By CHEN JINGTING

AZEROTH, the fictional world of popular online game World Of Warcraft (WoW), will have to make do with fewer paladins and mages.

Young executives who are avid fans of online role-playing games such as WoW and Defense Of The Ancients (Dota) are cutting down their gaming activities to make room for the real world. While employers recently said that they are not prejudiced against workers who play such games, the executives are not taking chances.

Audit assistant Alan Huang, 25, felt he should concentrate on his work instead of games. He returns home at around midnight every day.

He worries that spending time on the game may affect his work performance or, worse, cost him his job.

'I have to be in the office by 9am the next day, so I simply have no time for the game on weekdays. If I play, I would be too tired,' he said. Bank executive Wong Kai Yuan, 25, who used to play WoW three hours a day, told my paper he now plays on weekends and up to only two hours a day. 'I have less free time since I've started working,' he said.

It is not just working adults who are pulling themselves away from their gaming hobby - even students feel the need to stay away from video games and concentrate on their books instead. Mr Karthig Kunasakaram from the National University of Singapore has put a stop to his WoW indulgence for now.

'I have to finish my assignments and study for tests,' explained the 22-year-old freshman. Others are glad that they are no longer as attached to online gaming as they used to be.

Information-technology engineer M.L. Seeto, 27, said he has had more time to catch up with friends at movies andmeals after he stopped devoting his weekends to Dota.

'I don't want to indulge in those games again. I would rather spend my time on other stuff, like meeting my friends and reading, ' he said.

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