If you can’t quit for yourself, quit for the ones you love, or they may not stick around long. A game is cold solace when your bed is half empty.

Yes it’s better than drinking to death, but not much. People have died by spending so much time online they forget to actually drink water or sleep. And regarding the OP, is it that much worse than watching X amount of TV? If you spent 20 hours watching TV a week vs 20 hours playing WoW, which is better? I argue neither. We shuold be not be spending so much time online that it impacts our life.

My wife and I want kids, I want a new career, a new job, etc. WoW gets in the way but these things take so long to establish, its hard not to argue that there aren’t huge voids in my life right now that can be filled by WoW. I look at my friends who are renovating their house or who have kids or do gardening or biking/exercise…what do we do? We sit in front of the computer and play this game. Often times I want more out of life but am unsure how.

@ Tubalcain, As for “reponsibly addicted”. Is that not an oximoron? You might be able to get to your professional and family responsibilities today (and I hope you always will). But with the progressive nature of addictions, those same responsibilities might actually get in the way for the game. Especially, if it’s a raid night or if you get involved with a guild that has high demands on your great playing abilities. Just be carfull & good luck!

Regards to all,

Jeff

@Thales: I’m working on finding another hobby. I’m blogging which takes up a great deal of my free time, and I am finally working my way through seasons of TV shows and books I’ve been meaning to get around to for ages.

On an up-note, I canceled my WoW account last night within an hour of being re-billed, so right now, I’m free of it for close to 25 hours now. I really hope it lasts.
Beej´s last blog ..Choosing Sides in the Geek Wars

Its very hard for some people to overcome this sense of achievement….my opinion, find another hobby that can fulfull this for ya. Thats what I did, and WoW became just a second-rate hobby that I do because its fun, but never becomes a priority over my RL.
Thales´s last blog ..The Descent into Madness, Part 2: Yogg-Saron

Addictions are progressive. It may not be that bad today, but it always get worse. The intention behind the actions in the begining were always honest and sincere. “I will only have one beer”, or “I will only be out for alittle while” – “I will start my WoW account but I will only play for a few hours” & “only on weekends” or “I’ll play only with my kid”. But the reality is that it is impossible to do just a little bit. You just can’t have a little taste. In time you will find that you are back at it just as you were or possibly worse.

Another thing about addictions – You can’t beat them on your own. It took time but I learned that it was not possible to acheive sobriety on my own. I tried 8 years ago, it didn’t stick. I now have almost 3 years.

Have you ever asked your self, “I think I have a problem with…?” Then you probably do. “Normal” people don’t ask themselves that…

Also, I’m a college English instructor, so that makes it relatively pathetic that I’ve let my reading get behind, and on top of that, I am looking at specializing my Ph.D. in television and film, and that makes it doubly pathetic. So it’s not that it’s merely impacting one hobby for another, it’s actually impacting my chosen profession and academic productivity.
Beej´s last blog ..Parallels in LOST and Stephen King’s "The Dark Tower" – Part 4 – Cycles and Salvation