Does World of Warcraft get in the Way?

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WoW destroyed my frist two years of high school, all I have to say. Love the idea of the game, so much fun! But I hate WotLK and do not feel like getting all the new gear. I had freaking 7/8 T6 plus all SWP epics before WotLK came out. Had fun trying to get PvP gear and doing old fashioned raids, but now, there is too much junk and not any real skill attached to the game anymore.
 
WoW is too good, stay away. Instead of thinking about my future during my first two years of UG I just wanted to play WoW all the time. I kept good grades, but I seriously didn't go more than 20 seconds without thinking about that game. I quit in the summer of '07 and have managed to stay away since, although it's been VERY hard. You can't play for 3 years without becoming close to the people you play with, albeit being complete strangers you will never see in person; although the loot was fake, the good times were real. I still visit the WoW news sites frequently and read my old realm's forums once in a while, but I've stayed out of contact with all the people I played with. The first month after I quit was the absolute worst, I returned to my dorm at around 10:00 every night after studying, and sat down at my laptop ready to fire up WoW until 2:00AM before I remembered I uninstalled it a few days prior. At which point I sat at my computer desk staring blankly into the screen for the next half hour, thinking "What now?".

My recommendation if you want to play is don't join a guild. It'll be easier to give yourself breaks if you don't have any emotional investment to other people in the game.

On the positive side, many of my mnemonic for classes are based on abbreviations and other things I got from WoW: AV, RFD, BG, and BRD come to mind
 
Life is far far too short for WoW. Use the limited amount of free time you'll have in medical school for doing something worthwhile. Interact with real live people and make some friends, go for a bike ride, cook a gourmet meal, learn yoga. Burning your free time playing a game that does little to improve your life seems like a waste. I've known WoW "users" who feel stressed out by the game because they find themselves compelled to play when they should be working or sleeping. Why risk your future for a game? It may be possible to balance med school and a highly addictive past time but it just seems like you'd be playing with fire.
 
Does anyone play DAOC??

I didn't realize that other pre-meds play MMOs....
 
i hate WoW

my vice is forums
 
As usual, it's all about moderation.

I am hypercompetitive and social, and consequently multiplayer gaming is like crack to me.

Take it from someone who was on the 2nd place team at the CPL championships and ESL championship team for WiC...it's not worth it.

I wanted to be the best. I eventually got there, but the time investment that was required to obtain that goal almost cost me my chance to get into med school...and DID cost me a girlfriend, almost all of my friendships, and countless of hours that I could have had fun with others...my REAL friends (your online friends, for the most part, aren't friends at all; they'll forget your name in a week or a month). With the number of sacrifices I was making to climb to the top, it was feeling more and more like a job than a casual relaxation activity. It wasn't worth it, and I consider competitive gaming to be the biggest regret of my life.

After stopping completely, I haven't been happier in my life.

If you can moderate your play, then by all means, enjoy playing. But if you're like me and find yourself sacrificing things that REALLY matter for a game...then stay away at all costs.
 
Does anyone play DAOC??

I didn't realize that other pre-meds play MMOs....

I used to play, had a decked-out cabby and minstrel, but sadly I never really had the computer power to handle NF RvR, so I've quit until I can afford a new one.
 
the question should be worded: does school get in the way of wow?
 
As long as you control WoW, and not the other way around, then it can always be enjoyed. Just like alcohol, watching movies, listening to music, playing non-MMO games, reading novels, lifting weights, having a wife, and watching TV, WoW is a non-academic activity. Everybody needs to take a step back from studying and blow off some steam. Whether that's hanging out with friends or playing WoW is up to you. Do what you enjoy, but never make it a priority over your grades.
 
WoW is good for the soul! For community service on my college applications I put "80 hours per week as a priest on World of Warcraft"..... =D!!
 
No offense, but I don't think Guitar Hero and WoW are on the same level of hard-core gaming. Plus, WoW is never going away. Or rather, WoW will die once StarCraft 2 is released (never might be sooner...).

Yeah, I think they'll release it once hell freezes over. Speaking of which, Diablo 3 on the other hand....😀
 
What is your take on playing World of Warcraft?

1. Don't bother. Every MMO will get destroyed once SW:TOR comes out next year.

2. WoW is "old" and uses an "older" MMO formula. SW:TOR is going to revolutionize the MMO genre.

3. MMOs in general are very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very addictive! I had a decent 3.4 GPA in my first semester but I know I could've done better had I spent more time studying than playing WoW and Warhammer Online.

The same thing was going to happen this semester with a new MMO, Aion, but luckily that game bore me to death before my grades were affected.

Never again.
 
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sigh....think of all those wasted hours which could be better spent chasing and getting some ass.....so sad...

being in my mid-20s now, I never played this game but was mad-hooked on diablo 2 senior year in high school back in the day, and the original starcraft before that like freshman and sophomore year. Thankfully once college started and the social floodgates opened, I pretty much stopped gaming, because damn these things can be addicting. I don't advise you get all hardcore into absorbing games like this in undergrad if you are serious about getting into med school and having a good social life. And in med school, forget it, there's no time.

I will admit however, I did become moderately aroused when I saw the trailers for diablo 3 and starcraft 2...holy damn, they look good....
 
I will admit however, I did become moderately aroused when I saw the trailers for diablo 3 and starcraft 2...holy damn, they look good....

I agree and never played WoW, but do remember both Diablo and Starcraft......hadn't heard about new ones! I'll have to look them up now. Never got much into gaming, but played them here and there.
 
I picked up WoW right out of high school and played quite a lot, but it always came down to having something better to do.... girlfriend, friends, school, working out, indoor soccer, etc

The only people I know who had major issues with it didn't have a whole lot going on in their lives when WoW took over... or they just had a major lack of self control.

Someone back up there said Borderlands... super fun game btw.
 
i knew someone who had a large bucket under his computer desk while playing wow. he almost cut a large whole through the middle of his chair but i convinced him that would be a bit extreme even for him.
 
Just wanted to know, cause my friend introduced me to play world of warcraft just recently. Was wondering does anyone else that is in medical school play world of warcraft?

I played a bit in undergrad, and it got in the way at times so I stopped. What is your take on playing World of Warcraft?
I would so much rather spend my spare time drinking/running/chasing gorgeous ( and not so gorgeous) women..

Warcraft III was an issue for me 😀
 
No offense, but I don't think Guitar Hero and WoW are on the same level of hard-core gaming. Plus, WoW is never going away. Or rather, WoW will die once StarCraft 2 is released (never might be sooner...).

Isn't THAT the truth! 👍
 
Follow this man's advice.

Instead of trying WoW or another MMO, just play Call of Duty or Battlefield 2. MMOs are the online equivalent of pot/weed.

Do people still play Battlefield 2? That game was seriously great, especially if you could play it with a couple of friends in your squad.
 
I don't like WoW. I could see it getting in the way for others though. If you're anything like me when I start playing Halo. Man...watch out for the addiction and the tantrums. I get mean and ugly. hehe. ohh such time wasted...

My boyfriend plays COD, Borderlands, and LFD a lot. He's waiting on Starcraft 2. I'm mostly an RPG person. except for Halo. and Rainbow.

But I agree with most people. If you're smart enough, you'll stay away from them altogether lest it dominates your life! If you're strong enough, play just on the weekends. If you're strong enough 🙂
 
I play WoW when the semester is pretty slow and over breaks if I'm not watching House reruns haha. I've been on a mild WoW hiatus the last few weeks to study for finals...which I should be doing now 🙂
But! I'm not really that hardcore about it, just a few hours every couple days or so. It's fun and addictive, but you just have to have some self control!
 
cod is quite addicting, cant wait for alien v predator 😀
 
If this isn't a joke, then it's not really logical at all.

Bottom line, no game is any more or less addictive than you let it be. If you have any measure of self control whatsoever stopping yourself from playing a videogame should not be an issue.

This is BS... Have you played WOW? In my opinion, that game is built to suck you in. Nothing but spending long, continuous hours doing the same trivial thing over and over again. Games like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Mario Kart, Super Smash Brothers, etc... are much easier to let go as they don't require continuous play.

If you have the option, stay away. Most expensive game ($50-80 for all the games and expansions, AND $15 a month!) I know and also the most frustrating ("community").
 
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I agree the game is built to suck you in... You need to have a lot of self control in order to play this game. WoW killed my entire winter break Sophomore year... 1-76 draenei priest.. i know i won't be able to stay away from diablo 3 when it comes out though, even if i'm in medical school. blizzard just makes the best games ever.
 
I also succumbed to the wiles of WoW. I picked it up over winter break in 07 and it dominated the rest of my break. Played for like 6 months and I think I made it to level 45 elf hunter, but I didn't play as obsessively as some. Some folks totally lose self discipline with RPGs. And the thing with WoW is you cant just pause it or save mid-mission.
 
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