Missing Guild Wars: Withdrawl and Regret

I know I am addicted

I do play everyday

however -
I still go to work (where i read the forums in between doing my paperwork)
I still do family events
I still go out for dinner/movies....

however
my husband plays GW as much as I do....
my two kids both play guildwars (not as much as I do but we have family GW nights and all play together)

however
I still make dinner/eat dinner with family
I still watch Tv
I still have other "family nights" we do
I still go to places with family

however
we did have a real life party when I got KoaBD to celebrate
I do buy mini pets in game as birthday presents for my family on their real life birthdays as well as real life presents

however
I would prefer to GW on a Firday Night than go dancing


so....

Do I need an intervention?

I would gladly sit down in my guild hall with friends - family and others ~~~and discuss it on teamspeak

Nobody mentions combining your addictions.

I like to drink beer

I like to eat unhealthy food

I like to play Guildwars


NOW, cold beer + unhealthy food + Guildwars = super addictive combo!!!

LOL, I want a mum/wife like that!

Hello, fellow addict!

I daydream about Guild Wars.
I DREAM about Guild Wars
I Think about Guild Wars as I fall asleep.
I Think about Guild Wars all the time.
I read the manual in class when i'm bored.
I toy with little stories i've written about Guild Wars.
I attempt to do something productive on a computer, but I end up coming to the forums or just playing Guild Wars.
I've tried to stop, but I genuinely felt HORRID after a week. Couldn't focus, couldn't really do anything. I was in a bad mood all the time.
I play Guild Wars from 8:00pm untill 12:00am or later on weekdays.
I play Guild Wars from 6:00am untill 11:00am, then from 2:00pm untill 2:00am during the weekends, stopping briefly for dinner.

About the only time I don't think about Guild Wars is when i'm with my girlfriend.

BUT... I decided to attempt to get a scholarship on my Viola (musical instrument) this year, so the only thing that's gotten my to pry my fingers away from the keyboard was the 4 hours of practice a day I do. But even then, I find myself thinking about Guild Wars.

It is very easy to become addicted to a game, especially when there's always something "new" to do in the game. Money to be had, armor to craft, weapons to find, bosses to kill. My account is UAX on PvE characters. All my characters have nearly 7.5 mil (on my necro I have much, much more), and it is really, REALLY sad.

I feel your pain, m8. I will not be purchasing Guild Wars 2, as that game will become even more of an obsession for me. I would quit, but I honestly don't think I can. I've met too many people, and I don't think I could just drop them.

I play too damn much

I love this. Jsut imagine ppl you had parents you can share your enthusiasm with. Its really cool i think. Although i was always able to have discussions with my mum about books its jsut different as you cant really read together. Not in the way like you can game together.

Yea I'm in that boat. DII consumed my life.

Now I can't imagine being able to put that kind of time into a game. I am a casual GW player. I try to play a few hours a day and as much as time will allow on weekends.

My wife clams I'm addicted but if I put the same time into GW as I did DII she'd know what addiction was like. Funny thing is I actually like GW better than Diablo, but I just can’t make my self put that kind of time into it.

I guess that comes with age. So fear not you'll grow out of it. Maybe

That's some damn good advice man.

This may very well be normal withdrawal. It will take longer than a week or so to push through it. I'd encourage you to try again but try to have others help you through that difficult time. Dunno man.

I'm pretty much going through the same thing as the OP right now although I never told myself I would "quit" Guild Wars. Before the start of this year I was VERY obsessed with Guild Wars, and I played it many hours a day. I haven't played much in the past few months for a number of reasons:

I was starting to get out of shape, and I needed to lose some weight. (6' and 250 lbs... not too fat ) I'm currently down to 235 and I think I can get down to 220 lbs. for the summer.

I started learning how to play poker and got really interested in it. I wish Guild Wars had poker or casinos. Anet, if you're listening make note that FFVII is one of the best RPG's of all time and it had a casino Poker has gotten really boring lately so I'm learning how to play darts.

I have an obsessive personality, but I'm also open-minded. When I have a hobby, I spend LOTS of my day thinking about it, when I'm not doing it. Unfortunately, my main hobby for the past few months has been work, and my job SUCKS. When I'm obsessed about work, people don't seem to like me. LOL. I'm a perfectionist, and I can't tolerate laziness and sloppy work.

I don't know if I would call Guild Wars or WoW addictive though. I wouldn't get the shakes or anything from quitting Guild Wars. I think I'd save the word addiction for behavior related to drugs like alcohol or cigarettes. I don't do any drugs. I gave up caffeine cold turkey EASY 1 year ago, when I realized it was giving me chronic headaches, and making me feel worn out. Being obsessive I always need to obsess about something, but it doesn't need to be Guild Wars. Guild Wars is A LOT of fun, but it's not the peak of existence. 5 years from now I hope I'm not still doing the same job, just making ends meet, and playing Guild Wars. I'd like to find a wife and start a family.

What I like about playing Guild Wars is that it's my own private world. I can obsess about it without drawing the attention of critics (aka leaving the house). When I start obsessing about the problems of the real world, like the Iraq War (which I'm 100% opposed to), destruction of the enviroment, or the degrading of our civil liberties (especially 1st and 2nd Amendment rights) people stop finding me likable. It doesn't make me "unhappy" to be criticized, but no one wants to live feeling misunderstood and hated by people they care about and love. My dogs and Guild Wars keeps me sane in the insane world we live in.

For me, it was moving to a place where there is no cable internet. Satellite Internet is what my parents wished to have, and while it is better for browsing... I can't say the same for gaming.

Did I have an addiction? I really can't say, most of my friends have games that they play to a large point, but none of us really took time out of our social lives to play them. For instance, I used to play GW late, usually after finishing homework, but it never really did detract from what my normal sleeping habits would have been anyhow.

I am going to move out, now GW isn't really the main reason, I would just really like to live closer to college, and it would be nice to get an apartment with a few friends of mine, but living in a more urban area with access to a better connection will fuel my GW playing once again.

And I do miss the discussions with my guild over teamspeak, they were a really good group of people, one that still leaves my spot warm for the day that I will return when I will be able to monk effectively again.

Society has given online gamers a bad reputation. Sure, there are extreme cases of addiction to online games (like causing starvation, complete social isolation, ignoring all responsibilities like school and job, etc.) and because of it online gamers are viewed as really bad. Absolutely anything can become an addiction. In fact, I know someone who is so addicted to reading fantasy novels... she reads morning, lunch and after dinner. On weekends, she does nothing but eat and read all day (probably totalling over 10 hours each day of reading). She easily finishes a few books every week. Yet, no one views her as having a problem - just a "hobby" that she "really enjoys".

As for my own example: My wife will complain about the gaming I do each week. She's one of those people that views gaming as a complete utter waste of time. I have given up trying to make her understand that the less than 8 hours I play per week is something I enjoy to do and is entertaining and relaxing... so instead I just wake up early every Saturday and Sunday and get as much GW time in as I can while they are sleeping. The way I see it... no online game is more important to me than spending time with my wife and kid. This is my measure of knowing I am not addicted, because although I am always looking forward to playing, I believe my life is under my own control (or my wife's control - depending on how you view it - hahahahaha...) and I am making the choices I believe are best.

In terms of examining each one of us, I believe it's important to know what you can afford. For instance, if you have exams in a week and have barely studied, then can you really afford to play 10 hours of GW every day that week and potentially end up flunking? If that big project at work is due the next day and you haven't finished it, can you afford to PvP all night at the risk of losing your job?

In life, there are a lot of things out of our control and a lot of things that are within our control. Many things in life come down to the choices we make on a daily basis. The decisions we make ultimately dictate the life we choose to live. When online gaming causes you to no longer make the right choices in life, then that's when it becomes a problem. It's not about whether you play 2 hours a week or 30 hours a week, it's all about whether you can afford to invest your time in it and not let it control your life.

If you feel online gaming has become a problem, try taking a break from it for a while (or at least reduce the amount of time you spend playing each day or week). You may then be able to re-evaluate the situation and determine what balance works best for you.

Hope this helps.

Sometimes things are called an addiction only because other people think they are bad.

I play pool more than I play GW, but people don't think it's bad because I've got a talent.

I think about the Yankees, Jets, Islanders, Seminoles and Arsenal more than I think about GW, but people don't think it's bad because guys are supposed to like sports.

I have XM radio at home, a CD player in the car, an IPOD for work, and am always listening to music and talking about artists, but people don't think it's bad because music encourages creativity.

I play with my dog, but that's not bad because dogs are mans best friend.

I check email often and read the news online, but that's cool because OMG junior is tech savvy.

I log on for one [email protected] tombs run and you'd think the damn world was ending from all the crap I catch.

yes but all the things you mentioned are diverse activities, they do not revolve around one thing

even hobbies can become an unhealthy addiction if your life becomes centered around it and it affects you ability to function

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incidentally, addiction and MMOs have been getting alot of talk time in my lectures on social psychiatry lately =x

I go through phases. There are times when I want to play more than I probably should. However, I try to think about it this way - if I'm happy, healthy, doing well at work, and living an otherwise balanced life, is really enjoying a video game such a big deal? Sure, getting 15k armor is sweet, but it's not nearly as sweet as getting behind the drums and nailing a song I've been working on for months. It's really what you do with it, I'm not so sure it's healthy to put all of one's energy into one outlet anyway.

I actually used to be, of all things, an exercise addict - seems like a great idea, until you start shunning everything else to get just one more workout in, just lift a little more weight, and then you start to wonder, does it mean THAT much? It's quite possible to be healthy without running yourself into the ground. In my case, I ended up having a breakdown, didn't sleep for two weeks, kept trying to lift weights anyway, and in the end caused way more harm than good because my body just couldn't keep up with the strain I kept putting it under with no sleep on top of it.

So yes too much of anything = bad.

Since Guild Wars has been released i have spent a lot of time playing it. Factions came out played that a lot , then Nightfall which out of the 3 I played the least. Decided to try Vanguard and realised just how good Guild Wars is.

Started a Monk in Prophecies and was shocked by the team work and helpfulness of the players there , was almost like old times , before the dark times , before the heroes.......

5,130hrs total gaming time on gw over 21months I know I'm completely addicted and quitting isnt an option for me atm, also in rehab program to make me reduce the time spent gaming and do other things, Guildwars is my first game i got addicted so much.

Man! that's unreal, the only thing that can stop you is the sword of a 1000 truths.

If only that had not become truer with each expansion

I know feeling, I played during 3.5 years to Everquest (1999-2002). Its the ancestor of WoW for people who dont know.

When I stoped EQ, I had 9000 hours on my lifeclock. Barely 7hours per day during 3.5 years.

3 years later I tryed GW and Im ok with it now. Since Im doing only PVE, I dont need to play like a machine to be in the elite...thats what I like in GW.

Dont bough GW2 unless you are sure to control yourself.
Dont try Ogame (I tryed and when I saw the same symptomes I had with EQ I stopped immediatly)

I guess you also have to ask yourself why you are so addicted to the game? I used to love leveling new characters. I have 2 accounts and a ton of characters. Then I moved on from that to focus more on getting gold. I never liked solo farming, but small group runs like Sorrow's Furnace were fun for me. Then from there I decided I had all the gold I needed and too many characters, but let me take my favorite character and go for titles.

All these things are game related and can be considered grinding. If you skip out on things for these reasons, then ya, playing all the time can be considered unhealthy. For the last 4-5 months though, I primarily get on because I like my guildmates. I like helping them with random missions and quests. Chatting and joking with them. Just good times all around. In the process, I make gold, gain titles and advance characters, but those things aren't what drive me to get on and play all the time. I just miss hanging out with my friends when I'm not on.

I only played for an hour yesterday. It's alot easier to stop after a PvE mission, I've found. Those who are hopelessly addicted (like myself) might want to try that, even though it means you really can't do hardcore PvP or PvE... I'm going to wean myself off the game instead of going cold turkey. Maybe do a mission each day, farm for an hour. Beats the hell out of my 5 hour a day sessions.

I completely know where Bruce is coming from in his OP and i know because everything he said is the same for me. Let me just say a few things.

I'm still playing GW at present and have had times where ive promised myself im going to quit and forget the game, but it's simply not that easy (and not the case). When you rely on this game for being happy and such it does pull you away from the outside world and social life.

I wish i could just both play GW and have another life but excessive of anything is never good news. I know this will sound stupid but at night i say to myself im going to do somthing productive the next day and try and not play GW. But when i wake up that frame of mind seems to float away and its just the same lol.

Some will say a game addiction is better than a drug addiction but any addiction is not really good.

I think your last opinion about going on forums when you dont/cant play is wrong. Forums are a place for people with common interests to discuss things. Kinda like social clubs etc. There's nohing wrong with them so i dont think there is anyhing worng with your social club to be on the t'internet with hundreds of thousands of other discussing things with you.

For some reason, to me. At any time I am at a high point in a video game and I'm feeling "addicted", then if I stop playing for a week or so and get more into real life, I'll want to play for the first couple of days, but afterwards, It feels as if Guild Wars isn't important again, and in order to achieve that "high point" of happiness, I have to play quite a bit to get back into it. Weird :O

I used to be a Strategy game guy. Big into C+C(people say they got worse, which they did, but i still love em), Starcraft of course, and Warcraft(never played WoW and don't plan on it). I friend introduced me to Diablo then I bought Diablo II when it came out and loved it. The expansion was even better(wouldn't mind seeing Druid in GW2). D3 is hopefully coming out by the end of the year and as soon as that comes out, bye bye GW. Not to say that I hate GW, I love GW. But I CANNOT WAIT FOR DIABLO 3.

I used to be a Strategy game guy. Big into C+C(people say they got worse, which they did, but i still love em), Starcraft of course, and Warcraft(never played WoW and don't plan on it). A friend introduced me to Diablo then I bought Diablo II when it came out and loved it. The expansion was even better(wouldn't mind seeing Druid in GW2). D3 is hopefully coming out by the end of the year and as soon as that comes out, bye bye GW. Not to say that I hate GW, I love GW. But I CANNOT WAIT FOR DIABLO 3.

Now I used to be totally obcessed with guild wars - but now that ive played it all out and achieved much that i set out to do in this game , I have markedly slowed it down. In fact alot of my time in guild wars (and on the computer in general) is spent chatting to others. I for one simply find it much easier to say what is on my mind to internet friends than those in real life anyway. I dont particularly like the hassle of going out to bars and clubs to talk to people when I can simply switch on my computer and do the same.

But yes , I feel no pressure whatsoever to quit so I can somehow integrate myself with the outside world , because I think socialising in the outside world is overrated anyway.

I used to play GW waaay too much (when I was busy busy griding titles ><) but since I have gotten all the titles that don't cost as much, and just can't bring myself to play a Para or Derv (just too bloody slow)... I haven't had anything to do. It is nice not "having" to play GW now... just do other things.

Its almost funny, though... how I seem to have so much extra time to do other things!

Ah well.

Hi folks, and thanks for all the positive replies. I learned a lot since I made the post and have read everything thoroughly.

To Lord Dobo: I like the point (or counter-point) you made about “Anxiety in the absence of it” and you really summed me up well without even knowing me. However when I said:

… I did mean that the aforementioned are problematic in excess and to the point that they are disruptive to everyday life. Attending forums and daydreaming are, of course, normal but when they affect education/work I believe there’s cause for concern.

Thanks very much. I’ve always wanted to share this problem with my friends and family but my circle of friends are the type who have a laugh and don’t talk about ‘deep and meaningful’ things including thoughts and feelings. I think I’d feel a lot better letting them know but I fear a negative response – perhaps in good time.

As for family… well they’re a judgemental lot and seem incapable of listening (based on previous problems). They butt in and churn out what they think is good advice or say “go to the doctor” so I can pop more nasty pills. Opening up on this forum has done me some good though and I thank people for that.

You have me all worked out! There is part of my life that needs filling which will probably never be fulfilled properly and I think playing Guild Wars compensated for that somehow. Also, I was brought up with games from the NES, SNES, SEGA MegaDrive, N64 to the PC. I played the GTA series, Civilization, The Sims etc and ‘ended’ on Guild Wars. When I look at it like that it seems normal that I am struggling without gaming at all.

I was/am a keen violinist (more so now that I quit Guild Wars) and, like yourself, practised around 4 hours a day just for the sheer joy of it. I was working on the Tchaikovsky Concerto before I slipped in to GW and it enrages me to think that had I spent the 4,500 hours practising I might have mastered it (even the damned first movement). I can’t change the past so I won’t let it wind me up too much .

Leaving the people was extremely hard. Some were supportive and some were discouraging of my decision but, ultimately, my wellbeing comes first. That’s not to say I didn’t care for others but it wasn’t like I was committing suicide… e-mail exists too .

@Kalki.
We’re very alike. I also consider myself a perfectionist when it comes to something I’m passionate about, hence my characters each having Fissure armour which is ‘maximal’ in my eyes. Also, your view on evading/escaping current affairs (Iraq/environment etc.) all goes on inside my head too. I could rant on about them for hours or bury my head in a game and not get funny looks from people!

5’ 11” and 109 lbs in October 2006. I’m now maintaining a healthier 124lbs. I don’t have an eating disorder; I just ate the wrong stuff.

Thanks for that. It alerted me to the fact that the extent of my problem might be magnified by society, namely the media, who criticize gaming for the sake of making ‘scandal’ to improve circulation/viewing figures. I think the difference between obsession/addiction to things like sports, music and reading is that they lead to careers which makes them more ‘acceptable’ than gaming.

You’ve got that right. Where I live, socializing for people my age is synonymous with binge drinking on the town which I have never liked. I hate pubs and clubs with their noisy music, flashy lights and wasted people squashed like sardines in a can. My family and neighbours look down on me with confusion as to why I don’t get drunk every weekend (or ever).

I’ve gone on a bit now and I know it’s like an agony post but I feel I’ve learned a lot and other people might learn too. Thanks!

You're aboslutely right. I hate nightclubs, and if I ever do drink, it will be at another person's house where I can hear myself speak. I want to have a good time, but when you spend half the night saying "WHAT DID YOU SAY???" (in both positive and negative connotations :P) it gets boring...

I think that if you have spent those 4500 hours playing guildwars, there is no way it could have been a waste. You have good memories to carry with you. At least with your age at 20 (did you say?) you have time to train yourself to be better organised with your life. It is possible to play guildwars still, and im not giving you an open window here, because you're not playing guildwars and thats that... but if you ever did play guildwars, then you MUST change your play-style to 'casual'. Like, don't grind for anything, and dont be tempted into any form of elitism - which would be common symptoms of game addiction.

Guild Wars 2 is going to smash you in the face like a brick. I have to be honest, if publicity even lays a hand on GW2, you're going to be attracted to it like a black hole :S. If its not for the pure attraction, it'll be curiosty, and that's enough for you to buy it. But remember one thing, be honest with yourself. Don't give yourself excuses... you can't answer to yourself if you screw up, because you already end up facing yourself with any consequences. Finally, keep in mind that there is nothing in what you do that makes you look like you have made a mistake. It's when you don't utilise or keep the things that you have experienced, that the time that you had used, was wasted.

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I play PvP, mostly. But the reason why I manage to get off from playing more than 5 hours a day is because of:

1: University or Work (I have always prioritized these two over my life)
2: A stupid dumb idiot of a player who afk's in RA to leech faction.

A stupid dumb afker is basically enough to get me off from playing the game for the rest of the day. And I have been doing my part in trying to get Anet to look at this problem, but then I ask whether I'm really doing myself a favour or not :S.

Whenever my social life gets exciting, I find it really easy to lean away from GuildWars altogether, but that doesn't happen as often as it should. Anyway, I suppose I better not leave this post without filling in this "Am I addicted or not? Srvey" :P

• Daydreaming about Guild Wars in school/college/uni/work,
- Not daydreamed, but I've dreamt about GuildWars. The PvE scenery, especially.

• Spending 5 hours+ per day on it,
- Maybe on Fridays or Saturdays, but otherwise its generally 1-3 hours per day, which is still a concern (this includes time spent on forums)

• Avoiding school/college/uni/work or social events for it,
- Social events, yes I would choose GW over it. Only if I can give myself a credible excuse. If there's a really big GW weekend coming up, then I make plans for it. I would only avoid going to university when it stresses me out too much. And that just causes me to play GuildWars.

• Talking about it frequently
- Not IRL...

• Denying you play/being secretive
- I don't deny I play on the computer alot... everyone just thinks im some smart-assed nerd... I don't care either way :P.

• Anxiety in the absence of it.
- I used to have anxiety, but the Nightfall fad is starting to wear off :S. Forums is like taking cigarette patches, you still get your dose of satisfaction, youre just not taking it in directly.

• Attending fan sites/forums when you can’t/don’t play
- Yes. I especially enjoy the arguments I may have with other people over the definitions of skills. Especially with a particular person who knows absolutely nothing about double negatives, and when skill descriptions are informing players that they may suffer a health degeneration of minus one is actually saying that they get healed... but that just seems to fall on deaf ears... Don't worry, I have many out-of-game-skills at my disposal to get points across :P

I have a somewhat addictive personality - doing things in moderation is a challenge for me, but I stop when I'm not having fun.

One of the things I like about Guild Wars is that it doesn't encourage addictive behaviour. The vast majority of quests and missions can be completed in half an hour or less, and the game even nags you when you've been playing for a long time.

In 22 or 23 months I have played for under 900 hours. I barely play. Hell, if I was playing I wouldn't be posting this.

Wow... I quit after 500 hours...
The game just got real boring :/
I must say though when I did play I could go all day...
That was a little scary.