/serious face
In the past, I was a true WoW addict. I first picked up the game at a low point in my life; I had split up with an ex, had a temporary job that I wasn’t sure I would be staying in and my dad had accidently run over my cat, which subsequently died. I found it easy to immerse myself in a world where nobody knew of these problems and it took my mind off every thing that was happening.
In the beginning I retained my social life, but as I levelled up and particularly once I hit 70, I started to not go out after work and spend weekends/holidays playing non stop. There was always dailies to be done, mats to farm, alts to level. After a while I experienced burn out but would go back and the cycle would start again.
I met someone online and developed a relationship with them, which lead to me moving into my own flat. I was then even more free to spend my time online and it was in fact necessary to keep the relationship going as we lived far apart. However, it all ended badly and since I didn’t want to be in WoW where I could “see” him I took a step back, logging on only for raids or hiding on alts he didn’t know about. I started going out more but with new content I was drawn back to spending more time online.
Then I met my current boyfriend through the guild I’m in now. We had a bit of a whirlwind romance and just over a year ago I fell pregnant with my daughter. I was terribly sick for the first 5 months, I alternated between missing raids and never logging on and being online to distract myself. Later on, I would always be awake at 6am so could be found farming or playing on alts. I was determined to do everything whilst I still had time.
My life took a dramatic turn when I developed pre eclampsia (high blood pressure) and spent time in and out of hospital, ending in being induced more than 5 weeks before the baby was due. I had a pretty bad time and was in hospital for 2 weeks with the baby in neo natal for 3. In that time, I didn’t care about WoW once. Even when I came home, I barely logged on.
Eventually when things calmed down, I went back to WoW. Broken nights were spent sitting with the baby, playing the auction house. I missed the camaraderie of my guildmates and the enjoyment I got from raiding, but I no longer had the time or desire to play every spare minute.
So here I am now, trying to get time to myself and play WoW and balance that with a family life. It’s tough and a lot of people don’t understand how I can carry on playing. I do feel guilt, but I’m not neglecting my responsibilities and I think without WoW I would go stir crazy as I need something to focus on.
I admit to sometimes wishing I had more time to play, but I can always remind myself I’ve got something better in my family <3
/end serious face
