Ulthanon's Challenge

[Ulthanon]

Hey, kids.

So, this idea has been pinging around in my head for some time. As some of you may or may not know, I've interned at an outpatient substance abuse and dependency clinic for the past year. In my time there I have heard every excuse under the sun about why people don't give up Substance X, Y, and Z. If/when these people do give up their substance, they typically swap something else to be addicted to- be it peppermints for people quitting smoking, cigarettes for potheads, or AA for alcoholics; people seem to choose a less-harmful (or less illegal) addiction as a replacement at first, before dealing with the root problem of having an addictive personality (if they ever deal with it a all).

I have always said that I'm addicted to WoW, and that I've had the willpower to control it. True enough, I have been this fortunate- while I haven't added up my /played time across all characters, suffice to say that I have five 80's, a full server character list, and have been playing since December 2004; even with this massive timesink in my history I've graduated from college, attended and passed graduate school, held down an internship, been social, etc. I'm still in generally good health, despite the game's requirement to be sedentary. My addiction is managed.
And yet... I can't outright stop playing. When I try, I relapse in weeks if not days. Given, the game is different from substances mentioned above in many important ways, but it is also similar in others. Like cigarettes, there is a high social aspect to WoW's nature. Like pot, it is often used to reduce anxiety. It is very possible to get quite intoxicated on booze while playing- even if you're completely alone in the room.

Again, the differences outweigh the similarities. But the question stuck in my head nonetheless. If I really wanted to quit, and the Riders hadn't disbanded... (because that would just make me find another game) ...could I?

Well, I don't know for sure. I don't want to quit; I have always said that the Riders are my Third Family (blood relations being first, college friends being second), and I don't want to distance myself from that. But I am curious to see if I can at least muster the strength of will to combat my addiction. So, like most people do, I'm going to swap my addiction for another.

I fly back into Chicago on Monday night. Starting at that point, I'm going to try to not log-in for one week. Whenever I feel the urge to play the game, I'm going to do something else, either less-harmful or actually more beneficial. Because the detrimental parts of the game are typically the lack of physical exercise and mental engagement, I'm going to either go work out or try and write music. I challenge you to find your own replacements for one weeks' time, and should you do so, report how you feel at the end of your week.

See y'all next Monday.

[Matsujin]

I didn't know you were from Chicago, Ulth. I live in Indiana, though I'm in Australia now, and if you're interested in writing music and working out, I'd be happy to do anything I can to help you. I've been a musician since I was like 15 years old, and I absolutely love working with other writers. If you ever need someone to listen to your stuff, or help you work out a piece, or someone to jam with or just bounce ideas off of, I'd love to help. Working out has been a priority of mine recently as well; before we left on vacation, I'd lost 22 pounds in about 2 months. I'm probably going to be up 4 or 5 pounds when we get home, but I have confidence I'll work it off again quickly. At any rate, if you need any help in that area, I'd be glad to help in any way I can.

Best of luck, I know you can do it.

love,
nathan.

[Chrystenise]

You're insane.

Log in, the perpelz compel you! LOG in, the perpelz compel you! LOG IN, the perpelz compel you. LOG IN, THE perpelz compel you. LOG IN, THE PERPELZ compel you. LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL you.. LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU!

LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU! LOG IN, THE PERPELZ COMPEL YOU!

Sorry, they pay me royalties.

[Chrystenise]

To be a little less... I mean, MORE, serious though, it's been rough here for sure.

I think I'm right at a week now after moving here to MO and being with a WoW-able pc/connection combo. It SUCKS, though I can't deny my addiction, even if I had been playing a lot less lately.

So many other things to do though, and oddly, exercise has been the key thing. I've done so much walking around in the mountains and hilly-towns so far that I bet my cardiovascular threshold has doubled already. If I'd been to the doctor to know whether my heart was fully healed or not by now, I'd probably try running again. =D

But of course, outside of househunting, I've ran into the evil that is Fallout 3. XD And Huddle House, which is like, Waffle House, without tasty roaches.

So uh, have I technically passed?

[Lansiron]

GABBY YER GETTIN' AN OUTDOOR LIFE ON US :O :O :O

[Shad]

I did this once before, a while back. Was it two years ago? It doesn't seem like that long ago. I was getting angry with everything ingame, so I stopped for a week. No WoW, no GChat, I didn't even email anyone. I warned people, natch.

Was good. I got partway into Chrono Trigger, got the Rose website updated, and stopped getting so worked up over RP. Came back with fresh enthusiasm. I heartily recommend it every once in a while.

[Delion]

I've had large absences from the game, twice for 9-10 months. Its not bad. You can feel a little left out, but you come back without a feeling of monotony and stuff. I think at the moment I don't need a break, because I'll easily spend my free time doing other shizz like reading, making my eating habits healthier, or watching a whole bunch of TV curled up with Chris.

But breaks are good. Support for anyone doing this. <3

[Jolstraer]

Mia and I have taken extended breaks from WoW, and like Del said, when you come back you can feela bit left out. But the great thing about coming back to a round of long-term friends is that it don't feel like you've left for quite as long after all.

[Lansiron]

Heh, my gameplay schedule is always erratic, and these days I'm just on mainly for raids (not so much out of a lack of desire to play, but a bunch of other crap I always seem to have to do, leaving me with little energy). The neat thing is, even with the rare logins, I've never not felt welcome--our guys here are some sweet guys.

And yeah, never any harm at all in stepping away for a few if you figure your attention may be best spent elsewhere.

[Illithias]

I just came back from a one month self-imposed hiatus. Needed to take some time off for some IRL stuff, so I decided I needed some time away from gaming while doing so. All I can really add that while it may not be suitable for only a one week exile, I found completely nuking my billing system so that I couldn't log in at all helped.

Oh, and make sure you've got stuff to do during any "usual Warcraft time".