How do you control yourself from over playing ?

[aceChrome]

Hello guys,

I had to leave my town for around six months to a place with low internet access and I had to quit wow for 7 months now ( including the 1 month since I am back ), I used to play around 4 hours a day minimum raiding with my guild. Now I am thinking of coming back to the game for some casual play leveling up my alts gearing them up maybe some raid pugs with my alt.

I want to come back to the game but I dont want to play more than 2 hours because I don't want to take time from my other activities because whenever i play this game I lose track of my time, my questions are:

-How do you guys control the amount of time to play the game ?

-Is it possible for me to play 2 hours a day only ?

-For those of you who are time poor, is 1 to 2 hours a day of WoW worthwhile ?

thank you for the replies.

[Tziva]

I don't really have to "control myself." Either I get bored with being in the game, or something else outside of the game gets more interesting, ta da.

I typically play a few hours most evenings, presuming I don't have another engagement. I think it's still worthwhile to play even with limited time, but that probably depends most on what you enjoy doing in game. If the only thing you like is hardcore progression raiding, it's probably not worth it. If you like achievements or pet battles or random BGs or PuGs then sure.

[Bumbasta]

I don't have to "control" myself because mostly I have other stuff to do or I get bored with the game. Playing 2 hours a day is worthwhile but you won't be able to raid.

[Deleted]

boredom normally works for me.

[Kezmaefele]

When a new xpac comes out or a new raid tier I let myself indulge for a few weeks and really binge on the game.

For me that means several weeks of:
1) get home from work and make a quick meal for the kids or eat out.
2) Play a bit doing non-raid stuff. (level an alt, work on professions, cap valor, work on reps, etc)
3) Hang with the kids a bit. (go for a walk, help with homework, watch a TV show, etc)
4) If it's a raid night then log on to raid for the night from 9-12ish.
5) If it's not a raid night then really try to get as much stuff done on as many toons as I can.
So I might get in 4-5 hours on raid nights when I'm in play a lot mode.

If I'm not in play a lot mode I scale things back and don't try to get as much done all in one night.

So something like this:
1) Get home from work and cook and have a nice dinner together
2) Get some work done around the house, help with homework projects
3) Hang with the kids (go for a walk, help with homework, watch a TV show, etc)
4) If its a raid night... just raid and don't bother with anything else
5) If its not a raid night work on alts, professions, rep grinds, valor caps, etc

I've always had a career and kids since WOW came out so I've never been in a position where I could do the play 12 hours a day thing. It's always been a manage between 2-4/5 hours a day thing for me. As the years have gone by the game has become more and more accessible to my kind of play style and I don't know anyone that plays for 8-12 hours a day unless they are having some IRL issues.

As a single father with a career and all that adult stuff, it is very feasible to play WOW and raid and have alts and get achievements and collect pets and mounts and all that jazz. An xpac typically will be out for 1.5-2 years...you have tons of time to get lots of stuff done in game just by playing a couple hours a night.

[Tedbuckland]

Hello guys,

I had to leave my town for around six months to a place with low internet access and I had to quit wow for 7 months now ( including the 1 month since I am back ), I used to play around 4 hours a day minimum raiding with my guild. Now I am thinking of coming back to the game for some casual play leveling up my alts gearing them up maybe some raid pugs with my alt.

I want to come back to the game but I dont want to play more than 2 hours because I don't want to take time from my other activities because whenever i play this game I lose track of my time, my questions are:

-How do you guys control the amount of time to play the game ?

-Is it possible for me to play 2 hours a day only ?

-For those of you who are time poor, is 1 to 2 hours a day of WoW worthwhile ?

thank you for the replies.

Probably the best way to regulate the amount of time you play is to try an occupy yourself with something else to do, preferably in the real world and to be on something like a team or group activity.

Also to change somewhat if a mental issue(not everyone has this issue) that you HAVE to be better than the person next to you or you're falling behind or suck. I'm in one of 2 14/14H 25 man guilds on my server and I'm not even the best rogue in my raid group but I always think to myself, "I'm a decent dps, I'd rather be the worst dps in my group doing 400k dps than wiping on immerseus." Being the "worst" dps in your group is relative, don't let the play of others affect how you want to play.

[Diamondium]

I just naturally get bored and end up not overplaying. Have never had to put any effort into doing so myself.


But then again I'm the type of guy who will buy like every game that comes out but has only finished like 5 games in the last decade.

[Darsithis]

I don't really have to "control myself." Either I get bored with being in the game, or something else outside of the game gets more interesting, ta da.

Pretty much. I either get tired of it or I have something else I need to do. It just happens that way. I will push things off from time to time to play extra but it's never important.

[roahn the warlock]

Hello guys,

I had to leave my town for around six months to a place with low internet access and I had to quit wow for 7 months now ( including the 1 month since I am back ), I used to play around 4 hours a day minimum raiding with my guild. Now I am thinking of coming back to the game for some casual play leveling up my alts gearing them up maybe some raid pugs with my alt.

I want to come back to the game but I dont want to play more than 2 hours because I don't want to take time from my other activities because whenever i play this game I lose track of my time, my questions are:

-How do you guys control the amount of time to play the game ?

-Is it possible for me to play 2 hours a day only ?

-For those of you who are time poor, is 1 to 2 hours a day of WoW worthwhile ?

thank you for the replies.

I live by a pretty simple mantra Everything else>WoW

I do this for most things. I set up a priority list, and then when confronted with several options on what I am going to do that evening. I pick the highest one on the list. Best way to live your life I think.

For instance Friends and family>work>movies>wow>tv something like that

Edit. I also don't think of WoW as a completely solo game. So, often I will play wow with friends over other stuff. Though it's lower on my list than real life interaction.

In the end, don't regret what you've done, regret what you didn't do.

[Daethz]

I probably spent a two summers playing WoW nearly 16 hours a day when I was younger, Iv depleted most of WoWs content.
Could I limit myself to 2 hours a day? Probably, but it wouldn't be worth playing.
Raids take 3 hours at the minimum.

Now that I have 17030 achievement points im out of things that don't take extreme amounts of effort.

Edit: Boredom controls the amount of time I play.

[Deleted]

Well, when I love a game I usually make a schedule and make sure to respect it. Before I start playing I think "I'm going to play for 1 hour" and when 1 hour has passed, I go to nearest save spot, save, then exit the game. So, essentially, I do this by sheer will.

I do this because I know that even if I love a game, I can't play games all day long.

[Deleted]

I probably spent a two summers playing WoW nearly 16 hours a day when I was younger, Iv depleted most of WoWs content.
Could I limit myself to 2 hours a day? Probably, but it wouldn't be worth playing.

I still do that. However, of course I do get tired from time to time, so there's that control mechanism in place

[Deleted]

I usually get bored no matter what game after a few hours and end up here instead! 2 hours of gaming 4 hours of browsing forums

[evansp]

Work- real life....... WoW is a hobby, play it when you have time and nothing else needs your attention.

[MrKnubbles]

Right now, there isn't a whole lot going on so I tend to get bored pretty quickly. No more over playing!

[Temp name]

Right now I log in to raid, and then log back off..

[Rappy]

Yikes, if 4 hours is a lot, I had a VERY big addiction in BC :S

Anyways - I would say just condition yourself, or set some controls on your network/connection to games on your computer.

If you have someone else set them, it's much easier.

[Deleted]

if i'm not leveling after expansion release I feel bored of WoW after 2-3 hours.

[Zka]

I'm burnt out so there is no need to control

[Sansnom]

-How do you guys control the amount of time to play the game ?

-Is it possible for me to play 2 hours a day only ?

-For those of you who are time poor, is 1 to 2 hours a day of WoW worthwhile ?

Only you can answer those questions for yourself. Different people have different ways and different play styles. What works for them may not work for you. For me I play the odd hour during the evening. Weekend I play for a few hours which is when I do some raiding.

Is possible to play 2 hours a day only? Yes and no. Depends on your schedule.

Is 1 to 2 hours a day worthwhile? Yes and no. Depends on your play style.