Thread: Addicted to WOW(world of warcraft) marriage falling apart

I have played WOW for about 2 years..mostly through a bad marriage..not my fault my ex hubby tried to make me feel bad at every turn I kept the house spotless with 4 kids cooked did it all...it is a nice get away esp when you don't have a lot of friends and you can chat and play with others online..I ended up getting divorced cause my ex was going to "poker parties" and cheated on me...I am in a happy relationship, take care of my kids and pets and the house and still play wow...I don't really think its the game its just some people get so caught up in it...I think it can be a addiction just like anything else...I do have a lot of friends that play it and I do know people that have stopped cause it caused them problems...You really have to be able to balance it with ur real life I rather be doing stuff with friends and family than play but when I am bored i do play for a while or when the kids are napping. I feel sorry for people that get wrapped up in it and can not control them selves because they hurt them selves and the people that love them.

Originally Posted by MissMeSha810

All I'm saying is some people may have an outright addiction, but I bet if you join in on something that they have taken an interest, I don't think he would mind.

I tried that, thinking that it was the only way to spend time with him again ... it started to eat up my life too, so I stopped. It was fun for a while, but unlike my husband, I'm capable of voluntarily walking away from something I know is harmful. And having played it, I know how it works and how easy it is to get sucked into the game and the guild obligations that go with it.

I'm happy for him to play console games that the kids and I can join in with, and even standard PC games aren't a problem. But no MMOs. Absolutely not, no way, never again. He needs to get out and talk to people, instead of complaining that he needs to play because he has no social life.

We've taken the game away from him now. He's sulking and not talking to me, and I think he's shocked that I'm prepared to put our marriage on the line over it. Either he'll get over it or he'll leave. Either way, it has to be better than what we have now.

Addictions to computer games are a symptom not the problem. I've been addicted to some rpgs and really when other things in your life change the addiction goes away. Playing though let's you connect with people when you have no one around to do things with. A lot of people get their only social interaction off the rpg they play or all their friends live far away and that's the only time they get to talk to them. Your friends on there are no less important than friends off the computer. It also relieves stress and keeps the mind occupied far better than watching tv or most indoor activities people turn to. If you include those 2 things in your life though then the desire to play the games goes away. If stress is relieved and you have people to hang out with and interesting things to do then there's no need to force yourself to quit. You just fail to log on for longer and longer periods of time. My subscription gets renewed whenever my life goes to and then gets forgotten until I finally cancel it as soon as things improve.

Again it's a symptom not the problem. Just forcing someone to stop playing will not solve anything. What it will do is take away something that they've found helps them cope with stress or loneliness in their life. If you treat the reasons they play by finding other activities that interest them and people outside of a computer to hang out with then the game playing will stop on it's own without all the arguments and trouble that comes from trying to force someone to stop. My bf was addicted to the same game I was but while I wanted to improve my life he resigned himself to spending every waking moment in a computer chair. One day when I threatened to leave he deleted his account. Things were 100times worse. Now he had no friends cause his only friends were online, nothing to do because that was his only hobby, and he knew no other way to relieve stress. He was so much more annoying I finally ended up yelling at him for deleting his account and telling him how stupid it was. You have to have something to replace it before you eliminate it instead of after or you'll end up more miserable and the situation will be far worse.

i thought i was the only going through something similar fiance yea he drives me nuts with that stupid game & we gettin marry on sunday goshh i hope he doesnt get worse i cant take it now i bet if that get to happen uhmmm.. he even stops eating our son be trying to touch the computer he be like omg ama die i feel liek slappin him my advice to u is wen his on that go out i've done it plenty whos the one callin omg where r u i miss y ...i be like im a wall wen u playin trust me been there it sucks but u gotta teach them a lesson

lol now i be playin wit him

Originally Posted by blb80

So anyone out there losing their husbands/bf/fiances to the computer game WOW(world of warcraft)? Mine has been playing for nearly two years now. He spend 96hrs a week on the game that statistic is from him. He thinks its funny. Finds the need to tell me how ppl have lost their homes,families etc from being addicted to this game. We have been married for 5.5 years. we were best friends did everthing together and now nothing zero zilch notta!! Im so flustrated and would like to know what advice anyone has. I have threatned everthing from cancelling the intranet to get n a male friend to spend time with. Nothing works. i even set a password to computer so that only i could log him on. That did not go over well at all. u name it i have tried it. im sick of it, i dont have a problem with him playing the game as a hobby or past time, but when it start interfering with your marriage then we have a problem. i told him all i ask for is a "movie night" one day a week and a date everyother weekend. I cant even get that anymore. He dosent want to shower/groom nothing. so of course im losing intrest in the sexual part of our relationship. when you have to tell someone to shower,shave,cut you hair etc......i cant take it!! Not to mention he doesnt even try to have sex. Seriously this is really bad!! Yes he does work, but there is more to a marriage than bringing home a paycheck. Any suggestions out there?? Desperate need of advice!! When the expansion pack came out he was suppose to be done.........yeah that lasted 3 days. I even told him you decide if you want wow or your wife cause if you dont spend time with me then im finding a companion. He got the game so...........what a slap in the face!! I dont really want a companion but I cannot grow old this way either. I asked if he was unhappy,do you want a divorce? answer was no.........well hello..........no intamacy for year and no attention for pushing 2 years. and im not exaggerating people! This game is evil!! Please help!!!!!!!!!!!1

Boys will be boys. My brother is addicted to the game.Let it be for a while, be happy he's not out dating with a .

If you can't take it anymore, pull the plugs and cutt off your electricity, lol. Set the rules, babe. Let him play for a number of hours everyday and then no more

ok so i was addicted to wow along time ago. Its a addicting game. is he not happy outside of the real world and is playing that all the time to get away from everything. My husband is addicted to Call Of duty (hes in the army) and thats his escape from everything. But i finally got him to not spend so much time on the xbox and more with me. Find away to keep him happy by being off the game! Dont always yell or get onto him about it that just makes him pissed and wanting away out more which is through the game! sit him down and dont talk at him but to him. tell him completely how you feel or do what i did. go out by boxes put them in the house start packing your stuff up when he asks what your doing say if i dont matter but yet ur game does then i cant live this life. You always choosing the game over me i love you and want to be with u but i cant continue to come 2nd to a game! let him decide what he wants more you or the game. Sounds mean but if he chooses the game over you you now then know your place! im not telling you to do it but to consider maybe opening his eyes will help did for me! now my husband plays xbox about 2hrs aday an spends the rest with his family couldnt be happier and now hes happy too without his game always

I mostly agree with BD and also can realate to 80. My boyfriend has struggled with serious addiction issues, becoming addicted to hard drugs, alcohol, and tobacco all by the age of 9. "To keep himself out of 'trouble'", he chooses to be a part of ( and i am purposefully using the play on words, here) WOW. I tried a join 'em rather than beat' em approach first and actually enjoyed playing - IN MODERATION! I can jump on for a few hours every couple weeks or so and walk away not missing anything. But, my boyfriend, in addition to all the original complaints 80 has, talks about it constanatly, too. When I complain, he leaves his world to reenter reality as himself for a brief interlude - for the purpose of aquiescence predominantly. It's like he's turned himself on auto-pilot. Instead of AFK ("away from computer" in WOW text) he's AFL ("away from life" in general). His body may be there, but everything else about him is still in the game. \
He's believes in the 2012 theories so I made a joke with him the other night about how the government was going to take control of people's minds to lead them to their deaths through games like WOW since it's already so entrancing, lol. I will say this, however, the creators (old D & D players mostly, I'm sure) have gone to great extents to suck people in. Even leaves fall in real-time and you have a 360 view of detail every step you take. Combine entertainment with challenge, throw in a large dose of cool magical spells that make you feel invincible, and add interaction with other WOWheads constantly and they feel very little need to move away from the screen, especially if someone is enabling them by tending to their other needs simultaneously. I must admit I have been guilty on many occasions of bringing tools to my boyfriend that only allow him to sit even longer (drinks, food, cigarrettes, etc.). I mostly do so out of exasperation; it's easier to oblige rather than deal with him being burdened to tear his tukus away from the computer and get things himself. However, what I have recently begun (a couple of days ago) is no longer doing his laundry or cleaning up after him. If he chooses not to lend a hand in running the family as a whole unit, then I choose to not support him in his choice of time usage as much as possible. I am working on a way to help him understand the opportunity cost of his playing. I refuse to be with an electrical appendage! Though he is the love of my life, I choose not to sacfrifice love of myself and my children over love of a man, and definitely not over something not even human! If I have any luck I'll touch base later. If anyone else has a breakthrough, please enlighten the rest of us!!!