Palegoldenrod

OK, so you’ve got your characters and you’re playing every day, maybe even all day for those of you lucky enough to have that sort of free time. Your family think you’ve turned into a troll and are intent on living permanently at your computer. Your friends think you’ve been on vacation for the last six months because they haven’t seen you. The What can you do?

Here are a few strategies to help you keep your gaming to a reasonable level.

Do your other stuff FIRST!

One habit I have is that I have a list of things I need to do in an afternoon and I’ll decide to jump on WoW first “just to check my mail and auctions and say hi to my guildies”. Don’t do it. It doesn’t work. You will always get distracted and end up on some quest, or chatting, or running around trying to find another rare herb to sell on the auction because the price is way, way up.

Do your real life tasks first, go for that walk, do some gardening. WoW can wait until night time when the light of day isn’t around to enjoy. You won’t regret this.

Set time limits

Plan and decide you are only going to play. Maybe you’ll say “I’ll only play on Tuesday nights from 6-midnight and Sunday nights from 4-midnight”. Now for those of you that are heavy players, you’re thinking “OMG thats so not enough time” and those of you that don’t play will be exclaiming at the 12 hours of play a week that is planned. The reality of it is that it is actually not that heavy a schedule, and gives plenty of weekend and in-week time for non-gaming. You need to stick to your schedule! Maybe your family can help?

Use pre-paid cards

If you want to indulge and play all the time for a little while, get a prepaid card instead of subscribing. Play like a madman for three months – and then the time will end. Take a break at that point. Take a month or two off. Go outside.

Sign up and cancel your subscription straight away (so you only get a month of play)

Let your payment clear on your monthly subscription, then cancel your subscription. This way you have paid play for a month and then your account will lock. Remember, your characters, quests, gold etc is always saved so you can buy another month at any time in the future and pick up where you left off.

Socialise with gaming buddies out of the game

My gaming buddies, The Older Gamers cover many games and have an extensive and active set of forums. These are really great guys, and they catch up in real life as often as they can. If you love your guildies, socialise with them in other ways – in real life if you’re able, or emails, facebook, etc. Get to know each other outside of the game. That way when you take a break from the game you can still hang out with your friends.

Be aware of your partner, friends or family

Listen to your partner, friends or family. Ask them about your time spent gaming and don’t just listen to what they say, but how they say it as well. They are a really good indicator of whether you are playing too much. Take their advice, or you might just lose them. And if that happens, who will cook dinner for you when you are doing Kara?

Many of my friends are ex-WoWers, who are great for helping to keep my game time down. They diss me every time I mention WoW, and keep asking me how much time I have spent on it in the last week – sometimes I am ashamed of the number I mumble, and get an emphatic invitation to “Rejoin RL! L.O.L” but usually they tell me “that’s not too bad, go about your business”.

Cancel your account for good

I am planning to travel early next year and even though I could play for a little while yet, I have cancelled my account because I know I have a lot to do in the next 6 weeks and I can’t afford the distraction. I know that I can add another month on if I decide I want to play while I am travelling, but I probably won’t. Don’t be afraid to just cancel the account – you will probably enjoy the real world a lot and not want to go back