Topic 27 of Z & Cinder’s blog challenge is a personal one for me, so I was curious to see if other people struggled with time as I do. So far, it has been nice to see that I’m not alone.

The topic asks:

How do you balance playing WoW with the real life commitments you have? Are there things you give up in your life to be able to play WoW, or vice versa? What do you to do make the most of your play time?

The answer is- I don’t find the time. Well, not to do all the things that I would like to do in game. For that, there just isn’t enough time at all.

It’s funny that one of my biggest problems with WoW is not disliking content, or being bored or annoyed about something in game. No, my biggest issue that I just love far too much of it, and want to do it all. Yep, even pvp. In some ways this is a burden, but in other ways, it’s actually a bit liberating. You see, by knowing that I can’t do everything in game, I don’t do everything in game, and I don’t resent it.

What this also means, is that when I do spend time in game, I’m always going to enjoy it.

That’s not to say that I don’t have commitments, though. Regular readers will know that I’m part of a mythic raid team. We’re not highly competitive by any means, but we do aim to get all mythic bosses down in order to get the Cutting Edge achievements. This level of raiding does come with a certain level of required play. There is an expectation at the beginning of an expansion that our mains will be levelled and raid ready by a certain point in time. For Legion, it has meant a certain level on our artifact weapons as well. But even with my work schedule, I usually manage to get this without trouble.

I’m the type of person who makes lists for everything. My work is so hectic that I wouldn’t be able to get through everything if I didn’t do this. So naturally I tend to do the same thing for WoW. (Though it doesn’t always go to plan…. I do get pretty distracted in game hehe It’s just that it’s so engaging and I get a bit lost in everything.) I usually have a running Bucket List of things that I want to get done. These tend to be additional goals outside of my raiding requirements. I try not to be too hard on myself if I don’t achieve these, especially if we do manage to get all the raiding goals down. But it’s very helpful when I feel a bit lost, or unsure of what to do with my time. So if you’re in the same boat, I highly recommend making a bucket list!

One of the bigger challenges I’ve had recently is the real-life balance. Up until a couple of months ago my partner Thor also played WoW with me. Even though we did a lot of our own thing in game, raid nights we played together, and it was a great way to spent our time. Since Thor stopped playing, we haven’t had that time to play together in game. Obviously we love each other and actually do want to spend time together, so we specifically make time for each other, with regular movie nights and what not. It’s actually nice having planned time away from the game. Makes it feel more like I’m doing what I want to do in game, and less feeling like a chore.

So that’s about it for me. It all comes down to making lists of things I want to achieve in game, and actually allocating time for real-life to help keep things in balance. I don’t always get things right, but I do try. And so far, things are working ok. 🙂