WoW can be addicting. Seriously. Look it up on Google if you don’t believe me. If you’re reading this blog, there’s a good chance you just can’t get enough WoW. Believe me, I am just like you. I wouldn’t write this blog if I wasn’t in some way addicted to this great game. If you’re not careful, though, WoW can flat out eat your life. Do you find yourself only logging in “for an hour” only to find yourself back in Kara, three hours later? Is your significant other chastising you to no end about that “stupid game” you’re always playing? Heck, do you even HAVE TIME to FIND a significant other? You have to try to find a balance at some point, so here are a few ideas to get you started.
Don’t Forget Your RL Friends and Family
Most of us forge fairly strong relationships in game. A lot of closer guilds actually find the time to meet up IRL. Heck, some people find their significant others that way. Don’t forget your family. Don’t forget your RL friends. We often go to great lengths to plan things in game. We set up Raids weeks in advance, set a time, get everyone organized. Why not translate that skillset to your real life? Set up a night out with all your old friends. Set aside time to spend a night out with your significant other, maybe plan a mini-vacation. Make sure that though you love to WoW, you show those people in your life that they still matter.
I personally don’t play Saturday or Sunday during the day. Why not? Because I have a wife and a little girl, and I spend all week at work. I don’t want to then ignore them on the weekends for a game. I also don’t play when I get home from work, though I’d love to. It wouldn’t be fair to them. Now, some of you may be lucky enough to have a spouse who plays with you, but I do not. I have to compromise because of it, but I NEVER regret that compromise. This brings me to my next point.
Schedule Your Time
Don’t just log on willy nilly whenever you can. This is what leads directly to those aforementioned 3+ hour sessions that were “only” supposed to be an hour. Make a schedule, and stick to it. Heck, if you have problems with that, you can even set parental controls on the WoW site to limit your playtime. It’s extreme, but it can work! It can at least give you a better idea of just how MUCH time you spend in game.
I log on every Saturday night at 8:30, and start my weekly raid at 9. My wife knows and understands this schedule, and because it is clear to everyone, nobody gets hurt. As far as weeknights go, I log on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights when her and the baby go to sleep. Now I would love to be able to make my guild raids that happen in the evenings on Tuesday and Thursday, but I’m not going to change my RL schedule for it. I owe my family more than that. Am I perhaps a little behind the curve? Yes. But I’m also a little AHEAD of the family curve compared to many I know. 
Remember Your Old Hobbies
WoW hasn’t been around forever. So what did you love to do before you started to WoW? Have you forgotten? Maybe it’s time to pick up a book again, or maybe you should clean the old golf clubs and hit the links. Whatever it is, don’t forget the other things you love for WoW. Yes, I know, WoW is a fantastic game and is a fairly economical way to spend your money – but that doesn’t mean you should forsake everything else for it. Maybe it’s time you went out and ground out a RL tradeskill!
Your reading skill is now 375!
“Sweet, I can read War and Peace!”
I enjoy writing, and fancy myself being paid for it some day. (Technically, I am an editor for a “Fortune 500″ company now, but I want to get paid for FUN writing!) It makes me cringe if I think about how many good “writing” hours I may have wasted in WoW. That’s another reason for my aforementioned schedule, and also a reason I started this blog. It conveniently combines two things I love into one, and I’m very grateful that there is such an avenue available to me.
Conclusion
The whole point of this post is that, whether you realize it or not, maybe you need a little more RL/WoW balance. This is just a game after all, there are very few ways it can help you get ahead in life. I love this game as much as many of you, and at one point I WAS out of control. I used to stay up till 4 in the morning on a regular basis, log in any time I was able, and largely ignore other aspects of my life. Was I any better for it? No. In reality, the more segmented, scheduled way I approach the game has been MORE rewarding. I find that I really look forward to my play nights, and I enjoy the time I do spend in game to the fullest. Think of it this way. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chili. If I had it for every meal, though, in time it’d lose its luster. If it only comes once a week I can really savor it. Try to savor your time in WoW.
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Excellent post and advice! Even after almost 4 years of playing, reminders such as this are refreshing.
Great post, it’s nice to hear from others out there who are willing to schedule raid time around family and not the other way around. I find that a “Parenting” skill of 375 is the best leveling goal of all.
@Mama and Garth–
Family is the bee’s knees, ya know?
And sadly, Garth, too many haven’t bothered to level their parenting skills, and they don’t bother to see the trainers, either.