I got in on the expansion “late” so a little less than a week ago and I am just taking my time doing all the side quests, dabbling a little in professions and such.
I damn near have a panic attack everytime I interract with the game in any way outside my own little bubble in game though be it reading forums, reddit, watching streams or youtube or just the m+ boost sell spam already going on.
Feels like its all rush rush rush. Rush to get your renown, rush to gear up, rush to do your dungeons/raids etc. I know I shouldnt care and just enjoy the game at my own pace but knowing how wow is and has been especially the last few years I cant shake the feeling that every moment I dont spend literally hyper optimizing makes me fall further and further behind.
I enjoy playing the game but I absolutely hate engaging with the online/competetive/community aspect of it.
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IMO if a game gives you these feelings you should not play it.
not saying that you can’t experience some stressfull situations now and then, but it should be the exception not the rule.
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Just handle like this
You go in restaurant and you eat what you enjoy. Do content which you enjoy - if you feel stressed just skip em.
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The what now? 
This is a game
We play to have fun
To relax
To escape the harsh reality, the stress and the problems of life
If you don’t have fun or stressed by the very thing that should help you to have fun and relax?
You do something wrong
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It may sound a bit snippy, but don’t engage with the competitive aspect of the game then. I don’t, and i’m having plenty of fun.
If the WoW rat-race doesn’t make you happy, take things at your own pace, explore, do some profession stuff, get some renown as you do WQs and stuff (We’ll all be sitting at 25 renown before too long, and catch-ups will be added down the line as well, so no rush.)
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Easy. I know I’ll never be world first in anything so why rush?
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The trick is to just stop caring and enjoy the game how you like to enjoy it.
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Play at your own pace and just relax.
Gaming is meant to be a form of entertainment for the vast majority of us.
People who are spamming Mythic+ runs, will do that, as it’s what they enjoy doing.
So just sit back, relax & enjoy the experience at your own pace, without the need to worry about what some other individual is doing in another country/city.
I’ve just been doing mythic for the first time ever today - I specifically joined a group that said it was ‘chill’ in the finder and had a really good time.
You could make a group and list it as ‘‘chill/noob friendly’’ and chill people will sign up.
I also have discovered I do alot better DPS if I stay calm and don’t try hard.
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I haven’t even started DF. I will wait one more week. Plus I am enjoying my time in WoD.
Definitely not gonna rush. LFR is stretched for almost a month. M+ are too stressful. I have turned off all channels except for guild and instance.
Total meditation.
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There is no stress unless you depend on others to play the game and they essentially have to “wait” for you.
Same
Dipped my toe in to a whooping M2! Tried the academy since one of the weekly was there anyway
Searched for a “chill” advert, joined, we had fun, laugh even timed it!
0 loot - of course - but not expected less 
Got key for Offensive… wich will rot in my bag, since I’m not the fan of it even on heroic 
But had fun, was nice and 0 stress
I don’t have any feelings of stress when it comes to wow. I log in, do what I want to do, perhaps set a few goals which I’ll reach when I reach them.
If others want to rush everything to be the first to get X or the fastest to level whatever or the first to finish everything then come here to complain “there’s nothing to do” let them, I’ll keep on doing everything at my pace, having fun and being happy 
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Maybe I’m misunderstanding, and I really don’t want to sound dismissive, but in my personal experience anxiety in WoW comes from fake expectations, maybe aquired from other players, and from giving too much importance to things that don’t really matter.
E.g. Players who are afraid of doing m+ or rPvP because they think it’s this super hardcore stuff and they won’t measure up. Or if you see players around you no-lifing the game and progressing super fast, and you get the impression you’re falling behind. Solution: stop caring. A key got depleted or downgraded: who cares, it’s just a key. Some overgrown kid got mad because I buttpulled a patrol: who cares, I don’t know them, I won’t meet them again, make it bounce off. Your friend is already 40IL more than you: good for them, you’ll get there in your own time, if you feel like it.
My general rule is that no matter how much I love WoW, it’s a game, almost nothing of consequence ever happens in it, so there’s nothing to be stressed about. Real life is plenty stressful without us overthinking pixels. Take your time, your pace is just as legitimate as anyone else’s. And I’m pretty sure a lot of players have yet to unlock world quests. In fact, most of my friends who go to university or have a job are still leveling and we’re still in the “exchanging screenshots of ducks and otters” phase.
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You should probably cut down on some of that. For me it helped a lot getting rid of chat channels full of boost spam.
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Just do everything at your own pace, whatever that is. People that feel that they “have” to rush everything are kinda sad, and they often don’t even enjoy the game. You should only rush if that’s something you truly enjoy to do. Like unless it’s during a bossfight it’s never ever wrong to take a little break for example, not even during M+ because doing a key in a time is never important and has no value. Just like it’s always ok to take a break from the game for a month or two. Playing in a chill way is alot more fun. So don’t care about what everyone else does or thinks, just go your own way.
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Easy join a great chill family friendly guild.
How do I deal with it? I don’t care. Not really helpful towards you, though. Are you -planning- on doing M+ and Raids at high level? That’s the only rushrushrush content there is. If you are it sounds like a pretty unhealthy thing to be aiming for in your situation.
I wanna do m+ and potentially some raiding but not at a high level at most I would wanna try some light heroic raiding at some point
Personally I stopped playing retail.
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