I stumbled upon this topic a little late but still want to throw my two cents in
I played WoW for 2-2 and a half years as if it was my full time job (around 4 years total with 2 huge breaks), actually I had a job that was so good I was able to play while working
It was crazy, totally lost anything that resembled of social life, other than seeing my (now ex) gf, which was sooo pissed I started playing, on weekends. And all that because I was wondering what a hell was wrong with all the people playing that game? I was like, shit, they are crazy, I would never allow that to myself!!
Well, atm there are 5 lvl 85 chars sitting on a official server
Hunter, Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight and Druid + 75 lvl rogue
But hey, the good thing is I only wanted to check the game out
I'm glad Blizzard fucked up the game... too much easy content, too fast... new tiers almost releasing on every weekend... well, after I caught myself running around leveling alts instead of raiding I knew it was time to retire... Cataclysm was really end of the World (of Warcraft) for me... Now I'm sure I wont go into relapse, but also I don't need to sell my account cause I know the game have no power over me anymore, even if I had an active account
Anyway, snowboarding had a major role in my WoW retirement. When I decided I want to start snowboarding I was spending so much time reading and researching about equipment and planing on my first days on the slopes that at one moment I remembered that that no matter how much fun that game can be there are many better ways of spending free time. Read, write, paint, hike, ride a bike, skateboard, in the warm weather, and ofc I don't have to tell you what to do in the winter...
On the bright side, I'm planning a vacation with one sexy girl I've met while playing