On another note Brian you sound like a person who is not in a relationship and can’t figure out why it never works out, or you have a relationship with another gamer which is a very different situation because they understand. Just because someone doesn’t understand your passion doesn’t mean you should drop them like a bad habit. My wife and I have very different interest but what makes us work so well is we share a lot too, I think if my wife liked everything I did I would go crazy because everyone needs there time apart even if your madly in love.

As for the situation mentioned, make sure yo make time for your RL friends and GF/Wife and if they understand your enjoyment of the game it will all work out. My wife is no where near being a gamer and never will be, but she understands that the $15.00/mo I pay is a lot cheaper than some alternatives. So keep the lines of communications open and remember….WoW is just a game and is not as important as RL.

Ok to stop my rambling I will just give you the solution.
1. Let her know when your raid nights and times are.
2. When it isn’t in that time if she wants you to spend time with her when you are playing, log off. The game will still be there when you log back in later. She might not be if you put her off too much.
3. On your raid nights that both of you are home most of the day, make sure to spend time with her.
4. Before you log on for unscheduled play, ask her if she wants to do something first. And if you find yourself playing for a couple hours of unscheduled play, go find her and ask again before you keep playing for a few more hours.
5. This may not necessarily be her wanting to spend time with you, but maybe doing chores. Find a way to fit in chores. When you are on a flight path, go put a load of laundry in the washer. If you are just doing randoms by yourself, after each random, go do some chore. Wash the dishes, do a random, sweep the living room, do a random. Random BGs and Heroics are a nice way to monitor your time in game.
6. And really the best tip if you want her to play WoW also, One of her friends needs to start playing. You talking about it won’t help. My wife use to think online games were stupid and not something she wanted to do. A female friend of ours started playing Guild Wars with me. And would tell my wife how much fun it was. So my wife tried it out and did like it. So eventually when that friend started playing WoW that just helped get my wife to try WoW also. It wasn’t a plan on my part to get my wife playing, but it worked out nicely. Women know what to mention about a game that will get another woman’s attention.

Your statement that “you understand this is a WoW fanbase” would indicate that you’re not into the game much (or at all) or have left the game because you became bitter. No doubt this taints your poorly informed mini-diatribe when you paint WoW as the typical picture of addiction and loss of self. Anything when taken to extremes can be bad for someone….but just because someone really enjoys something it doesn’t mean they’re addicted.

The question posed was how can he avoid GF aggro? Yes, sure. He can make her dinner and schedule his life and hobbies around her regardless of his prior commitments as you suggest. But her reaction to him playing is what I had a problem with and is typical. Instead of sharing his experience and wanting to learn more about what her BF is into, she storms off in a huff. This is bad, manipulative behavior that does not need to be reinforced because, if he stays with her, this type of reaction won’t end with WoW.

Once again – do what you feel like. Life is too short to be under the heel of anyone dictating when you should or should not do what you enjoy. Try to get her to understand. If she won’t, or doesn’t care to, understand or share your interests then she’s probably not worth your time – plenty of fish in the sea my friend.

Brian, do you know what else is an interest that uses up your time, mental capacity, and where you find other friends that serve as a crutch? drugs. Yes, WOW can be an enticing drug that manipulates users to spend countless hours and loads of money doing things that in real life doesn’t reward you with anything other than escapism. Just like Drugs. On top of that your WOW friends are addicted and keep you in that play mode, all the while you compromise your personal life outside of WOW. Just like drugs.

With that being said, I understand this is a WOW fanbase. I am just saying like anything else there is a solution to this problem: So Plectical, it sounds like your GF is interested in spending time with you and you’re rejecting her. I’m sure she doesn’t want you to give WOW up entirely, just don’t toss aside a thoughtful girl because you aren’t willing to compromise. I suggest you have that chicken parmesan dinner with her. Things like that can mean so much for so little.

So, keep your WOW play down to a minimum through the day (Did you say you played it all morning and then more in the evening? I’d say 4 hours or more is a really long time to keep anyone, especially a girlfriend, waiting.) Like anything else, schedule time with your GF and WOW to help mitigate any problems.

p.s. i think my mini-diatribe will start a world of warcraft. hahahaha.

Let’s say you had….karate practice….or bowling. You’ve made a commitment to train x number of nights a week for y number of hours and others were depending on you being there. Would she react the same way? I’m guessing not.

Like those 2 things mentioned above, WoW is a hobby/mental sport. Anyone that, instead of attempting to share your interest, berates you or treats you poorly because of it doesn’t deserve your time. She has to accept that you’ve made a standing commitment to your guild/group and just b/c it’s a video game it doesn’t make it any less important.

Last point: Never ever compromise yourself or your interests because of someone else.