It has been just over six months since my divorce with World of Warcraft. Although I briefly rebounded on Rift for a couple weeks, it never got serious. Staying away from MMOs has been easier than ever. Let me put this in perspective for you.
When I played, my days all looked the same. I would wake up, go to work, and try to leave early to log on to WoW, then sit there and play until it got late. I logged on and did daily quests, then raided for 4 hours, then maybe crafted and played the auction house. This would go on for 5 days a week from Sunday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday were supposed to be days off, where people can go and do stuff outside, but… yeah right! I had stuff to do in the game, still. I would raid more on a different character, gear up, gain experience, you name it. I was consumed by this game.
That is not to say, that WoW ran my life. I did, however, plan my life around it. To be the best at what I did, I had to put in a considerable amount of time. Towards the second half of my WoW “career”, I contributed to the leadership of my guild, which resulted in even less free time than before. Since I put in so much time, and the amount of time put in translated proportionately into success, I was really very successful… at slaying Dragons. I had a great time, I met amazing people and I do not regret it one bit. WoW kept me out of trouble. I played from the age of 20 to 26 – years during which a lot can go wrong – and given my proclivity for trouble when I was younger, I am thankful for my MMO addiction.
I could say that I turned out better this way, than I would have otherwise. Obviously that’s an enormous assumption based on not a single fact, but I genuinely feel like I would’ve either been a baby’s daddy or struggling in community college if it wasn’t for World of Warcraft. Now that I’ve been “sober” for a whopping 6 months, in retrospect, I can really appreciate it.
Since quitting mid-February, I’ve accomplished a great deal. I have redoubled my efforts at my university, actually taking it a bit more seriously than before when I was busy slaying dragons. I’ve become more politically acute thanks to reading more and watching the news regularly. I made a very special friend with whom I’ve reconnected after over 10 years of silence, and yet another couple friends with whom I haven’t spoken in ages as well. I am more willing to go out and do stuff outside of my house – though that usually saps at my finances, so such excursions are still limited. My drive to travel has been rekindled, partly thanks to the aforementioned special friend, and partly because I have a lot more free time to do it. For example, since quitting, I’ve been to Portland and the Oregon Coast, to Salt Lake City, Utah and I am very soon going to Europe, to see my family and also to tour Classical Italy.
Life has been good – as someone put it; “You’re on cloud 9 lately.” It has been great, actually, and with an amazing, newly-found friendship, a light at the end of the University tunnel, and a promising career, I am absolutely ready to tackle almost anything life throws at me. Bring it on, bitches.
