The Keep:Digital Addicts Anonymous

About the Guild
The Digital Addicts Anonymous guild is a guild for those who spend much more time online and/or playing computer games than is good for them, and want to break the habit.

Please don't feel shy if you get the impression that everyone else in the guild is much less - or more - addicted than you are! This guild is for 24/7 hardcore gamers with no real life as well as for people who want to check their email only once per day instead of thrice, and for everyone in between.

"Gamer/Internet widow(er)s and orphans" - significant others, family and friends of digital addicts - are also welcome in the guild.

The guild isn't focused on classic 12-step programs. Use any method that helps you!

Search keywords: gaming addiction, game addiction, internet addiction, computer addiction, digital addiction, surfing addiction, recovery, codependency, codependent, gamer widow, gamer orphan, blocking software, 12 step program, email, youtube, facebook, tumblr, pinterest, ... (If you think more should be added, please mention it in guild chat!)

Guild Leader
The current guild leader is Mara the Marine Marauder. (Her Habitica User ID is 1aff9116-34b0-438c-9877-06038bdce161, and this is her wiki message wall).

Mara the Marine Marauder hereby gives her permission that, if she hasn't logged into Habitica for over a month, someone else can become guild leader. (The usual waiting time without the absent guild leader's permission is six months.) The new guild leader will then also have to  take care of this wiki page (and/or find other wiki editors to help with it).

Guild History
The guild was formerly named "Gaming Addicts Anonymous", but then merged with "Interneters Anonymous", broadening its topic to other addictive computer activities besides gaming.

Link Lists
The following is just a list of useful on-topic links (both within Habitica and on other websites). The lists are in alphabetical order. If you add new links, please try to insert them in the right place!

Blocking Software
This is probably the most useful section of this wiki page! Blocking software can make it much easier to escape the clutches of a digital addiction. If you know a useful blocking tool that isn't on the list yet, please mention it in chat or add it yourself!

If you don't find anything suitable for you in the lists below, you can try searching for similar software with alternativeto.net. (For example, they have a long list of Cold Turkey Alternatives and Similar Software .)

Computer-Wide

 * Cold Turkey blocks selected websites (and, in the C $ 14.99 pro version, selected executable files - like offline games - and selected websites or all websites except selected ones), freeware for Windows
 * FocusMe  blocks selected websites, or all websites except selected ones, and selected executable files (like offline games). Also has time limiters (for examle, "Allow only 30 minutes per day on website X".) Expensive program (97$ recurring payment per year) for Windows and Mac. Highly customizable and flexible, maybe a bit complicated. (See the FocusMe Guide  for details.) Has a partnership with Habitica . Currently offers a Limited Time Special Habitica Offer available until 19 June 2016 where the 97$ payment is one-time instead of recurring every year, and you will be offered a 20% discount on a six-month Habitica subscription as an additional bonus.
 * Freedom blocks the whole internet (but can be stopped by rebooting), $ 10 app for Windows, Mac, Android, ...
 * SelfControl blocks selected websites, or all websites except selected ones, freeware for Mac
 * The Do-it-yourself purist version for Windows: Editing one's HOSTS file

In One Browser Only

 * LeechBlock blocks selected websites, or all websites except selected ones, free add-on for Mozilla Firefox
 * Productivity Owl closes selected websites, or all websites except selected ones, after a short while, free extension for Google Chrome
 * StayFocusd blocks selected websites, or all websites except selected ones, free plugin for Google Chrome

Mobile Apps

 * AppBlock blocks selected other apps, free app for Android
 * Forest lets you grow little trees every time you do nothing else with your mobile for half an hour, free app for iOS, Android, Windows Phone (and Chrome and Firefox)

Self-Help Websites

 * GamerWidow.com (for significant others of gaming addicts)
 * Online Gamers Anonymous
 * reddit: StopGaming
 * SMART Recovery (about addiction in general, but with no specific advice for gamers)
 * zen habits (has various tools for and articles about quitting a bad habit, for example the Quit Plan & Journal Template, A Brief Guide to Quitting a Bad Habit and The Quickstart Guide to Quitting a Bad Habit)

Challenges
This list doesn't just contain the challenges within the guild, but all the on-topic challenges that the editors of this page could find in Habitica. (Latest search: August 13, 2016. Latest change: August 13, 2016.)

If an anti-addiction challenge is in a generally pro-gaming guild, a gaming addict might not want to join that guild permanently. There are probably more. If you find any, or notice that some have ended, please help by editing this page accordingly!
 * 180min of "Forest: Stay focused" each day  in the Life Hackers guild (see Blocking Software: Mobile Apps.)
 * A Tethered Mind - August 2016 in the Tavern
 * Awareness of Electricity Consumption  in the Life Hackers guild (may motivate you to switch off digital devices more often)
 * Caught in the Net: Escaping Internet Habits & Online Distractions in the Digital Addicts Anonymous guild
 * "Eliminate" the Unessentials  in the Life Hackers guild (includes a daily "Disconnect Internet for 2 hours total")
 * Free Rice - Help End Hunger  in the Tavern (not really anti-addiction - but if you have to game, you can at least play an educational quiz game that supports the UN World Food Programme with each correct answer)
 * Help ID Animals/Space for Science.  in the Tavern (not really anti-addiction - but if you have to look at pictures online, you can at least classify photos for science)
 * It’s Dangerous to Go Alone! (Official TAKE THIS Challenge Archive) in the 📜 Library of Shared Lists (encourages you to cultivate offline friendships and relations)
 * It's time to move - Ingress and various other Ingress-related challenges in the Ingress Players guild (not really anti-addiction - but if you have to game, you can at least play game that takes you sightseeing in real life)
 * Limit Screen/TV Time - August 2016 in the Life Hackers guild
 * Make the world better in your computer's spare time in the Tavern (gives you a good reason to give your computer some spare time by not gaming)
 * MMO Healthy Gaming Challenge in the Tavern (attempts to game in moderation)
 * More Books, Less TV in the 📜 Library of Shared Lists
 * no internet at night in the Tavern
 * Pokemon Go in the Tavern (not really anti-addiction - but if you have to game, you can at least go for a walk outside; adding the Pokemon Go Clean-Up challenge is recommended)
 * Pokemon Go Clean-Up in the Tavern (not really anti-addiction - but if you have to game, you can at least get some exercise and help to keep the environment clean)
 * RIP Gaming in the The Newbies guild
 * Stop wasting time on your smartphone! in the Procrastinators guild
 * Strict Visiting Hours (July) in the Short-Term Goal Accountability guild (as of 12 August, the August version isn't up yet)
 * Zombie5K in the The Newbies guild (not really anti-addiction - but if you have to game, you can at least play game that makes you run in real life)

It can also be very helpful to start a duel challenge in the ⚔ The Duelling Grounds ⚔. That way, there is often a stronger sense of accountability, and you can customize the challenge to your situation. For ideas how to set up a duel challenge, please read that guild's wiki page.

Guilds
A list of various Habitica guilds that might be helpful in this context.

Gaming/Internet Addiction-Themed Guilds
We're currently the only active one. (That's a good thing! One guild per topic is usually better than many small half-abandoned ones.)
 * RealLifeGamers (inactive, no chat or challenges, guild leader @NANK last logged in 21 March 2016)

Gaming/Internet-Themed Guilds with at Least One Anti-Addiction Challenge
But if all the gaming talk is too much of a trigger for you, don’t join them permanently!

At the moment (as of 18 April 2016), none of the gaming/internet-themed guilds of Habitica seems to have an anti-addiction-themed challenge.

Guilds About Games That, like Habitica, Can Actually Be Useful
But judge for yourself and use with care!

And a few more potentially useful games that get mentioned in guilds or Tavern challenges: Lumosity also gets mentioned in a few challenges but isn't included or linked here because, while Lumosity games are supposed to train your brain, they can be just as addictive as any other puzzle games (which also train your brain to some degree).
 * Geocachers Guild (Geocaching is a game that takes you hiking, or at least walking around outside, in real life.)
 * Ingress Players (Ingress is a game that takes you sightseeing in real life.)
 * Pokemon Go and Pokemon Trainers (Pokémon Go is a game that takes you walking around outside in real life.)
 * Freerice.com is an educational quiz game that supports the UN World Food Programme with each correct answer. It is mentioned in challenges in the Effective Altruists guild and the Tavern challenge Free Rice - Help End Hunger.
 * Zombies, Run! is a game that takes you jogging in real life. It is occasionally mentioned in chat in the Runner's Edge guild and various fitness guilds.
 * Zooniverse is a website where people help researchers classify photos. It is mentioned in the Tavern challenge Help ID Animals/Space for Science..
 * Play To Cure was a game where players helped cancer researchers analyse genetic data. It has ended by now (and so has the Tavern challenge that featured it). It was one of a whole series of games that helped cancer research .They have all ended by now, but the link is left in here because it is interesting, might list new similar games in the future, and gives an idea what to look for when looking for other games that help scientific research .

As far as we know, no other guild mentions Statbuilder (a game that makes you more aware of your addiction).

Game Developer Guilds
Maybe you want to tell them to make more non-addictive and/or useful games? Or that they should integrate self-blocking schedules as part of addictive games? Maybe also times where you only have very restricted access and can only use a small part of a game's features (for example, talking to other players)? Who knows, if you have constructive ideas, they might even be thankful for the inspiration!


 * [GDG&#93; Game Developers Guild
 * Gamification
 * One Game a month
 * RPG Maker VX Ace Gamers
 * The Worldwide Society of Let's Players
 * Unity3D

Contributing to This Wiki Page
Keeping wiki pages up to date is a lot of work, and help is always welcome! If you think something should be added, removed, or changed on this page, you can edit this wiki page yourself! If it is a major change, please notify the guild leader (before or after the edit) via Habitica Private Message, or chat in the Digital Addicts Anonymous guild, or wiki message wall. If it is a minor change (spelling correction, updating a link, adding a new challenge, etc.), notification isn't necessary. If you don't want to make the edit yourself, you can write your suggestions on this page's talk page, or tell them to the guild leader via PM, guild chat, or message wall.