It's been roughly one week since I quit WoW, that RPG-shaped albatross around my neck. True to my word, I went home that very same evening and cancelled my subscription. Unfortunately I was paid up until April so drastic action was called for. I uninstalled the entire game from my hard drive. As any WoW player will know, you're looking at several hours if not a whole day to re-install that wee beast.
Just before I uninstalled, I was faced with a small dilemma. I had accumulated an awful lot of in-game gold across my 7 toons. Who should I give it to? I had recently changed guilds and I felt kind of embarrassed about donating it to my new guild. It's hard to explain why - I guess I over-analyse things too much - but I hadn't been in the guild long enough to complete my probation, they were a really good, well-established guild and I was honored they'd let me in, so I felt a bit guilty about upping and leaving them so soon.
I also have a good friend in-game who is possibly as addicted as I used to be. She's only 16 and I kind of feel an older sister-style responsiblity towards her, so it seemed wrong to fuel her addiction by giving her all my gold. In the end I decided it really wouldn't do that much harm - she could blow it all on a rare mount, donate it to other needy players, whatever. I really need to stop being so over-analytical, don't I?
So with my gold disposed of and a very low key couple of goodbyes said, I logged out for the last time and hit uninstall, feeling strangely numb inside.
It's been a week and I haven't regretted it once. I've dreamed about WoW a few times - jumbled, confused dreams where I wake up thinking "Argh I need to gem my new trousers" and then realise that it really doesn't matter anymore. But other than that I feel great. More energy, lower stress levels...and evenings and weekends are going by so much slower you wouldn't believe!
I've started reading again. I'm reading a fantastic book called The Secret History by Donna Tartt. It's always on one of those "100 Books You Should Read Before You Die"-type lists so I figured I should give it a go. I never would have had the motivation if I hadn't quit WoW. The book has enriched me and made me think in ways that a computer game could never come within a million light years of.
I wouldn't swap this feeling for all the gold on Azeroth, Outland and Northrend put together.
Hey, I'm really glad that people like you are breaking away from this WoW addiction. I have been finding it hard to stop, yet I just want for time not to pass so quickly as it seems to be doing - like after the weekends, the monday after, I just feel my time away from school has been wasted. It's even gotten to the point where I can't even recall doing much at all during the weekend. I've tried to quit before, but to no avail.
ReplyDeleteThanks to what you wrote, I feel like I can give it all up this time. Although I may not have accumulated alot of gold, or server fame and what not, the game still had a firm grasp on me - perhaps the desire to become better.
Thank you :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete