Long time no see, I've been absent for a while. I have played Classic for a month and stopped.. because I liked it so much it got me scared. I think there wouldn't be such an issue in my teens but nowadays I'm torn up between my duties and fun.

My day to day job is very good. I work in my field and really enjoy it. However I wish to someday move on to a bigger company to work on 'cooler' projects. In this pursuit I spend a lot of time after hours learning and working on my private projects. Since Classic came out, I spent almost no time on the projects. Between job, house duties, wife.. there's not much time left. Even my wife said I shouldn't be so hard for myself, but I guess this is the way it is. There's also one more factor. I'm becoming a father in March and from that day my time will be severely limited. So it's probably the last time I can play for a long, long time.

Is anybody else in similar situation? How should I decide what to concentrate on? I wish day had 48 hours.

Why are you even asking this question?

Of course your family and career should be your top priority, and it is very immature of you to even consider WoW as something that can be more important than that.

Get your life straight man, if you have an addictive personality and are neglecting your family/job because of a game, you should get help.
I hope this thread is just a joke/lie.

I didn't say I had put or ever will put WoW above my family. The career part - yeah. But then again when is the time to stop? I'm already quite successful and there's always something greater you could achieve. Right now I spend every free moment working on career. Will I continue doing that after March? For obvious reasons I will put my child above my career. Some people don't work on self-improvement at all. So should I really work on it these few months? Or could I let myself relax?

I think what I was looking for, was maybe somebody with similar mindset/situation? Since most people playing Classic are in 30s, I guess I can't be alone.

Merode wrote: ↑

4 years ago

The career part - yeah. But then again when is the time to stop? I'm already quite successful and there's always something greater you could achieve. Right now I spend every free moment working on career. Will I continue doing that after March? For obvious reasons I will put my child above my career. Some people don't work on self-improvement at all. So should I really work on it these few months? Or could I let myself relax?

Know the situation and the feeling all too well - I have a rule stating that WoW (Games) cannot supersede RL commitments or options - I have failed at this quite hard during the levelling + initial gearing phase, where i stopped going to the gym, stopped capacity building and kept social engagements at a minimum.

For me, gaming easily becomes an escape from stuff bothering me, and while I am also on the right career path, then my process is slow and a lot of external factors play in which makes it a challenge. What is my saving grace here, is that i established ground rules and a end-date for this excessive playing (which is really fine for a time, this is a project too). And I hit that not too long ago, and made the switch. Now gaming is the the priority when its raid days, just like a sport would be if i did that. On all other days, it is the alternative/back-up to other stuff, so my playtime is much lower now, because I have a good overview of what i need to do, and what i need to get done. To this end, i live by my google calendar and it really helps to balance things out.

I am back at taking courses, recently took off 10 days of gaming to travel abroad for a certification, gym is back on track and I think I am hitting a really good balance; there is definitely room for both, tho your time constraints might be tougher with a wife and kid.

Life advice from a random stranger on the internet: if you think WoW is affecting your life (again), do either of two things.

1. Set a max number of hours of play time for every week, or allocate specific days. Stop playing when the time runs out and ask someone else to hold you to it.
2. Indulge. Allocate some time for leveling and the initial phase. Accept that you're not making professional/personal progress for a few months and just have fun. When you hit 60 there will be fewer things to do and the time investment will be lower.

Personally I'm choosing 2 and I think it's fine. It's like taking a holiday where you're not productive for 2 weeks :)

I also recently became a father, and trust me as soon as the little devil pops out you will forget all about wow. There is nothing better then coming home to a baby to cuddle with. I usually come home at 16.00 and then spend time with my son for about an hour before I do chores such as food and walk the dog etc. Baby goes to sleep at around 19.00 then I can spend time with my wife or play wow. My wife also has other interests then "me" so obviously she doesn't mind me playing 3 out of 7 evenings of every week.

Thanks for all the input guys. So I think I will play 3-4 evenings of the week and spend the rest learning and working on personal projects. Just to make it clear one more time: I never intended to reduce time spent with my family. Come March, I don't think I will have time to even think about Warcraft for a long, long time. ;) Other than buying baby clothes with Horde coat of arms..

Merode wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Thanks for all the input guys. So I think I will play 3-4 evenings of the week and spend the rest learning and working on personal projects. Just to make it clear one more time: I never intended to reduce time spent with my family. Come March, I don't think I will have time to even think about Warcraft for a long, long time. ;) Other than buying baby clothes with Horde coat of arms..

I am a nihilist. In my opinion there is nothing inherently wrong with any kind of life style as long as you are honest about your intentions with other people and wont let them down once you committed to something, which is what I would consider being a decent human being. Any goals beyond that are arbitrary and subject to your own decisionmaking.

I may be a little late, but why not do both?

There are 7 days in a week after all.
Designate time for everything.
3 nights work on projects and 2 nights play wow.
And kinda feel out the weekends on which one you can do, maybe your ahead on your projects and can wow or maybe its best to work more on your projects.

I work 50 hours a week and have a wife and child, plus 2 dogs.
A home to clean and do projects around the house.

Yeah you might not be able to get to 60 quick but to be honest theres no rush, you may be behind but your really not.
Once you do get to 60 and join a guild they would have been through the major raids and on farm.
Which means you should get gear quite easily.

Not to Necro a thread, but if you're still checking replies, you can actually set an alarm on the in game clock on the minimap. If you're disciplined enough to listen to it, maybe that would help? But ultimately, yes, you can only answer this. I'm in agreement with the other nihilist for what it's worth. Balance.

Do what makes you happy tbh