v24.7: Life After WoW Launch

Good morning folks,

-slurp-

Today is the day I've made a conscience decision to stop playing World of Warcraft.  While in truth this may only be a small break from the game, my goal is to quit playing completely and taking back some of the things I used to do before WoW.

-slurp-

World of Warcraft is an addiction.  Blizzard Entertainment has done an amazing job in hooking players and keeping them hooked.  Sadly, I've been hooked for far too long and I've let it happen.  I've sat in front of the computer almost every day of my life for the last 4 years and I've played that game.  Most of the time I've enjoyed myself which is where the "hooking you in" plays a huge part.  I've also had some bad times as well which helps to balance the good and creating the addiction.

-slurp-

I'm reminded of a scene from the Matrix where Mr. Smith is talking to Morpheous about the Matrix.  He explained how the machines had created a paradise for the human race in the original Matrix where people were living lives of luxury and had no worries or cares.  Unfortunately the human race rejected this version of the Matrix and only when presented with hardships and trials were they able to live.  This is also true about WoW.  If the game was always so easy it wouldn't be any fun and people would leave.  Blizzard has added some very easy content and some very hard content (more easy than hard I think) so it was easy to accept it and hard to leave it.

-slurp-

I've created a new section on the site called "Life After WoW" which is where I plan on posting a semi-daily diary about my life after WoW.  It is meant to be funny so don't read into it as a serious piece of work.  In a lot of cases, if you've never played WoW, you won't get what I'm referring to but it should still be quite funny.

-slurp-

I've been looking over the last 4 years of my life and I've been trying to piece together what has happened.  It is funny how clear things are before I started playing WoW and then there is a few years of blur and then today.  So what did I truely accomplish in the last 4 years?

• Had a new Baby


• Bought a house


• Moved across the country (back home) to work


• Bought 2 new vehicles

That doesn't sound too bad now does it?  Of course not, I really did accomplish a lot of things in the last 4 years didn't I?  Well I guess WoW isn't that bad after all; right?

-slurp-

Here are the other things I also "gained" in the last 4 years:

• Put on 50lbs


• Lost 50% of my endurance


• Lost 50% of my mobility (flexibility)


• Lost touch with family members (most importantly my children and wife)


• Lost focus on dreams


• Lost a LOT of sleep

When you put things into perspective you could say I kept a fairly decent balance between life and WoW.  Unfortunately I let WoW become too much a part of my daily life and not just a simple video game I play on occassion.  Some of my friends who play WoW have done it right which is probably why I get so bored most of the time these days.  These are people I used to see on a daily basis who I maybe see once or twice a week now.  They are also new parents so I can see why there was a change.  I remember when my son was born and how I wanted to change everything in our life to accomidate him.  We moved out of our appartment and got in way over our heads.  We stopped playing UO and even went so far as to only have one PC in the house for things like web surfing, music and movies. 

-slurp-

My how times change.  So what do I hope to gain from this break?  Here are a few things I'd like to change and right what is obviously wrong:

• Lose the weight.  While I don't have any delusions of going back to the weight I was at before my son was born, I would like to drop at least 50lbs and get back into some of the clothes I used to wear.  Hell, right now I'd be happy to be 30lbs lighter.  I'll start off with this and see where it gets me.  I hear that P90X calling my name already.


• Start doing more around the house.  No, I'm not talking about dishes and cleaning because I already do these things.  I'm talking about taking care of my house.  I got a taste of that this weekend as I took a stroll around the property while I was out mowing the lawn on Saturday.  There are some obvious things that need to happen and some not so obvious things.  I want to get the back yard cleaned up from the winter and open the pool next weekend.  These are things that won't happen if I sit on my computer all evening playing WoW.  There is also this small piece of siding that fell off during a winter storm that needs to be replaced.  Unfortunately I don't have a ladder to get up there so that is something I'll most likely need to buy; which is something I should have anyway.


• Start spending more time with the kids.  They won't be this small forever and I came to the realization that my son will be 10 years old next year and almost a teenager.  My daughters are both growing up so fast and our latest addition is almost starting to talk and is nearly standing on her own already.  Soon I'll have a little toddler on my hands (again) and I'll be honest and say the house is NOT ready for a toddler (see point above).

As you can see I have a lot of neglected things I need to get back in order and the only way I'm going to be able to even do these is if I quit playing WoW for awhile.  I know this won't last forever but even if I quit playing for a couple months, I have so much I can get accomplished in that time.  By then we will be into summer and I'll hopefully be spending a LOT more time outside swimming in our pool and doing yard work.  I am really looking forward to our first summer in our new house and making some changes.

-slurp-

Anyway folks, sorry for the lengthy and personal musing here.  I had a few things I wanted to get out and for some reason I tend to use this medium as a way to do that.  WoW is a fun game, most of the time, but for someone who has been playing for over 4 years now, it is getting old.  Seriously, how many times can you kill a tiger for its teeth only to find it either has 1 tooth or none at all!! :)

-slurp-

Until next time.

Cheers,
Al