WoW: the need for limitation

I really enjoy playing World of Warcraft. Being a full time writer and a housedad I use WoW as a form of release. It lets me unwind and have a little fun while interacting with about a million of my closest online friends. In a way it lets me get out of the house without getting out of the house.

That said, the best way to get out of the house is to actually get out of the house to the real outside, not the virtual outside. Plus, as I am sure WoW players past and present can attest to, WoW can be addicting. It’s nice if we all have a few methods we can use to help pull us away from WoW:

• Use WoW as a reward for getting a work goal accomplished. For example, “I need to write my weekly story for TMG before I play WoW.”  I am actually using this technique right now. It not only limits your playing time but also makes you feel less guilty about playing since you have already accomplished something. I usually try to set two or three work goals of the day to finish before I allow myself to play WoW.
• Set the in-game timer. The people at Blizzard realize that other people should do other things than just play WoW.  They give us a very handy timer that we access by shift right-clicking the game clock in the upper right hand corner (see image above). I often activate the timer for an hour and give it the message, “stop playing WoW.”  It works more often than not.
• Talk to other guild members or friends. Tell them, “I am only here for a bit, just to run a few dailies. If you still see me on an hour from now please start bugging me. I have work I have to get done and I am very weak willed today.”  My guild never minds telling me to log and get to work. I try not to take it personally!
• If you are a raider, pick one or two nights a week and raid those nights and no other nights.  (I try to pick the nights there are no TV shows on that my family is interested in) Block out two to four hours and let your friends, family and loved ones know what you will be doing for those hours. Try to show up a few minutes before the raid and encourage others to do the same. The quicker you can get started the less time you will waste. The more you can optimize your time the better. I’ve been on one raid where we downed the first 5 bosses in ICC 10 in under ninety minutes. There was a nice sense of accomplishment without investing a lot of dead time.
• I like to block out days where I don’t play WoW.  I just write on my calendar: No WoW 2Day.  It’s nice taking a break. First it reinforces that there are a lot fun things you can do that don’t revolve around WoW. Plus, I think it makes the game feel a little fresher when you return.

Remember, as fun as WoW is, it should never take priority over real life and real people.