A lot of people say they hate guilds and raid teams because scheduling feels like another job, but having set time blocked out for the game let me accomplish my goals so much easier.
There’s no uncertainty or conflict of scheduling especially when it becomes routine.
Kudos for a great forum question, there have a been a lot of long and thoughtful comments. I appreciate all of it.
My take is that sometimes I look at WoW as an addiction and I think the game was designed that way. My evidence is simple, look at the forums; still playing while not playing.
I think most everything has been said so I’d like to add that I love the players in our guild who have little time or play only on weekends; they find what they like to do and go do it; for some it is achievements, for some it is dithering about in old content. Seeing a player get the campaign achieves late in the expansion warms my heart.
When youre home, dont open any social media. Dont read the forums. It would waste your time. Just log in and stick with your WoW goals.
You only open your social media when youre on break on your job… you can even open them while on the job if you can.
This.
Don’t pug. Waste of time.
We have a bunch of folks with kids in our guild, and we raid Cutting Edge. In fact we were founded as a haven for people who have to raid late because of kids/work.
People have been raising kids while having other interests since forever.
My dad spend 3 to 4 hours a night watching baseball on TV. I spend time every night playing WoW instead of watching baseball.
sleep less hours.
Oh, then you probably missed where Justin Verlander got his first World Series win.
Gaming is my hobby, so I do that while other people may watch TV or something. But my family is first. I had close to 20 years of prioritizing my hobby; I live a more balanced life now.
I work 10 hour days, so I don’t play on my work days. So I play after the family goes to bed on the days I have off. I’ve accepted that I can’t commit to raid schedules, and that I may have to drop the game at any moment my baby needs me. So I don’t go serious in group content either.
I play whatever I can que for. So I eventually quit and wait until the next expansion to play again. WOW doesn’t have as much queable content like FF14 does, so I spend longer stretches there. I do miss my raid guilds and coordinating to learn mechanics. It’s just not what I can do anymore and I’ve never found the community accommodating to dad gamers with their strict schedules for organized groups and unreasonable ilvl expectations for PUGs (requiring the same ilvl as what drops in the raid). WOW players also expect you to spoil the fight before you ever step into the dungeon or raid by watching YouTube videos and guides. I wish people would rather use their own brains and figure it out as a team.
Oh I’m always playing. As long as I can make my kiddos happy, work when I need too and clean… my mind is at ease and I can play anytime. Maybe I’m just not as busy as everybody else or something but there is always time to have fun!
Like just picking up my son from school is a 20-30 minute wait in line… I like to play on my phone when I’m sitting there. And when I have a day off and the kids are at school, I can play WoW after a intense cleaning session in the morning!
It’s definitely a whole lot easier now today than before when my children were younger. That’s a hard thing to balance when you have babies in the equation. But afterwards it not so bad and I cannot help but wonder…
Do people not realize the time slipping by when they are just sitting there doing nothing? Like on their phones and stuff.
When I started playing WoW in front of my hubby he would become irritated and often bring up that I’m just sitting around all day doing nothing. But the truth is he would be watching tv or playing on his phone or something equally time wasting lol.
It’s all the same… just different forms of entertainment. And everybody does it! Yet everybody always seems to be complaining about not having the time to do anything.
I seen this with my own eyes and just by listening to others speak about their days. A lot of it is filled with online shopping, playing with filters, meeting with friends… things that people are choosing to do that fills in their time throughout the day.
I just choose to play WoW and listen to music. 
it’s a small thing to fit into my everyday that keeps me feeling happy and energetic.
It’s giving up life as you knew it for a different life. After seeing how dumb the general public is and how bad the world has gotten with social issues, combined with the joy I feel holding my 2 month old (I have a 20 yr old as well), I’ll gladly give up being a hardcore gamer to raise my son right.
I want to raise my son the best way I can with all the knowledge and wisdom I’ve aquired over my 40+ years of life so that my son can help improve the world we live in, instead of being just one more.burden on society.
The key is understanding how much sleep you need. My most consistent times to play are when the whole house is asleep, Typically early morning.
You can get creative to, in between work by playing on a laptop or steam deck. It’s very hard but it can work. I’ve been able to level all the classes and play a lot of LFR and BGs. I have been unable to do any actual legit raiding or high level mythic and this has been my balancing act since BFA.
Long sessions just sitting is also really bad for our bodies. I think they call it the “new heart disease”.
I approach Wow not as a checklist, but what do I want to do here for a few hours. Then sign off. If one just gets on a goal loop, they can get stuck for many hours on that hamster wheel for a reward, because the game has a million goals. I’m not even sure this is the game’s intention, and may be more of a compulsive player issue.
It’s not possible in retail with seasons, if you’re trying to keep up with the crowd. Something will have to give.
That’s why there was such an exodus from the past 3 expansions. There’s no end where people can catch up and have fun with good gear, or with multiple alts and good gear.
You’ll reach a point in life, eventually, where you’ll have all the time in the world until you have no time left.
If you are an American it’s the culture. You’re basically just a tax slave for the world.
Usually, I wake up around 5am Eastern and try to PUG a dungeon or two a few mornings a week before work (I run like 4 dungeons a week on average). Everyone else is asleep (unless the baby awakens D: ) so I can play uninterrupted during a key.
I really liked the Shadowlands KSM mounts so I made it a goal to get KSM (for the first time and I got it for all 4 seasons : ] ) during the seasons of SL. But when I don’t have a hardline goal, like getting KSM or raising IO, I just play whenever everything else is done cause I can just logout whenever (if I move kills me, so be it!).
It really comes to balance and communication with your spouse to understand expectations for your role in the family and your wants for downtime. As many others have stated, it’s also easy to play when others are watching TV (not that babies and toddlers do that much, at least mine don’t lol).
I am a VP, a husband and father with a 1 year old and teenager. I also play beer league hockey on a regular basis. I can still find time to play throughout the week. I usually jump on around 8:30 - 9pm after the baby is down for the night if I don’t have a hockey game. Can play for 2 hours at least before heading to bed.
I prioritized wow and sculpted my life around knowing I’ll have raid.
I actually think this would fit my schedule the best, but I don’t think my love for WoW is enough to get me out of bed that early!
Sleep less.