Inspired by this post , I realized that I am not the only person who has done this. Last fall I was going through a tough time and posting here was not helping any, so I gave myself a 30 day ban. It was a challenge, but I actually went about 40 days between posts.
So, anybody else do a self-imposed suspension? How long?
SSG Schwartz
Um, six years, I think?
I stopped reading and posting for… um, I want to say about a year, maybe a few months more than that, after an argument with manhattan. I don’t even remember what it was about (looking back, I’d probably find that I was in the wrong, so I’m not looking!), but I remember that this place was making me angry enough that it wasn’t worth it. Prior to that, and since I came back from it, I haven’t had that experience, so I keep on stickin’ around.
I’ve been ignoring 99% of what goes on these days. I haven’t felt the need to ban myself, but I do avoid the “new posts” link more, as that’s likely to bring a “is Obama/Hillary/McCain the devil?” thread to my attention and occasionally I can’t keep my mouth shut when obvious, trolling, flagrant ignorance is flapping around like a seagull stuck in a duct tape factory. Plus, I’m in school so the Dope is like video games. Gotta unplug 'em if they’re wasting your time.
Aren’t you a recruiter now? I’d think that would keep you busy with real life stuff.
A couple of months, I think. Mainly when I was heavily involved with a blog I help run. (I’m still heavily involved, I’ve just decided to balance priorities out a bit more and not spend every waking moment on the blog to the exclusion of all else.)
It does, which cuts down on my time for the Dope, but it is a good way to unwind at the end of the day.
SSG Schwartz
I stayed away from mid-2003 until last August.
I think it was close to 6 months, but I cannot remember. After being a member for only a few months, I was going through a hard time and was using a hard-core internet addiction as my coping mechanism. I knew I needed a break. I banned myself from the internet for 1-2 months and then allowed myself a set amount of time every day and not between certain hours. This allowed me to become more involved in my actual life, doing volunteer work and research and graduating college. Then I got very busy and was in Mexico/Europe, I imagine this break was somewhere between December 2006 and August 2007, but I really don’t remember exactly when I stopped/started up again. It was a wonderful idea and when I came back I really did look at the boards differently, so I think I would recommend it for those addictive personalities who need a little perspective.
I think I managed 3 days once.
About 4 years. I changed jobs, moved house, had a lot of personal stuff going on. I was offline for some time. Its funny how times slips away.
I stayed away for two months, and finally reupped I think last week. I had about 400 pages of reading a week to do for my last quarter of school and I really wanted to make my last term a good one. Between that and other stuff going on in my life, it was in my best interest to minimize distractions.
A few weeks, though it’s not a “ban” so much as a reaction to the Board’s periodic waves of hostility, name-calling, and behavior that I think of as destructive of community. Other than online, I don’t spend time with people who act that way, and when it gets bad enough to bum me out, I have to question why I’d subject myself to it here. I almost didn’t renew, but decided to see what the general feel was after we switch to free posting.
About 3 years, probably, but it wasn’t intentional. Things got weird after college, and I missed most of the late 90s and early 2000s.
Joe
I was away from the board for 5 days once. (Does it count if you’re in the hospital with no computer access?)
About four months, I think. I’d been getting frustrated and annoyed with a lot of things around here, and when the time came that I wanted to get some heavy emotional baggage off my chest, I realized that this wasn’t the place I wanted to turn to. By coincidence, subscriptions were just about to run out (this was after the first year of pay-to-post), so I simple didn’t renew.
Five days. I was in the hospital
Wait… Are Annie and I the same person? 
Not a ban, exactly… I’ve been playing Deus Ex for about two weeks, in between my two jobs and meager social life, and my Board attendence has been sparse.
Occasionally I’ll avoid the Board for part of a day if I post something I’m embarrassed about, like the time I got drunk and… oh, never mind. :eek: 
Nice Google ads here, by the way.
Sorry, slight hijack… that brought back memories! A quality game, and not just because it taught the player that smoking is a bad thing :smack: