The "Joy-Quit"?

I know rage quitting UO is a super common occurence. Been there done that.

But how about the joy quit? I think I'm enjoying UO a little too much and the effect on my life as a whole isn't positive. I've neglected my work, my relationships, my music... everything I care about basically (Although I DO care about UO)

I've always been an all or nothing type of guy; but this is legitimately starting to have a negative effect on my life.... or at least I'm starting to notice it.

I know I'm not the most likable guy; but I need you. What's next?

.

You're likely in the right place to ask that kind of thing. I'm sure just about everyone here has had MMO addiction issues at some point in their lives.
No one can really give you any advice you don't already know, though. Find balance and place priority where it matters.

The nice thing about free shards and small communities is that you don't have to play it like a fulltime job in order to stay competitve and be "raid-ready". Your only "obligation" on UOR is have fun.

Prioritize, real life trumps UO every time.

UO will always be here, a job, family or the things you enjoy may not be.

Just like all of you (I'd imagine) ... I just want to be happy..

First time?

I recommend putting all your valuables in the bank because when you stop, like all other addictions, you gotta do it for a while. I have wanted to go back to shards so many times until I realized everything valuable I had was in my house and so just move on to whatever shard is popular at the time... Then you man up and kick the addiction. When you get your shit back together, you come back and play some UO until you realize you're back in the same sinking boat. Then rinse and repeat.

I wouldn't bank a thing! Delete your characters/items and move on. Who would try to quit a drug but keep it in their drawer just in case?

First time what? .... quitting UO? ... LOL!

Seriously, don't be such a puss. Yeah, when you get back on/off the wagon (lol Seinfeld) it's always going to be hardcore binge. Relax, take your game play easy and cut back the hours in. Staying out of IRC/off forums is really a healthy step towards mitigating time spent on the 'game' as a whole.

Don't quit. You're an asshole and I like you for our similarities and think we'll have some fun together. Can't stop you if you really need to cut it out but how about just cut it back?

TLDR: STFU and log in.

Gaming is a little bit different from drugs. Unless we are talking marijuana, most "drugs" aren't good for you even in moderation. There is absolutely nothing wrong with gaming in moderation.

Bravo! You have just responded to a rhetorical question and found your own response very funny!

Rhetorical questions are like marriage; what's the point?

That's a great point. Maybe alcohol would be a better analogy. Nothing wrong with it in moderation, however with some people, alcoholics, moderation is not possible. Those people would be better off not going near the stuff instead of trying to drink in moderation.
In no way am I saying mindless won't be able to find balance. I hope he does. With that said, if looking for balance results in the same old out of whack priorities, deleting is the best way to go.

Nail... meet head.

*goes to grab an alcoholic beverage*

I'm one of the types that will need to delete when I move back to the real world. I truly wish I could play this game in moderation. I'm jealous of those that can.

^^^ This all day long ^^^

No one ever leaves. I too have gone on break as work and work and life were suffering. I still scour the forums and try to help out when I can or just cause/instigate shenanigans.

As someone said earlier, put your valueables in your bank. I quit UOR for many months during the spring/summer and was logging in just to refresh my houses. Well, real life caught up to me (not a bad thing! hehe) and my fortress and my yew small tower fell. Since I could see that day coming, I had banked all my "important" pixels (BODs, holiday items, statues, tmaps, etc).

My advice to you, if you still want to play, is to have certain days/nights that you "allow" yourself to play. On those other days though, plan stuff to do so you don't think about logging in. Fix the broken faucet, hang out with friends, goto Hooters and meet a new friend, whatever. On the weekends, plan something to do away from the house so you are not tempted to login. Over time, you will not have to plan these kind of things cause you will be used to how much you are playing.

Just my $0.02....I've definately been there.

One thing I'll do is set up a macro when I know I should be doing something else. Like yesterday was my only day off and I needed to clean up outside, do laundry, vacuum, and a bunch of other crap. So I set up a macro and GMed discord on my bard while doing all that stuff around the house. This helps because deep down I'd like to be playing and not having to do real life stuff, but by knowing I have a macro going I don't feel like I'm missing any UO time.

The initial action to take in this process is to invest them in businesses who work to free more people of the UO curse, which ruins the personal lives of many. Therefore you should put your assets and finances in the well established and good care of cA. You may make an appointment with me to take care of transactions etc.

Supposedly rares on this shard don't decay. So if you're really done, I'd try to turn your various assets into rares, scatter them about the lands, hidden as best you can, and let people go find them. I've seen server births literally survive for years on other shards, before being found.