As many game makers make it very difficult to delete game accounts, I wonder if it would be helpful to provide technical instructions for how to delete accounts for specific games. Actually, I wonder if such instructions are available on the site and I haven't run into them yet. If so, perhaps we should make link to these instructions on the list of addictive games or some other obvious location.
I personally have struggled with how to successfully delete my WoW account. I tried both uninstalling it, deleting my characters one by one, and changing the password to a random word. None of those were successful (I am glad to say why they were unsuccessful if someone wants more narrative); however, I just signed over my account to someone who will never give it back to me. I am no longer tempted by the thought that I could access those characters again.
I have also struggled with flash games and movies. I have uninstalled flash to provide a barrier to impulse playing, but have recently had to reinstall it for work. I would love to know if there were some technical way to allow me to use flash for some of the programs I need for work, but disable it for online content.
I think it would be a good thread to have somewhere.
For MMOs I think you covered most of it. People will sometimes also go so far as to delete all their gear before deleting the character and then give the account to someone, etc.
For flash games you could install a flash blocker.
But you know, none of these things are the real answer. You're just hiding from your addiction. The real answer is to really get serious about the program, work the steps, and focus on your recovery instead of avoiding the games.
In fact, in AA I think they have a term for this: dry drunk. That is someone who isn't drinking at the moment, but isn't in recovery, and innevitably will go back to drinking at some point. One of our members who is also in AA could probably shed more light on this.
Good luck se!
The only winning move is not to play.
Aww here it goes.
You don't own a WoW account. Blizzard does. You're just paying them to manage their account. You cannot get any technical instructions for how to delete someone else's property. That'd be against the law.
Although I agree a thread that complies tools you can use to help not game, (like how to block flash, how to block certain websites, software that keeps track of time spent on computer) would be useful! Although I'm not sure OLGA could actually do it because they can't support any of those things?
Regardless here is some reading showing that you don't own anything in WoW. Note that Blizzard owns the account, and only Blizzard may delete it, it does not say anything about you being able to delete it.
Ownership.
All rights and title in and to the Service (including without limitation any user accounts, titles, computer code, themes, objects, characters, character names, stories, dialogue, catch phrases, locations, concepts, artwork, animations, sounds, musical compositions, audio-visual effects, methods of operation, moral rights, any related documentation, "applets" incorporated into the Game Client, transcripts of the chat rooms, character profile information, recordings of games played using the Game Client, and the Game Client and server software) are owned by Blizzard or its licensors. The Game and the Service are protected by United States and international laws, and may contain certain licensed materials in which Blizzard's licensors may enforce their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement.
No Ownership Rights in Account.
NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY HEREIN, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOU SHALL HAVE NO OWNERSHIP OR OTHER PROPERTY INTEREST IN THE ACCOUNT, AND YOU FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ALL RIGHTS IN AND TO THE ACCOUNT ARE AND SHALL FOREVER BE OWNED BY AND INURE TO THE BENEFIT OF BLIZZARD.
Account Suspension/Deletion.
BLIZZARD MAY SUSPEND, TERMINATE, MODIFY, OR DELETE ACCOUNTS AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR FOR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU. For purposes of explanation and not limitation, most account suspensions, terminations and/or deletions are the result of violations of this Terms of Use or the EULA.
Ownership/Selling of the Account or Virtual Items.Blizzard does not recognize the transfer of WoW Accounts or Blizzard Accounts (each an "Account"). You may not purchase, sell, gift or trade any Account, or offer to purchase, sell, gift or trade any Account, and any such attempt shall be null and void. Blizzard owns, has licensed, or otherwise has rights to all of the content that appears in the Game. You agree that you have no right or title in or to any such content, including without limitation the virtual goods or currency appearing or originating in the Game, or any other attributes associated with the Account or stored on the Service. Blizzard does not recognize any purported transfers of virtual property executed outside of the Game, or the purported sale, gift or trade in the "real world" of anything that appears or originates in the Game. Accordingly, you may not sell in-game items or currency for "real" money, or exchange those items or currency for value outside of the Game.
I think Se is just recommending a document that describes a process for destroying an account as completely as possible within an MMO since, as you wrote, you can't delete accounts.
The only winning move is not to play.
Yes se vuol ballare, I do like to dance.
Thanks Cypher - I was going to reply almost verbatim, but I had to go out to a 12 Step Meeting.
I still have a couple of characters extant on my game, I dont feel any need to delete. It isnt the characters, or the game. I am the problem. I think once we begin to understand the problem lies within us and address it we can begin to recover. Please refer to my post: http://www.olganon.org/?q=node/23125
And Skopos thank you for posting the EULA and other legalese. I work closely with software company lawyers and I understand the motivation behind the ownership issue. It is BTW standard IP (Intellectual Property) protection wording.
- dark
PS Pity there are not more F2F OLGA meetings. Anyone struggling - I highly recommend you get to an NA (Narcotics Anonymous) meeting. This is addiction and the road to recovery from drug addiction is very similar to that of gaming addiction. Look for the similarities, not the differences.
Hey Dark, would we be welcome in NA meetings? I'd heard various things. I don't want to show up to a meeting where I wasn't welcome; that'd be depressing for sure.
The only winning move is not to play.
You will be welcomed at an NA meeting. If you are not, then seek another NA meeting, they are not all the same.
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative." --W. Clement Stone
Hi All,
That was a bit more push-back that I expected for a post on the suggestions board.
Cypher, I am certainly not suggesting that uninstalling games or deleting accounts is the same thing as recovery. I know that I can always download the games; however, I want to make it difficult to fall back into those same patterns. I'll discuss my path in another forum, but suffice to say that my relapse last week would have been much less painful if I had done a better job of making my old WoW account inaccessible. To borrow your phrase, I would rather be a dry drunk than a wet drunk. When I am dry, I can think about recovery and work on healing.
Skopos and Dark, I could not care less about who owns WoW accounts. I just do not want temptation to access my old one. I want to be able to close that door and do not want emails from Blizzard asking me to re-open it or the knowledge that my account sits there available to me with a simple password reset request. With respect to the quote from Blizard's EULA, I disagree with Dark. I don't appreciate seeing Blizard's "legalese" on this web-site. I do want to see anything from that **** company again.
I understand that OLGANON must worry about legal issues, but I don't see how it would be illegal to tell people the following: Yesterday I switched my WoW user name (which is an email address) to a new gmail account and then had a friend take over both the WoW and Gmail accounts by changing their passwords to something that I don't know. I now would not be able to access that WoW account without significant effort (I would have to prove to Blizard that I had owned them previously).
This was a positive and difficult step for me. It involved saying good by to characters that had been a major part of my day to day existence for a year. With them gone, the temptation to go back to WoW is now weaker. All three of your replies suggest that this step was not recovery. I agree, but I think it was an important step in my recovery.
I have some questions about how to begin to work the 12 steps, but I think that I will post them in a different forum (i.e. not the suggestions forum).
se
Oh se! I didn't mean my comments as pushback! I think they're a fine idea. I was just adding my thoughts.
Thanks for the insight into the NA meetings John. I think I might check one out eventually.
The only winning move is not to play.
Sorry I didn't listen well enough and got carried away.
I'm sorry too. I may have be a little oversensitive. Heck, I am sure that I am oversensitive. I am not used to talking openly (even anonymously) about my addiction and it makes me nervous.
Practice makes perfect! ^.^
The only winning move is not to play.
I agree with Dark. We are the problem not the game. Computers are here to stay and we have to come to a comfortable place with them. People do business, seek information, create art and play games on computers. I think we must give ourselves some credit for good sense too and not limit ourselves.
Let's not give games so much power and start to take it back for ourselves. Give ourselves permission to be strong.
People do sometimes lose their way or sight of what is truly important. I think we can admit our failings, trust in a higher power and still be powerful in ourselves. God gave us reason and choices.
(If that makes any sense lol)
Yes i agree Ronan with what Dark ,and you have said.
"It's all in your mind...Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life.If you continue to believe as you have always believed,you will continue to act as you have always acted.If you continue to act as you have always acted,you will continue to get what you have always gotten.If you want different results in your life or your work,all you have to do is change your mind." Anonymous...
Se vuol ballare ~
A dance class would be nice. Or a place where people meet to dance...
Have you read this post? A good one, albeit that tthe topic is Evony.
http://www.olganon.org/?q=node/23135
"A person starts to live when he can live outside himself." Albert Einstein
"You don't get to choose how you are going to die. Or when.
You can only decide how you are going to live. Now." Joan Baez
Thanks for the link. I had read it before, but I really like his comments about getting back to life. That does feel good most of the time, but sometimes it is more than a little scary. And not just because of the things I let slip through the cracks while playing. I think I did turn to games because they were safe.
Just leave it all... even going back to delete things in a game or gather credits from a game (such as money)...you've come this far is it really worth the possibility of being tempted into our old ways?
Ask yourself: what does it matter if your account is still there? eventually after a few years they will get rid of it I am sure..... and you could just as easily start a new one as delete it.. so i see it as a futile symbolic gesture (or even a danger of remissing into your old habits) You know what you stand for and you do not have to prove it to any gamers nor game companies
For me I just left despite having many credits I earned in the game... because I know I would end up playing
maybe it is different for others but I feel what is the point? We can not tear a page from history... and we can not truly delete our past... so for me I just forget about it. Through not playing your game you are doing the best you can for yourself right? so who cares what others (gamers mainly) think? Perhaps just block the emails from any games and move on leaving the old ways in your dust. I am happy I left it in my past where it belongs and even to try deleting my account seems futile at this point in my destiny
I don't think its possible to delete a
Second Life account
How I became a gamer - http://olganon.org/?q=node/25044
sure it is.