WA (World of Warcraft Anonymous)
08-08-2007 – 13:25My name is Willow, and I am an addict. Please read this not so much as a warning, but a slightly cautionary tale.
World of Warcraft is getting it’s second expansion, after The Burning Crusade (or TBC for short), now comes The Wrath of the Lich King. That will be my cue to stop playing.
I started playing on 19 september 2005, so my account history says, and I remember having been a very casual player. I played 2, max 3 times a week and sometimes not at all for perhaps a month. My main character therefore took ages to level and the game never got old. Then I got to level 60, and the big ‘endgame’ began. I started doing dungeons (raiding) 3 times a week in a 40-man group, and together we killed some of the most intricate and difficult bosses. There’s no end to the amount of factors that matter in such fights. That was pretty hardcore already.
Then TBC was released, the leveling began again (to 70 this time) and the people I used to raid with fell apart. I didn’t game much at that time, until a real life friend of mine suggested that I start a character on another server. Four of my real life friends play on that realm, so I thought that would be fun. This character turned out to be the main cause of my stress for the past half year. Since my friends were all level 70 before I even rolled the character, I was rather alone in questing and I really really really wanted to level to 70 asap, so I could enter the first level 70 dungeon. I didn’t just play for fun anymore, but I played in order to belong with some friends. Leveling wasn’t about the journey anymore, it was about the destination.
I have almost reached my destination now, I’m level 68 and 30%. Has it been fun? Some of it, yes, most of it, no. I’m counting on the fun to start at 70, but if that doesn’t happen I will have done a lot for nothing. What if I can’t get into the dungeon with my friends in the end anyway? What if I turn out to completely suck at playing in such difficult raids?
I never expected World of Warcraft to become an issue in my life after having played relaxedly for 1,5 years. But still, in 6 months’ time it became a liability. An obligation. I want to quit, but first I need to level, and then be able to get into the dungeon (that requires quests first), and then do the dungeon, and then, and then.
In the mean while, our friendship has suffered from it. My friend and I are ok now, but I got so depressed about this character at one point that I just sat down and cried at it, something that he couldn’t quite stand. Imagine that, getting all emo over some bits and bytes.
I’m not saying World of Warcraft isn’t fun, and I’m not saying that it’s wrong to play. But if you do, keep an eye on how serious you’re really taking it. And don’t ever make it a priority over your real life.
5 Responses to “WA (World of Warcraft Anonymous)”
Haha, I think everyone has at some point cried at bits and bytes. A touching story, a downloaded movie or an online fight with a friend.
Don’t worry about it too much, indeed playing should be fun, take your older character out or a walk every now and then too, and help out some newbies on their quests. That way you’re giving back to the community.
Maybe I’m too naive, but I believe in helping others, pay it forward and stuff.
Really, someone might be saved the position you’re in now, because you helped them out at one time or another, and that someone might be inspired to help someone else, who in turn might help you etc.
Think happy thoughts, if you don’t want to play, don’t, you’ll see that you will miss your character after a little while anyway ;-)
*huggles*
Me
By Faragon on Aug 8, 2007
And those friends whom you’re levelling for, aren’t they already entering those dungeons? I doubt that they’d wait for you half a year, would they?
I for one can’t really see the attraction in endlessly playing WoW, but that’s just me. It sounds like either:
a) it’s time that you quite (for a while) and live with the happy memories, or
b) you should just ditch the wretched char and continue on your old server.
Take care lady :)
By Cailin Coilleach on Aug 8, 2007
Well, when I heard about the new expansion, that was my hint that I likely won’t be back into the game at all. Given that the people I could play with still haven’t even been able to tackle anything beyond the first “end game” instance, and that nobody bothers with old “end game” stuff once a new expansion is out, what would the fun be? Spending a month or two just getting to the new highest level, crafting all the new stuff that makes old stuff obsolete, only to be stuck again for ages?
Rolling up a new char where people have already hit the cap is brave, and I’m surprised you did it after the past experience with “growing up” in Carnique. I can see how this kind of thing makes the game extremely tedious, and I certainly won’t start a new character from scratch any more, no matter what circumstances.
I think overall, quitting WoW is a good thing, if you’re happy with it. The only thing I regret about pausing/quitting is that I have lost touch with a couple of people who I would have preferred to stay in contact with.
If you like the general experience, but dislike spending lots of time on a game, Guild Wars might be an option for you. Unless you are determined to get into some high end PvP stuff there (requiring practice and a good guild), it practically doesn’t matter how much time you spend on it, as you pretty much set your own pace. You can hit the level cap in a week and from there on, it’s up to you what you do. There are no five hour raids, most instances take half an hour rather than the 2.5 hours from some WoW dungeons and you can fill empty party slots with AI-controlled characters rather than random pubbies, if you so desire. I’m having quite a lot of fun with it for a couple of hours per week on average… compared to 4 hours of WoW a day (8 on weekends), that’s really low maintenance.
There. Sorry for the long comment, just figured I’d give some input.
By Solitas on Aug 8, 2007
Me, I’m trying to stay the heck away from MUDs. They almost ruined my first year in college the first time around. I’m not going to let them ruin my new, first year.
Still… MUDs are damn fun!
By Cailin Coilleach on Aug 9, 2007
Hihi, something in my post seems to have made it look like I have no life at all… no worries, I still go out and smell the coffee ^^
@ Faragon: You’re right, taking up my first character might be a good idea. I never had more fun with any other character… :)
@ Cailin: Actually, they would wait half a year for me. When I started, they hadn’t started that particular dungeon yet. They started that about 2 months ago and just a few weeks ago they killed the last boss in it for the first time. These things take a long time, so they’ll be going there for a while to come. I can just join in as soon as I get to the right level and fix those quests :)
I won’t be ditching the character since I put so much work in it already (I’ve seen people ditch characters and severely regret it), but I’ve limited the amount of time I play now :)
@ Solitas: /agree, it was very brave to start a new char and I was wondering whether it was wise to do so. And I should definitely look into Guild Wars :)
By Wi11ow on Aug 10, 2007