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)