This game is having a negative affect with the marriage of way too many couples that we know. So because we do love them and want them to stay together. I figured I'd post it here for all.

How to Break a World of Warcraft Addiction

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

The definition of "addiction" is the state of being enslaved by something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming(such as narcotics or gambling), to such an extent that to discontinue the habit or practice can lead to severe trauma. In other words, you love something so much that you have developed a habit of using it or playing it to such an extent that not doing so leaves you feeling cranky or nervous, and you are becoming disinterested in other areas of life.
Some experts believe World of Warcraft can be "addictive". Here's a way to break your WoW "addiction."

Steps

Admit you have a problem. This may be hard, but accepting that Warcraft has taken over your life is the initial step into overcoming your addiction.
Consider the following: Imagine the day that you first bought the game. If you knew everything you do now, would you still have bought it? Now the follow up question: Imagine yourself in two years, still playing WoW, looking back on today when you are making the decision to quit or keep playing. How do you feel about your decision to continue?
Find out what has caused your addiction. What makes World of Warcraft so appealing to you? Is it the fact that it has different continents that you will never go to? Is it the fighting? Is it your "unique" role as a tank or a mage? Is it the happiness of 'pwning noobs'? Whatever it is, try to minimize this happiness in WoW, and make it a pleasure that you could also get in every day life.
- Take a martial arts class. Kick some real ass. Crit in real life. Many gamers are very interested in the martial arts, but never study it. Take up some sort of martial art that is similar to your character in WoW. For example, if you use a sword in the game, then take up fencing, Kendo, or SCA fighting. Your sword skill goes up much faster in real life.
- Read. Novels have just as much excitement and adventure as WoW, but you can expand other skills -- such as critical thinking and vocabulary -- in addition to those that interactive storytelling and game play will build. Try to equip gear that increases your reading ability (Such as monocles), this will increase your WPS (Words Per Second).
- Play a less time consuming video game with all of the rewarding feelings of WoW.
- Do live action RP (LARP), especially if you were from a RP server.
Burn yourself out by finding the ways to cheat at World of Warcraft. Find a private server to play on, with ultra fast leveling/gold. Cheating through the entire game in an hour will get you burnt out very, very quickly. #Make it a joint effort. Believe it or not, many people play World of Warcraft simply because their friends play it, and they find it enjoyable to spend time with them in WoW. If this is the case, then convince your friends to stop playing (with these steps, if needed), or even better, find another game to play. Otherwise, explain to your friends and family what you're doing, and ask them to help you stay on track. When you can't trust yourself to keep away from WoW, you have to trust someone else to stop you.
Set up parental controls for yourself. Make it so your play-time is limited, and use a complicated password that you are sure to quickly forget. Or, ask a friend or family member to set the parental controls with a password you don't know.
Schedule other activities with your free time, so you won't have time to play WoW. One of the most effective way is to get a part time job and book every free time you have to work. Hang out with your friends, play basketball, engage in extra curricular activities at school (such as clubs or sport teams) or volunteer. The important thing is that they keep you outside of your home, away from your computer. You can find that there are many things that are just as exciting as playing WoW. Remember, your "guild" online is no substitute for the company of real friends.
Give away your bags and gold (don't mail them to an alt) and delete your character.
Sell your account. There are many players and lazy people out there, willing to pay for an existing account. This is a great way to stop playing, because then someone else takes your character, and you won't be able to control it any longer. This is a nice way to quit, but not stop addiction.
Beat the game. When all else fails, play until you reach the highest level possible. Many players get to the maximum level (at least until Blizzard releases another add-on pack) then look back and realize with disappointment that they've been following what is known by many gamers as the 'role-playing game grind', or the extremely repetitive and ultimately fruitless efforts of gaining gold, levels, and experience. Because when it's all said and done, a dead man's possessions are not important; it's the memories that count. So go out and make your own, now, in the real world.
Do activities that are productive in the real world but allow you to have the same satisfaction of leveling up like getting fit, learning to cook, succeeding in school courses. Get your artisan cooking level, first aid, and fishing skills up in real life. Maybe you can find something useful to do. Also, try smokes almonds. Next time you wanna play a paladin, try some almonds. Not the sugar free almonds, but normal ones. your a winner!

Video

In this video, you will see what it takes to set yourself free of this highly addictive game.

Tips

Addictions to video games trigger brain activity similar to any other addiction. So don't be surprised if breaking the addiction seems difficult at first.
People play games because they seem to find reality is less interesting, in reality, there are many more constructive things to do. Find ways to make reality more interesting, that will help.
Evaluate yourself to see if you are using your "WoW" addiction to escape problems in your life. If you have problems at work, see about improving your education (to get a better job). If you have family problems, see about improving your relationship with them.
You can also find support online. There are support groups on Yahoo and Google Groups, and the WoW forums can sate your desire to see what you're "missing" as you quit.
Track the amount of time that you spend playing WoW. Associate a dollar value with that time, for example: 6 hrs/day * 7 days = 42 hours. 42 * $7.0 = $294.00 per week. You can see that your time IS money, and even working a job for minimum wage is a better use of your time.
Get a stopwatch and measure how much time you spend waiting in the game (for guild members, flight paths, long walks, etc.) and compare it to the overall time played. You may find that close to half, or even a majority of your time is spent doing effectively nothing.
Calculate how much of your time you spend doing nothing each month against your monthly subscription fee, and see how much money you're throwing away.
If you use a router, block the port WoW uses to connect. This disables your connectivity to the WoW servers. You can also block this port with Windows Firewall or other firewall software, such as ZoneAlarm. You can find this port in Blizzard's knowledge base for WoW
Remember that all of your accolades and achievements in WoW are virtual and do little for you in real life. While your virtual life is blossoming, your personal life could be deteriorating. If so, that is reason enough to stop playing.
Realize that you can always go back to playing WOW when you are old or disabled, which is probably in a few decades when WoW will be rotting in video game history. Right now there are better things to do. Ride a motorcycle, run away to Australia, date, have children, things you can do only when you are young. When you are old you can play guilt free. Also, by that time gaming will be a lot better and extension packs will be cheap. Blizzard is not going anywhere.
See a professional psychologist to discuss your addiction. Get help.

Warnings

Your payments continue even after you smash everything. Don't forget to unsubscribe.
If you find yourself opening a new account even after following these steps, you should seek professional counseling for your addiction.

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How to Break a WoW addiction