So You Decided You Needed a Break…. From What?
stargrace Lack of posts over the past week are one sure indication that in the MMO world, not much is going on. That indication would be correct! After taking some time to look at my life (lack of one?) I decided very spur of the moment, that I needed a break from EQ2 for a little bit. Why?
 Well, I’m blessed (cursed?) with having the life of a house wife pretty much. I have no children, I stay at home, I cook clean and do all that fun stuff. I’m 25, so fairly young. The life is not a bad one. It’s not always an easy one though and anyone who tells me other wise I will swiftly give a great boot to the head. There are reasons life is the way it is right now and without spewing my emotional garbage all over my blog that should sufice.
Anyhow
I have a huge amount of free time on my hands. My boyfriend and I decided to try EQ1 5 years ago, and have been playing MMO’s together (in some degree) ever since. There comes a time though when everyone at one point or another can think of someone or themselves and know, hey… they play too much. I’m one of those people. Not even ashamed to admit it. It was getting to the point where I’d just log on for the sake of logging on, not even acomplishing anything. Granted, I still did all the things in real life that needed to get done, but even I know when too much is too much.
 So I wrote a quick note to my guild letting them know I needed a break for a bit (it is the christmas season anyhow, most of our raiding if not all has slowed to a stand still as various people are on vacation / visiting family / drunk) and have been EQ2-free for… *checks the calander, ignoring her shaking hands* 6 days now.
Are MMO’s addictive? Sure. They draw you in and can keep you there, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with admiting that. When you have the free time to devote to it (and hell, even when you don’t) it can become a pretty powerful thing in your life. So does this mean I’m giving up my MMO’ing ways? Naw. Just means that I took a step back, and decided I need to limit my playing a little more then I had been in the past. Sounds sort of weird to write about, but I’m sure there are those out there who understand exactly what I’m saying and where I’m coming from.
On the flip side, finding 15+ hours of something to do has been a huge challenge. I shopped. Worked on Christmas presents, read, did some drawing, did some writing, and whatever else I could find to fill in the empty gaps of time that seem longer some how these days. I decided to limit myself to 4 hours of play a day. Longer on weekends since… well, this is a major form of (cheap) entertainment these days for myself and my boyfriend. I’ve braced myself for all of the “WTF Get a Life!” comments, and “OMG L0Zer!” and all the rest. It’s all about the moderation.