The World of Warcraft.
I remember when this game first hit the store shelves back on November 23 of 2004. Back then I made the conscious decision to avoid this game at all costs. During that time, I was eyeballs deep in games like Unreal Tournament, Quake & Counterstrike. I was an FPS fiend.
I knew the addictive personality I had when it came to video games so when this game hit, I walked the other way. FAR AWAY.
Enter October 2006. First Person Shooters began to lose interest and one of my good friends (Jalaxxel for those that knew him) was talking about picking up a new title to bring some fun back into his gaming sessions. He began talking to me about the World of Warcraft. He wanted to pick up the title but didn't want to dive into it alone. Being the good friend I am, I told him we'd do it together. We jumped in my truck, headed to Best Buy and soon we were installing the ends of our lives. 2 years. 2 BLOODY YEARS, I held this game at bay. October of 2006 was the end of my life as I once knew it.
Now don't get me wrong, this game is one hell of a good time. Good friends are made and good times abound! But that's the problem. You soon find yourself consumed. Nothing else matters but bagging that next quest. Downing that next boss and scoring that next Epic. It has to stop somewhere, sometime. It just has to.
That time, I feel is creeping up on me quickly.
For anyone who doesn't believe that this game is a problem is lying to themselves. I was at a point where I was raiding Monday through Thursday from 6:00PM to 10:00PM. Friday, Saturday & Sunday were my only reprieves but I was online that whole time none the less. While those raiding hours may not seem like a long time, in a sense it was. You see, in the mornings, I'd get up, farm gold and materials for that night's raiding. Get showered, go to work, come home at around 5:00PM. Just enough time to run into the house, say HI to the wife, run upstairs get changed, log in and get to the raid. Wife would end up sitting alone downstairs all evening, eating by herself and kids wondering where daddy was. By 10:00PM, everyone was in bed.
Next day, rinse and repeat.
This kind of schedule along with some personal strife on the homefront caused me to drop out of raiding status in my guild, even caused me to leave the guild a couple of times. Each time however, I'd come back for more punishment. Any psychoanalyst will tell you that this is a problem.
With the transfer of my guild to another server, I feel that this is probably as good a time as any to explore the possibilities of shelving this game. Already this morning I was guild searching to see if there was a suitable group (Last Exile?) to hook up with and run. Then I thought to myself, "Wait dumbass, you don't even WANT to run! What the hell are you doing?" I shut down the 'puter and walked away.
I don't want this to turn into a wall-o-text so I will end for now. I'm so miserable right now it isn't even funny. For anyone considering picking up this title, do so with caution.
Don't be me.
~SjN
