I totally feel for you! I'm Married ( 3 weeks) and he Still plays. It is a terrible addiction that i think I have decided can only be broken by pure lack of interest.. Whenever that may happen who knows. Hang in there. Try to talk to him about it. It really sucks though, Let me know if you come up with any clever ways to get rid of the problem. :)

some of the sad twatts at my place of work toss it off for over 16 hrs a day!!!!!

Hi,

I know exactly what you are talking about.

Let me tell you my WoW story: My (ex-)girlfriend likes to play games on the computer. Hey, no problem - so do I once in a while. Sometimes, when she really liked a game, she sat days on in in front of the PC. But we could always find some time to do something together.

Then there was Diablo 2. She liked it. A lot. No problem.

You must know, we work for the same company (IT), and there are a lot of people there who like to play. Especially Diablo 2. Except me. I didn't like the look and feel of that game.

So once WoW came out one by one every everybody got infected by this "virus". Lisa (my ex) promised "yeah, it looks interesting, but I don't want to get it. Not yet. Maybe later".

Yeah, right.

One day she called me from the office (in contradiction to her, I work in shifts) and said "I joined the darkside of the force. I ordered WoW at Amazon". "Fine" I said, "it's okay". I didn't know then, what was about to come.

She played this game more than any game before. If that wosn't bad enough: Both CEOs of the company play, about 80% of the employees. Even the cook plays WoW.

And you know what they say "if you can't beat them...". So I thought "why not?". Perhaps it would be fun to play WoW together. Why not show some interest in her hobby.

Yes, it's a fun game. No, I didn't become addicted. But now it starts:

After a while she breaks up with me. Yes, she found a player who is "better" than me. She fell in love (or something like that). The guy is from Munich (about 250 km from here - about a 150miles). They met for the first time a few weeks after she left me for him ("no, it's not just that I like him, I wanted to beak up anyway"). And, guess what: They didn't really hit it off. (Harhar!).

Nope, the never came together. She is still single, so am I. She may meet the other guy again, but she doesn't want him as a boyfriend any more.

But that's not the only reason I don't like WoW.

Yes, I still play that game once in a while. It's kind of fun too.

But when talking about it at the office it's ugly: I get to hear stuff like "you don't play often enough". "Why arent' you yet so far with your char?".

They talk about sometime for four(!) hours about:
- how good they themselves are, and how bad all other people.
- where they went on the map yesterday
- how much money they made when selling items
- how stupid other players are
- and so on, and so on.

Yes, WoW can be fun... if you remember that there is still a *real* *life* out there...

Heiner S;

I know how you feel. My boyfriend ,weve only been together 9 months but we dont spend more then a day apart. Sunday i went round his, he played from roughly 8.30-12ish and then monday morning 11-2ish, stopped for lunch and a chat ,I had to ask him 2o intresting quiestions that made him think, to keep him near me,but I could tell I was loosing and in the end simple told him to go(I could tell it was all he was thinking of when he wasnt watching tv and not really lstening to me anyway) well he went around 3.30 and apart from 10 minutes when I made him dinner, I didnt see him till gone 12 (8 and half hours later)at which point i faked being alseep because I didn't want to talk to him,I didnt want to argue with him but I felt so neglected.

We did talk in the end and he admitted that perhaps he did like the game a little to much.And that he'd change but we'll I lovve him but I won't get my hopes up.
I hate that game,its taking him away from me,how i can I be compition agianst something thats not real? If it was another girl,I could have a better chance,know what im against but a pc game?
My dad used to play pc games to avoid talking to my mum just before they divourced so I hate games that let you escape relaty so much it effects others.
But now its got my boyfriend, my best mate too, even her and her bf have arguments coz of the game. And all my friends at a club I go to play it minus a few,the others go on about it for hours.
I dont refus to play the game coz its mainstram,I wont play it coz of whats its doing to everyone around me,surprised there not all vampires the amount they go out now. Its sad and its making me feel depressed,so good to find somebody else who feels the same.

today my boyfriend passed up sex so he could play. they should make a support group for women who have this problem. or they shouldn't be allowed to play it if they're involved in a relationship.

this game is ruining my life. i absolutely know how you feel.

Nice to see there are still people left who have not been taken by this addiction. I wont bother repeating what has already been said. I hate it like the rest of you do, and if anyone here feel's like taking a trip to Blizard HQ (the dealers of this drug)..and trashing the servers and beating up the designers of the game..count me in! I imagine them to be scrawny nerd types who have never seen the light of day so it wont take much to rough them up a bit.

I am right there with you. My fiance spends every night playing. He gets home from work and stays on it until he goes to bed, so at least five hours a night. And on the weekends anywhere from 12 plus hours. I'll get mad and then he'll "fit" in an hour or two with me to keep me quiet. I HATE WOW!

Ok i am amandas fiance and i do play the game alot i wouldnt call it a addiction but i just get so into it and beleive me i do feel bad for not spending as much time with her as i should and im trying to change that i play for hours all the time

My fiancee of two years just called off our relationship because "She was tired of the negitive crap in our relationship."
I admit there was some crap in our relationship but all relationships come with crap. She stated that she wanted to be free to do what she wanted without feeling like she was being big brothered. I was like what the hell! You can do what ever you want, i bought the damn game for her at X-mas and she spent every night until 8 in the morning playing. I never got to see her anymore, so I started asking if she could come to bed at a reasonable time. She said she would and then never did. Finially I asked if she was not coming to bed because she was avoiding me or because she was addicted. She never liked that. A few days later I was staying with my sister and now a month later I am in a new apartment sleeping on the floor because I have nothing. She took two weeks off work while she was "thinking about it" and all she did was play warcraft! She does nothing but work and play warcraft then she sleeps for a few hours and the cycle continues.
Our relationship was not the best but it was pretty awesome. But she hasn't thought about it or what she was giving up because she is so caught up in that god aweful game. I have played it and its ok but hell I can get up from it! I'm suprised she doesn't have a bed pan. One day this game will be gone hopefully and she will wonder what happened to her great life.
Well folks that is my story.

8 hrs+ is the norm for an addict

My son started playing WOW about a year ago. He just recently turned 18. He got a job and started making his own money and in the last few weeks, he has spent hundreds of dollars buying a pellet gun, and musket, a paintball gun, and spent $500. on ebay buying a WOW leveled up character. He has gotten himself in so much debt that he borrowed almost $1000 from a loan shark to pay for these things. He's a senior in h.s., and is showing less and less concern for his education. All he wants to do is play WOW. He even called off work yesterday to play WOW. What's really scarey is that he seems to be bringing it more and more into his real life. We were driving down the freeway today when he saw a gasoline truck. He said, "wouldn't it be funny if someone shot the side of that truck and it blew up?" Also, I overheard him tell a friend that his big goal in life now is to shoot a bear. I want to ban WOW from my house, but whenever I do take it away from him, he gets very angry. And, usually he just goes to bed. We are a Christian family, and I see him getting farther and farther away from his fate. I don't know a whole lot about the game, but it sure seems like there are many aspects of 'evil' involved. I worry that this constant feeding of his mind is having some drastic personality (and spiritual) affects. Maybe this is one more way for 'you know who' (sorry, I do not even like to write the word) to try to snatch our kids. Any thoughts are welcomed.

To all you bitches complaining about your spouse, boyfriend, fiance, whatever...playing WoW instead of paying attention to you.....have you ever stopped to think that you suck so badly that your loved one cares about a computer game more than you? You're throwing fuel on the fire by continuing to bitch. He probably plays it so much to attempt an escape from his reality of being attached to an ugly, fat-ass nag like yourself. I'd do the same thing! Shut the hell up and quit conforming to the stereotype of a woman that probably you claim to not be. A BITCH! It's a goddamn game for Christ's sake! Who cares if he plays it hours upon hours on end? It's 2006 almost 07 and technology is a part of our times. So drag your floppy ass away from that antique, wooden butter churner and stop whining. And to any males complaining about the same thing....you're a pansy, and your girlfriend believes so too.

I HATE WOW! ok seriously since my friends have gotten it they haven't stopped playing it. During class my friend andrew will talk about it like i care and he keeps going on and on about it. I don't understand what he's saying. Now that their face is glued to the computer and they live the WOW life i can't talk to them or hang out with them. Everytime my friend kelly and i call them they have an excuse saying oh im sick i cant hang out or they are like im doing a Rade... ok i don't care if you're going to go to a fake world to kill fake things.. it's stupid. their whole life is based around the game. At lunch andrew and his girlfriend gabby talk about WOW non stop and keep saying they wish they had a lap top to play it on at school. Over the summer we didn't hang out at all because they were playing WOW.. so i went off and did band camp for 3 weeks. They get all pissed when im not around because im out doing something and i don't invite them. I cant invite them because i know if i do they'll be like sorry im doing a butt hole egg hunt or whatever. Also i dont want them around my other friends talking about WOW. It's pathetic. Yeah games are fun but come on when you wake up everyday at 3AM just to play WOW before school you have problems. Even with projects, I'd go to my friends house to work on and he'd BS it and be say i need to check my stats on WOW to see how much gold i can sell this for. I'm really sure the company that made this game doesn't care how much of a brain vacuum it is. I miss the old times i used to have with my friends hanging out and crap. It's really bothering my friend kelly and me. I mean even gabby's dad put a block on the computer so she cant play the game for a long period of time with out it turning off. This game is stupid. It takes your friends away. Im ready to smash the damn computers and be like this bullshit. I'm glad im not the only one who has had these problems. Im ready to send the site www.olganon.org/ aka online gamers anonymous.. it's like AA but for game whores.

Well it will probably be an ongoing topic that could even out last the game as the problems discussed are ongoing and evolving every day with WoW gamers and their real life social sturctures. I'm sure there are many unique circumstances due to players personalitys and who they are affecting (girl/boyfriends, married spouces, other family members and just friends in general)by playing the game.

I am (was) married and both myself and my wife had been playing WoW for a few years and it hasn't been all bad, we have met other couples ingame and have made some seemingly good internet friendships which isn't all that bad since we are very anti-social in person and have no real life friendships. This game has given us a bit of a social atmosphere we never had before and I do see that as a good thing. Its to bad the story doesn't end there.

I work very long hours monday to friday and also work every second saturday. I average about 12 hours per day so that in itself has been able to keep me from becoming overly addicted (in my oppinion anyway). My wife however does not leave the house unless it is VERY important. We got involved with this game because she wanted to play it as it was the biggest game she could find. I wanted to play it merely because I had been playing all of the warcraft series before and wanted to see how advanced they have become. Just with these different reasons alone I should have seen how we would be affected differently. Little did I know..

This game has become the single most important thing to her and she cannot be taken from it to participate in any other activity unless in very limited quanity. It is also really sad because we also have two children together and although one is still a baby the other is now 4 and has a slew of her own video games to keep herself occupied while mommy is gaming. She was becoming overwhelmed between raising the kids, home schooling herself and gaming so she dropped school. I supose it shows the level of importance.

In the end my only relationship with her was online but due to the fact that I worked much more than I ever played she outgrew me ingame. there is much longterm commitment to outplaying the endgame senarios every week as they reset and it takes much cordination and dedication. I could not get involved (even though yes I would have liked to) to that level of gameplay not only because of work but because I felt it taking away from my family. For the last few months I spent most of my gameplaying being alone and wondering why I was even playing anymore and given the chance to spend time with me and show that this relationship really ment so much she just kept on raiding.

One day I came home from work and everyone was sleeping. I decided to play abit in the peaceful solitude until they awoke and see what happens. Well my wife woke up first and logged on, started chating with her fellow raiders and became commited to a 3 hour raid, knowing full well that I was only waiting to do something with her. I stressed to her severly that it was not a good idea and if we are going to play we should aleast play together until the kids wake up. I was told I could wait until after she was done raiding to discuss any problems I had.

Ups and downs aside I knew what I had to do. I had to delete the caracters I built up for the past two years and ween myself from this addiction. I was not taken serious with how I felt this game was ruining our relationship until it was validated that I was really seperating myself from the game. Aparently I seperated myself from the relationship with that move and we were now in a catch 22 situation. I could not stay with her and let her play as it only made me resent both of them and she could not stay with me and not play without holding the same resentment. She has said she is going to stop playing but it hasn't happened yet and I don't believe it will.

I read posts of boyfriends turning down sex for this game for a week or so, the excuses I got for any kind of advances I made sexual or not (yes, sometimes real men would just like to cuddle on the couch with their signifigant other to get that happy togetherness feeling)were met with either the children were up or the game was on, usually it was both..

My advice to anyone that is just in the begining of a relationship with a WoW gamer is just walk away while you can. There are plenty other people out there and if WoW is not what you want to rule your life then just let them go. If you do not have children yet or are not married, the faster you go the better off you will be. If they understand the consequences of their actions they may come for you if not the will just keep feeding the addiction. I wouldn't ever hold my breath though.

i just feel like telling my story too because not to many people understand it.

I have a guy who i love and live with and have been dating for almost two years now.
He was playing final fantasy when we first started going out. The key term here is actually GOING OUT.
I never liked it toooooo much but i accepted my problems with it considering we still did have great times together.
He got a new job at a gaming store and that was great for him cause that's what he always loved.
Then, well, everyone at work played WoW.
He quit FF and that time was great.
There were still the message boards he checks 28745 times for atleast an hour but what evs right?
WoW started out harmless.
The graphics sucked compared to FF and it was more childish compared as well.
He's an addicted.
I'm reading these posts and wanting to cry because it looks like there is no hope.
Now that there is a level 70 cap I have to wait till then to see if he changes.
All I do it wait
I wait for holidays to go out or do something special
I wait for him to be done so we can go get dinner or so he can pick me up
I wait weeks and months for any type of contacts like kissing for more then 1 minute or when he feels like a blow job (oooOOOooo)...sex hasn't happened sinnnnce November? what's the point of spending 12 on the pill when he might or might not what so fucking ever want to touch me.
I love him
He's great and a funny guy when we go out.
I can't wait for my birthday
Valentines day...he spent time with me
and then played WoW later that day
He would kill me if he found out if i has sabotaged the internet
I needed to rant cause he hated hearing my cry over it
I'm just to clingy apparently
But when you sleep next to someone every night and they barely want to kiss you because your head blocks the screen when he's flying that STUPID dragon which requires NO NEED TO SEE WHAT SO EVER...

you may not read this
but i needed to rant
time for a cigarette because i am not a happy girl after right this all down
and this is probably only 1/4 of my plight.
thanks if you do read this
I hate WoW and I want a t-shirt and I want to fight someone because of this

I really don't know if I should feel relieved or sad that there are also other people with the same problem! I know exactly how you feel!
The difference between us is that I don't live with him and I can barely seem him only once a week for a couple of hours and that only if he is not raiding!
And he finds it perfectly normal for me to schedule my time so as to fit his free time from raiding!
I talked to him about it and that the game has won him over me and he says that the problem is mine and he is only playing a few hours (which of course is not true!) He simply doesn't care to spend time with me anymore, he just cares about playing wow!
I am so hurt and disappointed that he can easily throw away 8,5 years of a relationship for this stupid game! Not even a suggestion to spend a day off with me, he spends it with wow and just offers to spend 2-3 hours to go out with me after the end of the raid, as if I was a beggar in this relationship! I even sent him a link of this tribe to make him understand, though I am afraid it's not possible at the point he is right now :((

am Jacqueline's husband. After having played WoW since release I have just recently canceled my subscription. I guess I am what one would call a recovering addict. As she said, the extent of my play was well beyond what you could call "healthy". I have logged over 140 days of playtime on my main character alone. This means that I spent almost 6 months of my life in front of my computer playing this game while my wife and daughter suffered. I think I was most deep into my addiction when I was going for High Warlord when the first honor system was released. During that time I was playing 8-12 hours a day on average, sometimes more.

WoW in a lot of ways is like a drug. It provides an escape from reality. It also provides an entire community of people that share the same interest in the game. It also gives a sense of euphoria and accomplishment by completing in game goals or finding in game items to make the character stronger.When I played, I felt good. When I accomplished things in the game, I felt good. That feeling was only multiplied by the community of people that I knew who would give me congratulations when I did something. It was even worse during the HWL grind. Online players would see my character and give me congratulations or say something good that would make want to go more and gain that recognition. When I wasn't playing WoW, I was thinking about it and anticipating the next time I would get to escape to the game. Even when spending time with my wife and child.

During this time my wife would try to talk to me about the extent of my play. She would say things like "you may be addicted" or "you are playing to much". I didn't listen, I thought that things were fine, that there was no way I could be addicted to a video game. Did such an addiction even exist? We had talks about it and sometimes fights and arguments, but nothing ever changed.

One day I decided to join the Army National Guard. I joined to get money for college so I could get the education I needed to finally start the career I always wanted. While I was in training I began to realize just what I had been doing with my life and I didn't like the way it looked. I wrote to her and told her I had changed, which I honestly felt that I had. I told her things would get better between us and I would stop escaping from our life. I even asked to cancel my subscription or sell my account. I don't blame her at all for not doing it, although I really wish she had. When I returned from training I didn't have as strong of an urge to play as I once had. I didn't play for some time once I returned. Then a friend of mine reminded me of the promise I had made to come play on his server with him. I honestly don't know why I agreed to it or why I didn't say something to him about what was going on. Regardless of the reasons behind it, I gave back in to the urge. I started playing again with my friend with promises that the guild I was joining was "casual", that none of them played more than a couple of hours a day.

What a blind fool I was. At first, it was casual. I was spending time with my family, helping out around the house, and patching up my marriage. Then the Burning Crusade expansion came out and everything went right back to the way it at had been.The urge and euphoria had returned. Our marriage began to suffer again.

Then, one day while I was playing, Jackie sat by me and began to speak. The words she said will forever be seared into my mind. She said "I don't think I love you anymore". Right at that moment in time my world came crashing down around me. How could I have been so stupid, so blind? How could I have treated my family this way, the two people I care most about in this world? I can only imagine the amount of hurt and suffering I had inflicted on them. The amount of shame I feel is unimaginable.I can't imagine the amount of resentment and abandonment my wife felt towards me or how much damage I had done to the bond I have with my wife and daughter.

I have been a fool. I would honestly give up every hour I have ever played video games if it would restore the bond I had with my wife an child. All I can do now is hope that maybe one day they will be able to forgive me and to do everything within my means to try and fix what I have done. The truth is, it may be to late. The cost I will pay for my addiction is going to be far more than I ever thought I would pay. It may cost me the two people I care most about in my life.

So, in conclusion, if you have a loved one who you think may be addicted, help them. Please, I beg you, if you care about them at all, find a way to make them realize what they are doing, what they are throwing away. Tell them how you feel. Tell them about the lonely nights you spend without them while they play the game. Have them read these forums and show them they are not alone, that this thing is real. Make them realize before it is too late.

As for anyone who may be addicted and is reading this post. I hope that maybe this has given you some insight or realization as to what you are doing to your loved ones. Listen to the ones who love you, take the time to be with them. Take it from a guy who has experienced it. Losing someone you love because of this game is the worst feeling you could imagine. The cost is far to high.

If you think I am making this up, then go take a look. My characters name is Bluerazer, I played on Destromath. Before that I played on Burning Blade. Look me up on [url] armory.worldofwarcraft.com/#character-sheet.xml?r=Destromath&n=Bluerazer [/url] .If that is not enough, make a character on Burning Blade and ask anyone from the guild Liberty just how much I played and the cost I have payed for that playtime.

Please, don't be a fool like I have.