Hearthpwn

Yeah judging by your original post I gathered you had prior knowledge to these kind of things. 

Quote from TEXACO_US jump

lol you cancelled social engagements? dude, listen. just go out and drink w a friend. yea HS is kinda fun but theres no way its more fun than going out. just put a mirror right next to a computer monitor and ask yourself when you look into it: "do i look like i have downs right now?"  after playing HS for an hour. if the answer is yes call up anyone. and drink as much as possible.

Haha ... you are so right dude.  I know it seems obvious.

Quote from BoobTheNoob jump

Of course the game is addictive. Its like gambling because of the RNG. If it is ruining your life , get help from a psychiatrist. Even of you are one yourself you should know perfectly well that self evaluation is subjective, specially when addiction is involved.  

Yes... in fact, posting on here and getting responses/feedback/support from the community has already been incredibly helpful.  Clearly I am not the only one who has experienced this when it comes to HS.

Quote from SwagpanterNL jump

there are just 3 things you need to do in life... hearthstone isn't one of them 

get paid, get laid, gatorade.

 

LMAO

Quote from DudeVonDudestein jump

I think that you should go and see a Psychiatrist.

This is more of a clinical psychologist field instead of Psychiatrist. 

Quote from DocRed35 jump

@Tsubalachi:  thanks for your very thoughtful response.  I considered trying to do a slow wean/taper, but I'm not likely to have much success with that approach.  Will probably try cold turkey first and see what happens.  Hopefully not DTs.  :-)

In ur case I doubt cold turkey would be as effective as progressive method tho. The withdrawal symptoms will eat at u and thats not good especially when ur working Full time. If I were you, id go for a softer touch. I quit something before, progressive worked better on me so that's why I stick with it. 

I had a very similar story with world of warcraft, I  played the game for around 8-9 years and towards the end at my worst I was playing around 12-16 hours a day. At the time I had dropped out of 2 different college courses and was on the dole with our newborn child. I enrolled in another college course but was still playing all the time I could. My girlfriend left me at the start of my 2nd year of college and it was at that point I knew i needed to change myself and my gaming habits so I just stopped cold turkey to get my ass back on track. I bought some weights to start lifting at home because no way was I walking my fat ass to the gym. After about 10 months I'd lost 91 pounds and had kicked the wow habit and got my girlfriend of 10 years back again. I don't play wow anymore and hearthstone is a game I like because I can just pop on when I feel like, theres so many days where I just log on to do my daily quest, its not at all unhealthy compared to how i played wow. Moral is, you just gotta stop if your gaming habits become like that, you need to find a new game or hobby that doesnt suck you in like hearthstone has. YOU CAN DO IT BUDDY! It just takes a bit of time and another healthy outlet for you to decompress with. PM if you wanna chat more about it.

Computer gaming addiction is not unique to Hearthstone.  I feel certain that millions suffer from it in the US alone.  I recommend seeking help from a mental health professional specializing in addiction.  Remember, you are not alone.  Get help, feel better and regain control of your life.

Quote from SwagpanterNL jump

Quote from ReDEyeDz jump

I have to force myself to go to do dailies. After many 12 win arenas and reaching legend few times I see nothing interesting for me in HS. I'm more into just watching streams and tourneys...

play open tournaments yourself, it's fun! (strivewire has a lot of open tournaments)

no i dont get paid for this.

 

It's actually good idea, thank you.

Either keep playing until you completly hate it, which probably not good choice for you or

Disenchant every card you have and craft some legendaries with all dust you have, then disenchant them. And repeat process untill you have no cards and no dust. Then a thought that you have to spend SO MUCH time just to catch up for what you had will terrify you and you will not want to play anymore.

Step 1: Read this: The Opposite of Addiction is Connection. [HuffPo]

Step 2: Look up any sort of actual face-to-face social group that shares your interests that you can connect with. I'd start at your local library, gaming shop, or college, but MeetUp isn't a bad place to find a group, either, especially if you live in a bigger city. 

Step 3: Once you've found a replacement for your addiction, remove the addiction. Uninstall Hearthstone. Don't panic; your account will still be there waiting once you've recovered, and so long as you actually find a social group that you can get validation and support from -- no matter what the focus is -- you'll be OK even if you play a game or two. (Sidenote: I know this, because my father is an alcoholic of the most tenacious variety, but after finding support at AA and staying sober for a few years, he was able to go into bars and hang out and even have a beer or three without slipping back. The important part is that you're doing it to be social, not to replace the role of social support and validation in your life.)

But the keys here are two: 1) You cannot ever functionally quit anything cold turkey unless you have a replacement ready. I know this from personal experience, as a game addict. I almost lost my wife -- twice -- because the games I was playing took precedence over everything. And they weren't even as awesome has Hearthstone.  I quit five successive games cold-turkey, and the only thing that happened was that I found a new one within days, and got just as addicted to it as I was to the last one.

2) You cannot ever functionally quit anything until you have people who care what you think, feel, and do that will support you in whatever it is you replace your addiction with.  In my case, I deliberately went out and found something else to do instead of playing the games (in my case, I wrote short stories for my then-5-y.o. son about pirates who live on a giant dinner table and have adventures while getting stuck in caves of melting ice cream or floating slowly down maple syrup rivers.) In the end, I did find a couple of games that I loved enough to play occasionally, but getting social validation from my family and feeling like I had some people who genuinely loved what I did and had my back was enough to break the feeling of constant yearning that drove me to play even when I knew I shouldn't.

Addiction is a disease -- but it's not a virus or a brain injury. It's a social disease, and there's a social cure. 

Good luck! If there's anything I can do, my battletag is right there <-- message me in game, and I'll toss you my email address or whatever and help out however I can. :)

Quote from SwagpanterNL jump

Quote from Sadiii_ jump

Not only do you need to step away from the game, but also need something else to preoccupy your time with. Maybe drawing, or a book, or the gym. Something. 

i recommend crystal meth.

Walter White approves of this message.

Evil can only be beaten either with good or even bigger evil. So my suggestions are:

1) Delete Hearthstone, OR

2) Visit a psychiatrist, OR

3) Become a drug addict.

I'd personally reccomend deleting the game and forgetting about it forever. Or visit a psychiatrist, at the very least. See if he will give any good advices.

Could've spent that money on more packs :/

Can I have your dust? 

Just drop to rank 20 and bully players for 100% win rate.  Fuck laddering.  It means nothing with all the cancer decks being played by every tryhard.

Takes some time off and play some WoW.

In all seriousness... that last line OP typed made me LOL

Quote from lexaduna jump

Either keep playing until you completly hate it, which probably not good choice for you or

Disenchant every card you have and craft some legendaries with all dust you have, then disenchant them. And repeat process untill you have no cards and no dust. Then a thought that you have to spend SO MUCH time just to catch up for what you had will terrify you and you will not want to play anymore.

This is definitely the best suggestion. It will either work or completely blow up in your face. If it blows up in your face and you come back anyway, well... you were probably a lost cause from the beginning.