What Real Life Plans Have You Cancelled To Play Video Games?

The person in pic is most loyal gamer out there.
I often take specific days off from work (call in sick if needed) to be ONLINE when something big happens, a new game releasing, big update/patch

I was playing FFXI one night before I had to go into work. (3rd shift) I was running through Yuhtunga Jungle and noticed that the  Rose Garden NM had spawned. This NM only spawns if the Over grown rose mob is not disturbed for 10 hours and still only has a small chance of spawning. I was on my level 70 Red Mage and decided that I was going to try to solo this level 50 NM. If you know anything about FFXI then you know a rabbit 5 levels under you can kick your ass. You also know that Red Mages are good at soloing things. Well I managed to get its HP to about 1/2 and it started to regen. I could not do enough dps to kill it on my own but I was able to stay alive and keep the claim on the NM. It took 30 minutes, two airship, and a hike through the jungle for my friend to get to me and help me kill it. While I waited for my friend to get there I mustered up the best scratchy “I’m sick” voice and called in sick to work. Once my Galka monk friend arrived we easily downed the NM and it dropped Vilma’s Ring! One of the best rings in the game and only a 9.8% chance for it to drop and it was mine! Calling in sick that night was well worth it, and that is a memory I’ll cherish for the rest of my life…

I put together a dungeon finder guild when the DF was created in Wrath.  I could no longer raid for extended periods of time. So from 5:30 – 6:30 we did dungeon finder, we started at level 12 and went to 80 by only doing dungeons no BoA, plus we rolled on a different server and opposite faction.  I had just got married and my wife was mad at me raiding 4 hours plus a night so after great debate, 5:30 – 6:30 I had no responsibilities my wife left me alone, I didnt answer my phone, work nothing. I just did as many dungeons as I possibly could in one hour.

The story ends with all of us making it to 80….the moral of the story….dont roll opposite faction on a dead server or you will end up with a lonely level 80 dranai shaman who never gets played.

None as far as I can think, for I think I put real life a head games. But were the years take me idk.

I’ve cancelled plans that I didn’t want to partake in anyway.  

Games can become too much of an escape for me and I am starting to realize it’s not healthy.

In consuming anything without moderation the human mind can makes substitutes for reality. We end up convincing ourselves “Tomorrow will be the day I’ll change.”

Hopefully tomorrow’s my day.

I would always be the one to plan dates with my gf, that way I could make sure they weren’t on raid nights. Now that blizzard has killed 25man raids for less engaging 10mans, I’ve moved on from WoW and haven’t found any games that need to be “scheduled,” particularly with Rift and GW2. Hell, during SWTOR the game actually gave you MORE time for real life, every time you loaded a large planet (im looking at you, tatooine) you knew you had an hour to go cook up trouble.

I frequently take vacation for game releases. I have accepted work schedules that fit raid schedules. But I think the most profound thing I’ve ever done was back in Classic WoW. When my server popped the AQ40 gates unexpectedly due to exploits of the new server transfer feature I got a call from my guild at 3am while working. I turned to the overnight supervisor and told him with  a straight face that it was my father and my godmother had just been rushed to the hospital and they didn’t expect her to last through the night.

Pfft… I’m a gamer… I have no life…

I was thinking of being a productive member of society. Then I discovered the NES in 1988 and that plan went out the window.

I’ve used a few sick days at work because I wanted to game here and there. And my guild has a steady raid schedule, so I try not to make plans on those nights, but I can’t recall a time that I’ve actually cancelled existing plans in order to game.

However, my wife likes to remind me of our 1st year dating anniversary where I told her I didn’t have enough money to buy her a present, then went out to buy WoW the following day.

One of my good friends ended up quitting WoW after he missed his best friend’s 30th birthday party because he was raiding Molten Core back in vanilla.

learned a tough lesson doing instances for the first time.. wife;s family was waiting for me to have dinner.. i kept assuming I was almost done.. noob lesson learned.. i save my marriage now by clearing 2hr+ blocks of time before doing any group content..

Honestly, maybe I just have a bit of foresight in this regard, but despite having been playing WoW since three days after launch, I’ve never once cancelled an appointment or get-together with friends because of it. And while I’ve certainly procrastinated when it comes to work and real life obligations so that I might help my guild out on raid days, I’ve also never taken a sick day that wasn’t warranted. (But then, I can’t say I didn’t often play WoW excessively on said sick days, either.)

In college i constantly told my girlfriends I was doing homework/studying/etc, but was ofc really just raiding. Also, in high school I told my friends I couldnt hang, but they were all over a friends house just down the street. Consequently, they walked over to my house, my parents let them in, and that was when my friends found out that not only was I a “wow’er” but that I was too busy to hang with them cause I was leading my guild’s B group through classic ZG 20 man. Needless to say I never lived it down and I am known as the biggest gamer/geek/nerd amongst my friends. I wear it proudly (although I no longer raid and/or am as committed to MMO’s) and make up for my geekyness by playing rugby and swooning ladies with my guitar. The key here is balance, which took me a bit to figure out.

Besides sometimes going to sleep a little late, it’s mostly the other way around for me. But then again that’s probably not a suprise, cause I play only 8 hours a week at most and never get any in-game friends somehow, despite being helpfull and friendly to other players