How do you personally Detox from WoW Burnout?

[Big Thanks]

Burnout is a prevalent feeling i fight against in my day to day life.
Since im not employed is pretty easy for me to get burned out from games in general, specifically WoW which i consider to be my main game i play on and off since TBC.
Here is how i personaly deal with it, since the objective is to detox WoW from your system to end up missing playing it again.

1-Playing other game/s
I personally start the detox process by replacing WoW with another game BUT for me this is absolutely NOT enough.
You may think you are just burned out of WoW but sometimes you are ALSO burned out of "games" in general.
This is always how i start the process but is not enough.

2-Work on a hobby
Very important step for me.
I need to immerse myself in work or a hobby to counterbalance the overload of videogames in my life.
Personally i work on my art (digital paintings).

3-Chill and Hibernate
This step is just (for me) youtube, netflix, movies, walks, grabbing a coffee outside.
Is your chill step outside of your work/hobby hours

4-Drunk with friends on discord call
Me and online friends grab a drink and talk online while playing or watching stuff online...good times
Just dont do it a lot, lol.

5-Join the latest HYPE-TRAIN of a videogame release
Hype trains only come once in a full moon, so take advantage of those rare times to catch the wave of motivation to play a new thing that is just releasing and entire internet is streaming on twitch and talking about on youtube.

-----

Thats it for me, usually the detox takes weeks/months
How about you?

[arkanon]

When i stop enjoying something that is purely a hobby, i stop doing that thing. No different to games, just easier to do - just dont log in.

Not being rude, but you seem to be massively overthinking this.

[mrgreenthump]

I guess the reason you get burned out is because the game is designed to be drawn out and grindy with little variation and no little content didn't help this expansion. In other words kinda shit.

What I've always gone by is that if you feel that you don't have time or something takes too much time or energy, that is not the game for you. Or at least at the rate you are playing. Game should be something you have gratifying experience with if that always turns out to be a burnout, am not how gratyfying that can be.


Personally I don't I never got a burnout from WoW and I got over 1500 days played(was terminally unemployed for 12 years at the start). I just quit when it's shit like at least it was pre 9.2.

But work does stress me out quite a bit lately and I just find I don't have energy for anything, so I just watch series/movies and youtube.

[VMSmith]

So many games, currently, are being produced with the expectation of frequent expansions of the content. This means that when you start playing a game, the intention is not to overcome the challenges and then move on to something new. Instead, we expect that once we finish the current activity there will be something new in that same game to hold our attention. The problem is that no developer can keep up with the pace that the content can be consumed, so they have to create what we all call "grind" ... i.e. something to do repetitively to keep us occupied until the next content dump.

But grind inevitably leads to burnout because you are just doing the same thing over and over and over. Grind can be enjoyable, for a time, but eventually nearly everyone gets bored of any repeatable content, whether it's WQs, M+ dungeons, or even raids.

You just have to accept that this is the price of playing a game that updates content with any regular frequency. The only real alternative is to play once-through games, such as most games were in the past.

[Th3Scourge]

play other games. I don't even do my weekly M+ key anymore, just raid log because there's nothing that interests me in the game right now and I'm waiting for the XP buff to go into effect on classic so I can level up some alts for wrath classic

[Indigenously Abled]

I feel like if you think about WoW on this level you should probably just quit the game entirely and seek professional help.

I was going to echo this sentiment, but my wrists are sensitive.

[Hey There Guys its Metro]

I take actions to avoid it, and have been relatively successful in doing it.
I have grown accustomed to noticing the warning signs. When things that seem like relatively small matters bother me, I try to mix things up.
When things are going great too, I also try to limit my play hours so I stay hungry for the game for longer.
There are weeks I could find myself playing an insane amount, so I'll force myself to play zero wow at least one day a week if not more in that time.

For me, its just about staying ahead of potential negative emotions. Once you get used to it, it will help your long term goals dramatically.
And as an aside, after learning about this for gaming, it has dramatically helped me in real life too.

Whenever I see the same warning signs, I take a break. No matter if they are good or bad. Don't overload.

[OokOok]

Burnout is a prevalent feeling i fight against in my day to day life.
Since im not employed is pretty easy for me to get burned out from games in general, specifically WoW which i consider to be my main game i play on and off since TBC.
Here is how i personaly deal with it, since the objective is to detox WoW from your system to end up missing playing it again.

1-Playing other game/s
I personally start the detox process by replacing WoW with another game BUT for me this is absolutely NOT enough.
You may think you are just burned out of WoW but sometimes you are ALSO burned out of "games" in general.
This is always how i start the process but is not enough.

2-Work on a hobby
Very important step for me.
I need to immerse myself in work or a hobby to counterbalance the overload of videogames in my life.
Personally i work on my art (digital paintings).

3-Chill and Hibernate
This step is just (for me) youtube, netflix, movies, walks, grabbing a coffee outside.
Is your chill step outside of your work/hobby hours

4-Drunk with friends on discord call
Me and online friends grab a drink and talk online while playing or watching stuff online...good times
Just dont do it a lot, lol.

5-Join the latest HYPE-TRAIN of a videogame release
Hype trains only come once in a full moon, so take advantage of those rare times to catch the wave of motivation to play a new thing that is just releasing and entire internet is streaming on twitch and talking about on youtube.

-----

Thats it for me, usually the detox takes weeks/months
How about you?

Dude, if you need a 5 step way to take a break from a game you really need to go see a therapist this is some next level basement dweller shit.

When I don't want to play a game anymore I just don't

[VMSmith]

Reading so many threads here, and elsewhere online, it's sad how many people take the ability afforded by the internet to reach out to vastly different people all around the world and use it solely to treat those people like shit.

When I was a kid we were taught that if you didn't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all. Many people's parents have failed them in no longer instilling such a philosophy.

[Nymrohd]

First off, don't let it get bad. If you stop playing when you are completely burned out, you might just stop period. Find a different game to play in the meantime. It could be any genre but there are also MMOs that are very friendly to people who just want to check them out once in a while (e.g. I play about three months of ESO every two years).
If you still have friends in WoW, keep in touch with them. You could talk to them through discord or communities or even through the friend list while playing other battle.net games. If you have a guild/community or friends you regularly play with, do NOT just take a break without telling them anything. That's just an asshole move. You don't owe them an explanation on why you are taking a break but you should at least make a post and say you are taking time off the game. If in a guild, inform your guild master or an officer.

[Elbob]

Why not look for work you enjoy? You mention unemployment but is that because you can't or won't?

Also if you don't enjoy doing something in wow just don't do it. If you are only participating in activities you enjoy you really shouldn't get burned out. It really seems like the OP has a unhealthy relationship with wow and possibly gaming in general. I think going out and finding some employment would actually make them happier overall.

[MoanaLisa]

I play a couple of days a week. Burnout isn't a thing for me. There's always something to do. I will say that the moment something starts to feel un-fun I stop doing it and go do something else or log off. I guess, from what I read, that the game experience is entirely different if one is obsessing about efficiency, gear and keeping up. I don't do any of that and can recommend the experience for others.

As well, there are a lot of good games out there. Play them. Read books. Watch movies. Familiarize yourself with the complete works of Mozart.

I will note one thing that some find weird: I don't do grinds as such. If something starts to feel like a grind I move on to something else right away. In contrast I find it very relaxing to find an area thick with mobs and go around killing them for no special reason for 30-60 minutes.

[Lochton]

Not really had burnout from WoW. Played since launch, heavily, but I do play other games too or do other things while playing.

[vizzle]

Why don't you get a job, OP

[Big Thanks]

Why don't you get a job, OP

I have paranoid schizophrenia and constant tactile hallucinations.
Personally i think i could work if i put my mind into it...but im just being lazy i guess
Should at least work more on my art!

[crusadernero]

I used to get burnouts years ago, when I played the game alot. Though the last years i've been playing less, so its been a long time since I experienced a burnout. Now I just dont bother logging on if I find it boring and/or not worthwhile.

What I like to do when I know im going to be away from the game for a long time(like now), is to just uninstall the game. I know its tempting to just log on, cause if you have played this game for years, it becomes more or less like a habit and in worse case compolsure that you gotta do. That happens if you do something almost every day for years.

Luckily, wow aint what it once was. Its much, much easier to just let the game rest now than before. I used to always find something to do. Like I would at the very least level almost every class to max. In SL? I have 2 at max lvl, one on each faction.

[kamuimac]

Burnout is a prevalent feeling i fight against in my day to day life.
Since im not employed is pretty easy for me to get burned out from games in general, specifically WoW which i consider to be my main game i play on and off since TBC.
Here is how i personaly deal with it, since the objective is to detox WoW from your system to end up missing playing it again.

1-Playing other game/s
I personally start the detox process by replacing WoW with another game BUT for me this is absolutely NOT enough.
You may think you are just burned out of WoW but sometimes you are ALSO burned out of "games" in general.
This is always how i start the process but is not enough.

2-Work on a hobby
Very important step for me.
I need to immerse myself in work or a hobby to counterbalance the overload of videogames in my life.
Personally i work on my art (digital paintings).

3-Chill and Hibernate
This step is just (for me) youtube, netflix, movies, walks, grabbing a coffee outside.
Is your chill step outside of your work/hobby hours

4-Drunk with friends on discord call
Me and online friends grab a drink and talk online while playing or watching stuff online...good times
Just dont do it a lot, lol.

5-Join the latest HYPE-TRAIN of a videogame release
Hype trains only come once in a full moon, so take advantage of those rare times to catch the wave of motivation to play a new thing that is just releasing and entire internet is streaming on twitch and talking about on youtube.

-----

Thats it for me, usually the detox takes weeks/months
How about you?

step 1 - unsub

step 2 - do other things untill you feel itch to play wow again

its summer - i personaly this year started to learn how to paddleboard on lake nearby my city - its super fun , really good fitness and getting you really nice tan that would be my personal advise

[Flurryfang]

Yeah, just quit my friend. The burnout won't go away, it might lessen a bit if you play something else, but in reality, you are just feeling the lack in WoW and should proberly look somewhere else.

[Djaye]

just step away. you arent going to miss anything for the next 8+months. take the time to experience some other games and let the game be missed, so when DF comes out, you are refreshed and ready to go again.

Ive played since Wrath and take a nice long break at the end of every expansion when it becomes the stale grind it always is at the end of expansion.
you will thank yourself for it

[Spiroz]

I myself like to do a bit of digital art and I find if I play any game too long it kills my artistic drive.

Give yourself a chance to be inspired and create rather than consume!