Not sure if anyone has heard of Tibia, an MMORPG that is free to play. Well, I have played it now 3 times in my life. The previous two times, I became severely addicted to the point where I was playing up to 8 hours a day, maybe even more, and I spent my days thinking about the game. Nothing else mattered! So I ended up quitting the two times, but have recently begun playing for a third time.

I play maybe 2-4 hours per day, depending whether or not it's a weekend or weekday. I do see a problem though, and it's that Tibia is getting in the way of my school work!

Does anybody else play a game faithfully, but has a way to focus on their school work BEFORE playing the game? Any ideas or tips are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Nachtschatten]

I'm not entirely sure if this will work for you, but it helped me recently when I had to study for a test that I really didn't feel like studying for; I would rather have licked dust off the floor and make interesting sculptures with it than read a page of my textbook. You have to make equal time for both things. You shouldn't just play games because you'll feel guilty for not doing homework/studying, and you shouldn't just study because your mind will be on the game all the time. It comes down to that good old saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy".

Say to yourself "If I study/do homework for two hours, I can reward myself with an hour of playing [insert name of game here]". Then if you're in the zone of studying and you don't feel like taking a break to play the game you can let the time accumulate and then reward yourself later. Same thing goes for the opposite situation - if you play for an hour, you should do two hours of homework, or whatever. It's important to balance and reach a compromise.

I hope it works for you. If not you should check on wikihow, there are some suggestions on what to do when you get addicted to MMORPGs.

[Skully]

I understand exactly what you are going through. I was severly addicted to the game called "Evony" and I would stay up 24 hours straight to play the game. Finally, I got tired of it and I also realized how much it was affection my life. You have to be strong and just walk away from it. I know it is hard, it was SOOOOO hard for me not to log on but I made it. Just have faith in yourself that you can do it!

[Callista]

Happens to me all the time. I'm autistic and it's just part of how my brain works--it gets stuck on one thing, whether that's Tetris or relativity theory, and just doesn't get unstuck until I've mastered the subject. The way I figure it, the better I manage my time, the less it hurts me when I get stuck on something that doesn't help me at school. I've given up on trying to extinguish the obsessions; they only pop up again on another subject. The thing that seems to work best for me is trying to optimize my time in other ways so that I have as much free as possible, and more chance that I will get done what needs to be done. And, anyway, even the more useless obsessions often have beneficial results; Tetris, for example, apparently increased my spatial reasoning ability and allowed me to learn to drive a car for the first time at age 25.

[SlatkaMala]

I found myself quite addicted to Yo ho ho Puzzle Pirates. When I realized this I had to uninstall the game hub from my computer and walk away.

I also have to watch myself with The Sims and Nintendo.

Usually when I over play it's because there's something bothering me and I need to deal with whatever that is.

[hayward]

I don't know.. how about this idea?

I assume you mean that you are doing your work and playing this game on -line? If that is so, and it's an addiction, it is probably hard to not revert back to the game..

Why don't you do something like go to the library to do your work?? Remove yourself from where the game is accessible. They have computers available there, and you probably can't access that game.

Sometimes we get a lot more done in a shorter time frame, if we structure things. So make a plan. Set a time, drink a cup of coffee, leave your game behind and go to the library for a set period of time. Then- you can leave your work behind and feel free to play for a while.

[Perna]

I think you have to decide what you want down the road; good grades/schooling or the fun of the game. I had to leave Facebook because I was stuck in several games and spending more time there than on another site I found more beneficial to me. So, I quit going to Facebook and went to the other site again instead.

It doesn't sound like you want to give up the game, you're wanting your cake and to eat it too Don't know that that can work because you're letting yourself get away with playing the game because you want to. There's no "easy" way; it's all about what you really want; decide that and then go toward what you want rather than avoiding the effort, pain, discomfort, or whatever.

[Sunna]

I was never able to balance real life and game, and had to quit games to reclaim life, but I know of people who say they can indeed balance the two. What helped me some, was an attitude shift.

When I saw the stuff as something I had to do before I could play, I was doing it badly, and resentfully.

I talked to myself for a while how these non-game things REALLY matter to me in the long run, how they are important and worthy. With that in mind I tried to derive a sense of satisfaction from having them done, and done well. It was important to pause a moment when done, not just rush into the game, to give myself a little appreciation.

Dunno if it will help you.

Oh, and if you get sucked into a evil time devourer like Evony, just quit. After you realize you "can't" take time to sleep anymore with that game, it's rather obvious.

[Kymaro]

haha, went through this with "WOW". Man I remember trying to break that addiction! That was tuff. But rewarding now I have a real life and not just some toon in a game. Although I still play Im very limited on my play time. Priorities set.