WoW Detox

Not long after I posted the end of my gaming addiction, I got a comment from The Nino, who introduced me this Detox centre for World of Warcraft addiction.

It's an amazing site, with testimonials from fellow ex-gamers who have quit their addiction, particularly to World of Warcraft. As of last read, there were 1,871 posts on why people actually quitted their addiction and moved on to a normal life.

I got quite a chuckle reading them. The posts relate to my experience, why we love the game, and why it was ruining (or even overtaken) our day-to-day lives.

It's a good read for all you gamers out there. Like smoking, most gaming addicts start off as "casual gamers". But when you start getting in the fun, you turn on to be more competitive, and start training to be better. As you kick more butts in life, your ego starts growing. And you crave to become the local maximum. You start scarificing quality friendships, relationships for a little more time to the game. And the rest is history - you have become a walking zombie.

Here, I shall post some of the few stories I got from the site.

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"It's really hard for people to understand what I am going through. I lost my daughter I lost my girlfriend and my home over this game yet I still continue to play, but as I play I have this constant demon in the back of my head telling me I should kill myself because I cant seem to stop thinking about what I've lost. This game is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and I come from a family where drugs were more important than I was. That is saying alot. I play the game 18 hours a day, only because I need atleast 4 hours to get some rest so I can wake up and do it all over again. I do not have a job I don't shower, I don't shave... I neglect my daughter when I get to see her. I fight with everyone I know in real life because all they do is tell me im being a bad influence and that I dont have an addiction im just being lazy.. i've tried killing myself once but couldn't bring myself to it... Im getting to the point where I have nobody to speak with I guess that's why I found this site. I pray I can overcome this addiction for my sake and my daughters."

"I got into WOW because my boyfriend played it. It was really fun until we broke up. I went on WOW and my t7.5 gear didn't matter, my 450 enchanting, tailoring, cooking and fishing meant nothing. It's all fake and nothing made me feel better. Just deleted everything and realized I had to live a real life. Best break up ever :)"

"I lost my job and my girlfriend because of this stupid game.
Take the right advice, the only way to quit this game the right way is:
1) delete all your characters
2) scramble your password so you don't know it
3) delete your account
4) uninstall the game from your computer
5) destroy the disks
It is scary while you are doing all of this but trust me, once you get it all done, you will be amazed at how invigorated you feel, you feel a rush from the freedom, knowing that you have broken the shackles of a horrible addiction."

"Ok this is my honest testimonial..
I used to play wow for 3 years, actually since i was 13 years old. It was cool at first, couldnt really get addicted to it..But 1 and half year ago, i got so addicted that my schedule was..School-WoW-Homework(less than an hour-WoW-Sleep
Now, im counting 2 and half months of being crystal clear of wow..Here is what actually came up:
1. I started to be way way way more social
2.I was working out during my wow-playing period, but i was skipping most of the days, in order to raid. Now im going to gym 4 or even 5 times per week...
3. By doing that, ive lost 19.8 pounds, that is 1.5 stones! Or, 9 kg.
4.I got a girlfriend,for which now im happy to be with.I used to claim i have one while playing wow, but i didnt have anything...
5.Also, my grades are going upwards again, actually im getting all A's now.
It is not clearly WoW that gives people that addiction, but themselves...i suggest you to stop wow and do something productive"

"I've lost the love of my life for 3 years over this ridiculous game.
And even though I'm gone, he continues to play. I hope he has a lot of world of warcraft friends because he will be lonely withoout me.
I quit because I didn't want to lose him, he couldn't do the same for me."

"looking for fun > looking for group"

"Pawning in soccer > Ganking (killing) horde."

"Graduation gown > Purple Gear in WOW"

"your naked girlfriend dancing > your naked nightelf/blood elf dancing"

"hanging out with friends at college > hanging out with strangers in dalaran"

"Buying your girlfriend an engagement ring > Jewelcrafting 100 copper rings to level up quickly"

"Going out to have coffee with a nice girl > Going to raid Naxx with people you don't know"

"Time spent in real life self-improvement and developing real world skills > Time spent grinding WoW fishing, cooking, first aid and game professions on toons"

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All in all, this sums up everything.
"People > Pixels"