Welcome to W.A.W.O.W.
W.A.W.O.W. stands for Women Against World of Warcraft. It is for women whose spouses, significant others, friends, or family members have been afflicted by an addiction to World of Warcraft. It is not a 12-step program, just a place to bitch and find out how others have dealt with their loved ones' addictions.
Forums
Since I am now in the final 6 months of my Ph.D. (and having a baby in July!) and
I have even less time than before, I decided to try out a forum on this site
instead of emails. This will take up less of my time and will get your stories
out there much faster. I also hope that it will start some discussion. I
am often at a loss of what to say in response to some of your stories; maybe
another reader has some wiser words to share than I do. However, from now on, just post your stories on the forum. Click on the link below (not the "free forums by Bravenet.com" part). I've never hosted a forum before so I hope this works!
I am also updating the "Stories" section of the site today.
More "hate mail"
Once again, this speaks for itself. It's even in l33t speak. Luckily, having lived with a WoW addict, I am pretty fluent in l33t speak. Oh, and, the best - this is from "WoWMasta." Fake email address but hilarious name.
"WTF PWNAGE ON YOUR LIFE!"
Standard symptoms of addiction, not realizing it's a problem and attacking those who think it is a problem. To reiterate, I do not have a problem with the game itself. I'm sure that game is awesome; how else can you explain the number of people who play and the amount of time they play it? If you can play and not neglect your job, your wife, your kids, your schoolwork, your hygiene or whatever, keep playing, I couldn't care any less. But if you can't, like any addiction, it is a problem that affects not only yourself, but also those around you. If my experience, my friends' experiences and the emails women have sent me are any indication, the addiction can ruin relationships. That is what the point of this site is: to help women cope with their loved one's addiction and hopefully even help them to stop the addiction.
Well, I finally caved and joined Facebook. Then I realized it provides a great way to spread the word about WAWOW, so I started a group. If you search WAWOW, it should show up. There's another group (Wives against WoW) too. Please join the group! It will be easier to post your stories that way instead of emailing me and having me post them.
WAWOW T-shirts!!!!
WAWOW T-shirts are here! Check out my shop on Cafepress.com. I can only put 1 of each type of shirt in the shop, so if you want a different image on a different shirt, send me an email and I'll change it for you. Enjoy!
A Long Overdue Update (May 2007)
I think that the last time I updated this page was over a year ago. Around that time, my husband tried to start playing WOW again, "just a little." It didn't take him long to realize that wasn't possible and that life was way better around our house if he wasn't playing WOW. Mostly because I wasn't constantly pissed off. He finally figured out that without WOW, every aspect of his life was better: we spend more time together, he is more productive at work (no browsing forums), the apartment is cleaner, he can play more video games, we socialize more . . . He has been off of WOW for about a year now and has vowed to never play an MMORPG again.
When he quit, I bought him an XBox 360 for his birthday. You might think I was crazy to buy him more video games after WOW caused such problems. However, you can turn the XBox off whenever and no one is depending on him for an "instance." Even with XBox Live, it is not even on the same scale as WOW. Plus, we can play the XBox 360 together - can you say "Guitar Hero!" I am such a ROCK STAR! My career score is higher than his!
A W.A.W.O.W. Revival
Recently, I have been receiving a lot of emails from women out there who have found my site. I started this sort of as a joke, but I guess we all really do need a place to vent. In light of this, I have decided to update and expand the site. Keep checking back for updates and new material!
The Rebuttal
Despite lots of good feedback from other women out there, I seem to also have attracted the attention of WoW lovers who now hate me. Just to make a point, I am not saying anything about the quality of the game; in fact, I think it is probably one of the best games ever. Why else would people hold off peeing and eating and drinking to continue playing? Anyway, here is an example of the enlightened responses I have gotten from WoW players. I think it speaks for itself. Spelling, punctation and capitalization are not mine.
like f*** u b*** maybe if u tired the damn game u would understand!
In fact, I understand perfectly - it's an addiction! And, yes, if I "tired" to play, I would probably completely understand what is so great about the game and why it is so addicting. But SO NOT THE POINT!!!! The point is that when you are addicted to something, it interferes with the rest of your life and you are completely unable to see how it interferes. Go ahead and play WoW, just be able to turn it off and function in the real world. Don't neglect your friends, family, jobs, hygiene, or health. And that is the point.
Is your loved one addicted to World of Warcraft?
Is checking his World of Warcraft mail, auctions, etc. the first thing he does in the morning or the last thing he does at night?
Does he spend more time playing World of Warcraft that he does at work/school?
Does he speak in World of Warcraft slang to you or other people who are not in the game? Even worse, does he speak in "l33t speak"?
Does the sentence "I'll be done in an hour" really mean 3 or 4 hours?
Does he tell you about instances, quests, and funny anecdotes from the game at least once a day"?
Do he and his friends call each other by their characters' names when they are not playing the game?
Does he seem to be more responsible about completing tasks within the game than completely chores at home or tasks at work?
Does he check the forums in every free moment he has?
If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, your loved one may have a problem.
Last updated
October 28, 2007