to all of the things you have achieved and done in your 85 years of exsitence.
    Picture a specific activity, such as a holiday or party, or picture a great person you know who cracked you up with laughter and did some great stuff.
    Does that memory fill you with happiness, was it a great memory?
    You would probably be wishing there were things you had done, but didn’t do (regrets).
    What is the stuff that you really wish you could do and will regret if you do not do it?
    Remember your youth, the short time when you body was strong and agile.  Did you make the most of it?  Were you fit, did you run, swim, climb hills?
    Did you travel, did you create something with your bare hands, did you help someone, did you bring  joy to your friends and family around you?
You in x years time

Son, now you must gank lowbies in STV

Sooner than you think, you are going to be lying on that bed, having those thoughts. 

What will you think about grinding that instance 100 times, what about when you should have met up with a good friend but stood and talked rubbish for 2 hours to an annoying guildie?  What about the time wasted doing the same quest 50 times?   What about the pointless 6 hour raids?

The Deathbed will show you only the truth, make sure when you reach it, it’s with a smile on your face and some pride about how you got there.

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